Since you’re looking for an anime like Rent a Girlfriend, we bet you haven’t forgotten about Kazuya Kinoshita and Chizuru Mizuhara as well as the chemistry, the comedic mishaps, and the emotional moments. They left us hungry for more, and here are the top-notched delicacies for you to savor.
Contents
10 Anime Like Rent A Girlfriend
1. The Pet Girl of Sakurasou
Starting the list is a romance anime like Rent a Girlfriend in many aspects. Sorata Kanda doesn’t know how he ends up in Sakura-sou dorm, for this place is an asylum to him. Trapped among the freakiest delinquents, Sorata can only interact with Nanami Aoyama – the most normal individual at Sakura-sou.
His goal, however, changes drastically after Mashiro Shiina steps into the dorm. Not only did the gorgeous appearance strike him hard, but the brilliant mind also got him hooked on her.
Mashiro can’t take care of herself and none of the weird residents here is capable of such a task either, thus the responsibility lands on Sorata, giving him a chance to be closer to Mashiro.
Somewhere along the way, Sorata finds the motivation to become a better person and stand next to his friends as an equal. You can rely on this series for a warm story about growing up, falling in love, chasing ambitions, and overcoming heartbreaks.
2. Toradora
Two individuals Ryuuji Takasu and Taiga Aisaka can’t be more conflicting. Ryuuji looks like a delinquent but he is totally househusband material, meanwhile, Taiga is a feisty swordswoman with the appearance of a lovely doll.
After an incident forces them to encounter, they learn more than a little bit about each other. Ryuuji discovers the secret crush Taiga has on his best friend, Yuusaku Kitamura. But things are bound to get more complicated as Ryuuji is whipped for Taiga’s friend.
They decide to form an ally and assist the other, which will definitely remind you of the couple in Rent a Girlfriend and their unlikely chemistry. Someone might not seem like your ideal type at first sight, but who knows?
Check more: Top 10 Best Anime Like Toradora
3. Oreshura
As the only child of a broken marriage, Eita Kidou is not only lonely but also insecure about falling in love. Instead of paying attention to others and developing feelings for them, Eita chooses to focus on studying and trying to become a doctor.
No one could ever imagine Eita would ever date Masuzu Natsukawa, the admired beauty of the school. However, they have no idea that Masuzu also despises love. She knows about Elita’s journal and uses it to somewhat blackmail him into a relationship with her. All she wants is a break from people’s affection.
Eyes are all on Eita ever since, whether they are jealous or amorous looks. The strange chemistry between the main characters is surely what RaG fans will root for. Be informed that the confessions directing to Eita might give you the impression of a harem anime as well!
4. The Quintessential Quintuplets
Uesugi Fuutarou is your typical nerd who is too reserved and reclusive to have a friend. Furthermore, his family is struggling to live on with a big debt hanging over their heads, thus he immediately takes the chance to clear this debt by being a tutor for the rich Itsuki child and obtaining five times the normal wage.
Things are apparently not in his favor, for he got a bad experience with the girl earlier and had to put effort into solving the conflicts between them.
Unfortunately, Itsuki is a quintuplet, which means he needs to tutor four other siblings as well. To make it worse, they all have no intention to study. If they flunk, the Fuutarou family is also down.
Like Kazuya and Chizuru in RaG, Uesugi and the Itsuki siblings are reluctant to maintain their connection, only willing to keep the pretenses for the sake of the family and eventually find the virtues for each other.
5. Wolf Girl & Black Prince
For an ordinary girl like Erika Shinohara, pretending to be a romance expert with a lot of experience is the easiest way to impress new friends with desirable love life. Nonetheless, the trouble is on her when they ask for proof. Desperate to get out of the dilemma, Erika takes a picture of the nearest cute guy, unaware of the fact that they are schoolmates and he is very popular. Oops.
Quickly jumping to conclusion that Kyouya is nice, Erike begs for his help and seals a deal. But Kyouya reveals his mean-spirited intentions just as quickly and rejoices in Erika’s misery. Doesn’t this whole thing about acting like lovers remind you of Rent a Girlfriend?
As they spend more time together and unavoidably get to know each other better, Erika finds herself falling for Kyouya because of what he is like beneath the evil facade. She was once so sure he would never develop any interest in her, but that might not be true anymore.
6. My Love STORY!
Takeo Gouda doesn’t look like your average high school student. He is very tall and muscular with a courageous and kind heart. Such virtues make him a hero though only in the boys’ eyes. As for the girls, unfortunately, he isn’t exactly appealing, especially when he has a handsome best friend Makoto Sunakawa sticking to him all the time.
In the early part of the story, Takeo protects the pretty Rinko Yamato from a pervert and immediately has a crush on her. Mistakenly, he assumes that she will be like every other girl and choose Makoto over him.
My Love STORY! Is an anime to watch if you like Rent a Girlfriend for the chemistry between the primary characters. Would Takeo realize how wrong he was for thinking it is always about appearance?
7. Love and Lies
Breakups are normal for us but not for futuristic Japan in Love and Lies. They invest in a system called Red Threads, inspired by the cultural beliefs about soulmates being connected by a string of fate. The system will calculate and estimate the compatibility between two young people as a method to ensure they will have a “successful” marriage and help to increase the population. Disobey the decision and you will face the consequences.
Of course, not everyone is happy with an arranged relationship. Our main character Yukari Nejima confesses to his crush and Misaki, who happily reciprocates. Nevertheless, Yukari is assigned to a partner when he turns 16 like everyone else. Unexpectedly enough, Ririna the chosen partner also abhors the heartless system and seems interested in his love life.
The dynamics of a girlfriend and a placeholder in Love and Lies resemble the triangle in Rent a Girlfriend, and you will love it if you are specifically searching for a series with more positive vibes!
8. Date A Live
Should you feel a little bored with the slice-of-life plotlines, Date A Live might be your solution. It has a sci-fi base with romcom and harem elements, set in an alternative universe wherein the Eurasian continent constantly suffers spatial quakes.
When another quake strikes Tengu city, Shidou Itsuka has nothing in mind other than saving Kotori, his younger sister, though he arrives late and runs into a mysterious girl instead.
She turns out to be a “Spirit”, an entity that triggers the quakes. Chasing closely after them is the anti-Spirit team, whose purpose is to eliminate this dangerous species.
Standing in between them is Ratatoskr, an organization with the belief that they can stop the Spirits by making them fall in love. Shidou has to give it a try since his beloved sister is the leader of Ratatoskr, and this devotion to family is what we have seen in Rent a Girlfriend, aside from the mutual fake dating and harem elements.
9. Yamada Kun And The Seven Witches
Ryuu Yamada has a bad reputation, thus he moves to a new school and looks forward to a new start here. Unlucky for him, boredom attacks and renders him in his old, bad ways: starting fights and getting terrible grades.
One day, he bumps into the honor student Urara Shiraishi and ends up rolling down the staircase. The next thing he knows, they are already kissing! What’s more, if they kiss, they will switch bodies. This sort of ability never fails to cause trouble.
This power didn’t remain a secret for too long. The one-member (Toranosuke Miyamura) club for supernatural studies and the most eccentric phenomenal enthusiast (Miyabi Itou) soon joined forces with them and discovered the story about the seven witches.
As they get engrossed in figuring out the witches’ identity and Yamada can mimic their abilities with his magic kiss, comical mishaps are sure to happen!
10. Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid
Last but not least in our list of Rent A Girlfriend recommendations, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid is our go-to choice for a heartwarming girl x girl love story. Love knows no boundary! And the statement couldn’t be more true for the chemistry between a dragon and her human mistress.
Miss Kobayashi steps out of her apartment like every other day only to find a dragon staring at her. It takes the lady a while to find her memories wherein she promises to offer the dragon a humble abode. Drunken words are meant to be regretful, but the guilt gnawing at her inside and the sneaky dragon magic manage to get a “yes” out of her.
Tooru the dragon is an excellent maid, yet her methods sometimes bring more troubles rather than clean them up. Deep down in Tooru’s heart, she only wants to show Kobayashi her gratitude and ambitiously make the mistress fall for her.
Final Words
If you are keeping an eye out for an anime similar to Rent a Girlfriend, these rom-com series certainly will keep you occupied for a good while. They have romance, comedy, harem, and basically everything that has got you hooked on RaG.