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Relife
High school Never Ends
Series in a Sentence
Kaizaki Arata, an unemployed 27-year old, accepts an offer from the ReLife company to relive his high school years in order to get his life back on track.
What I liked
As a series about a grown man essentially redeeming himself by reliving his last year in high school, I really enjoyed the writing and the memory-erasing plot device was a nice twist. Watching Kaizaki go from a “don’t care” attitude to truly caring about those around him and wondering if he can continue living with them all was nice and heartwarming, as were his interactions with the other ReLife test subject, Hishiro. The fact that she was a test subject and suspected Kaizaki to be one too was a nice wrinkle in the series that, despite time constraints in both the original run and Kanketsu-Hen, I enjoyed. Watching their romance and them struggling with the idea that they might love a high schooler while knowing that they were both adults was fun and despite the whole “viewer knows the whole picture but characters don’t” technique being a typical stylistic choice I enjoyed it nonetheless. If anything, it bolstered my connection with Yoake and made him almost a proxy for me in that world. Main romance aside, the side romance of Kariu and Oga provided the occasional dose of sweetness and, despite feeling like it overstayed its welcome in some episodes, it was just another thing that I enjoyed. To be more general to wrap this section up, the comedy and timing of the comedy had an endearing feel throughout the series, the various side stories were enjoyable because they helped flesh out other characters, and that opening was too catchy.
What I Didn’t Like
The main run of ReLife was fine. It had characters I enjoyed, a really catchy opening, some genuine moments, and some moments where I died laughing. Kanketsu-Hen, though, took my interest and really tested it. Now, once the original series ended, I went to the manga for closure and found a series that I was excited to read every week. Character and relationship developments went in the directions I wanted and the author went all out in showing such growth. Then, I saw that Kanketsu-Hen was coming out and I got excited. A 4-episode wrap-up to the series in line with the manga? Sign me up, or so I thought. Every character development in the side characters was tossed to the side in favor of pushing Kaizaki and Hishiro, major events between the two that caused them to grow closer were completely skipped over, and activities in the manga that caused them to grow closer with classmates and question if they wanted ReLife to end were frustratingly absent. The big draw to ReLife was seeing characters grow close knowing that the memories would fade but the way that the Kanketsu-Hen episodes played out completely removed these emotional stakes. In line with that, the ending was a jumbled up version of the manga’s ending, with some event staking place at different periods of time. Call me spoiled by the manga’s longer time to play an ending out, but the anime ndidn’t even show Kaizaki, Hishiro, Yoake, and Onoya sharing a drink together as adults like they promised when they were in the middle of the experiment.
Overall Feelings
I liked ReLife for its sense of humor, its character driven drama, and the emotional stakes it presented as the experiment’s end drew near. While the Kanketsu-Hen episodes really betrayed my feelings to the series, I can’t fault them for trying and have to at least be thankful that the anime got some form of closure once the manga ended and, in hindsight, for people that haven’t read the manga I’m sure it will suffice. As a whole, then, ReLife was a show that didn’t blow me away with spectacle or overwhelming originality; it was a show that kept me coming back because of consistency. Despite all of the pacing issues and thrown away plot points at the end, from a purely anime standpoint it wrapped up fine. In the end, ReLife was a fun watch and one that I can safely say should be eventually viewed, just after larger shows. Even as adults, it’s important to remember the lessons we’ve learned from our pasts.