Review of ReLIFE

This might be one of the best anime I've watched yet. And that's saying a lot. This puts it in the company of anime like "Sangatsu no Lion", "Sound! Euphonium", "Akebi's Sailor Uniform", etc. Let me tell you why. First, let's get the technical stuff out of the way - the art, while bright, colorful, and usually well done, is probably the weakest part of this anime. The animation is often a little stiff. The music, however, is kind of amazing. The soundtrack is just a bunch of jazz riffs, and it really wouldn't surprise me if someone had actuallyjust sat down at the piano and improvised moods. That's actually really refreshing - I found myself noticing it over and over, and it didn't get in the way.

But the best thing about this anime is the story it asks, and the kind of reflection it demands.

This anime, like all the really good anime, asks a question. "What would it be like if you could relive high school?" From the very beginning of this anime, I found the question itself to be part of the appeal of this anime. I was able to put myself into the mindset of the MC, and learned quite a bit about myself, some things that, quite frankly, aren't all that pleasant to face. And this is the mark of an excellent anime, to me. One that has such a mastery of the human condition that the mangaka not only knows which question to ask, but makes a decent story based on it.

And there are several plot twists that are actually very satisfying. I won't hint at them because spoilers, but you probably won't see them coming, and when they're revealed it's actually kind of amazing. I'm really looking forward to see how this resolves in the specials. I hope it does. It would be very disappointing if it didn't.

Anyway, this is one of those sleeper anime that don't really get a lot of press, and I only found out about it through a roundabout way... but I'm glad I did. I'll be thinking about this question for a while... and I'm not sure the answers I come up with are comfortable. But, that's why it's a good anime. I think you will find this either an opportunity for deep reflection, or a good story. Either way it's worth watching..