The Summer 2020 TV Anime Kanojo, Okarishimasu‘s first episode was aired last week on July 10 while the manga has been around since 2017. Dumped by his girlfriend, the emotionally shattered college student Kazuya Kinoshita attempts to appease the void in his heart through a rental girlfriend service from a mobile app, but have you ever thought of trying the same thing yourself? Renting a girlfriend? Going on a date with a pretend girlfriend for a day doesn’t sound too bad, and many Otakus have probably dreamed of going on a date with a girl before, right? Well, what if I were to tell you that your dreams can be more than that? Yes, you can officially ‘Rent A Girlfriend’ in Japan.
This is Puchikano, a Japanese website where you can rent your very own girlfriend for a day and take her on a date just like in the anime.
If you are planning on taking a trip to Japan and you are lonely and don’t have someone to travel the whole nation with, you can certainly use this method, but the rental girlfriend service is not as cheap as you may think. In fact, it’s actually way more expensive than the real thing. The average price for renting a girlfriend is 13,000 to 15,000 yen (~$120-140) for just 2 hours, but it doesn’t stop there. There is a 1,000 yen nomination fee and an additional 3,000 yen for a yukata, swimsuit, or even a cosplay date, and you still have to pay for her travel expenses. Speaking of traveling, this rental service only applies to people near or in Osaka, Kobe, and Kyoto.
But don’t worry, it’s all over Japan, and they also have a Rental girlfriend service for Tokyo. If you ever traveled to Japan and wanted to try renting a girlfriend like Kazuya did in the anime, you have to know certain rules for renting a girlfriend.
Of course, this Rental Girlfriend service has its own rule to protect the girls from accidents and unwanted actions. There is a set of rules to be followed, such as:
Q. Is it okay to hold her hands?
If the ‘OK’ sign is shown in her profile, that means yes.
Q. May I give the girl a present?
Like I said earlier, these rules are to protect the girls from being harmed, so that is a no.
Q. Is there a curfew for the girls?
Again, to protect the girls, the service is only available from 6:00 to 23:30. Also, the reception hours are from 11:00 to 20:00 on weekdays.
These are some of the most important rules to know when renting a girlfriend, and you can read the rest on their website below.
To be clear, the girls working as your “Pretend Girlfriend” are probably acting in your dates to make you feel happy and satisfied, but please don’t be angry with them like Kazuya was in the anime at first. They are just doing their jobs and sometimes there are girls who do their jobs as their natural self.
Like I said earlier, you can use the rental girlfriend service if you’re a lone traveler that came to Japan. You can also use this service if you miss your ex-girlfriend or if you’re not good at shopping alone. You can even rent those girls just to get used to dating women. Not my words, that’s actually what their website says. Though it doesn’t stop there. You can also rent them to be your wedding attendant, portrait model, Instagram worthy agent, party companion, and even a female friend (as if you ever have enough of them). Again, these are the possibilities stated on their website.
The rental girlfriend service is an interesting thing to try, but if you’re not from Japan or maybe you just don’t have enough money to go there and you still want to experience the Rental Girlfriend service – don’t worry! You can join Kazuya on his adventures with rental girlfriends in the Summer 2020 TV Anime Kanojo, Okarishimasu ((also known as Rent-a-Girlfriend). The anime’s first episode is now available to watch. You can also support the author by buying the original manga of Reiji Miyajima online or in any manga store.
Rent Your Own Girlfriend here: PuchiKano JP
All of the photos used from the anime are from and owned by KanoKari’s Official Japanese Twitter
