A column-length conversation about who stands out among Rentaro’s expanding roster of girlfriends, with a close read of Iku and how the series uses ensemble dynamics to give characters moments to matter.
Iku is highlighted for a layered mix of traits — athletic, tomboyish, masochistic humor, and a plotted anxiety about femininity — that give her emotional beats beyond a single gag.
The series leans on inter-girlfriend relationships and sub-couples to expand character moments even as the polycule grows (17 girlfriends shown in the anime, 37 in the manga).
This Week in Anime's chatlog-style column (by Christopher Farris and Lucas DeRuyter) takes the third-season finish of The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You as an occasion to ask a single, practical question: who is the Best Girl among Rentaro's ever-growing harem? The hosts use that prompt to compare criteria, discuss personal taste, and analyze which characters get meaningful development.
The authors clarify an editorial distinction. A waifu usually signals personal attraction and can refer to any character. Best Girl is framed as a critical choice about who, within a rom-com ensemble, stands out as the strongest, most interesting, or best-constructed character. That difference shapes how the column judges candidates.
Iku is the featured example in this installment. The column's praise for her is specific: she's presented as a sports-oriented, tomboyish character with an explicit masochist gag used for humor. Beyond that, the column emphasizes that Iku receives moments that avoid lazy visual shortcuts and that her scenes sometimes address real anxiety about femininity without defaulting to the usual breast-size trope.
The column repeatedly returns to a production challenge: as Rentaro's polycule swells, individual screen time for any single girlfriend shrinks. The show's response, the hosts argue, is to pair or group girlfriends with one another so they can generate character-driven moments through interaction. That tactic lets even minor girlfriends land memorable beats by linking them to existing characters.
The column gives concrete context: the anime has reached 17 girlfriends on-screen while the manga includes 37. The hosts treat these numbers as part of the analytical frame: some girls naturally get more to do, and part of choosing a Best Girl is weighing gimmick, emotional beats, and how often the show gives a character meaningful scenes.
If you watch the series, this column helps you look at Iku and similar characters with specific things to watch for: whether a girlfriend's scenes extend beyond one gag, whether she forms sub-couple dynamics, and how the show compresses or expands character arcs as new girlfriends arrive. The column also points readers to recent Season 3 episodes and companion reviews that explore individual girlfriend arcs.
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