Review of ReLIFE

~Spoiler Free~ Being able to fix our mistakes might as well be a dream to strive for. We all have regrets in life no matter who you are and it is up to the individual to work their life around it. Well, ReLife takes the concept by the horns and directs it to a path that is not necessarily different, but interesting. (Optional)This series is an adaptation of a web comic by the same name and takes on the story of Kaizaki Arata and his life of high school. Funny thing, he is a full grown adult. Acknowledging the fact that life is going downhill due toan unstable job and bad habits, Arata enrolls in the ReLIFE program that gives him the persona of a 17 year old. With this new identity, Arata is then tasked to live one year in this state while attending High school. (Optional)

Now, the story itself is not something to be the determining factor of whether the series is worth to pick it up or not. Keep in mind, this show is a slice of life/school life anime. It follows an ambiguous plot which tends to branch off into sub arcs that are not necessarily relevant to the main conflict of ReLIFE. Although that may not sound very pretty, what drives the anime's story is through character interactions. The plot is more or less a character-driven narrative which is built upon our cast learning more about each other and branch off from there. From then, it depends on whether you, the audience, will find interest in drama that are found through what has been given throughout the series. ~ While the story gets progressively interesting, I will be honest, it is slow.

With how the anime is presented, the ART and SOUND are both not the greatest and not the worst. The animation is definitely keeping up with its modern day counterparts. It does not necessarily do anything out of the ordinary aside from adding in comedic chibi art (and might I tell you, the anime uses that aspect very well) here and there. Now SOUND is what I want to talk about for a bit. It is unique with how music is used in ReLIFE. Initially looking at this series, I was thinking that modern synthesizers will be used for how I viewed the premise. It was not too serious nor did not give a classic vibe as if the series is taking place way back when. However listening in, it was interesting to hear that a lot of jazzy rhythms that capitalize on piano riffs are what consisted in ReLIFE's bgm. It was weird in a way that kept me interested to see how the music would affect the tone of where the anime is heading towards.

The CHARACTERS are a very interesting bunch. A bulk of the series is our casts' development, so it will be apparent to the viewers how much they change through their interactions. Personally, Hishiro stood out the most for me due to her portrayal as the "quiet girl".

~~~Personally, I did enjoy the series. It was a wonderful take on the Highschool/SoL genre by adding in an odd aspect. It is definitely interesting to watch and understand our casts' character development. But the way ReLIFE presented itself may not appeal to the general crowd. Some may shy away with how the plot progresses and that is understandable, but it is all for the sake of tying knots together in the end.