彼女、お借りします Season5

Well, I guess it was nice of Kazuya to want to take all the responsibility so Chizuru wouldn't have to, if only to protect her, even if that also meant taking away any blame Chizuru might actually deserve for the mess they've made of things. So of course Kazuya's solution is to KEEP LYING by saying they officially got together a week before Granny Sayuri died. So it wasn't a fake relationship by then so they didn't have to tell her! I mean, emotionally that may have been true, but it's still just another lie complete with tons of Chizuru shilling in the process. Even Kibe can hardly believe Kazuya might be trying to spin this now of all times. But if Kazuya thought he could get away with another lie, he's deeply mistaken. Mami wants to see them kiss and prove their relationship is legitimate, ironically a move Ruka made all the way back in season 1. I mean, they've already made a public spectacle of themselves, what's one kiss going to matter? Ruka has every reason to want to watch this crash and burn. She oves Kazuya, she feels she NEEDS Kazuya and he needs her, she's his soulmate and she's tried so hard (probably too hard) to make him love her and be his legitimate girlfriend...but seeing Granny Nagomi's stare and realizing how Granny Nagomi genuinely cared about her means she can't stand on the sidelines in a swimsuit. Ruka and Kuri team-up to try to cover for them and defuse the tension, however in vain, but the sentiment is appreciated. But Kibe doesn't want to believe his best friend is a liar, even if that's what Kazuya's become after five seasons. But Chizuru FINALLY does something...which is PLANTING A BIG FAT KISS ON KAZUYA'S LIPS! That's right, she went there!

In my opinion it’s pretty obvious the paradise arc is where Reiji just started making stuff up as he went along.  The first 18 volumes are pretty good sure they have the usual problems that plague this series but it blew up because of them. There is actually a relatively tight plot and it’s pretty decent the climax in the movie arc is very solid and each time the format starts to get stale a new character is introduced to keep your interest. Starting with the paradise arc though the format just kinda stagnated and it feels very disjointed compared to what came before.  I think Reiji likely had everything planned out up until this point the movie arc was likely where it was supposed to end originally but then the series made a lot of money and he kept going. This arc reminds me of “Emily in Paris” it’s basically an ad with a loose plot constructed around that feature in fact moving forward there is lot more moments that feel like an ad disguised as genuine plot. Now that I mentioned it this story is very similar to “Emily in Paris” it has a creative premise, decent to good start that gradually devolves into an aimless pursuit of true love while littered with ads for luxury products.

Even on its slowest days and episodes, Dragon Ball Z had more action than this. I swear, the people surrounding this group of people seems to change with each new vantage point we look at them from. Like there were two random kids off to the side at one point, but I digress. First off, while we can all lament about Kazuya's inner monologue, I found it quite offputting they had his monologue play while he was talking to Kibe. It was kind of hard to follow (thank the subbers for subtitles). I can understand from a story point of view, Kibe and Ruka having their thoughts and past memories play out, to lay the groundwork of what they're about to say/do. Ruka was trying to diffuse the situation, while Kibe was trying to make sure his friend wasn't a deceiving little weasel all this time. (Btw, if not for subtitles, that one scene of Ruka would only have two things to look at) It's also very mind boggling that after Mami suggested them to kiss, Grandma Nagomi also told them to do it, just to see proof of their love. Mizuhara did it! Not him, SHE was the one who confessed her love by initiating the kiss! And next week's preview, are we going to see a catfight? Mami's eyes are villianous.

Crisis averted I guess, but honestly I don’t think telling one lie to cover for another is a tenable long term solution. At some point, they’ll have to end this whole farce. Either Kazuya actually dates Chizuru for real or he’s gonna basically end up losing all his closest friends and family over a lie. And seeing as how if being a pathetic simp was an Olympic sport homie would be sweeping gold every year, I don’t see these two dating any time soon. Even with that kiss at the end. That might as well have been at gunpoint haha.

As someone who has watched a lot of trash anime and movies, how I would have done the episode to make MC less pathetic while still keeping the show going: Have MC say he developed feelings for FMC from their fake dating and is giving her time to give him a response (which is exactly how last season ended). Then have MC lie and say that he told FMC to keep the ring when she tried to give it to him as he wants her to think it over. Then have MC tell Grandma, parents, and BF (Kibe) that if if FMC says no right now, he is going to blame them for the rest of his life for being the reason he gets rejected (back off to keep the story going). Then have him face the Mami--chan and ask if she did this because she hates that he moved on from her. (next episode preview Mami chan in response loses her shit and accidentally reveals her past). The kiss at the end was kind of dumb for the story if they don't at least start actually dating like a real couple after this. If it doesn't work out that is still a nice story told, but if it goes back to business as usual, it might take Guilty Crown's thrown for worse anime I ever watched.

Genuinely FUCK Kazuya. Gets exposed for lying and what does he do? Starts lying even more to "save" Chizuru from the consequences of her actions and saving himself in the process. Kibe even said himself he's tired of being lied to and if he lied here then he's no longer the friend he once knew, and he lied AGAIN. Why is him lying here not shown as despicable? "I can just say we broke up when get back to Tokyo" Yea that isn't happening and we all know it. I feel so bad for Ruka. She really fell for the wrong guy. Feeling emotionless HER WHOLE LIFE, finally falling in love with someone after searching for so long and then feeling inferior to Chizuru (who isn’t even trying at all) and feeling anxious because of the situation. She should know she isn't inferior to her at all. FUCK Kazuya for making her feel this way and ignoring her feelings and letting her feel so anxious all the time. Dating her for over 8 months, and continuing to let her feel this way and ignoring her pain. She genuinely DOES love him, and he spits on those feelings completely to pursue someone he literally just decided to confess to even though she's a RENTAL girlfriend and it's breaking the TOS. "For you and Mizuhara, I'll find a way to end it in a way that doesn't make anyone unhappy" FAT LOAD OF GOOD THAT STATEMENT IS. He's literally hurting her right now. Ultimately, all Kazuya is capable of is making a bunch of empty promises like repeatedly promising to end the rental relationship and then backtracking on those same statements. Loser. I really don't understand how some people can hate on Ruka so much and say she doesn't actually love Kazuya after this. Literally gave up her best chance at getting him after searching for him for so long in order to defend him WHILE ON THE VERGE OF TEARS. Chizuru doesn't even care much or at all about getting with him as much as Ruka does. God, I felt so bad for her when she was on the verge of tears before defending them and talking about how she'd work harder to make him like her. You'd think Kazuya would value her feelings more after being rejected so many times himself in the past. FUCK him for making her feel this way. Kazuya's regretting his actions here, but you know he'll go back to lying to them all in a heartbeat after this. I don't know why he regretted entering the trial relationship with Ruka like it would've changed anything about the situation. He just completely waived everyone's feelings away at the end all because he got (reluctantly) kissed. "Ruka-chan must be fuming" is really all he had to say about how she felt about the situation?? One of her worst fears is becoming realized and he doesn't even care that much about it. And the PRETENTIOUS ASS POETIC language at the end there pisses me off. It's basically just a pretty way of saying "nothing else matters because I got kissed tee-hee". Fuck off. She literally kissed him in that situation because she had no choice to. Kissing doesn't even prove that they're in a relationship at all, I don't know why it's being taken as some guarantee they're in a relationship. And FUCK Chizuru for deciding to kiss him, break her TOS even more and continue lying. Especially when she knows how Ruka feels about all this. This anime ragebaits me like no other. Edit: What ALSO pisses me off is that Kazuya is gonna start pursuing Chizuru AGAIN after this despite giving up last episode when he had that pool boner because he got kissed in a situation where she felt she "had" to kiss him.

Shiiit, out of the dumpster fire situation we have here, somehow Kibe is the one that gets to me the most. Bruh. You're with your bro and his family, why are you questioning your best friend in front of his fucking grandma? If you think your best friend lied to you for a year, fine, take it offline, meet up with him next weekend and punch his lights out. You don't question him in public in front of his grandma when everyone knows that's gonna kill her. Kazuya needs a new best friend, like yesterday.

A kiss at the end of the ~~51st~~ 52nd episode. Nice. That went pretty much how I expected it would. Mami had them boxed in with what she thought was her ace in the hole, but I don't think she was expecting Chizuru would actually do it. I'm curious where it goes now because she can't keep lying to herself now. Even if it was just to get them off their back, it still happened. But knowing this author we probably won't see that for multiple seasons lol. What I didn't expect was that it would be Ruka would come to his Kazuya's defence and try and defuse the situation because she has no reason to help him. This is what she's always wanted after all. If things blow up with Chizuru she can shoot her shot. Or so she thinks at least.

Well, Kazuya did help Chizuru out in her movie, as mentioned by Sayuri, it's up to Chizuru on what she wants to do. Kazuya will always try to defend Chizuru from the blame as he was at fault at first. Of course, the relationship was built on a lie as she's a rental girlfriend. Now, as Chizuru suddenly kisses Kazuya at the end, it did help Kazuya regain a little trust from his friends and family. As of this, it will be built on a fragile relationship, and it will take a lot of time for Kazuya and Chizuru to solidify their relationship. There will be confrontations in the next episode between Chizuru, Ruka and Mami.