Kara Dennison
September 25, 2020 
Author’s note: While it’s been confirmed that our new favorite series is returning for a second season, our points still hold true. Be sure to support your favorite anime via the official licensors!
2020’s anime adaptation of the manga Rent-a-Girlfriend found a loyal fandom, even among viewers unfamiliar with the original. The adult romantic comedy of errors has a little bit of everything: romance, misunderstandings, mysteries, and betrayal. But what’s next for the show?
For the moment, it’s up in the air. But at least one person working on the production staff has indicated what we sort of already know: if we want more Rent-a-Girlfriend, fans need to make it good and known.
The staffer in question has worked on series like O Maidens in Your Savage Season, Domestic Girlfriend, and (of course) Rent-a-Girlfriend. With the final episode incoming, he expressed a desire to work on a second season — asking that fans in Japan preorder the Blu-rays to make that second season more likely:
【応募ツイート】
二期やりたいので皆さん、ぶるーれいのご予約をお願いいたします。なにとぞみなさんのお力を貸してください・・・！！それが・・・！きっと・・・！(この先の言いたいことは推して察してください#彼女お借りします https://t.co/VjwEhGcYGN
— 柿崎タイキ (@tiki8286) September 23, 2020
To be fair, it’s not an outlandish observation. The best way to let a company know you want more of a thing is to, well, spend money on the thing. If they know they’ll get good return on investment, they have reason to push ahead. And with a show based on a still-running manga, anything that boosts those odds is a bonus.
Of course, we know literally nothing about the state of a second season at the moment. Ex-girlfriend Mami Nanami jokes in the penultimate episode preview that she could use her influence to kickstart a second season: a self-aware joke if ever we heard one. For all we know, there could be a season 2 on the books, and the staffer’s behest to get those Blu-rays preordered is just marketing and drumming up general enthusiasm.
If we do want more Rent-a-Girlfriend, of course, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Watching it legally, and reading the manga legally, will send the message to licensors that people around the world are enjoying the story. That has the double bonus of both upping the chance of a second season and getting global licensors to keep paying attention to it. It’s a tired old saying at this point, but it’s true: going through legal channels for the shows you like really does increase the odds of more good things.
So whether the staffer in question was letting something slip about the future of Rent-a-Girlfriend, or just keeping the hype train rolling, it sounds like the people at the center want more. Which means they have something in common with us. We’ll keep our eyes on the news and our fingers crossed.
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