Review of ReLIFE

Let me start by saying I love this show. It excels in almost every way with very few issues, however, those few issues keep it from being the 10/10 I think it was so close to being. This show could have easily hung out with romance greats like Your Lie in April and Bunny Girl Senpai and I am genuinely disappointed I cannot compare Relife to those shows. In my opinion, Relife could have easily gone down as one of the best romance anime ever... if it had more than one season and a few additional episodes tacked on. If this show had just hadthose additional more episodes it so deserved it would have been nearly flawless. In the end, this show deserves high praise and is 100% worth the watch, it is one of the rare romance shows with an actual ending.

The characters were honestly top-notch, I rarely remember the names of so many different characters after finishing a show. The conflict was believable and the resolutions felt emotional and earned. My only problem is that for most of the show the main character, Kaizaki, takes a bit of a back seat to another character, Rena, to the point that it felt like her show for the majority of the show. Almost every issue and arc revolved around her, which is not a problem, I thoroughly enjoyed it, it just felt a bit weird at the time. Despite that, the main quartet of characters being Kaizaki, Rena, Oga, and Hishiro worked great together and I loved their dynamics.

While I may be biased, I adored the art style, it is easily my all-time style for anime. It just screams chill vibes and is perfect for an emotional romance show. The character expressions were some of my favorite in all of the anime and had me laughing more times than I can count. Speaking of which, this show is low-key hilarious when it wants to be. There were so many parts that I had to pause it just because I was laughing so hard, it is rare to see a show pull off subtle comedy as well at this show.

All in all, I wouldn't say this show is in my top ten of all time but it's definitely up there. I do genuinely believe if this show had a few more arcs and a complete second season it could have gone down as a 10/10 and maybe even completive for my all-time favorite romance anime. This show definitely deserves a watch and I highly recommend it. the last four episodes were some of the most heartfelt episodes I have ever seen in anime and I found myself on the verge of tears more than a couple of times. If a show's only weakness is that you just want more, I think it accomplished what it set out to do. 9/10, would highly recommend!