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「彼女と彼女」 (Kanojo to Kanojo)
“Girlfriend and Girlfriend”
When it comes to romance out of frying pan and into the fire is a pretty good adage for one reason: it’s always the case. Is the MC starting to get too touchy feely with the girl of the moment? Never fear, because more competition (and drama) is always near. Thus Kanojo Okarishimasu continues the time-honoured tradition as hints of a Chizuru ending give way to the one threat which could end it all. Gentlemen, say hello to Ruka.
Probably as some could’ve guessed previously, things were never going to keep going relatively smoothly up for Kazuya. Getting chummy with Chizuru and actually reaching a point where their current relationship was solidified (never underestimate how quickly temporary turns into permanent) is some solid advancement for the kid, so naturally a wrench needed to be thrown into the works. In terms of tension having new girl Ruka call out Chizuru and Kazuya as a fake rental relationship is a pretty good use of the story’s underlying premise, though it does throw up the question of just what Ruka’s motivation is. Why does she care so much to confront Chizuru and specifically state rental girlfriend? Obvious answer is her running across the two lovebirds while out and about and choosing to leverage that bit of knowledge for blackmail (or to break them up), even if the reasoning is less than obvious. Does our spunky little recruit have a secretive crush kept under wraps? We’ll know soon enough.
On other fronts, however, there is slightly less ambiguity. Kazuya is as Kazuya does at this point pretty much, although I must give the kid some credit for at least acknowledging his faults, stating his desire to work through them, and actually get on a closer, more personal level with Chizuru. Yes, he has only voiced them and done next to nothing to in practice, but hey, first steps and all. For all I loathe characters like his, if there’s some measure of change that sees him get out of his self-consciousness and repeated self-denigration (note: putting girls on a pedestal always ends badly) by season’s end, I cannot complain too much. Mind you, nothing is going to improve upon the look of potentially spending thousands on a girl to fake a relationship both parties have a vested interest in maintaining (my inner cynic tells me Chizuru keeps Kazuya’s money more for selfish desire than any sense of honour or professionalism), but that aspect is also likely to shift alongside any change in Chizuru’s feelings.
May take some time to see such change in action, but with the girl count growing and the romantic heat increasing, we’ll be at full boil in a jiffy.
Preview
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I wonder if this scene means we won’t be seeing Mami for a while?
TBH, I also want to know if Mami has underlying personal issues that cause her to act the way she does toward Kazuya (and whether those issues have been revealed in the manga), or if she’s simply a manipulative self-centered attention whore who loves to play around with Kazuya’s anxiety.
“Looks like Kazuya…
(•_•)
( •_•)>⌐■-■
(⌐■_■)
…ran straight into a trap.” (Yeeeeeeaaaaaahhhhhhh!)
Other thoughts:
– I’m guessing the whole issue with Kazuya and Chizuru’s grandmas will have to take a backseat for now. At least until Kazuya and Chizuru can find a way to break it to their grandmas that they’ve broken up. (To say nothing of hiding Chizuru’s work as a rental girlfriend.)
– That being said, I’ll dare to say that Kazuya’s really getting his money’s worth hiring Chizuru as a rental girlfriend–and then some. A rental girlfriend actively helping the client be a better person? That’s already invaluable in my book. Granted, it’ll never replace genuine intimacy/companionship with a real GF (and it’s pretty pricey), but it’s leagues better than being in a relationship with someone like Mami. (Imagine the psychological and emotional therapy one will need
to fix a broken heartafter getting out of a bad relationship…)– That first encounter with Ruka, though… (“Hentai.” *sticks tongue out*) Haven’t seen Nisekoi yet, but from what I’ve heard/read about the series, Ruka does remind me of Chitoge. (Incidentally, the one Nao Touyama character who got her guy at the end.) Wonder what kind of trouble will she bring now that she has Kazuya alone?
– And finally, how did Kazuya’s geeky friend meet Ruka, and how did she agree to date him?
IMO he shouldn’t be spending a dime on something like this, it’s why words such as simp and cuck have entered the modern lexicon. If Kazuya wants to improve he has to start with himself and give encouragement to himself, he cannot rely on someone else to help him with the process. Plus considering how much skin Chizuru has in the game with her own grandmother this isn’t a relationship which should be for one-sided profit anymore.
Regarding Ruka we should hopefully find out next week, although thinking how Kazuya’s friend could’ve met her and the manner of their date should give the game away 😉
“IMO he shouldn’t be spending a dime on something like this, it’s why words such as simp and cuck have entered the modern lexicon.”
TBH, those words should be classified as slurs, alongside “incel”. (F**king double standards… *r/Animemes Civil War–a.k.a.: Battle for the Bulge, The [Redacted] War–raging in the background*)
While it’s more admirable for a person to change from within, it still helps to have encouraging words from a support group–or at least someone who’s empathic enough. Never underestimate the power of a good word and empathy (or the inverse, an insult–and/or just as bad, downright apathy) in changing a person for the better (or for worse).
At the risk of sounding like I’m commodifying intimacy/companionship/emotional support, I gotta admire Chizuru being professional throughout it all and including those things (or arguably, a reasonable facsimile of those things) into her “date packages”. That being said, I’ll emphasize again that a rental relationship will never (fully) replace genuine intimacy/companionship with a real GF[1]–and Kazuya’s got to realize that sooner or later. (Preferably before his bank account runs out. Simpin’ ain’t easy[2], after all.)
Alternatively, I don’t mind Kazuya and Chizuru’s fake relationship becoming real, but time will tell how that develops, anime-wise. (Or one could just switch to the manga.)
(Note [1]: And yes, I’m all too painfully aware the same thing could be said about having 2D waifus, with the bonus that it’s pretty much one-sided.
Note [2]: To butcher the catchphrase of Charles “The Godfather” Wright. [“Pimpin’ ain’t easy!”])
I agree external support is good and welcome, my irk lies with paying for it, especially when it’s tied around a mutual lie. Chizuru’s apparent willingness to keep the lie going shows their relationship isn’t strictly professional anymore and should be treated differently.
If she wants to let the grandmas down easy then it is in her interest to volunteer to help Kazuya as a peaceful resolution is her reward. Agreeing to let Kazuya keep paying is akin to her having her cake and eating it too, and arguably shows her to not be as professional as she might think.
> IMO he shouldn’t be spending a dime on something like this, it’s why words such as simp
> and cuck have entered the modern lexicon.
More the former than the latter — at least until he starts paying the rental fees for other guys to take Chizuru out.
The problem is that Kazuya’s one finely-honed skill is dragging others into his vortex of chaos. Chizuru tried to walk away, several times, but every time she lapsed just a tiny bit, she was sucked back in to his alternate unreality. And it’s not getting any better: this week she gets dragged into a stupid double date, next week… Ruka. What is reality is that Kazuya can’t deal with anything successfully and the situation will continue until he runs out of money. Rock bottom… that’s where he needs to go (can he even prevent it?). She should double/treble her rates, bleed him dry, and if he ever starts dealing with his issues, she can give him some of the money back. Note… part of him dealing with his issues would be to stop buying her services. Another would be to actually follow through on something (anything) he commits to, e.g. clear the grandmother issue (from four episodes ago that somehow still exists).
Of course there was no actually kiss. The leads will. Not become a couple until the end of the series!
Technically they kissed last week (even if it was CPR only), but you’re not wrong XD
My theory is that Ruka is actually also a rental girlfriend to Chizuru thus calling out her. MC was surprised that Kize’s date was short. Most likely he can only afford to rent her a short time.
Ugh, really dislike the MC’s attitude and how he places Chizuru on a pedestal. But going to keep watching because the situation is pretty interesting. Show seems to imply that Ruka is also a rental girlfriend who has a crush on MC???
We should hopefully find out regarding Ruka next week!
And yes, Kazuya needs badly to get out of his current frame of mind, but frankly it will take a lot of time and effort. That sort of mentality is not easy to break, especially when this is his first real involvement with girls.
Is it me or more of you are more interested with side characters than main pair?
Mami – while she was out of sight this episode, will she return and what were her motivations, and perhaps hidden circumstances?
Ruka – how she got info on rental business of Chizuru, why does she care, and is she really with geeky friend of Kazuya? Is she maybe rental herself?
The side characters? Unless you mean the girls outside of Chizuru then not really; I don’t think I’ve ever said anything on any of them outside of Kibe haha. Most of my writing these past few weeks has been heavy on Kazuya and Chizuru/Mami given the weekly focus on them.
I’m not a reader of the source material but this new girl spells disaster for Chizuru and Kazuya, and I still hate how our mc guy seems like pathetic. Nonetheless, this was a hilarious episode.
Definitely disaster, although probably not as bad as one may think. Cannot have Chizuru falling too far out of relationship contention after all, that would be bad for the necessary drama 😛