Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we are privileged to be checking back in with a family we all know and love, a family which only seems to grow stronger and more preposterous with every passing episode. That’s right, we’re returning to the adventures of Rentaro and his soon-to-be one hundred girlfriends, their ranks just recently bolstered by the addition of initial girlfriend Hakari’s mother Hahari.
With Rentaro now dating a fellow student and her mom at the same time, there is effectively no known boundary for the coming absurdity. Of course, even more preposterous than 100 Girlfriends’ premise is the fact that it actually, consistently demonstrates the fundamentals of mutually loving relationships, demonstrating more clarity of affection and constancy of consideration than many traditional romances. As I’ve said before, 100 Girlfriends’ secret weapon is that Rentaro himself is utterly charming; far from the nebbish creeper harems often set as audience surrogate, Rentaro is actually easy to fall in love with, and consistently proves himself a paragon of romantic gallantry. With the family secure and the future bright, let’s return to 100 Girlfriends!
Episode 13
We open with a refresher from God on soulmates, the ostensible motivation for this whole 100 Girlfriends project. I actually appreciate that this quest was basically never mentioned outside of the first episode; the show is not about fantastical obligations, it is about the charming process of fostering bonds between individuals. The story should be character-driven, not gimmick-driven
“An embarrassment of bitches.” Rentaro would never say that, but I appreciate the punwork by the translators
A nice energetic “girlfriend team assemble” cut as the first season’s heroes take the stage. 100 Girlfriends is generally a pretty aesthetically reserved show, mostly impressing through the detailed still-frame articulation of characters’ eyes and hair, but productions always tend to put their best foot forward for season openings
Our second OP actually learns further into the idea that this is actually a group song the girlfriends are all sharing, even including interlude sequences of all them bickering over who’s fucking up or hogging too much attention
That itself points to another of 100 Girlfriends’ main strengths – the fact that Rentaro’s girlfriends aren’t just connected to each other via him, they’re actually a group of close friends with lots of unique bonds of their own. This operation won’t work if it’s just Rentaro trailing one hundred followers, it has to be a fully, collectively loving polycule
That’s a lesson a lot more shows could take to heart; not that every main character needs to be in the same romantic polycule, but that relationships must be defined laterally as well as in relation to the protagonist. I’ve seen too many shows where it seems like none of the characters would communicate if not for the protagonist acting as translator
And now we’ve got Rentaro in a monkey suit for some reason. Another key Rentaro strength: he’s certainly gallant and can be manly when he needs to, but he’ll never ever put his own ego over the happiness of his girlfriends. If a monkey suit is what his true love wants, that is exactly what she will get
So it seems this season will at least include an athlete, a food-lover, an ojou type, and a bashful girl whose bangs cover her eyes. Rikito Nakamura clearly being forced to stray further from the default harem types as we stretch towards a dozen heroines
Playful translations in general – Hakari’s “all of you” is translated as “ladies and ladies,” an added joke that fits naturally into the scene
And of course, our self-aware heroines are already congratulating themselves for reaching season two
“When was the last episode of season one, when we started dating Rentaro-kun?” Oh my god. They’re actually making season two’s development time a dramatic hurdle to overcome
Hakari of course commissioned Kusuri to develop a drug to counter this three month relationship ennui period. Those two are far too powerful together – Kusuri has the most dangerous skills of any girlfriend, and Hakari by far the most dangerous mind
But then Kusuri’s drug explodes, and yep, we’re in a body swap episode. Body swap episode, everyone!
It makes sense – 100 Girlfriends generally spends an episode or two establishing a “new normal” with each girlfriend before moving on to the next one. Of course, in this story’s case, “new normal” still means something like a group Freaky Friday experience
Everyone is desperate to avoid getting sued for Your Name copyright infringement. This ridiculous production
Quite a fun exercise for the voice actresses here; Shizuka with Nano’s affectation is really something
Hakari-in-Nano is of course eager to use this opportunity for anonymous horniness. Told you she was the most dangerous girlfriend
In true Rentaro fashion, he immediately recognizes her as Hakari, but takes her flagrant performance at face value. Our pure and honest boy
Lots of delightfully contorted expressions and playful smears as Hahari and Karane run wild in their new bodies. 100 Girlfriends’ narrative is defined by buoyant, jubilant energy, and these aesthetic tricks are essentially the visual embodiment of that tone
Shizuka-in-Karane is probably the most extreme reversal, and the show gets a good gag out of that. For Karane, staying quiet and fidgeting would mean she’s so angry she can’t even speak, but for Shizuka that’s just the standard state of affairs. A joke that underlines how this Freaky Friday concept demands a certain degree of multifaceted characterization; if your characters aren’t affiliated with a specific array of behavior patterns before the switch, there will be no drama or satisfaction in seeing how they express themselves in new bodies. A credit to 100 Girlfriends’ characterization, and also a lesson that applies to narrative twists on the whole: “audiences must be invested in a given state of affairs for a twist/alteration on that state of affairs to feel meaningful.” Many, many narratives lean on “but what you thought was true was actually false!” without working to ensure the audience was invested in that ostensibly true first scenario. Twists have no power without preexisting audience buy-in!
Seeing Hakari making Kusuri’s chipmunk expressions feels almost perverse somehow
And then we get Hahari-in-Kusuri petting Rentaro and calling him a good boy. We’re building a top notch “I hope this doesn’t awaken something in me” episode here
They ultimately elect to reorient themselves via out-of-body kisses, which will presumably send their souls first floating into the air and then returning to their original bodies. Look, if you wanted an excuse to all kiss Rentaro, you could have chosen something less far-fetched than that
Apparently Hakari’s body has its own internal horniness generation engine, as Kusuri finds herself overwhelmed by lust
Smol floof Karane and tsun-tsun Hahari. We’re ringing in the season with a full-length exercise in gap moe
“It was exciting, but I honestly like you all better the way you are.” The only way this could have ended – Rentaro loves his girlfriends for who they are, and that love only grows as he learns more about them. You don’t need gimmicks like this to maintain the passion if your fundamentals are strong; it’s always good to try new things, but the strongest couples love each other for who they are, not who they want each other to be
With reintroductions concluded, we meet our next girlfriend, who’s currently trudging through the halls with eyes concealed, hoodie up, and headphones on – about as “don’t talk to me” posture as you could conceive
Just a flourish of fourth wall breaking here, as Rentaro bumps into the dialogue balloon explaining why he’s buying lunch
As always, the eyes and hair are 100 Girlfriends’ top visual priority. Our first actual glimpse of this new girl is dazzling, with her hoodie accent colors reflected in her eyes, and just a touch of soft focus around the hair to draw our attention all the more fully towards those eyes
“Huh, you got a problem?” Well, since Karane was among the first two, I suppose we’re due for another adversarial girlfriend
She’s apparently a middle schooler, and also forgot her wallet. Gallant but not overbearing, Rentaro offers to split his lunch with her
Clear visual conveyance of her letting her guard down as she removes the hoodie-headphone combo
Right, this is our food-loving girl. Her love of food is put in the starkest possible terms through a reference to Ghibli meals, the most luxurious slices of bread and egg in animation history
She admits she gets hungry easily and cranky as a result, apologizing for her earlier behavior. Already we’re moving beyond individual archetypes to more fully realized experiences, emphasizing how people are more than single, stable affectations
She’s such an obsessive foody that she actually uses the hoodie and headphones to block out potential cravings
“It’s the least I could do for the food.” As always, Rentaro’s affection is not based in immediate physical attraction, but in his admiration for the passions of the people he loves
Sadly, he doesn’t even get her name before she reverts to hangry mode
“Why am I always like this? I get cranky and take it out on others, leaving myself alone.” Like Shizuka, Nano, and Kusuri before her, this girl needs not just a boyfriend, but a community that understands and appreciates her. The Rentaro Family is essentially becoming a group home for misunderstood girls
And of course, Rentaro learns to connect with her by speaking in her own language, and actually making one of the sandwiches she’s been craving
“You say you get hungry too easily, but I think that’s why you can love food so much.” Rentaro’s appreciation of his girlfriends’ quirks helps them to accept and even love themselves more, which is basically the essence of a fulfilling relationship. It can’t be one-sided – Rentaro isn’t benevolently showering affection on his lessers, he is helping the people he loves understand how special they are
“Sharing a meal with someone enjoying their food makes it taste that much better.” A truism that applies to far more than food; if you associate with people who find joy in what they love, that joy will shine on you as well
Thus our newest girlfriend actually pops the question herself. Alright, you might want to sit down for this next part, girl
Her name is Kurumi Haraga
“What have we got this time? Punk? Magical girl?” Karane can’t even pretend to be surprised anymore
“Hungry, hungry GF.” “That’s not an aesthetic.” Look, we can’t all be as obvious as your tsundere self, Karane
“I don’t spend time with you all because I need to. I do it because I love you all.” Nano of all people offers the punchline, and the fundamental promise of the Rentaro Family
And Done
Thus our newest girlfriend is acquired, and the stage is set for a preposterous group food fight! Well, I didn’t expect us to actually charge all the way through a girlfriend acquisition in the first episode, but I suppose things are a touch easier when the route to a girl’s heart is so obviously through her stomach. Regardless, I’m glad that Karane now has a fellow Grumpy Girlfriend to bond with, and remain charmed by how well 100 Girlfriends manages to demonstrate the genuine fundamentals of healthy, mutually enriching relationships in spite of its completely ridiculous premise. You’ve stolen our hearts again, Rentaro!
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