RJ Writing Ink’s Recap of Season 1 of The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You, Pt 1
It’s a new year, and with that, comes new anime and returning anime with new seasons. And one of the anime that I’m most eager to see return also happens to be the pinnacle of the often-maligned harem genre. The reason why it’s the pinnacle is because it goes out of its way to avoid many of the pitfalls of that genre while also fleshing out the girls involved so that they are not cookie-cutter, one-note individuals. I’m talking about The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You.
I’m RJ Writing Ink, and welcome to my hilarious recapping of the first season of 100 Girlfriends to get you primed for the upcoming season. There will be major spoilers ahead, so either keep reading or go watch it on Crunchyroll.
Why Can’t Rentaro Get a Girlfriend? Because a god Messed Up
Rentaro Aijo is a boy who only wants to find love and get a girlfriend, and he’s spent his entire life bettering himself towards that goal. Unfortunately, despite being the ideal that every boyfriend should strive for, the poor boy keeps getting rejected. It’s gotten to the point that by the time he leaves junior high, his rejection streak has hit 100! Out of options, Rentaro goes to a local shrine to pray for love. Miraculously, he gets some divine intervention in the form of the shrine’s Love God. Said deity explains that he’s not destined to meet his soulmate in high school. He’s destined to meet 100 soulmates! He will know who they are because when they eyes meet, they’ll get that zing of love.
Rentaro then threatens to burn the shrine down if the Love God is lying (No cap)
Girlfriends 1 & 2: the Love Freak and Tsundere
Sure enough, on Rentaro’s first day of high school, he literally walks into his first two soulmates, Hakari Hanazono and Karane Inda. This is also when the story starts demonstrating how each girl serves as a deconstruction of their archetype. In this case, Hakari acts sweet and cute, but she’s really a girl whose very aggressive in her affections and willing to take things to the next level. In contrast, Karane is a tsundere, but that’s because she’s very shy and insecure about her feelings. That doesn’t stop her from acting as the straight woman to Hakari and the other characters craziness, though.
By the end of the day, the two girls wind up confessing their love for Rentaro and beg him to go out with one of them. At a loss, Rentaro goes back to the Love God for advice, only to learn something horrible. Getting a soulmate uses up all of a person’s luck, and if they reject them, that person will die. And the reason why Rentaro has 100 soulmates is because the Love God was distracted with his paperwork the day he was born watching a Miyazaki film. In other words, the Love God has put the lives of 100 people in danger!
Rightly horrified, Rentaro doesn’t know what to do. At first, he considers dating the two and any future soulmates behind their backs…but he punches himself for even considering that. In the first of many examples of why he’s CHADtaro, Rentaro understands how scary it is to confess your love to someone and fade reflection. Rather than let them experience that and face death, he makes the only move available to him: he will date them all.
Rentaro Aijo manages to prove himself a step above almost all other harem protagonists. He will not only date all 100 women, but will love them equally and make them all happy! And to prove his sincerity, he gives Hakari and Karane two pink four-leafed clovers that are said to make a love confession succeed. The two girls are so in love with him, they wind up agreeing to this insane proposal.
And with that, girlfriends one and two are secured. The next step is deciding who will get to kiss him first.
The Perfect First Kiss
Since the two are his first girlfriends, Rentaro has yet to receive his first kiss. At first, the girls try to fight each other over the right to claim his lips first, but being the savvy man he is, Rentaro figures out what’s happening. Thus, he comes up with this convoluted scheme involving blindfolds and earbuds to make sure no one knows who kissed him first. It doesn’t go so well, and when the two start fighting again, he gets so upset he runs through the hallway to attract the inhuman vice-principal and recieve her unholy kiss of death. Thankfully, the girls threaten to get her fired, saving the day. After that, they just agree to kiss each other at once, and all is right with the world.
Girlfriend 3-The Mute Bookworm
Un nouveau trailer de l’adaptation en anime du #manga “Les 100 petites amies qui t’aiiiment à en mourir” est disponible et présente Shizuka Yoshimoto !
L’anime sera diffusé à partir du 8 octobre au Japon
En France le tome 1 du manga est déjà disponible en librairie. pic.twitter.com/twHc6TBKp6
— Mana Books (@Mana_Books_) August 1, 2023 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
But then, they head to the library, and Rentaro gets another zing, heralding the arrival of the next soulmate. Meet Shizuka Yoshimoto, the shy, quiet, and sweet cinnamon bun girl who loves books. However, her quietness not by choice. She has a hard time speaking, so she communicates using phrases from her books. All that does is weird people out, including her own mother, making her even more isolated and insecure than she already is. So what does Rentaro do to help her? He commits his next action as CHADtaro: he takes her favorite book, transcribes it all onto a text-to-speech app by hand, and then has her download the app onto her phone, allowing her to finally speak with others! Once she confesses her love, Rentaro happily accepts.
And with that, girlfriend #3 has been secured.
The Harem Grows
After Rentaro introduces Shizuka to his other two girlfriends, their reactions are mixed. Hakari’s overjoyed to see how much love Rentaro has for all of them and thinks Shizuka is the cutest thing in the world. Karane gets mad at first but rolls with it because she loves Rentaro so much. The problem is that Shizuka remains uncomfortable around the other girls, so to break the ice, he has them all play old maid with the winner getting to tickle the loser.
Rentaro proceeds to win the first three rounds and tickles each girl, with comedic results. When Shizuka wins, though, she holds back, greatly irritating Karane. When Rentaro senses things are going wrong, he steps out, allowing the three girls to speak honestly. Karane tells Shizuka off for holding back her true feelings, and Shizuka tells them how insecure she feels to each of them for their beauty and confidence. The three talk their feelings out, and when Rentaro re-enters, Shizuka gains enough confidence to ask him for her first kiss.
Peace is restored!
And this is where we will end part one, as this is too long for us to cover in a single post. Part two will continue things as we head to girlfriends numbers 4 and 5.
