What’s it about? Hinako Konohana is, for all appearances, a perfectly charming young lady, but behind closed doors, she a nightmarish hot mess who can’t even sweep a floor. Thankfully, perfectly ordinary Itsuki is there to serve as her caretaker, only he gets thrown into a 24/7 cycle of doing damage control so that Hinako can continue to be everyone’s favorite prim and proper girl.
Good lord, these long titles are killing me this season, but that’s okay because, well… it just has to be, I can’t change it. But what I can do with Rich Girl Caretaker: I’m Secretly the Caregiver of the Most Popular Girl in This Rich Kid School is to truncate it, so we’re going to be calling this premiere Rich Girl Caretaker from here on out.
Speaking of a premiere, we start with Itsuki Tomonari, a perfectly normal student who managed to get into Kiou Gakuin, a prestigious academy where the rich and elite go and eventually, become some of Japan’s most influential individuals. Where he’s ordinary, fellow student Hinako Konohana stands out as a shimmering example of aptitude and potential… expect that’s not quite true.
You see, beneath her prim and proper exterior is a young woman who is quite crass. Her classmates and society at large don’t know that though because of the extensive behind-the-scenes work her family puts in to ensure she’s top of the class in personality, likability, and intelligence. Of course, when they first meet, Itsuki doesn’t know this, and before he even can get to understand her on any level, a certain incident rocks Itsuki’s life, forever linking him to Hinako on a deeply personal level…
I’m not really sure if I liked what I saw of Rich Girl Caretaker. It’s not bad, but it’s definitely not my cup of tea, that’s for sure. It starts, in truth, with the characters and the foundation of Hinako being so incredibly dependent on Itsuki to the point that it’s… discomforting.
You see, Itsuki is a child of addiction: his parents are gamblers and alcoholics, which means he has to fend for himself and is incredibly independent. So when his parents abandon him and steal all of his money, leaving him with two hundred yen, he’s shocked but just kind of takes it in stride. It’s framed as comedic but honestly… this was the first of many dud jokes in Rich Girl Caretaker for me because in reality, Itsuki would be up shit creek and likely wouldn’t receive a high school education. Here, it dovetails into him rescuing Hinako from being kidnapped while also being kidnapped.
Polar opposite is Hinako who struggles to drink from a water bottle, can’t fall asleep during her kidnapping without a lullaby, and only barely avoids living a dumpster fire life because of her elite status. Sure, on the outside, she’s gotten really good at playing at being prim and proper, but in truth, she’s like a flop of a twist on Kare Kano. Her interior personality isn’t interesting: it just feels lackluster, and becomes more so when Hinako claims Itsuki for her private life. If anything, it’s stressful enough that her previous caretaker had to be HOSPITALIZED FOR A STRESS ULCER.
It’s the most uninspired running joke in an anime that actually has some potential as a fish out of water story. Like I said, it reminded me of Kare Kano, an anime that executed this exact premise of a girl with a classy exterior and a completely different, true personality, really well. But Kare Kano this is not, and I suspect it’ll never be even half of that.
The worst crime an anime can commit these days is to be boring, and in my opinion, Rich Girl Caretaker is dull as Hinako’s dish water. It’s not bad, but it’s certainly not good and its leverage of Itsuki’s poverty comes off less as a joke and more just a pitiful situation. While it’s a vehicle for him to become involved with Hinako’s life, it feels a bit icky because Hinako’s family is definitely taking advantage of his pretty shitty life. In a well-written show, that could have actually had some comedic beats, but here, it just remains really uninteresting.
Ultimately, I’m going to have to give Rich Girl Caretaker a pass. I know it might be for some, especially for folks who want a twist on high school romantic comedies, but for me… it just felt like a slog, which is something I hate having to admit when it comes to premiere reviews. Still, I don’t think I’d be doing anyone justice by pretending I enjoyed my watch. Instead, what I’ll say is that if you like it, you do, and if you don’t, well… that’s okay too. Not everything is for everyone, and let me tell you, I’m everyone in this situation.
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