This past week, a new promo video for Reiji Miyajima’s Rent-A-Girlfriend manga series featured the popular, fan favorite heroine Chizuru Mizuhara engaging in a heated rap battle with Nagoya-based rapper Ryofu Karuma. 

The 55-second promo showcases Chizuru (voiced by Sora Amamiya) and Karuma throwing out rhymes against each other. He disses Chizuru for taking a job as a rental girlfriend and tells her that she has no style or class, while Chizuru defends herself and the choices she’s made. Karuma continues by criticizing her for falling in love with a client (Kazuya), even though her job forbids that from happening. Chizuru strongly denies these feelings, albeit in a blushing manner. In the end, Karuma admits defeat after seeing Chizuru’s cute, tsundere reaction and declares her the winner. 

Miyajima first launched the Rent-a-Girlfriend manga series on July 12, 2017 in Kodansha’s Weekly Shounen Magazine. 26 tankoubon volumes have been released as of July 2022. The manga also inspired a spinoff series focused on the character, Sumi Sakurasawa. 

The first anime television season aired on July 11, 2020. A second season will premiere this coming July 2, 2022 as part of Crunchyroll’s Summer 2022 streaming lineup. TMS Entertainment has handled animation production for both seasons. A live-action television drama series based on the manga will also be released this coming July. 

Kodansha USA releases the manga series in English. It describes the story as: 

In today’s Japan, “rental” services can deliver an afternoon with a “friend,” a “parent,” even a fake girlfriend! After a staggering betrayal by his girlfriend, hapless freshman Kazuya gets just desperate enough to give it a try. But he quickly discovers how complicated it can be to “rent” an emotional connection, and his new “girlfriend,” who’s trying to keep her side hustle secret, will panic when she finds out her real life and Kazuya’s are intertwined in surprising ways! Family, school, and life all start to go wrong, too… It’s sweet but naïve boy meets cute but ruthless girl in this 21st-century manga rom-com!

Source: Shounen Magazine YouTube Channel