"She’s smiling here, but she's turning pale in the anime!" Fans joke as "Rent-A-Girlfriend" creator celebrates with an illustration of a smiling Chizuru, a stark contrast to the show

Manga artist Reiji Miyajima shared an illustration on his official X account to celebrate Chizuru Mizuhara's (voiced by Sora Amamiya) birthday on April 19, and it has quickly become a trending topic.

The post was captioned: "Things are getting pretty intense in the anime right now, but happy birthday, Chizuru!"

The illustration depicts Chizuru in a light blue and white lace swimsuit. With her hair elegantly gathered in braids, her gentle smile under the sunlight is quite striking. The image also includes a handwritten-style message saying, "2026.4.19 Happy Birthday!!"

"Rent-A-Girlfriend" is a romantic comedy by Miyajima currently serialized in "Weekly Shonen Magazine." In the fifth season of the TV anime now airing, Chizuru's secret as a "rental girlfriend" has been exposed via a smartphone dropped by Mami Nanami (voiced by Aoi Yūki). The truth was finally revealed in front of Kazuya Kinoshita's (voiced by Shun Horie) family—including his grandmother Nagomi (voiced by Yukari Nozawa)—and friends, leading to a tense development where everyone is frozen in shock.

In response to this post, fans have left comments such as, "It's hilarious how he's acting like it's someone else's problem (lol)," "She's all smiles here, but she's turning pale in the anime," "HBD Chi-chan!" and "Please keep getting along with Kazuya."

(C)宮島礼吏・講談社／「彼女、お借りします」製作委員会2026