Everyone’s favorite “love to hate it” harem series is back for its fourth season, proving that any and all publicity is good publicity. Picking up right were Season 3 left off, with Kazuya and Mizuhara having an emotional moment as Mizuhara finally lets her cool girl facade drop, crying into Kazuya’s arms, Season 4 decides to break up the tension by taking the main cast on a well-deserved vacation. Based on the new key visual released for the anime on the official website, the anime adaptation will finally be embarking on the Hawaiians arc.
Videos by ComicBook.com
This arc is where the story really starts diving into divisive territory, introducing story beats from the manga that most fans have strong opinions about. That said, the anime adaptation has, so far, done a decent enough job at condensing longer story arcs to actually have reasonable pacing. Beginning later this July as part of the Summer 2025 anime schedule, this new season will feature two cours with a break in between. Check out the new poster below.
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This arc also introduces some rather interesting conversations between Kazuya and the other female characters, which the anime can hopefully turn into well-meaning character choices instead of frustrating exposition that only further complicates many of the dynamics that already exist in Rent-a-Girlfriend‘s growing harem.
Rent-a-Girlfriend Has Earned Itself a Complicated Reputation Due To the Manga’s Pacing
While the anime adaptation of the series is still going strong, it’s no secret that a large number of manga readers for Rent-a-Girlfriend have been keeping up with the series every week out of spite. While the manga was well-reviewed in the beginning, after having over 360 chapters published with little to no development between the two main love interests, it’s no surprise that fans have grown exhausted with just how slow burn Rent-a-Girlfriend has become. Some of the series’ biggest critics are concerned that the manga is stalling for as long as it can to deliver a rushed love confession in the end, while others think that the story has devolved into inexcusable territory.
The anime adaptation is viewed a bit more favorably, with its restricted episode counts forcing the story to condense itself, fixing much of the manga’s pacing issues, The third season of the anime is rated a 7 on MAL, ranking higher than the previous two seasons and the manga that the anime is based on – which is extremely rare. Hopefully, if the anime adaptation can keep this momentum, Season 4 will truly be something redeeming for fans, and potentially keep the anime going for longer.
H/T Rent-a-Girlfriend Official Site
