# Rent-A-Girlfriend (彼女、お借りします)
**Rent-A-Girlfriend** (*Kanojo, Okarishimasu*, 彼女、お借りします) is a Japanese romantic comedy manga by Reiji Miyajima (宮島礼吏) serialized in Kodansha's *Weekly Shonen Magazine* since 2017, about a 20-year-old college student who, after being dumped by his first girlfriend, uses a rental-girlfriend service and keeps meeting the same rented date, Mizuhara Chizuru.[1](https://www.gendagigo.jp/Portals/0/pdf/archive/%E3%80%90GGE%E3%83%AA%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B9%E3%80%91TV%E3%82%A2%E3%83%8B%E3%83%A1%E3%80%8E%E5%BD%BC%E5%A5%B3%E3%80%81%E3%81%8A%E5%80%9F%E3%82%8A%E3%81%97%E3%81%BE%E3%81%99%E3%80%8F%C3%97GiGO%20Romantic%20Bath%20Time%20%E9%96%8B%E5%82%AC%E3%81%AE%E3%81%8A%E7%9F%A5%E3%82%89%E3%81%9B.pdf?TabModule443=0) • [2](https://kanokari-official.com/1st/story/) The English title retains the key elements of the original, *kanojo* (girlfriend) and *okarishimasu* (to borrow or rent), rearranged into a noun phrase.[3](https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2%3A2035027/FULLTEXT01.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Romantic comedy manga by Reiji Miyajima, serialized in *Weekly Shonen Magazine* (Kodansha) since 2017; commonly abbreviated KanoKari (かのかり)[1](https://www.gendagigo.jp/Portals/0/pdf/archive/%E3%80%90GGE%E3%83%AA%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B9%E3%80%91TV%E3%82%A2%E3%83%8B%E3%83%A1%E3%80%8E%E5%BD%BC%E5%A5%B3%E3%80%81%E3%81%8A%E5%80%9F%E3%82%8A%E3%81%97%E3%81%BE%E3%81%99%E3%80%8F%C3%97GiGO%20Romantic%20Bath%20Time%20%E9%96%8B%E5%82%AC%E3%81%AE%E3%81%8A%E7%9F%A5%E3%82%89%E3%81%9B.pdf?TabModule443=0) |
| Premise | Kazuya Kinoshita, a 20-year-old Tokyo college student dumped one month after his first kiss, rents a girlfriend, Mizuhara Chizuru[2](https://kanokari-official.com/1st/story/) |
| Sales | 5 million copies at the time of the anime announcement; over 13 million by October 2024[2](https://kanokari-official.com/1st/story/) • [4](https://s3-ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/assets.ikouhoushi.jp/attachment/magazine_issue_file/files/156432/published_156432.pdf) |
| Anime | TV anime running to five seasons; season 3 announced 4 July 2025, season 5 announced 10 April 2026 with an April premiere on Crunchyroll[5](https://www.kodansha.co.jp/titles/1000029912) • [6](https://as.com/meristation/manga-y-anime/es-uno-de-los-animes-mas-criticados-pero-el-trailer-de-su-temporada-5-confirma-que-todavia-tiene-muchos-fans-f202602-n/) |
| Live action | TV drama adaptation aired in the July 2022 season[5](https://www.kodansha.co.jp/titles/1000029912) • [7](https://dramafam.jp/kanokari/) |
| Length | Over 400 published chapters as of February 2026; volume 48 scheduled for 17 November 2026[6](https://as.com/meristation/manga-y-anime/es-uno-de-los-animes-mas-criticados-pero-el-trailer-de-su-temporada-5-confirma-que-todavia-tiene-muchos-fans-f202602-n/) • [5](https://www.kodansha.co.jp/titles/1000029912) |
| Spinoff | Official spinoff *Kanojo, Hitomishirimasu* (彼女、人見知ります) featuring new episodes with the main series' heroines[8](https://mangapedia.com/%E5%BD%BC%E5%A5%B3%E3%80%81%E4%BA%BA%E8%A6%8B%E7%9F%A5%E3%82%8A%E3%81%BE%E3%81%99-locudrtmf) |
## Premise and story
The story follows Kazuya Kinoshita, a 20-year-old college student living in Tokyo who is dumped by his first girlfriend one month after their single kiss. Reeling from the breakup, he uses "a certain method" to arrange a date with a girl, who turns out to be the beautiful Mizuhara Chizuru. The series' tagline is that in a single rental, a "real" glow emerges.[2](https://kanokari-official.com/1st/story/) Kodansha's synopsis describes Chizuru as a "with-circumstances" (wake-ari) great beauty whose encounter begins to change Kazuya's life.[5](https://www.kodansha.co.jp/titles/1000029912)
A structural feature identified in criticism is the management of a five-way romantic relationship: despite using a conventional love-comedy setup with multiple heroines, the story keeps being cut off and extended rather than moving steadily toward a resolution, and the heroines' feelings and actions are given priority over plot advancement.[9](https://realsound.jp/movie/2025/09/post-2170684_2.html) Reviewers on Filmarks describe the heroine as a professional who keeps her real feelings hidden behind a cold exterior, and the male lead as pathetic, clinging, and prone to failure, yet hard to dislike.[10](https://filmarks.com/animes/1271/1698/reviews/10285855)
## Author and serialization
**Reiji Miyajima** was born in 1985 in Nakano City, Nagano Prefecture. In 2005 he received a selected-out honorable mention (sen-gai kasaku) in the 75th Weekly Shonen Magazine Rookie Manga Award for *Pool no Saboten* (プールの仙人掌), and he later serialized *AKB49: Renai Kinshi Jourei* in the same magazine. Besides *Rent-A-Girlfriend*, he serializes *Shiunji-ke no Kodomotachi* in Hakusensha's *Young Animal*. By October 2024 his home city of Nakano had launched a tie-in promotion with his work, including a newly drawn short manga set in locations connected to the artist.[4](https://s3-ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/assets.ikouhoushi.jp/attachment/magazine_issue_file/files/156432/published_156432.pdf) In a 2019 interview series aimed at new artists, Miyajima and his editor re-reviewed his award-entry one-shot, criticizing its lack of a central theme and low visual information density while noting that its structure as a one-shot was competently assembled.[11](https://debut.shonenmagazine.com/interview/992/)
## Adaptations
The TV anime's first season was announced when the manga had passed 5 million copies in circulation.[2](https://kanokari-official.com/1st/story/) The anime was produced in 2020, and the series has run to five seasons: Kodansha's product page records the season 3 announcement on 4 July 2025 and the season 5 announcement on 10 April 2026.[12](https://filmarks.com/animes/1271/1698) • [5](https://www.kodansha.co.jp/titles/1000029912) The season 5 trailer announced an April premiere on [Crunchyroll](https://www.edgepedia.org/crunchyroll).[6](https://as.com/meristation/manga-y-anime/es-uno-de-los-animes-mas-criticados-pero-el-trailer-de-su-temporada-5-confirma-que-todavia-tiene-muchos-fans-f202602-n/) A live-action TV drama adaptation was announced on 2 July 2022 and aired in the July 2022 season.[5](https://www.kodansha.co.jp/titles/1000029912) • [7](https://dramafam.jp/kanokari/) A console game, *Kanojo, Okarishimasu: Suiheisen to Mizugi no Kanojo*, was produced by MAGES., with scenes following Kazuya on one-on-one dates with the heroines.[13](https://w.atwiki.jp/gcmatome/pages/9855.html) Crunchyroll, the United States streaming service, has publicly shown the process of designing the English logo for the title.[14](https://www.itmedia.co.jp/news/article/2011/13/1201113123/2)
## Sales and reception
Circulation grew from 5 million copies at the anime's announcement to over 13 million by October 2024.[2](https://kanokari-official.com/1st/story/) • [4](https://s3-ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/assets.ikouhoushi.jp/attachment/magazine_issue_file/files/156432/published_156432.pdf) The manga has drawn strong reader ratings on Japanese storefronts: Comic Seymour lists an average of 4.2 out of 5 from 636 reviews, and the Filmarks anime database lists 3.7 out of 5 from 8,350 reviews.[15](https://www.cmoa.jp/title/137366) • [12](https://filmarks.com/animes/1271/1698)
The anime is nonetheless one of the most criticized series in its field. Spanish coverage around the season 5 trailer noted hundreds of frustrated comments questioning why a series many consider past its interesting phase keeps being renewed, while audience success continues.[6](https://as.com/meristation/manga-y-anime/es-uno-de-los-animes-mas-criticados-pero-el-trailer-de-su-temporada-5-confirma-que-todavia-tiene-muchos-fans-f202602-n/) The live-action drama fared worse with reviewers: dramafam respondents gave it 2.22 out of 5 overall, ranking it near the bottom of its season, with criticism focused on script and staging.[7](https://dramafam.jp/kanokari/)
## References
1. [GiGO release notice describing Kanojo, Okarishimasu as a Weekly Shonen Magazine manga serialized since 2017](https://www.gendagigo.jp/Portals/0/pdf/archive/%E3%80%90GGE%E3%83%AA%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B9%E3%80%91TV%E3%82%A2%E3%83%8B%E3%83%A1%E3%80%8E%E5%BD%BC%E5%A5%B3%E3%80%81%E3%81%8A%E5%80%9F%E3%82%8A%E3%81%97%E3%81%BE%E3%81%99%E3%80%8F%C3%97GiGO%20Romantic%20Bath%20Time%20%E9%96%8B%E5%82%AC%E3%81%AE%E3%81%8A%E7%9F%A5%E3%82%89%E3%81%9B.pdf?TabModule443=0)
2. [STORY | TV anime Kanojo, Okarishimasu official site](https://kanokari-official.com/1st/story/)
3. [Degree thesis on manga title translation, DiVA portal](https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2%3A2035027/FULLTEXT01.pdf)
4. [Koho Nakano, October 2024 (Nakano City public relations, feature on Reiji Miyajima)](https://s3-ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/assets.ikouhoushi.jp/attachment/magazine_issue_file/files/156432/published_156432.pdf)
5. [Kodansha title page: Kanojo, Okarishimasu publications and adaptations](https://www.kodansha.co.jp/titles/1000029912)
6. [MeriStation/AS: Rent-A-Girlfriend season 5 trailer and reception](https://as.com/meristation/manga-y-anime/es-uno-de-los-animes-mas-criticados-pero-el-trailer-de-su-temporada-5-confirma-que-todavia-tiene-muchos-fans-f202602-n/)
7. [dramafam.jp: Kanojo, Okarishimasu (2022 drama) ratings](https://dramafam.jp/kanokari/)
8. [Mangapedia: Kanojo, Hitomishirimasu](https://mangapedia.com/%E5%BD%BC%E5%A5%B3%E3%80%81%E4%BA%BA%E8%A6%8B%E7%9F%A5%E3%82%8A%E3%81%BE%E3%81%99-locudrtmf)
9. [Real Sound: on the conventions of Magazine-based adaptations, Rent-A-Girlfriend season 4](https://realsound.jp/movie/2025/09/post-2170684_2.html)
10. [Filmarks review of the anime](https://filmarks.com/animes/1271/1698/reviews/10285855)
11. [Shonen Magazine debut site: interview with Reiji Miyajima](https://debut.shonenmagazine.com/interview/992/)
12. [Filmarks: Rent-A-Girlfriend anime rating page](https://filmarks.com/animes/1271/1698)
13. [Game Catalog atwiki: Kanojo, Okarishimasu: Suiheisen to Mizugi no Kanojo](https://w.atwiki.jp/gcmatome/pages/9855.html)
14. [ITmedia News: Crunchyroll's English logo design process for Japanese titles](https://www.itmedia.co.jp/news/article/2011/13/1201113123/2)
15. [Comic Seymour: Rent-A-Girlfriend volume 1 reviews](https://www.cmoa.jp/title/137366)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Anime and manga › Manga titles, publishers, and magazines › Shōnen manga titles › Comedy, romance, and slice-of-life titles*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license