Kanojo Okarishimasu 2nd Season – 01

OP Sequence

OP: 「ヒミツ恋ゴコロ」 (Himitsu Koi Gokoro) by CHiCO with HoneyWorks

「夢と彼女-ユメカノ-」 (Yume to Kanojo – Yumekano –)
“Dream and Girlfriend”

It’s kind of fitting that the anime summer season kicks off on July 1st. Besides being North America’s preeminent weekend (Canada Day and Independence Day make for a lovely one-two combo) it’s also the de facto start of summer for many a northern country, so to say it fits with the mood would be appropriate. And the best way to kick off the festivities? Why with a little romcom craziness of course. Say hello to Kanojo Okarishimasu’s second helping.

Considering this is Kanojo Okarishimasu’s sequel I won’t waste too much time with synopses or recaps, but suffice to say this opener does well enough to fill in the blanks. In short main man Kazuya (Horie Shun) is what all meek and mild teenage harem protagonists strive to be in adulthood, being just pathetic enough to seek therapy for his romance woes via rental girlfriend Chizuru (Amamiya Sora), but not that pathetic to not know what he’s doing won’t help his greater troubles. Likewise Chizuru has her own issues, using her for-hire services to kickstart her acting dreams while also denying that her feelings for Kazuya are slowly growing into something less than professional. And then of course comes the harem competition in the form of ex-girlfriend Mami (Yuuki Aoi) and fellow rental girlfriends Ruka (Touyama Nao) and Sumi (Takahashi Rie) who will inevitably get their own arcs again later this season. It’s everything you know and love (and hate) about vanilla harem romcoms in action, and Kanojo Okarishimasu wastes little time in throwing you right into fray.

Of course for all the annoying cliches at work in this series it still has its moments and this episode arguably proved that in spades. Kazuya is case in point, he may be the dweebiest of dweebs, but he does have his moments of clarity as shown with that honestly impressive admission with Chizuru regarding her acting dreams. In this instance he’s completely correct: so what if Chizuru didn’t succeed this time? She’s put in tremendous work and effort, the sort of thing which at some point will pay off if she stays committed. She may have lost to a better connected actress now, but that doesn’t mean she will later on; as with all pursuits if you want it enough and consistently work towards it something will eventually break in your favour. Mind you Kazuya then implodes with his promise of additional simp bucks to fuel Chizuru’s aspirations, but at least his heart is in the right place. Going to be interesting (read: cringeworthy and hilarious) seeing how this little development plays out once resident shit stirrer Mami catches wind of Chizuru’s change of plans.

In the end though Kanojo Okarishimasu hasn’t changed a bit since it last aired. The harem shenanigans are firmly entrenched, the misunderstandings ripe, and all the fun of deliberately dragged out (and thoroughly blue balled) relationships ready for another frolic in the fields. It definitely won’t be changing any minds set after its first season, but you need look no further than this to meet the needs of any romcom appetite. I still have to decide if I want to carry on with this one, but one way or another it’s certainly going to be one wild summer ride.

Preview