Reiji Miyajima’s popular Rent-A-Girlfriend is one that I’m relatively new to, as I started reading right when v4 dropped right around the New Year. Volume 5 was in my pulls when I picked them up today, so I reread v4, just to catch up. As a small aside ~ I haven’t seen the anime, so I can’t speak to any comparisons between the two.

This review’s a little different from my previous ones, as this is the first that’s not beginning with v1 at the start of a series. With that said, I won’t rehash the first three volumes and will jump right in with v4.

Ruka and Physiology / Psychology: Ruka-chan… Wow! This is the first time I’ve seen a take like this on someone with bradycardia (slow heart rate) and the way that she uses it to gauge her interest in someone / something by constantly monitoring it. The way that she uses the 90bpm as the trigger for determining if she’s interested in someone is interesting, and of course, it’s the hapless Kazuya that sparks the pitter-patters in her heart. It’s an interesting take, for sure.

So, in psychology, there’s this thing called an arousal attribution error (stems from the two-factor theory of love) where people mistake physical arousal (from exercise or being frightened ~ or from another pleasant stimulus) for attraction / love. A good example of this is why you’re more attracted to people you see or work out with when you’re working out than if you just met them in a less heightened state. I’m inclined to think that this could potential be a part of what’s going on here, and am curious to follow it through to see how Ruka ends up evaluating her feelings as she gets to know Kazuya more.

Jumping into the Story: Anyhow, I think there’s an actual Manga here to review… Kazuya and Chizuru start the volume off debriefing from the double-date they were on with Kuri & Ruka and trying to figure out what’s going on with Ruka and the way that she suddenly confessed to being a Rent-A-Girlfriend. Obviously, they over-analyze the heck out of it because they’re both afraid of their respective lies being exposed by her (Kazuya in disappointing his grandmother by Chizuru not being a real girlfriend and Chizuru’s grandmother finding out that she’s working as a Rent-A-Girlfriend).

Unexpectedly ~ Ruka shows up at Kazuya’s school when he was supposed to be meeting with Kuri. Instead of being seen with her, Kazuya makes the only decision that makes sense because it drives the plot rational decision and runs off with Ruka to hide her from Kuri, which surprisingly, blows up spectacularly in their faces. Kazuya ends up back at the apartment and is discussing the new turn of events with Chizuru when ~ surprise! ~ Ruka shows up! Ruka tries to blackmail convince Kazuya into dating her, because she’s in love ( ❤ ).

More awkward stuff happens, we get some exposition into Ruka’s background and the difficulty the bradycardia has caused throughout life, we see a bit of their ‘dating’ (one date a week, daily phone calls, no fewer than 50 text message responses, and he must like all of her social media posts) exhausting Kazuya.

Back to that hot, hot Kazuya x Chizuru (non) interaction ~ in the form of 3x chapter of him awkwardly stalking her on Christmas after spotting her with another guy while he was out. (Non) Spoiler ~ Mystery Hot Dude is just one of Chizuru’s classmates that she asked for some pointers on her quest to becoming an actress. Stand up guy, Mystery Hot Dude, even puts in a good word for her with his producer as well! Kazuya, of course misinterprets everything and, as his unique skill set allows, makes it all super awkward for all parties involved. Meanwhile, Mystery Hot Dude helped Chizuru select a nice little holiday present for Kazuya (not because she likes him or anything).

Meanwhile, these two idiots can’t just admit that they actually kind of like each other, so the drama will be ongoing. And expanding to other people, especially considering that Ruka shows up again and kidnaps leads a blindfolded Kazuya away for a little surprise…

Final Thoughts: While readers might interpret my immense sarcasm in this one as me not liking it, I actually do. That said, yes, I have some issues with parts of it (largely centered around 1.) consent & sexism and 2.) everyone’s poor communication skills), but I like Chizuru and want to get to know her without Kazuya’s projection of what he wants her to be onto her portrayal. I also think Ruka has a potentially interesting story arc, if she’s handled thoughtfully and developed intentionally.

Rating Time! I’m going with a solid 6.5 on this one. It’s an entertaining read and the characters are all beautifully drawn. The backgrounds are so natural, they hardly even register because they capture normal life out and about in the world so well. Despite the positives, my issues with some of the portrayals remain, so that drops the score a bit as compared to if these concerns were better handled.

• Strengths:
  • Character design, outfits, and facial expressions are absolutely gorgeous
  • Background art is clean and representative of the world (real and in-series)
  • Characters are committed to their motivations and act based on them / their convictions
  • Ruka has a lot of potential
• Weaknesses:
  • Kazuya comes across as a weird mix of a stalker / white knight throughout the series, and that continues here, especially with the Christmas arc
  • We still don’t truly know Chizuru, we only see a combination of what she portrays and how Kazuya interprets her
  • Their motivations are kind of jacked (just being honest here)
  • Ruka has a lot of potential ~ but it’s still only potential at the moment

I encourage you to support the author and purchase from your Local Comic Shop or an authorized retailer for Kodansha Comics. (Official Kodansha series page HERE.)