「嘘と彼女」 (Uso to Kanojo)
“Lies and Girlfriend”

There’s meeting the family, and well, there’s meeting the family. Or as Kanojo Okarishimasu likes to call it, just another day in the neighbourhood. After the literal stalking of last week I know I’m far from the only one thinking we were due for a bit a levity, but it seems when it comes to Ruka everything is far from laid back. And not like it’s all bad—we now have a proper love triangle on our hands.

While Ruka’s reasons for going all in on the Kazuya ship remain unspoken (if pretty easily guessed), there’s no denying this girl knows how to get things moving. Calling out both Chizuru and Kazuya for perpetuating their lie is the exact thing they need to hear as neither has shown any willingness to actually expunge it themselves. Sure pretty words may be told by them and personal promises made to correct matters later, but as Ruka all but drilled into the main couple this week, dragging things out is only going to make the pain worse later on. If either truly cared about their grandmothers they wouldn’t keep the act up, however as is pretty obvious the mutual fear is doing so will lead to a termination of consistently growing feelings. I wouldn’t fret too much if I was in Kazuya’s shoes, Chizuru just has yet to piece her own two and two together.

For all the good of movement though we also got (once again) some noticeable downsides—and damn does this show know how to make the worst of them. Ruka for example was the epitome of clingy this week, deliberately intruding in on an event she had no right to partake in, and making every effort to upset the Chizuru applecart. The sheer audacity is quite impressive, but it really sends the wrong message because it does nothing to help her cause. Blackmail? Guilt tripping? They do nothing to build the connections required to sustain a legitimate relationship and only ensure Kazuya will keep wanting to run far away (mostly). Nevertheless, this also doesn’t excuse Kazuya’s treatment of Ruko because there were far better ways to attempt getting rid of her than labelling her a pathological liar. Besides highlighting the stark ineptitude of Kazuya, these actions also reinforce his cowardice and unwillingness to take responsibility. Remember all that talk about wanting to improve? This was the ideal moment for it! Instead we’re effectively right back where we started, albeit with a trial girlfriend now in tow and a rental girlfriend on the precipice of realizing one professional relationship isn’t so professional anymore.

If I wasn’t so morbidly curious seeing what Kazuya is tripped into next I’d honestly start worrying about grandma Kazuya. If she thought things were weird with two girls, just wait until the third contender makes her appearance.

 

Preview

10 Comments

  1. Honest question(s) about “Love Hotels“: Even if a customer has the cash, do love hotel staff have the right to refuse a customer who’s underage (below 18)? Or do they allow it if the underaged customer is accompanied by an adult?

    IIRC, in the movie Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai! Take On Me (where Yuuta and Rikka elope and travel around Japan after Touka tried to take Rikka to Italy), Yuuta and Rikka try to stay at a love hotel, but are turned away by the staff after realizing they’re both underage (17 years old at most). Returning to KanoKari, Ruka would be around 16 or 17. Even with Kazuya as an adult companion (who got blindfolded by Ruka, mind you), wouldn’t that raise a red flag? (Even with Ruka looking and acting like an adult.)

    Ruka:I’ll have you know I’m ready to take it all in.

    Woah Ruka, that’s a little too straightforward! I know some guys like (or downright love) that in a girl, but is that also the reason why you’ve got a lot of lewd fanart on the ‘boorus recently? Also, phrasing!

    ゴゴゴゴゴ Menacing ゴゴゴゴゴ
    [*”Awaken”/Pillar Men Theme intensifies*]

    Man, with Ruka fully joining the fray, Kazuya and Chizuru’s situation is quickly becoming a Gordian Knot…

    Incognito
    1. There’s no legal age to rent a hotel room. An actual hotel might refuse to rent a room to unaccompanied minors but Love Hotels exist entirely to cater to people that need private space/short term accommodations. Unless it was very obvious some sort of heinous crime was happening (two teenagers having sex definitely not falling under that category) there would be no chance a paying customer would be refused.

      Char
      1. For real? Though I do wonder if the same goes for those secretly engaged in enjo-kousai? (Basically the more straightforward, but illegal predecessor of the “rental companion” business.)

        Also, a girl blindfolding a guy before taking him to a love hotel. If it weren’t for the fact that Kazuya didn’t resist, that would have looked a lot like an actual kidnapping.

        Incognito
  2. Still wondering what happened to the blond girl, like with Ruka we never got her backstory (and in her case it wasn’t even in the ED) and she just disappered after his friend told her to back off, something I don’t think she really agreed on~

    Egozi
      1. If Mami reappears within this season, I hope it’s for the scene from the manga where Ruka calls out Mami for being a manipulative b!tch.

        (And yes, this is despite Ruka’s clinginess and habit of forcing herself into Kazuya and Chizuru’s personal space.)

        Incognito
  3. Boy what a glorious dumpster fire…
    Kazuya is actually doing the impossible, namely getting two attractive girls having interest in him. Chizuru is just in denial of it… Though she has her professional walls buckling under stress of own feelings…

    ewok40k
  4. Kazuya is so good at digging his own grave, that it’s deep enough to fit two.

    Currently under the impresson that Kazuya should stay single. But grandma really ships him and Chizuru. Her profesional qualities are actually backfiring on the goal she and Kazuya has put forth.

    Also just noticed something. Ruka only sees the good in Kazuya. Mami only sees the bad. While Chizuru sees both.

    theirs

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