Review of ReLIFE

// This ReView only contains spoilers if you haven’t ReLived the experiences shown in the anime yourself// ReLife is an awesome mix of light-hearted comedy and existential drama, which ponders about serious adult problems by presenting us with a typical anime high-school setting. Surprisingly, it works. Story: We are given a premise of an adult guy participating in an experiment called ‘ReLife’, which allows you to alter your appearance to look younger and spend a year in high school. Again. Under a watchful eye of the supervisor. The story after this is pretty simple and all of the revelations are obvious to the attentive viewer. ReLife draws itsinspiration from many sources. It shares alienation of a single person from the community with ‘Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru’, finding your way emotionally and rationally with ‘Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo’, protagonist interaction with an unfamiliar setting with ‘Boku dake ga Inai Machi ’, morally right versus socially acceptable dilemma with ‘NHK ni Youkoso’. So, what are the unique aspects of the show? Is it just another copy of popular titles made to impress the audience? It can be said that ReLife is really good when it follows its original path, and gets worse when it strays off to the point of becoming easily compared. Luckily, that doesn’t happen too often.
Unlike all of the former titles, ReLife is not about how our actions influence the world, but how our emotions influence our actions. It touches the aspects of friendship, love, social distance, acceptance in community, competitiveness and value of a person in his own eyes. It wonders where we draw the line between helping someone and intruding in their lives. Just like the former titles, however, ReLife is more mature than it lets you to believe at first sight. This is where the other aspect kicks in to balance this out.
Comedy in ReLife is largely built on comparing the present and the past, contrasting differences (kids these days) with similarities (I guess X is still like this). It’s a neat choice of giving the show a solid viewpoint and is also really good for giving minor details to the protagonist, considering that while he is not that much older than the rest of the cast, a lot has indeed changed in the last decade. It also deals with other minor things we pick up when growing up, such as formal language and vocabulary or just general ability to socialise in a group.

Characters:

Character section is where the title could drop its prefix and just be called ‘Life’, because this is what drives the show. It is not about main character moving towards his goal, but more about him realizing his own self through other people, who are much more in-the-moment. ReLife is about, well, life, and life is about having problems, because this is what we, as humans, spot best. Protagonist has problems, his fellow students have problems, even his supervisor faces several challenges. Some want recognition. Some want friends. Some want to correct their mistakes. Some just want to have fun. The assortment of obstacles, big and small, is so varied you could almost certainly relate to some of them.
All characters are pretty unique and likeable, but instead of describing their personalities, I’d like to point out how carefully authors tone down general tropes to convey their message. Shy people are not hilariously shy, assertive and eccentric characters are hardly tsunderes, etc. Sometimes we see comic situations, but they are never portrayed for the sake of comic relief. They shape the characters; they create interactions between them and fill the blanks in your and main character’s understanding of their problems. Main character himself is not antisocial or too extreme in his behaviour – just a regular person with another chance in life. And because he doesn’t really fit into this bunch of students, we can observe the situation from his point of view – as an outsider, detached from the rest of the cast.
It doesn’t become relevant until about halfway into the show, when curator says, ‘Do you like ReLife? Does it let you to take a thorough look at yourself?’ Not sure if this was intended, but this phrase is as applicable to the protagonist as it is to the viewer. ReLife challenges us as much as it is challenging the protagonist. Every single time we think about past situation and how we could’ve done something differently, we are missing out on the present. This happens because we can usually only look at every situation once we are out of it, when we are not bothered by immediate feelings and goals. ReLife focuses on this aspect heavily by telling the viewer, ‘Hey, if think you could relive some moments of your life and change them to better your present, why not focus on your present instead?’

Animation:

Animation in ReLife is really, really good, especially on the characters design side. It is simple but very fitting for the story, much like in the source material. A fair amount of detail is given to the background, and characters out of focus are also somewhat detailed (unlike A-1 Pictures straw men).

Sound:

I feel like ReLife deserves some extra credits at this department because the voice acting is on a superior level. Most of strong points of the anime are based upon interacting with feelings (or lack of them); hence it becomes extremely important to voice it properly. Another strong point is a special ending song for each episode, which definitely adds to the experience. OP is much more memorable than all of them, however.

Verdict:

ReLife deals with feelings of regret we have about our past, but more importantly, it tries to inspire us to face the present. There will always be regrets, because no life is perfect as is. But are we reducing the value our past problems hold? Do the negative aspects only break us and bring negative emotions, or do they shape us, build our character and prepare us for the life ahead?
Despite tackling complex issues, ReLife’s messages are pretty simple. You can’t run away from your life forever. Sometimes, you have to fail to succeed. And even if we have the second chance, there is no guarantee that we will use it and not miss out on it again.
It is not about waiting for the right moment in your life to start acting. It’s about starting doing something right now, not because it will be easy, or painless, or even that the result will pay off, but because in the end the journey will be worth it.

Score: Story (8*40%) + Characters (9*30%) + Animation (9*15%) + Sound (8*15%) + Enjoyment (+1) = 9.45

Personal Achievement: Passion Cliff Is Too Steep