When the second episode of the second season of Rent-A-Girlfriend started, I was worried. Honestly, I was really worried. The opening moments kind of sucked and were mainly used to catch us up with some of the other characters. Mostly, it was glossed over and it didn't really contribute to anything but that's fine - because it feels like there's finally been progress with Kauzya and Chizuru.

Mind you, that isn't intense progress, but I felt like Chizuru especially got more fleshed out this episode.

The episode was divided into three main parts. That being Kazuya's date with Chizuru as a rental girlfriend, then their not date when she's off the clock and finally visiting the hospital. The episode never got boring, in my opinion, and they actually kept Kazuya's creepiness to an all time low. Yeah, one or two moments were kind of cringe - but that's fine. It's only when it makes his character completely unlikable that it's a problem. And to be honest... I didn't completely hate Kazuya this episode.

The first portion, the rental date was the weakest one. It was nice to have Chizuru acknowledge how messed up the whole situation was. I got a little annoyed when Kazuya kept repeating to himself it wasn't a real date - but I suppose it's alright. Mainly, I liked that Chizuru reminded us that these other characters still exist and based on the ending of this episode, we'll probably be dealing with them sooner than we think.

It's once the date ends that things get interesting though. Chizuru decides to hang out with Kazuya off the clock. They go to the batting cages together and the whole thing was... surprisingly cute! I'd also like to give a special shoutout to the music that played during these scenes, since I thought it was rather excellent. It was these scenes that, finally, made me believe there may be a friendship here. That's pretty impressive considering how much I disliked Kazuya in the first episode. The high-five was awesome.

The final section, visiting Chizuru's grandma in the hospital was my favorite part. I know Chizuru is acting, but it was kind of adorable to see her call Kazuya her boyfriend. What was really great though was the developing of Chizuru's character. She's not as much of an ice queen as it seems, nor a loner. In fact, she's probably pretty lonely. We've seen hints of this throughout season one, but the background the grandma gives is... kind of heartbreaking. I hope they pick this up later, too.

If there's one thing that worries me, it's that one day, surely, they're going to get caught. They'll slip up, or need to confess. Even worse, one of the other 'girlfriends' could end up spilling the means in an act of malice. It wouldn't surprise me, as some of the characters on this show are really toxic. I don't know if they're meant to be written that way, but that's how it is.

For now, I'm satisfied though. Season 2 of Rent-A-Girlfriend is on the up and up. And I really, really hope it stays that way.

Rent-A-Girlfriend currently airs weekly on Crunchyroll.

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