"I Wouldn't Lie in the First Place" — Voice Actor Shun Horie Reflects on His Journey with Rent-A-Girlfriend Protagonist Kazuya

The TV anime Rent-A-Girlfriend has been broadcasting its fifth season since April. Throughout the series, we have seen the protagonist, Kazuya Kinoshita, introduce his rental girlfriend, Chizuru Mizuhara, to his family and friends as his actual girlfriend, and continue to hide that lie.

Viewers and the cast didn't always have a high opinion of Kazuya, a deadbeat who keeps piling lie upon lie. However, many viewers likely completely changed their perspective after he successfully crowdfunded an independent movie in the third season.

In the episodes of the Hawaiians arc continuing into the fourth season, Mami Nanami, who knows the true relationship between Kazuya and Chizuru, begins to shake things up significantly, bringing the story to a major turning point.

In this article, we interviewed Shun Horie, the voice actor who plays Kazuya. Horie candidly shared that he couldn't bring himself to like Kazuya at first, offering a glimpse into how he has faced and connected with this character over time.

—Speaking of Kazuya, up until around the second season, he was a character with a very low reputation among both viewers and the cast, wasn't he? But that started to change with the independent movie arc in the third season. It was memorable to hear Sora Amamiya (who plays Chizuru) and Nao Tōyama (who plays Ruka Sarashina) mention that at events as well.

Horie: It's true that since the first season, the main topic of conversation among the cast was always "Kazuya this week." People would often say, "Isn't Kazuya's behavior here just unbelievable?" and I'd reply, "Yeah, I know right..." But that gradually decreased around the third season. Interestingly, only Aoi Yūki (who plays Mami) consistently called him "cute" from the very beginning.

—She mentioned that at an event too, didn't she?

Horie: I've never met anyone other than Ms. Yūki who calls Kazuya cute (lol). I could understand it after the third season, but she was saying "This pathetic side of him is cute" since the first season... which was actually a bit scary to me.

—(lol). From the fourth season leading into the fifth season, Mami's scariness really stands out, doesn't it?

Horie: By the fifth season, the center of our conversations wasn't Kazuya anymore; it was all about Mami-san.