Rent-a-Girlfriend is an anime where a college student named Kazuya pays to go on fake dates with a beautiful girl named Chizuru. While the anime did a pretty good job of adapting the source material, it wasn't perfect. As most anime and manga fans already know, the manga usually has more content than the anime.
Characters' personalities are also slightly altered to better appeal to the anime fanbase. Rent-a-Girlfriend does have quite a few differences from the manga, one of which many viewers are hoping are added in for the second season, especially since Kazuya is such a huge fan of fish.
10 Kazuya Is An Aquarium Fan
It isn't really mentioned in the anime that Kazuya is such a huge fan of fish. In the manga, it is revealed that he actually may be the biggest fish enthusiast in all of the manga, as he has studied a lot about each species.
The manga translates Kazuma's username to reveal that aquariums inspired it. This quirk really helps show some of Kazuya's personality outside of just being a love-struck college student in the story.
9 The Axolotl
Kazuya owns an aquarium in his room where he actually takes care of an unusual fish called an axolotl. One major thing to note in the manga is his pet. Axolotl actually has an internal dialogue about Kazuya.
The Axolotl mocks Kazuya at times and is often shown to be angry about not being fed. He is a fan-favorite character for manga readers and, with some luck, will get more screen-time in season two of the anime.
8 Kazuya Is A Gap Student
Kazuya isn't a normal college student, which is why he is 19 at the start of the show instead of 18 when most high schoolers begin to attend college. While most of his friends went straight to school, Kazuya skipped a year.
It is also revealed that Mizuhara is further along in her studies because of this, and Kazuya is older than many of the other students in his grade.
7 The Ruka Scene Is Longer
When Kazuya decides to go on a double date, he meets Ruka, who later confronts him about renting Mizuhara. The conversation between Ruka and Kazuya is rather brief and straightforward, while in the manga, it's much more complicated.
Kazuya actually has to follow Ruka around for quite some time before she ends up falling down the steps. During this point in time, it is shown that Ruka initially sees Kazuya as being an annoyance to her.
6 Kazuya Shows Less Interest In Ruka
Dialogue changes often happen when an anime is made; some lines are expanded, while others are shortened. In the anime, Kazuya seems to lean a bit more towards actually wanting to date Ruka.
In the manga, though, he actually asks her to leave him alone and seems a lot less thrilled with her attempted dates. Ruka is also portrayed as being much more childish in the manga, making her less favorable with readers.
5 Ruka's Condition Is Better Explained
While viewers know that Ruka has a heart that doesn't usually get excited, the anime doesn't really go into her health condition. The manga dedicates a full chapter to explaining that Ruka has always had a slowed heartbeat.
It also lets viewers know that she has been this way since childhood, and at first, the activities she was allowed to do by her parents were incredibly limited due to health concerns.
4 Some Chapters Are Left Out
Like with the chapter explaining Ruka's health condition, a few chapters are left out for various reasons. While some may be due to the more adult-oriented themes, Rukas is a bit of a mystery.
Also, scenes are expanded on, like Kazuya and Chizuru's first date. Cuts are normal when anime tries to fit into a specific run time and episode load, but it can make the characters less understood by viewers.
3 Kazuya Is More Cringy
Kazuya is way more cringy in the manga than he is in the anime. Viewers know that Kazuya gets caught up in his head a lot, but it is much worse in the manga, especially when having delusions about the girl's feelings.
This actually portrays Kazuya in a worse light as he is shown to be a lot more clingy and creepy. Many manga fans even note that Chizuru is probably too good for him.
2 Mami Is Worse
Mami is toned down a bit in the anime, likely to make fans like her a bit better. In the manga, though, her bad attitude is shown to be much crueler, especially when messing with Chizuru on their date.
The manga community dislikes Mami, and her sadistic side is a lot worse, showing just how cruel a person she really is.
1 More Mature
The wording and way the characters are presented in the manga use more mature language. The characters speak in a more mature tone, except for Ruka, who seems more childlike in most of the manga panels.
Chizuru especially feels more like a young college girl in the manga, and Kazuya is a lot blunter than he is in the anime, sometimes being downright awful to Ruka.