Back to FluffyFlareon's Profile FluffyFlareon's Profile

If I were to describe this anime in approximately three words, I'd characterize it as: relaxed, wholesome, and largely inoffensive.

It's funny how perfectly the anime's watching experience conforms to its description. There's never been a better example of what can be considered a pellucid undergoing. In this way, the anime becomes cohesive, with a simple premise and an even simpler narrative execution. Do not expect much for plot contortions or any such complexities. No, this is as direct as serial anime gets.

If you've ever watched an isekai — particularly of the vrmmo typing popularized by SAO — you will be well primed to ... understand all the elements in this one immediately. Even if you haven't, it's still elementary, that it could be even enjoyed by young children as well, if it weren't for the occasional "bastard!" or periodic brutal slaying of orcs and wolves and such (as one is wont to do in isekai). And still those situations are tamer and more modest than the usual faire. That doesn't mean that it's entirely derelict or bankrupt of value or enjoyability. What the anime lacks in cerebral depth and novelty, it makes up in what I would call "cuteness overload" and other dimensions of loveliness, in addition to quality character designs, enjoyable character interactions, and competent animation, direction, dialogue, and sound production: all of the components you might expect as prerequisites in making an anime consummate. It's fun and adorable, and thusly by no means a bad anime; in fact, I'd almost postulate that it's fairly above-average. Rarely do I rate an anime better than its MAL score, but I'm confident that Kuma Kuma is fairly valued, or possibly underestimated by my calculations. Don't get me started on the IMDB scores.

Those things being said, I'd caution anyone to hold any expectations whatsoever, as it never seems to consist an overarching plotline; the episodes are largely unconnected and conflicts are inured to resolve in the same episode in which they come into being. If the episodes are held together by any fabric, that phenomenon must be driven by character connections as relationships form, develop, rather than by a well-structured tale. Things seem to flow sanguinely at the character level, if but a bit in a gallivant manner when considering the narrative as a whole instead. The most essential relationships that contribute to the series' successes center around Yuna and her adoptive sisters, or when the story calls for it, Yuna and her business partners / the guild masters. The show revolves around these interactions.

After all, Yuna's main selling point as a character is her authentic purity — despite a penchant toward a certain cynicism of the world and adults (particularly other wealthy individuals) which she bears with her from the real world to the game world. She isn't very corruptible, and that personal quality is central to the entire show's ethos. What better way to show it, than by situating Yuna in circumstances that allow her to befriend the otherwise helpless? The purity that I speak of manifests in the way she bonds with other characters, essentially assuming the role of a big sister and protectress. That isn't to say that she doesn't have her flaws; rather, she's quick to dismiss others' concerns as not her problem unless she's already emotionally invested or in some way gains an advantage or comfort (such as food). In cases when she does, she's impressively magnanimous, as money in this world, like the real one, is no object to her, because she's enduring the harsh reality of endless pockets. Despite these couple unfortunate parts of her makeup, she is overwhelmingly just and good, and proves it by making a few selfless decisions and treating others with dignity.

With such dedication poured into the protagonist and her friendships, and with such little concentration placed on plot-building, I can't help but focus on the fact that there's no true antagonist, nor really a central conflict at all. How would these factors have affected the anime if they had been included? Certainly, they would've added some level of complicacy, but if fashioned badly could also have jeopardized the show's candid elegance and easiness with unnecessary convolution.

The writers ultimately opted to strip it to a more bare-bones approach instead: a rich 15-year-old girl is trapped in an alternative universe, with magic and monsters, along with a bear costume that unlocks unreasonably broken skills, and a hoard of cash, to make friends and defeat the incidental enemy. And you know what? SHE LIKES IT. While for other characters the prospect of death from an illness or monster fight is realistic, or the possibility of being subjugated and exploited palpable, Yuna is unfazed because she's both puissant and affluent. It's everyone's dream, to be in control of their own destiny and unworried about their access to basic necessities and financial security. That's one of the reasons that RPG games are so popular, — it's a form of escapism from harsh realities. And no one seems to flourish more doing so than Yuna.

NOTE: I'm forced to give an overall score, so I'm selecting '5' provisionally. That's not a real score. I'll score it after the entire season is over.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THIS REVIEW IS AFTER 6 EPISODES, BUT I MAY ADD MORE AFTER THE SEASON COMPLETES.
I'M SUBMITTING THIS NOW IN RESPONSE TO HUNDREDS OF ANGRY REVIEWS WITH MISPLACED FRUSTRATION
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I find it disconcerting that users would review and rate an anime before the first half of the season has even concluded; further, that some are unable to fully understand the premise of the show and its themes (I'll cover these concepts shortly) is more "cringe-worthy" than anything in ... the anime itself, a term not used sparingly by discontents who would choose to rate this an overall 1/10.

There's nothing in this anime, that I can discern, that would merit that treatment – perhaps a 3/10 or 4/10 at worst, in the event that genuine in-depth grievances with the plot points, characterization, vision, and general execution are tendered. There are anime that deserve a 1/10, but that should be reserved for the truly worst-of-the-worst, with a certain special degree of ineptitude. I find it harder to trust in the rankings on MAL as I continue to see so many premature ratings paired with half-cocked conceptions on what the anime is or isn't, in fulfilling the reviewers' expectations. Honestly, I think it's unethical; luckily, none (maybe 0.1%) of the reviewers on this site are professional writers. It may be interesting to see people retroactively edit their scores and reviews, if the show and subsequent seasons emerge to be critically-acclaimed and successful with general audiences.

Perhaps it's a patience thing; I'd hate to see some of these reviewers' reactions to "Monster", "Kids on the Slope", or "Clannad"; all of which require patience, but are ultimately rewarding.

That being said, I'd be remiss to not concede a few important points, as they are likely the source of a fair amount of consternation directed toward "Rent-a-Girlfriend". There is a definite pacing issue in this anime, which is amplified by the (dilatory) weekly serial release schedule, and, as far as I've heard, the original source material isn't a succoring force for this redress, but rather shares in the culpability along with the adapters. To be fairer to the anime producers, when the quality of the manga is weak in its infantile stages, these flaws often naturally translate to the adaptation if the adaptation follows directly and from the start. What follows is slow-burning plot progression that's slightly alleviated every Friday, when the next episode is released and some additional matters unfold. As the anime matures, I hypothesize a greater rapidity in the action (especially as this is evident in the manga), with drama ensuing as the characters likewise evolve.

Kazuya is characterized as a failure in his academics, love life, and general ability to be a dignified person with any semblance of self-esteem; and, as the first episodes have indicated, the content of his character doesn't improve very expeditiously. This is by design. People in real life are slow to transform, gain confidence or self-respect, and establish meaningful relationships. Whereas many viewers are expecting some instantaneous gratification that his personality and temperament become drastically repaired, this demand is fully unrealistic; people are not so malleable in practice. Can someone show me a way to clap my hands, and have it be so? then I would gladly take it. Clap! Instant gratification. I'm immediately a masterful public speaker. Clap! Make me extremely influential and persuasive. Clap! Now that I am confident, and that I can ask any woman out without timidity, can you imagine my new romances?

My point is that Kazuya is purposefully portrayed as a base shell of a human being. His growth is meant to be slow, and should only progress quickly as a reaction to crucial turning points. Crucial turning points don't happen every day to people – if they do for you, than you are living a very volatile or extreme existence. But we should be careful to not conflate an enjoyable character with an interesting character, either: although they are not mutually exclusive, in this instance, Kazuya is an interesting character but not a likeable character. To be such a character-driven work, but with very detestable characters, is an unenviable pressure and a definite risk taken by the manga writer and anime production company. Because the lead character's not likeable, a large proportion of the audience derides the show for just how un-likeable he is; while everyone is free to approach art in that way, in my opinion, it's not the most balanced way to assess the artistic value of an anime.

I anticipate some rejoinders challenging the realism of Kazuya's character at all, which leads me to cogitate on who or what this main character represents. Is he meant to be an accurate portrayal of men in Japanese society, or is he a hyperbolic instrument? We may be hard-pressed to find people like Kazuya, but that could be because they don't betray their flaws openly. I like to think that the truth is somewhere in the middle – there are ample examples similar to Kazuya, but perhaps not to that extreme. In that way he's a type of parody of the commiserable, contemptible, shabby, and spineless. I'm personally hopeful that his impinging development will flourish into a thousand fascinating and colorful facets, to be both instructive and engaging.

Chizuru is his conduit for growth, and I will be sure to closely examine every interaction the two characters experience with one another. Every word or piece of body language can be a window into their relationship, and consequently his development as a character. Mami, on the other hand, is an important foil to Chizuru, and her motives to be so maleficent and manipulating remain unclear at present. Understanding why she's absorbed with being as disruptive as she is will also prove to be key to this anime when examined as a character study; or, I may be over-analyzing some of this stuff. Time will tell. And we haven't even mentioned Ruka or Sumi yet, who are sure to add more dimension to the story and provide supplemental communication of ideas.

Speaking of communication, another pertinent topic throughout this work is about how we as humans express ourselves to others. The inability to adequately, honestly communicate underscores and perpetuates the fundamental conflicts in hundreds of anime, including this one; the resolution of the conflicts belie any fake or false projections of who the characters pretend to be on the surface. Kazuya? He wants to be accepted by his family, perceived as desirable to Mami, and viewed favorably in his social circles. To achieve this, he takes on a false girlfriend, puts on a false performance, behind a false face. The plot line of this story starts out with a simple lie, that snowballs out of control; the entire conflict could be resolved through transparency from the beginning, if that was human nature. But the things is, that's not human nature; and it's not human nature for his family to accept him as he is, either. Unfortunately, you can't choose your relatives like you can your fake rental girlfriends. Even worse, the adoption of rental girlfriends not only signifies dishonesty toward others, and an ethical duplicity of trust, but also a distortion of one's self, as a form of self-deceit. Kazuya will ultimately need to reconcile these things within himself, parallel to mending his relationships with those he lied to, including establishing the mettle to defy his authoritative, overbearing relatives.

Kazuya isn't the only one who puts on a false persona, though; this is reflected in many of the other characters, too. Shun takes on a rental girlfriend of his own, Ruka. Ruka and Chizuru's entire profession is based on substituting reality with a subversion. Mami conceals a bitter and exploitative version of herself behind a vivacious veneer. Basically, everyone acts fake in a certain way. You don't have to "like" any of these characters in order to find the show interesting. They're a bunch of fakers, which gives them complexion.

None of this is to say that there aren't flaws in the show, but many of the criticisms that I've read don't seem justified to me. There's been an overreaction to the protagonist among the anime community, and an overreaction to the plot. It's true that some plot points are ludicrously unrealistic and improbable, and are there for the sake of contrived convenience, but I'd hate to painstakingly dissect these; "I leave this as an exercise to the reader". I don't think the point of the anime is to be impervious to scrutiny, but to be an exploration of a ridiculous set of circumstances, and how the characters react to one another and germinate in the presence of family impositions, societal compulsions, and prevarications. The specifics might be absurd, but the show encapsulates the social apprehension that everyone feels on a regular basis relatively nicely.

Even if the story and characters don't "speak" to you, there's still several high-quality elements in the form of production value, that would salvage it from being a 1/10 or 2/10. The animation is competent and sometimes even vibrant and beautiful. The character designs are pretty and the character effects attractive. The sets/scenery are passable. If there's a score, then it's not very memorable, but the sound design and voice acting is overall tight. Did I mention that the OP is a banger? The OP is a banger.

I think the main problem with this anime is that the anime doesn't align with people's expectations of what it "should" be; i.e., a fast-paced comedy with anime-perfect characters. I never had these demands, and I consume this anime as it is.

Once the season is over, I'll revisit this review and give a score for realsies.

What starts off as a setup with substantial potential in the first three establishing episodes of this series, rapidly devolves over the course of the next nine. Don't get me wrong -- a lot of the elements put in place for this anime are highly cliche and uninspired (and not in a satirical way); however, don't get me wrong in the other direction -- this anime is also not awful. In fact, I'd say the first three episodes led me to believe that it'd be significantly above average.

Enter Glenn Radars -- deceptively versatile, but incorrigibly opportunistic and frustratingly dispassionate. Did this anime attempt to ... make him an antihero but miss its mark? From the moments we meet him, showing absolutely no concern for his female students' right to privacy (and basking to their nakedness before him), to the final episodes, admitting harboring motivation that would see him wedlock out of shallow desire to never work another day in his life (through marrying up in caste), his lazy demeanor and sleazy treatment of other characters doesn't end up being integral to the primary plot (or his development as a character). (If we can even call this a plot -- it's mostly just a disjointed series of "things happening", which doesn't define an actual plot.) An anti-hero is supposed to be someone who acts out of self-interest because of their nature, environment, past experiences, and other context, and that says something about the world around them. For example, Holden Caulfield from A Catcher in the Rye is a true anti-hero; he's disaffected, cynical, and sarcastic because he experiences the alienation and isolation associated with growing into an adult world full of hypocrisy and fakeness. Han Solo from A New Hope is another great example - he does things that advantage him in a galaxy ruled by forced order mixed with unattended lawlessness. And while this Glenn Radars main character has clearly-needed back-story to exposit why he's first shown to detest magic (I suspected it involved tragedy that would be tied directly to the forthcoming narrative), when all of this is revealed it still doesn't explain why he is how he is. Why is he so lazy and so scummy? It only explains why he "doesn't like magic" during the first two episodes of the anime; otherwise, the reasons for his attributes are weakly expounded. He also had clear room to grow as a dynamic character that could face his past in an increasingly mature way while learning from his new experiences in a new position of guiding, teaching, and protecting his students. This also didn't happen. Holden Caulfield remains jaded, but at least he learns things and tells his story with surprising honesty. Glenn Radars doesn't learn anything. Han Solo realizes that there's value in risking his life for a greater cause of liberty and autonomy, through developing connections with Luke and Leia. Glenn Radars always knew that risking his life is worth it (as evidenced by his back-story), so why attempt to make him an anti-hero? If they wanted to do something that made sense with his back-story, the writers should have explored his dealing with loss in a much different way, instead of making him lazy and contemptible. But it's hard to make things funny that way with levity, so they built him into a chauvinistic asshat with little regard of other human beings as people with feelings, even behind the bravado of protecting Sistine's prospects of applied magic, or safeguarding Rumia's life. This lends the anime to funny moments, but also fails to delve into real, human experience of love, loss, sacrifice, withdrawal. Revenge and acceptance. Depression vs drive. It never feels like Glenn is internally vulnerable; he's too sure of himself and the backstory feels too devisive.

But the main character isn't the only flaw. I've already referenced it, but the more egregious problem (which probably ruins the characters in terms of development), is the narrative.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Sakamichi no Apollon. Usagi Drop. If you think of short-form 12-episode anime that are *exceptional*, their compact form justifies their scope and reflects their pacing. Everything starts from a strong foundation of structured, deliberate form, as well as unique storytelling of smartly-crafted character-driven narrative. Characters change. Relationships between them are ephemeral. And, most importantly, the narrative tells a story, through those characters, that means something. Kids on the Slope brings very contrasting characters together through mutual appreciation for the language of jazz. Usagi Droppu explores the challenges associated with raising children. And Madoka Magica is about existentialist themes of dedication and creating meaning. But I'm confused what Akashic Records is about. Is it about finding meaning after loss? Is it about pursuing passion? Is it a critique about just vs unjust use of power? This leads me to the core fundamental problem with this series - it's unfocused. It turns into a rushed jumbled mess. It assaults the viewer with so much sensory resulting in too many unresolved threads, fails to fully address plot holes or tie up plot points, or fully flush out the back-stories so that we can actually care about the characters more than, say, a "5, mediocre" status. We get a main character whose true characteristics (underneath all of the "lazy asshat" facade) are unclear, faced by antagonistic forces whose motivations are under-developed, rushed into the story's plotpoints with little establishment, with arcs that are unnecessary or random. Imagine attempting to cram 25 episodes of some great anime (say, Spice and Wolf or Code Geass) into 12 episodes, but then remove two key episodes and add two filler episodes. That's what this feels like.

It borrows a lot from current hype trends in anime, but it still had definite potential that feels wasted because of poor planning and a rushed structure . But don't tell me that I need to read the manga or wait for another season to come out, in order to have a firmer understanding of this anime's purpose. This should stand on its own merits alone. In the end, it's not meaningful to me, but it's still a fun time. Sistine is a cute, if overdone, tsundere archetype, and Re-L is adorably clueless. I like the way magic is represented in the anime, and the action scenes are competently choreographed and animated. The dialogue is good in general, if you can look past the contextual plot problems. The voice acting is pretty good, as well as other elements of the production value, and it's entertaining even while I'm frustratingly trying to connect with the characters or themes of the show. I won't bother getting into many details about the revealing character designs, the fan service, or the minor inconsistencies and weird plot arcs - this anime had more fundamental issues (than just execution) that I wanted to address, like how they dealt with the anti-hero and how they structured the narrative, and I think other reviewers have talked about these various other problems sufficiently.

Overall, I'd recommend this if:
* you want a new best-girl tsundere that's well animated and voice acted
* you don't mind a confused plot in an overdone magic high school setting
* you could use some light fun with moderately humorous scenes and dialogue
* I have to admit that it's a cute show, even if it's nonsensical - especially the preview cuts at the end of each episode, with this kind of self-referential humor, etc. that this anime doesn't take itself too seriously as an art form