Review of ReLIFE

I registered a new account on MAL with the sole reason of writing a review for ReLIFE. Just in my humble opinion, ReLIFE is receive much less recognition that it deserves. I am late to Anime, but I am confident enough to say I've binged many rom-com series, most of which are consistently in the top 40 on several sites. It irritates me the fact that ReLIFE never makes any of these lists, and I'll explain why. I understand why so many people are unhappy with the anime, and it boils down to how the anime adaptation was handled. I've read through 222 chapters of manga(which I highly recommend because they are fully colored), and I've got a feeling that they originally planned to have 2 seasons for the anime. That is why the whole 13 episodes follow 80-90% of what happened during Chapter 1-103, half-way through the manga. The show should have had a full-fledged season 2, but didn't due to several issues.

Nevertheless, the way the people behind ReLIFE punched through and compromised with giving us 4 OVAs (as ep 14, 15, 16 and 17) to give us a conclusion is commendable. It's a shame that since they have over 100 chapters of manga to work with for only 4 OVAs, they had to dropped multiple plot lines that fully fleshed out characters that need them badly.

If you watch the anime alone, there will be one character that comes off as an unnecessary drama queen, always blowing things out of proportions without consideration for others. This is necessary because the later half of the manga shows a lot of development for "this character", as "this character" becomes more sensitive, more considerate, and more mature as a person (and even helped push the two main characters when needed). There are multiple plot lines that would have been great to be seen in the anime, such as the brothers plot, and the support-division couple plot.

Ultimately, I am happy with how the show manages to give us viewer a proper closure, unlike many many rom-com series that just end at episode 12 without the couples yet coming together AND NO PLANS WHATSOEVER FOR MORE CONTENT. Of course the manga handles several events differently, and they are more impactful due to having more freedom with length.

If you plan to watch this, make sure you see it as a 17-episode anime rather than 13. And if you like reading, the manga is a must-read. The story is coherent, the plot is intriguing, and all the characters are lovable!