The 100 Girlfriends

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

Karane Lost her Tsundere?!?

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

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You Season 2 Ep 11 Review

It’s sad to say it, but the second season of The 100 Girlfriends is almost at an end. We’ve met all the new girlfriends, ranging from the big eater to the super shy girl, as they’ve joined the Rentaro Family. However, the show would be remiss to end its sophomore outing without another big arc. Last season ended with the Family saving Hakari…and having her mother join the Family. However, this season is ending with a potentially greater crisis that could change Karane forever: she loses her tsundere-ness!

Karane’s Insecurities Boil Over

Karane Inda was one of the first two girlfriends and serves as the Rentaro Family’s resident tsundere. Whenever she gets flustered or embarrassed, she reacts in a defensive manner and goes, “It’s not like I *insert whatever she is being a tsundere about*!” In keeping with the series deconstructing waifu archetypes, she also serves as the Family’s straight man. She will not hesitate to call out everyone when their nonsense goes too far, and biting remarks are legendary. She is, frankly, the both the ultimate personification and antithesis of the tsundere, an archetype that I adore…but Karane herself hates.

One of the recurring themes surrounding Karane is how deeply insecure she is about herself. Whenever she gets flustered, she says the opposite of what she really feels, and she fears that this might drive Rentaro and the others away for good. And the more she falls in love with Rentaro, the harder it gets for her to express herself, and the worse her insecurities get. So much so that when Kusuri leaves a drug meant to un-tsundereify a person, she takes it. The result? Karane becomes…super nice and normal?!?!

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We Want our Karane Back

After getting over their initial shock (and Hakari enjoying Karane’s newfound honesty), everyone quickly agrees they hate this new, timid Karane—so much so that they want to get started on making a reversing drug right away. However, they’re even more shocked when Karane adamantly refuses to consider taking such a drug. She thinks that she, and everyone else, would be better off if she wasn’t a tsundere, showing just how little self-esteem she really has.

While 100 Girlfriends is first and foremost a comedy/parody, what makes it stand out is its willingness to deconstruct the pitfalls of different waifu archetypes. In this case, Karane is a strong example of how being a tsundere can potentially negatively impact one’s self-esteem. They have to try even harder than most people to express themselves properly. Even then, many protagonists have often been unable to pick up on a tsundere’s true feelings, which only makes things worse.

Thankfully, Rentaro is built different from most harem protagonists. He’s genre-savvy enough to understand that when Karane says she hates something, she usually means the opposite. More importantly, he finds her mixture of pride and shyness to be incredibly endearing, which I wholeheartedly agree with. So, using his CHADtaro powers to remind her that he fell in love with her despite her flaws, Rentaro convinces Karane to restore her normal self.

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There’s one problem: the drug doesn’t work.

This is Going to be Tougher than we Thought

In an interesting twist, the reversing drug doesn’t work. In order for it to take affect, the others need to subject Karane to enough external stimuli to provoke the proper response from her brain. In other words, they have to get her so flustered that she starts tsund-ing again. Sadly, all their efforts while staying at the Hanazono home manage to do is prove two things:

  1. Hakari’s body is incredibly sensitive to touch.
  2. Hahari gets so many nosebleeds, her staff has blood transfusion equipment on standby.
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This is going to be harder than the Family thought, but with one episode left in the season, they’re bound to help Karane return to her usual, lovable self. Without her, the Family won’t have its straight man, which could be disastrous with how they are.

I Give “Tsundere Lost” a 4.5/5

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

Karaoke Cuteness Chaos

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

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You Season 2, Episode 7 Review

It feels like only yesterday that Rentaro met his first two girlfriends. Now, he’s sitting at nine, with ninety-one girlfriends left to meet and win over! And the more girlfriends join the Rentaro Family, the more chaotic and sillier things will get. Case in point, this next episode has the Family go on another group date. Then, Rentaro finally hits double digits as his tenth girlfriend appears! And she happens to already have history with another girlfriend!

Who Doesn’t Love Karaoke?

The episode starts off making us think Rentaro’s about to meet his soulmate #10, but it’s a fakeout. In truth, the Rentaro Family’s out on a group karaoke date!

The entire date is a demonstration of one advantage that the anime has over the manga it’s adapting. In the manga, readers have to imagine what everyone sounds like when they’re singing. Because it’s an anime, the show lets us hear each girl belt out songs in all their glory. Even better, you can actually hear the OP and ED amongst the songs being played for a few moments. Considering how good they were, it’s a welcomed callback.

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Shizuka’s Flooflness Made everyone Yamcha Pose

The real show, though, starts when Shizuka plucks up the courage to get up there and start singing. And thanks to another one of Kusuri’s drugs, her natural cuteness gets amplified to the point where it physically overwhelms the Family.

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I don’t know what’s funnier: how each of the girls tries to tank this onslaught of cuteness, or how each of them does the famous Yamcha pose when they can’t take it anymore.

That’s one of the great things about The 100 Girlfriends. It regularly includes parodies of pop culture to the point where you could spend each episode trying to figure out reference. Special mention goes to Rentaro and Shizuka’s duet (first CHADtaro moment of the episode) leading to a recreation of the “girl falling from the sky” scene from Castle in the Sky.

NEW GIRLFRIEND APPROACHES

The second half of the episode starts with Rentaro heading to a high-class mall to scout out date spots. That’s when he crosses paths with this girl who’s boasting about how beautiful she is and…ZING!

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Meet girlfriend #10, Mimimi Utsukushisugi, AKA the narcissistic beauty. She is an incredibly beautiful young woman capable of making heads turn as she walks by. Not only does she know this, but she revels in it. She considers herself the most beautiful woman in the world and will not accept anything less. And when she becomes smitten with Rentaro, she immediately gives him a makeover to conform to her beauty standards.

Normally, a character like Mimimi would be seen as toxic. Since this is The 100 Girlfriends, though, she deconstructs the narcissist. She actively puts in the work to being beautiful and maintaining it. She works hard to earn money, does daily maintenance on her face, and taught herself how to speak eloquently. She’s even capable of recognizing how one’s personality traits make them beautiful.

Case in point, when another couple jealously tries to ruin her outfit via spilled boba, Rentaro has his second CHADtaro moment of the episode. He willingly shields Mimimi with his body and ruining the new clothes he got.

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And then, when that guy almost slips on his own drink, he doesn’t hesitate to save him. Because, according to him, he was just trying to stand up for his own lady, something he can respect.

Thus, Rentaro gains his tenth girlfriend. His selflessness so moves Mimimi that she says he’s already beautiful as he is and begs him to go out with her. She even takes the news that she’s his tenth girlfriend as a compliment. So all seems right with the world…

…then Nano shows up, and Mimimi goes off.

Uh-oh.

As it turns out, despite calling herself the most beautiful, there was one black mark on her record. She and Nano competed in a beauty pageant in the past, and Nano won! Mimimi hasn’t forgotten this slight, and can’t tolerate joining any group with that has Nano! So she challenges her to a rematch, with the penalty being the loser will have to leave the Family. FOREVER!

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So, the episode ends on the biggest crisis the Rentaro Family has faced since the day they met Hahari! And Rentaro seems powerless to stop this coming duel! Remember, if any of his soulmates don’t date him, they’ll eventually die. This is serious business to him! How will he get out of this mess?

Find out in the next review, which will hopefully be up soon. Also, it should be noted that I had to look up the reference that Nano made at the end. A rare instance where I didn’t get the reference.

I Give “Karaoke Crisis” a 4.5/5

Behold, the Power of Anime Baseball!

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

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You S2 Ep 6 Review

Next to its birthplace in the land of the Stars and Stripes, the country that loves baseball the most is Japan. Baseball is incredibly popular in Japan, and it has been for more than a century. Hence why Iku Sutou is obsessed with the sport and why she’s determined to keep the school’s baseball team running. Were this any other anime, it would treat the big practice game that Iku and the Rentaro Family has to win seriously. However, since 100 Girlfriends is a comedic parody that loves using meta-humor, this baseball episode winds up being equal parts silly and serious. But mostly silly.

PLAY BALL!

It’s the day of the big practice game to determine if the high school girls baseball team will survive. And, by the rule of funny, Rentaro’s stand-ins wind up sick, conveniently allowing Hahari, Kurumi, and Mei the chance to play. But this is not the first example of how silly the anime is treating this baseball game.

The second example stems from the fact that their opponents, the Jurassic High Team, are all based on dinosaurs. Right down to their names being puns on dinosaur names.

The episode makes it clear from the start that it’s not trying to treat this game seriously unless it has to. Thus, it has free reign to parody the over-the-top nature of sports anime. From the opposing team coming up with flashy names for moves to said moves breaking the girl’s bats, anime logic is in full effect here. Unfortunately, that also means that the relatively inexperienced Rentaro Family is unable to do much, especially after Iku injures her pitching hand. Before long, they’re at the bottom of the seventh inning and have yet to score a point.

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But then, the opposing team does the last thing they could hope to do. Their leader messes with Shizuka’s head, making her mess up so bad, the poor girl is reduced to tears.

To paraphrase Saruman from Lord of the Rings, “So you have chosen death.”

No one. Hurts. SHIZUKA

As saddening as it is to see Shizuka reduced to tears over the enemy’s dirty playing, the episode veers right back into the realm of hilarious with what happens next. Something that, with the Internet still recovering from the high of the end of Dragon Ball Daima, has to be seen to be believed.

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<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Dragon Ball Reference in a harem anime 😭 <a href=”https://t.co/K5vqe705Pt”>pic.twitter.com/K5vqe705Pt</a></p>&mdash; Prince Vegeta (@SSGPrinceVegeta) <a href=”https://twitter.com/SSGPrinceVegeta/status/1891286768822943764?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>February 17, 2025</a></blockquote> https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Say what you want about 100 Girlfriends, but if you’re a fan of Dragon Ball, you can at least appreciate the affectionate parody that this is. Right down to the iconic eye-catchers. The fact that they got this riled up because the enemy made their precious cinnamon bun Shizuka cry only makes this even funnier.

Anyone who purposefully makes Shizuka cry is deserving of death!

The Perfect Catch

By the time they end their rampage, the Rentaro Family is only four points away from winning the game. That’s when Iku gets up to bat, and when things turn serious once more. While the story has already shown Iku dealing with her masochism, the climax of this episode has her dealing with another fear. In this case, it’s her fear of hitting someone in the stands by accident.

Cue the episode’s CHADtaro moment!

And with that, Iku secured the future of the girls baseball team. The anime got to have fun with a sports episode. And the fans got to see Rentaro make out with a cool tomboy!

In a series that gives us plenty of funny moments and is all about enjoying its premise, this episode might be one of the best thus far. Top five episodes just for the Dragon Ball reference.

I Give “A Homerun Promise” a 4/5