The Summer 2026 Anime Preview Guide

Rich Girl Caretaker

A high school boy, Itsuki Tomonari, becomes involved in a kidnapping and ends up caring for Hinako Konohana, a young lady from one of Japan's largest conglomerates. On the surface, Hinako seems to be a brilliant and charming girl, but in reality, she is a lazy girl with no life skills. However, due to family reasons, Hinako has to play the role of the "perfect young lady" at school. Wanting to protect her, Itsuki takes care of her very well. Eventually, Hinako begins to fawn on Itsuki with all her might… "Now…if Itsuki isn't around, I would hate it."

Rich Girl Caretaker: I’m Secretly the Caregiver of the Most Popular Girl in This Rich Kid School is based on the light novel series by author Yusaku Sakaishi and illustrator Sakura Miwabe. The anime series is streaming on Crunchyroll on Thursdays.

OK, make no mistake, this is really dumb. This is some of the most contrived high school wishful fulfillment likely to air this season. But darn it, I'd be lying if I said, I didn't get some genuine laughs and some solid overall enjoyment out of it. I think a lot of that came down to the fact that, despite the fact that I have seen this premise a lot before, it still felt weirdly endearing—and the extent at which the premiere was willing to expand upon Hinako's sheer incompetency to highlight how desperately she needs a caretaker was actually very funny. I thought it was cute how she keeps clinging onto Itsuki and seems to just like his overall vibe. I think we can all relate to that idea of how there are certain friends or people that we can really let our guard down around. This is just taking that idea and elevating it to an incredibly ludicrous degree. But considering how little this show seems to be taking itself seriously, I think I can actually get behind that.

It also helps that the writing and directing is a little bit snappy. There's no long drawn out explanation or really any sign of over self-indulgence. Everyone is very direct about what's going on and I respect the episode for not wasting my time. Now, of course, with a show like this, it runs the risk of running the joke very thin, very quickly. I assume the make or break point for me personally is going to be how well can it maintain this formula, especially when the show transitions to the school setting which I imagine is going to be the main setting for the season. That has yet to be seen but if the show can keep up that level of endearing while also playing up the comedy with Hinako, then I think at the very least this could be some pretty solid junk food for the summer.