Rent-a-Girlfriend Season 3 Episode 7 Review

Ruka Sarashina’s Birthday

Ruka Sarashina was born on August 26th, 2000. That means that if Rent-a-Girlfriend Season 3 Episode 7 aired a week later, it would have been on her birthday. It’s always disappointing to see missed opportunities like that. Why couldn’t they delay this episode by one week?

Now, some of you geniuses are going to try to “well actually” me. One week from today is Friday, August 25th, not the 26th. Sure, for most of the world, that’s correct. But, new Kanokari episodes air after 1 AM on Saturdays in Japan. So, in Japan, it would be the 26th when the episodes aired.

I’m also pretty sure that Ruka is supposed to have just turned 18 in the series. So, congratulations, she’s legal. In reality, she’d be turning 23 next week, though. That would make Ruka five years younger than me. There’s your DoubleSama lore for the day.

Of course, at the end of Episode 6, Kazuya agreed to do whatever Ruka wanted for her birthday. And, while agreeing to that probably wasn’t a good idea, Ruka didn’t take advantage of him. She could have asked for something Kazuya would normally never do. But, she didn’t.

In fact, Ruka didn’t even ask for Kazuya to kiss her. That’s how much restraint she showed here. Though, there’s an important reason why she held back in this way. She knows that she needs to make Kazuya like her on his own. She can’t force him to like her over Chizuru.

Ruka’s not dumb, even if she acts out at times. She knows that Kazuya’s going to resist if she forces anything on him; she’s tried that before. So, she spends her birthday trying to show Kazuya all her best qualities. You know, like her body in a bikini.

Ruka’s First Bikini

The first thing Ruka wants to do to celebrate her birthday is go to the pool. And why does she want to go to the pool? Is it to swim? Not necessarily. It’s all part of her master plan to seduce Kazuya.

First, Ruka wants to show off her new bikini to Kazuya. And, surprisingly, she claims this is the first bikini she’s bought. I’d like to refute that claim. But, I don’t actually remember if we’ve seen her in one before. Though, I have a feeling we’ve seen her in a swimsuit before now.

I could be confusing all the various art I’ve seen from this series for something from the anime. That’s one problem with the girls all wearing unique outfits in every episode. There are a lot of outfits to keep track of. And then there are all the outfits they wear in official art, figures, etc.

Anyway, Ruka’s new bikini is cute. The polka dots are nice. But, I’m not so sure how I feel about the asymmetrical straps. Either both straps should have frills, or neither of them. I’d prefer neither. However, the frills suit Ruka more.

The second part of Ruka’s plan is to have Kazuya put his hands on her body. And she does this by talking him into putting sunscreen on her back and legs. I thought Kazuya would chicken out after the first touch. But, he proved me wrong and managed to go through with it.

This was definitely the most awkward part of the episode, though. You’d think that a scene of a cute girl getting sunscreen rubbed onto her would be great. But, because Kazuya’s involved, it turns into a cringefest. I wanted that scene to end as soon as it began.

Kazuya and Girlfriend

I was wondering why Episode 7’s title was “Kazuya and Girlfriend.” Every episode title follows this same pattern. It’s always “Something and Girlfriend.” But, why Kazuya this time? Kazuya’s in every episode. Did this mean nothing important happened in the episode?

Well, we found out the answer at the end of the episode. Even though it’s Ruka’s birthday, and Kazuya knew that, he didn’t get her a present. And, as I mentioned earlier, she didn’t end up asking him for a kiss or anything like that. Instead, she asks to call him by his given name.

Okay, but doesn’t everyone already call Kazuya by his given name? I mean, did you even know that his family name is Kinoshita? Well, they do and they don’t. For example, before this point, Ruka always called him Kazuya-kun. So, what she’s asking to do is drop the honorific from his name.

I don’t actually remember how Chizuru refers to Kazuya. I went back through the previous two episodes to check and didn’t find a single instance of her saying his name. I’m sure she’s said his name at some point. But, I can’t remember if she uses –san or –kun.

Either way, now that Ruka has dropped the honorific from Kazuya’s name, she’s a step ahead of Chizuru. Also, in case you were wondering, Sumi uses –kun when referring to Kazuya. And I believe Mami does, as well. Though, we haven’t seen her in a while.

But, what about how Kazuya refers to Ruka? I don’t think he’s going to drop the –chan from her name. It’s not quite the same as –kun. It’s used to denote that you think someone (usually female) is cute. However, it’s possible that Ruka will insist he drops it.

Conclusion

What do you think of Rent-a-Girlfriend Season 3 Episode 7? Do you think this episode should have aired on Ruka’s birthday next week? What are your thoughts on Ruka’s bikini? And do you think Ruka will insist Kazuya drops the –chan from her name? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 8 is available now.