It is fundamental human nature to be drawn to disasters. An explosion at a local power plant, a tsunami on the other side of the world, volcanic eruptions, ten car pileups. They shock and disturb us, and yet, we stand at the side of the road, stare, pull out our cell phones to record.Something does not allow us to look away.

Rent-a-Girlfriend belongs in a list of such calamities for much the same reason. This manga sucks. Big time. However, i cant stop reading it.

First we will start with the plot. I feel like there are many people who will hear the premise of this manga and say "yuck" already decided before they give it a shot how they feel. I am not one of those people. My main issue is an issue that has been a recurring problem with plenty of romance manga for some time. This plots main issues could be solved almost instantaneously if A. Kazuya would man up, tell his family the true nature of his and Mizuhara's relationship, and B. if Kazuya and Mizuhara would admit to each other that they have more than a renter and rentee relationship. Instead we get one step backwards and five steps back on both fronts constantly, with baffling decisions all around as the duo sinks ever further into a cesspit of lies and emotional manipulation, but not in any sort of compelling way.

Next we have the characters which range from entirely forgettable (kazuya's friends) to irredeemably possessive and irrational like Mami (you broke up with him and at the point im at in the manga nearly a year has passed, move on) All the main characters are massively flawed; not in any sort of way that makes them interesting mind you, they just dont have any redeeming qualities.

The are is good. The girls are cute. THeres some nice panels.

Like i said this manga sucks but i enjoy coming back to it to see how much worse its going to get, so, if you are a masochist like me, give it a shot.