The Lungfish Diaries

“The Girlfriend and the Birthday II” is a story of Chizuru’s self-imposed expectations for returning Kazuya’s feeling—both admitting them and letting go of them, at least a little bit. Chizuru approaches her relationship with Kazuya with a fundamental misconception: that she must sacrifice more, and be better, in order to prove to herself she loves him enough to stand beside him. Though that mindset is quite similar to Kazuya’s sense of inadequacy, it is the opposite of what Kazuya wants from her: to feel included in her life, to be someone she wouldn’t choose to be without. Through Mini and Sumi’s guidance, Chizuru comes to understand that she can and should accept Kazuya’s generosity to reciprocate his affection—that she can and should be a little more selfish, and that doing so doesn’t make her unworthy of love. Chizuru puts aside her reticence to accept affection. (271) Chizuru has always felt unworthy of Kazuya’s love Chizuru has a long history of talking and...

Greetings, friends. The Lungfish Diaries has been on a bit of haitus due to vacations and various other things, but I’m happy to be back to talk about Rent-A-Giflriend ’s latest concluded arc. What may surprise people in this arc is just how much of an obstacle Kazuya’s emotional dishonesty with Chizuru is. It’s well established how dishonest Chizuru is—including some prime examples this arc—but Kazuya’s reluctance to be open and honest about his feelings is part of what keeps them from moving forward, and it’s his one moment of true honestly—given while too passed out to be aware of his words—that convinces Chizuru to move forward. Let’s take a look. To some, Chizuru acting like Kazuya might not take her up on her offer may come as strange, but indeed, from Chizuru’s perspective, it may seem a real possibility. (255) Kazuya has long kept his fullest, truest feelings under wraps Kazuya has held back from Chizuru for a long time. He famously denied being in love w...