(SPOILERS FOR "Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time")

Evangelion x Kate CM is a one of the latest pieces of animation surrounding the popular anime franchise, Evangelion. It's short length is a bit of a let-down however content around Evangelion is still content nonetheless and makes me want to bust-a-move due to sheer happiness.

To the untrained eye this is just an advertisement for lipstick in collaboration with a popular anime franchise, however, my eyes have been trained to the very limit and can see the hidden story within.

For starters, Rei is seen putting on RED LIPSTICK despite the fact that she is known to hate the colour red. This leads me to believe that the Rei in this video is not one of the Rei's we see in the show or movies and is instead an abnormal Rei that through some sort of error has turned out different from the rest. This is somewhat similar to the Rei seen throughout "Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time" who also ended up quite different although the circumstances surrounding her development were quite different. Of course, this one point is not the only thing supporting this theory as I believe the line "no more rules" that appears later in the ad is supposed to symbolise this Rei breaking away from what a Rei is supposed to be and wanting to become her own person. However. if this theory is correct then that means this Rei is likely to meet the same fate as the one in 3.0+1.0 as for a Rei to survive, they need to submerge themselves in LCL which she will likely not have access to if she wishes to escape Gendo.

Another theory I have surrounding this crossover advertisement is that this ad is actually an ad in the Evangelion universe, specifically the universe created at the end of "Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time" where EVA units don't exist and the world seems to be just like our own in which we see Rei at the train station talking to Kaworu. In this universe it is possible that Rei has become a fashion model and so dresses up in many different outfits which could be a call-back to the scene in episode 22 of Evangelion when Asuka calls Rei a doll and dolls like Barbie are known for wearing many different outfits. While this theory is less interesting I believe that it is the more likely scenario as I'm not entirely sure where the Rei from the previous theory would go after escaping form NERV headquarters.

In conclusion, this is probably just a lipstick ad featuring Rei but trying to find/create lore about it was pretty fun!

After the atrocity that was the story in Season 1 and the slightly less bad season 2, I am pleasantly surprised that Season 3 of Rent-a-Girlfriend is not in my bottom 5 anime of all time. In fact, I think that this season could even be called good. Not one episode in this season is nearly as bad as any of the episodes in Season 1 or the first episode of Season 2 simply because Kazuya in this season is not a total freak who stalks a Rental Girlfriend. Don't get me wrong, I still don't like him very much, but in this season, he actually does have a commendable goal with no ulterior motives. Him wanting to make a movie starring Chizuru simply because he wants to support her and make her happy is a step forward for his character and the overall story. Another possible reason why I enjoyed this season more than the previous is because Mami is nowhere to be seen at all which is just a great decision since she feels forced into the story whenever she appears.

To put into perceptive how much better the writing in this season was compared to the previous 2. The first season of Rent-a-Girlfriend made me physically uncomfortable during the episode "Christmas and Girlfriend" as Kazuya stalks Chizuru for an entire day which makes up most of the episode’s runtime which kind of happens again in episode 1 of season 2 where Kazuya once again follows Chizuru around without her knowing. In contrast, there were moments in Season 3 that made me cry because of the build-up beforehand. I will admit that I did cry during season 2, however, that was during the last episode of season 2 and that moment had zero notable build-up because it was a backstory for a character Rent- a-Girlfriend. Not saying that Chizuru's backstory was bad, more so I just think the sad moments in season 3 were done better.

So, you may have noticed by now that I have only really talked about Season 3 of Rent-a-Girlfriend being good when compared to the other 2 seasons. That's because despite season 3 being an improvement over the first 2 seasons, it's still not a ground-breaking show or anything close to that. It's probably less interesting to talk about than the other 2 seasons because unlike those 2, this season isn't really bad. There are decently high highs and somewhat low lows. Some parts genuinely made me laugh which is obviously a good thing but it's not enough to make this a MUST WATCH, especially since you have to get through season 1 and 2 to watch this.

One of my favourite things about this season is the new character, Mini Yaemori. I don't think there's a scene with her that I don't like which is crazy considering what show this is. She is funny and tries to push the story forward. She's witnessing the complicated relationship between Kazuya and Chizuru just like the audience except that she can actually try and push both characters into the real relationship we all know is going to happen eventually. Another thing that I like about her is she isn't just another girl to add to Kazuya's harem that he somehow has. She genuinely feels no romantic interest towards Kazuya and is instead fascinated by him and how insane his current situation is. All of this makes her my favourite character in the series so far and it's not close at all.

The OP of this season is decent as the visuals are nice and I like the song. I like it more than the season 2 OP, however, the season 1OP is better in my opinion. The ED, however, is my favourite so far. The visuals are good and somewhat nostalgic (as much as I hate to admit it) as moments from the series so far pop up on the screen and I'm a big fan of the song.

The visuals are great which is one of the only consistently good things in this show. The colours are vibrant, the art it beautiful, and the animation is good. Not much more to say really.

In conclusion, Rent-a-Girlfriend season 3 is enjoyable and is easily the best season so far even if it's not anything too special.