I used to believe Rent-A-Girlfriend was a story about a random teenager's fantasies, until I realized its underlying message

While the Rent-A-Girlfriend series has often been seen as the laughingstock of the animanga community, the manga's most recent chapter stirred quite a reaction. As fans likely know, the series began in 2017 and has since released 380 chapters. However, despite the long serialization, Kazuya has yet to end up with Chizuru.

Thus, for a considerable time, fans believed that Kazuya and Chizuru would end up together after their highly anticipated date. However, as depicted in the manga, even though Chizuru professed her love for Kazuya, she rejected him, prioritizing her career and lifestyle.

While fans were outraged by this development, they were even more concerned about what it meant for Kazuya. From what it appears, Rent-A-Girlfriend was never truly a romance story but rather a cautionary tale.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers from the Rent-A-Girlfriend manga.

Kazuya might have paid a fortune for Chizuru in Rent-A-Girlfriend

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Soon after the release of Rent-A-Girlfriend chapter 380, fans were reminded of a post published three years ago by a fan. According to this fan, Kazuya spent around 250,000 USD on Chizuru. While this total could be incorrect, three years have passed, suggesting that Kazuya must have splurged even more money on Chizuru.

As fans likely know, such a large amount could have purchased multiple vehicles, a house, land, started a business, or even helped several people through university. Shockingly, this amount was also more than enough to raise a child in Japan until the age of 18. So, realistically, with Chizuru rejecting him, Kazuya effectively threw away his money on a girl who did not want to be with him.

Kazuya Kinnoshita and Chizuru Ichinose as seen in Rent-A-Girlfriend (Image via Kodansha)

It is true that Kazuya's acts of kindness did not require Chizuru to owe him a relationship, but it was her responsibility to stop leading him on. Chizuru knew Kazuya was using his family's money and his salary from working at a karaoke bar to pay for her. Nevertheless, she enabled him, leading him to think she wanted to be with him.

For instance, assuming the fan's calculation of Kazuya's expenditures is off and is only around 20,000 USD; the fact remains that Kazuya had spent too much money on someone who prioritized her career and lifestyle over him. So, even if the manga ends with Chizuru and Kazuya as the endgame relationship, their relationship was merely transactional and never on equal terms.

Kazuya Kinnoshita as seen in Rent-A-Girlfriend (Image via Kodansha)

The most shocking part is that the series's supposed "worst character," Mami, once confronted Chizuru about using Kazuya for his money in the past. However, since fans did not like the character, they ignored the exchange. But now that the series is inching closer to its end, fans have begun to deduce that Chizuru might be the worst character.

With that, several fans have started to conclude that the Rent-A-Girlfriend manga was never a romantic tale but a cautionary one. As seen in modern times, people often pay money to creators and influencers, hoping to get their attention or more. They make donations, hoping that those they support will remember them and do something in return. However, such actions often lead to individuals losing their wealth over nothing.

So, while the manga creator has yet to confirm it, the Rent-A-Girlfriend manga could serve as a cautionary tale to warn people not to simp for someone so hard.