Rent-a-Girlfriend manga matches Dragon Ball in length, fans ask bluntly: “Why has Goku saved the world but Kazuya still doesn’t have a girlfriend?”
Rent-a-Girlfriend is one of the most popular yet frustrating romantic comedy manga today. The series has attracted a huge fanbase but also faced plenty of criticism for its prolonged storyline and the indecisiveness of its main character, Kazuya.
Recently, a Twitter user noticed the manga had reached volume 42 and couldn’t hide their disappointment, commenting: “I can’t help but shed tears over the decline of this country, now that Rent-a-Girlfriend has caught up to Dragon Ball in volume count.”
This sarcastic comparison quickly spread. While Goku and his friends defeated countless villains and saved the world multiple times in 42 volumes of Dragon Ball, Kazuya still hasn’t officially started dating Chizuru.
Surprisingly, author Reiji Miyajima personally saw and responded to the criticism: “The characters don’t move the way I want, and before I realized it, the story had stretched this far.”
This response shook the fan community. Some saw it as an honest admission of losing control over the story’s pacing, while others took it as a humorous excuse implying the characters (especially Chizuru) seem to have their own “free will” and refuse to follow the author’s planned script.
The online community reacted enthusiastically to the author’s reply, continuing to mock Kazuya’s slow progress by referencing Dragon Ball.
One user commented: “Getting married during the Tenkaichi Budokai and having a happy ending is fine,” referring to how Goku and Chi-Chi married early, while Kazuya is still stuck.
Another fan pointed out the difficulty: “The problem is Kazuya can’t even get past the Tenkaichi Budokai preliminaries.”
Despite heavy criticism, Rent-a-Girlfriend remains an extremely popular series, with strong manga sales and a successful anime. However, the author’s open admission about the story’s length has fans worried: “It’s like admitting he can’t manage everything on his own, will he be okay?”
Whether loved or hated, Rent-a-Girlfriend has sparked a rare discussion about the relationship between an author and the development (or stagnation) of characters in manga.