The Lungfish Diaries

Hello again, friends. Kazuya is back on his bullshit, but this time, his lying serves a different purpose, and this small change plays into the relatively static nature of the characters in Rent-A-Girlfriend . We’ll also dig into the meat of Kazuya’s fully enunciated confession, which is lacking in words but not in the emotion of the moment, and we’ll consider how Chizuru might take it going forward. Finally, we’ll run down where Mami and Ruka stand, especially as Mami continues to press the issue. Let’s take a closer look. Kazuya hasn’t changed, and that’s okay Kazuya digs himself deeper. As Kazuya shamelessly lies again, it’s easy to look back and say, this guy hasn’t changed at all . He’s lying with only the barest compunctions, asking forgiveness rather than being truthful. More broadly, he still gets flustered around women. He gets deterred by obstacles and agonizes over following through. He questions his own self-worth and can’t see himself positively, as somebody worthy...

Hello again, friends. This week, we were treated to a new memory of Sayuri that put Nagomi’s actions into context, Kibe got violent again, Mami couldn’t resist enjoying her seeming victory, and Chizuru froze up, but what I want to talk about most is something that most people might not have noticed: a little line at the end of the chapter. Does it sound familiar? She's still not that kind of girl. (Ch. 223 vs. Ch. 6) Miyajima’s long, strange trip through the history of Rent-A-Girlfriend continues That’s right; Kazuya’s remark at the end of this chapter, coming to Chizuru’s defense, is a word-for-word repeat of what he said way back in chapter 6. Back then, flat on his behind while Mami cast aspersions on Chizuru’s character, Kazuya came to Chizuru’s defense and wrestled himself free from Mami’s manipulations, at least for the moment. Hmm. That goes along with the rather more obvious repeat performance this week: Kibe’s decking of Kazuya, this time for seeming to have ...

Welcome back, friends! With not much to chew on in ch. 221, I’ve gone ahead and combined the analyses for these past two chapters together, and boy did 222 deliver! This week, we’ll talk about Kazuya’s inability to get a word in, Mami’s shrewd new tack, and what Nagomi must be going through, but most importantly, we’ll take a look at Chizuru’s relationship with performance and lies, which this chapter wisely points out has been at issue from the very beginning. Is the perfect smile as sweet if it’s the only emotion she ever shows? Miyajima’s visual language and how Kazuya’s world has turned upside-down Christopher Nolan is now considering directing a romcom. Give Miyajima some credit here: the couple pages of Kazuya and the scene upside-down in 222 really helps sell Kazuya’s sense of disorientation. Miyajima’s humor is not always the most inventive: we’re all very familiar with his overuse of strangers in the background commenting on how beautiful Chizuru is and how Kazuya sticks...