Harem

Until Next We Meet, 100 Girlfriends!

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Anime Reviews, Crunchyroll , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You S2 Ep 12 Review

Last time on 100 Girlfriends Z, Karane Inda willingly gave up her tsundere-ness due to her own insecurities. But everyone quickly agreed that they preferred Karane the way she was and tried to restore her former self. When Kusuri’s reversing drug failed to solve the problem, it was up to Rentaro to come up with a way to restore the Karane everyone knows and loves. Will his solution make any sense, or will it parody one of the greatest shonen anime of all time? What sort of crazy hijinks will ensue on the season finale? And will we get a third season? All of those questions, except for that last one, get answered now!

Operation: Get Our Tsun On

If the above introduction sounded like the intro to an episode of Dragon Ball Z, then that was the point. The 100 Girlfriends has already garnered attention by its parody of DBZ earlier in the season. However, it’s not done; instead, it double dips in the finale with the Rentaro Family’s attempts to return Karane to normal. Instead of trying to explain it myself, lets just have the anime sum things up:

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That’s right. They’re going to make a tsundere spirit bomb and throw it at Karane. And it is as hilarious as it sounds! But since 100 Girlfriends is a parody, they can do this sort of thing!

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In all seriousness, though, this episode does a good job of continuing the series’ deconstruction of the tsundere. While the last episode showed us how hard being a tsundere can be on one’s mental state, this episode shows us just how amazing Karane is. When Rentaro is holding the tsundere spirit bomb, he’s barely able to withstand the sheer power it radiates and starts saying the opposite of what he really means. The fact that Karane has to overcome this sort of thing every time she expresses her love for Rentaro is nothing short of superhuman. To put it simply, Karane isn’t just a tsundere; she’s the Queen of Tsunderes! And it is great to have her back halfway through the episode.

We Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love Rentaro

The remainder of the season finale can be best described as the anime just having fun with itself and breaking the fourth wall like never before. The fact that the show acknowledges its doing a chapter out of order so it can include Meme and Mimimi, who weren’t there in the manga, is hilarious. The series gives absolutely no f’s about what its doing; it just wants to have fun with its ridiculous premise.

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However, nothing can compare to the final moments of the episode as the anime recreates one of the greatest moments from the entire manga.

This is one of the greatest moments in the history of the harem and rom-com genres. If we had to make a comparison, this is harem equivalent to the legendary Seven-Page-Muda from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. Some people openly criticized the anime for apparently skipping over this scene. However, having it wait to use until the finale was genius. And yes, this actually happened in the manga, cementing Rentaro as a CHAD among CHADS!! The ultimate boyfriend that every woman deserves!

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Here’s Hoping We Get a Season Three

Sadly, this is where we must part ways with the 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You. Unfortunately, there is no news as to whether or not the anime will be getting a third season. Which is sad, because that means we won’t get to see all the girlfriends that have yet to be revealed. Then again, if they tried to follow the series to the end, the anime industry might not have enough people to voice everyone.

If this is the end, though, I’d recommend going to read the manga. Because the girlfriends are going to get even crazier from here on out. Some of them you will absolutely adore, while others you will end up hating. However, that’s part of the fun for this series! And I, for one, Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You.

I Give “100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You (89 to go)” a 4/5

Wait, Does Kissing Really Do That to People?

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Anime Reviews, Blogging, Crunchyroll, Uncategorized , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You Season 2, Episode 8 Review

Last time on The 100 Girlfriends, the Rentaro Family was facing its biggest crisis since the incident with Hahari! Rentaro’s tenth soulmate, the beautiful Mimimi Utsukushisugi, refuses to be part of any group with Nano in it due to a past transgression. Thus, the newcomer challenges Nano to a contest where the loser must leave the Family! How will Rentaro use his CHADtaro powers to resolve this conflict? What sort of antics will Mimimi bring to the Rentaro Family? And how saucy can this anime make the simple act of kissing?

That last question will make sense soon enough.

Mimimi’s Problem with Nano

So, after Mimimi threw down the gauntlet last time, this episode reveals the exact circumstances that led to her grudge against Nano. After winning a beauty paegant they were both in, Mimimi tried to be a good sport and extend a hand to Nano. In response, Nano rejected her, saying friendship was a waste of time. What made things worse was that Mimimi secretly entered Nano in the pageant all so the two of them could become friends, only to get spat on.

The first half of this episode is as much about Nano’s character development as it is about Mimimi joining the Family. Before she met Rentaro, love and friendship were utterly foreign to her. Her willingness to accept Mimimi’s challenge speaks volumes to her character development. Something that becomes more obvious over the course of their “beauty search” contest.

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Instead of judging each other by what makes them beautiful, they point out everything they find beautiful in the rest of the family. This leads to some very fun moments where everything that makes the others attractive. However, it’s when they get to Rentaro himself that the real funny moment of the episode takes place.

CHADtaro humiliates himself for his Family

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Rentaro uses his CHADtaro powers to turn himself into the least attractive person they can possibly find. He shaves his eyebrows, hair, and puts on a humiliating costume all so they can’t get an edge, and call the entire contest a draw! That’s how far Rentaro is willing to go to keep his girlfriends happy!

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Mimimi almost takes this moment as another loss, but again, this episode demonstrates Nano’s character development. She may not be able to make up for her past slight, but she makes it clear that she finally understands the value of love and friendship. Which is one of the great things about this series. The girl’s problems aren’t fixed overnight, but thanks to the supportive environment Rentaro gives them, they’re able to work on them together! And it’s enough to convince Mimimi to drop her grudge and officially join the Family.

Kissing Galore

In what is now a tradition for the series, the second half of the episode is centered on Mimimi integrating into the Rentaro Family through an activity. In this case, it’s helping each of the girls reach their most beautiful selves by partaking in activities that will aid them. In this case, kissing. Lots and lots and lots of kissing.

This entire half of the episode is primarily an excuse for the anime to skirt the line between SFW and full-on ecchi. Using a new lip balm to stimulate the pleasure centers of the brain, the girls each take turns kissing Rentaro. The moments that come out of this are, suitably, hilarious. Like this!

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Or this!

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This one got crazy!

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And this one was a straight-up shoutout to Food Wars and its infamous Foodgasms.

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And look at how what happened afterwards!

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And with that, we now sit at ten girlfriends, with ninety more to go. And this season only has one girlfriend left to introduce, so there’s no telling what might happen! At least the girls will be able to remain beautiful, though!

I Give “The Beautiful and the Bold” a 4/5

CHADtaro Strikes Back

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Anime Reviews, Anime REvisited , , , , , , , , ,

RJ Writing Ink’s Recap of Season 1 of The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You, Pt 2

Welcome back to our three-part recapping of the first season of 100 Girlfriends. In the first part, we met our protagonist, Rentaro Aijo, a boy who just wants to find love only to be rejected over 100 times. It’s then that he learns that he’s destined to meet 100 soulmates in high school, only to learn that if he doesn’t date them all, they will die. Thus, he doesn’t hesitate to make them all his girlfriends and ensure they’re all happy. He currently has three girlfriends: Hakari, the first girl who acts sweet but is a massive pervert. Karane, the insecure tsundere who acts as the group’s straight man. Lastly, there’s Shizuka, the natural-born smol floof who communicates using books and a text-to-speech app due to her shyness. But there are still 97 girlfriends left for Renataro to find and make happy as the story continues.

Girlfriend #4-The Kuudere

The school exam results are being posted, with everyone being eager to see how they did. The one who ends up taking the top spot, though, is Nano Eiai, a kuudere who lives up to her surname by eschewing emotion in favor of logic and efficiency. Unfortunately for her, she winds up being the next of Rentaro’s soulmates, something she tries to reject since she thinks love is meaningless. So Rentaro asks her to go on one date to prove her wrong, with the two heading to an amusement park. Despite Nano not seeing the point behind the rides, the two do end up bonding, and Nano does admit that she had fun.

However, when she still sees the whole thing as meaningless, Rentaro activates his CHADtaro powers. By threatening to burn the photos he took of their date, he makes Nano stop him, proving that, contrary to her beliefs, Nano does care about love and bonds.

Having come to realize how much she has to learn about being human, Nano surrenders to her feelings and becomes Rentaro’s fourth girlfriend.

Water Park Antics

To celebrate their growing group, Hakari suggests they all head to a water park that just opened to get closer with each other. However, things don’t go the way they planned at first. Karane begins getting cold feet due to feeling insecure about her body after seeing how developed Hakari and Nano are. Shizuka gets swept away by the lazy river and winds up stranded on an island when her inner tube breaks. When Nano and Hakari try to get Rentaro to choose who has the best body, he passes out from blood loss.

And when the two try to find a lifeguard, theyre accosted by a trio of gawkers who try hitting on them.

Thankfully, when Karane sees what’s going on, she looks for Rentaro, finds him half-dead, and revives him by mentioning how Hakari and Nani are in trouble.

After the two girls prove they’re both dating the man, the unwanted men back down to Rentaro’s CHADness. After that, Rentaro rescues Shizuka, helps Karane stop feeling insecure about herself, and the group finally enjoys their day out in peace.

Girlfriend #5-The Child(?) Prodigy

At a later date, the group is headed to enjoy a special event in the lunchroom when they pass by a lab. There, Rentaro locks eyes with a beautiful red-head in a lab coat, and gets the familiar zing. However, when he returns the next day, the only person present is a little girl named Kusuri Yakuzen. Kusuri is an example of the child prodigy archetype. She is to chemistry what Tony Stark is to engineering, being an unparalleled genius able to create drugs that defy common sense, like a drug that can magnetize the iron in one’s blood. She also wears diapers since she doesn’t want to be bothered going to the bathroom during an experiment…and gives Rentaro a love potion because she’s in love with him.

Rentaro winds up overdosing on the love potion, though, forcing Kusuri to force-feed him the antidote via mouth-to-mouth. That’s when Rentaro learns that Kusuri is actually the woman he saw yesterday, his senior at age 18, and the chem club’s president/only member. The reason why she looks like she’s 8 is because she was trying to create a drug that could grant immortality, only for it to leave stuck as a kid unless she takes a neutralizer. And contrary to most child prodigies, she’s very friendly, but her eagerness to let others use her drugs made all the other chem members leave. Rentaro, though, doesn’t hesitate to make her his fifth girlfriend and introduce her to the growing family.

It doesn’t take long for Kusuri to accidentally cause chaos, though. Not learning her lesson, she tries again to give Rentaro a love potion, only for the girls to drink it instead. As a result, their minds become focused on kissing Rentaro and they become kiss zombies.

With the drug in danger of permanently destroying their personalities, Rentaro and Kusuri race against time to reverse the effects, leading to even more comedic moments. Thankfully, they manage to cure the others in the nick of time, and everyone happily forgives Kusuri, who finally finds acceptance.

Wait, What Just Happened?

For their next outing, the group goes to this flower park for this event involving a bouquet toss. Whoever catches the bouquet will receive a special prize: a couple’s photoshoot surrounded by the park’s finest flowers! Unfortunately, they face stiff competition in the form of the Gorilla Alliance, whose leader wants the bouquet for herself and her boyfriend. While Karane winds up going toe-to-toe with the leader, Shizuka gets blown into the sky where she manages to catch the bouquet…only to fall back to the ground.

Rentaro catches her in time, though, Karane befriends the leader, and Hakari winds up winning the honor of getting the wedding photoshoot. All seems right with the world…until Hakari drops a bombshell by asking Rentaro to break up with her.

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As it turns out, Hakari’s mother learned that her daughter, an extremely wealthy CEO, was dating a guy who was five-timing on her. Since she’s a good mom, she told her daughter to break up with Rentaro and planned to have her transfer to another school. However, since their situation isn’t typical, and because the whole “the girls will die if they don’t date Rentaro” issue remains in effect, Rentaro and the others cannot allow this to happen. Despite how many resources Hakari’s mom has at her disposal, they all agree to get Hakari back by breaking into the mansion and rescuing her.

And that is where we will be ending part two of this recap. Tune for part three as we see how things turn out as Rentaro meets his sixth soulmate.

‘100 Girlfriends’ is the Ultimate Sigma Harem Anime

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Anime Reviews, Blogging, Crunchyroll , , , , , , , , ,

RJ Writing Ink’s Candid Review of The 100 Girlfriends Who Really REALLY Love You

Most anime watchers know, or at least have heard, of the premise behind the harem anime. An everyday protagonist suddenly themselves the center of attention amongst a group of attractive people. Said attractive people are all in love with or interested in them for various reasons. And hilarity ensues as they try to maintain some sense of normalcy in their lives. The formula gets tweaked somewhat, but the premise remains, and it can be a guilty pleasure because 

  • A.) their quality varies from amazing to absolute garbage, with the same going for the characters 
  • B.) the protagonist doesn’t pick their single partner.
  • C.) said chosen partner isn’t who the viewer considers best girl.

But what if there was a harem anime that didn’t do all that nonsense? A harem anime that goes out of its way to avoid the pitfalls of its counterparts while also playing the genre’s strengths to Mt. Everest levels of silliness? And most importantly, one with a protagonist who is a true CHAD and considers every girl to be best? That anime is here and it sets the new standard for harem anime: The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You.

The Beginning of CHADom

Meet Rentaro Aijo, a boy going into high school who only wants one thing in life: to experience love. Unfortunately, despite his good looks, friendly personality, and natural charisma, he’s been rejected by every girl he’s confessed to. All one hundred of them! So, he goes to a local shrine and prays to whoever’s listening to give him a girlfriend. Then, the shrine’s Love God appears and lets him know the good news. Hes not destined to meet his soulmate in high school: he’s destined to meet 100 soulmates!

One month later, Rentaro’s at his first day of high school when he runs into two beautiful girls: Hakari Hanazono and Karane Inda. And the two fall for him on the spot and beg him to date one of them. Rentaro is over the moon! But he can’t choose. That’s when the Love God drops some harsh truths. Firstly, he was only meant to have one soulmate, but due to a clerical error via watching a Miyazaki film, he wrote 100. Secondly, rejecting one’s soulmate will rob a person of all their luck. And they will eventually die. 

So what does Rentaro do? Does he:

  • A.) Waffle on the decision like other harem protagonists?
  • B.) Only choose one and knowingly sentence 99 other girls to death?
  • C.) Date them behind each other’s backs like a scumbag
  • D.) None of the above

Play this:

The answer is D.) none of the above. In the first of countless moments that demonstrate his CHADness, Rentaro tells them that he’s gonna date both of them because he loves And just to prove how serious he is, he gives them these four-leaf clovers they spent hours looking for yesterday because they heard it would set them up with their love! 

And just like that, Rentaro starts his path toward gathering a harem of 100 girls so they won’t die. 

You’re not dealing with your average harem anime.

At first glance, 100 Girlfriends might seem like another harem anime. However, once one enters the story, they will find it’s anything but. It improves on many of the genre’s strengths for the sake of storytelling and comedy. At the same time, it also ensures that it avoids the many pitfalls people have with the genre. In other words, it’s built different, and here’s why.

Exhibit A-Rentaro is a CHAD among CHADS

There have been a lot of different harem protagonists over the years, but a big problem is that a lot of them seem like bland, uninspired, cookie cutter self-inserts. Some examples stand out, like Issei Hyoudou, Tenchi Masaki, and Yuuki Rito, but they can even have their problems. Rentaro, on the other hand, is built different.

Firstly, he’s not a dense kind of protagonist who is unaware that the girls are in love with him. Rentaro’s fully aware of their feelings for him and schemes they come up with to get closer to him, and is openly receptive to them.

Secondly, he is not passive; he is active. He spent years bettering himself to be the ideal boyfriend, which shows. He will go out of his way to ensure each growing harem is happy, even at his own expense.

  • Argue about who gets his first kiss? He’ll devise a way to ensure they can all share the honor.
  • Have trouble talking out loud? He’ll transcribe your favorite book into a text-to-speech app for you to communicate. By hand!
  • Sees some creep trying to put hands on his girlfriends? He’ll come back from death to save them!!

Plus, unlike someone like Issei, he always acts like a true gentleman and treats his girlfriends with the utmost respect. He doesn’t play favorites; he loves them all equally. He is the ideal that every boyfriend or husband should aspire to. He is the true CHAD, the ultimate rizz-god, CHADtaro Aijo!

Exhibit B-The Series Deconstructs a lot of Waifu Archetypes

Given the series premise, its inevitable that it will come to include a lot of character archetypes. In a break from many harem anime, though, 100 Girlfriends doesn’t include them simply for the sake of it, but deconstructs them. It shows the real effects each archetype would have on people; not all are pretty.

Hakari acts prim and proper like the perfect girl on the outside, but on the inside, she’s very perverted and keeps imagining lewd ways to earn Rentaro’s attention.

Karane Inda is a tsundere, which makes it hard for her to express her true feelings, even when she wants to. Imagine how hard that must be for someone to endure daily?

Shizuka Yoshimoto is a cute girl who hardly ever talks, but not by choice. Her natural shyness already made it hard to speak up, but getting bullied and called a freak by other people, including her mom, made it even worse.

Nano Eiai is like a Vulcan, suppressing her emotions in favor of logic. While that helps her natural intelligence, it also stunts her emotions to the point that she doesn’t know how to respond to love or friendship.

Kusuri Yakusen is a chemistry genius stuck in a loli form, a jab at the whole “legal loli” thing. On top of this, her mad scientist tendencies led her friends to abandon her. A drug she made that the girls accidentally ingest turned them into kiss zombies bent on making out with Rentaro at the cost of their personalities. 

And…I’m not gonna spoil who the sixth one is or her problems.

And unlike many other girls in harem anime, meeting Rentaro doesn’t magically fix their problems. Rentaro may help them, but they are still things they have to actively work on. That fact alone gives them way more depth than most girls.

Exhibit C- It follows Through on its Premise, and Treats Everyone Equally

The title isn’t just for show. It fully intends to give Rentaro 100 girlfriends before the end of the series. By this point in the manga, CHADtaro is already at 27 girls. It’s likely that by the end of the series, it won’t include every kind of waifu. It might have to make some up. In addition, the story makes its intent known by the time the anime ends. It’s not just limiting the waifus to Rentaro’s age range. All types of waifus are on the table!

And remember what was said about every girl being best girl here? The series follows through on that, and so does Rentaro. He loves all his girlfriends equally and never favors one over the other. Even protagonists who embrace having a harem have a girl they love the most. But Rentaro is filled with so much love, he can love all of them. Nobody gets left out in the Rentaro family!

100 Girlfriends is the Pinnacle of Harem Anime

Harem anime hasn’t always gotten the best rep. At best, it’s wishful thinking. At worst, it feels like self-insert fiction for those who can’t find love. But 100 Girlfriends isn’t just wishful thinking or a mere self-insert story. 

100 Girlfriends is built different. It takes everything good about the harem anime and elevates it to new levels of romantic comedy. It makes fun of the genre while also furthering its evolution. That’s the feat that only a great story can pull off. And the main character has the kind of rizz every guy wants. 

In other words, 100 Girlfriends is one of the best anime of 2023. Go watch it on Crunchyroll. You will not regret it!