Review of ReLIFE

This anime's somewhat relatable for me. I'm a 23 year old man, who is currently unemployed and also out of education. Though my circumstances/reasons for being in my current situation are entirely different (and valid), I can still relate to the main character a hell of a lot, as well as that desire to just... go back 10 years, make some changes, make more of an impact with what I know now, and have a fresh start. I really did know nothing going into this. ReLIFE's on the front-page of both MAL and Crunchyroll a lot recently. I saw the genres on MAL as school andslice of life, and so I thought "WHY THE HELL NOT?!" (school/sol anime is my weakness), and decided to watch an episode.

Less than 24 hours later, I had finished the show, and was browsing Tumblr for #relatable posts. Damn. God damn. This shit's good.

The premise, and the way your introduced into the school environment, is certainly unique, and you've got a diverse mix of characters/personalities. You've got some romance, some drama, some day-to-day life problems, as well as teenagers just being teenagers. The best part though (if you ignore the kind of sci-fi magic pill thing) is that it's pretty realistic! The reasons for the drama, and the build-up to potential romance, the way characters introduce themselves... it all feels pretty natural to me, which I really appreciate in an anime.

However, there's also some deeper story-lines and elements that come into play a few episodes in. A couple of serious topics come to light, and are dealt with in (again) a realistic and mature way. After a few episodes, I just thought ReLIFE was going to be some light, fun fluff, with a generic and positive message, but no. These additional elements made quite an impact, and they were incorporated into everything in a mature manner.

The episodes flow together really well, and can be appreciated both individually, and as a whole. I really enjoyed the music, too. There's a good mix of stuff played during the end-credits, plus a jazz-ish vibe throughout the show, thanks to a piano, and yeah.

ReLIFE will leave you wanting more, which in my opinion is a sigh of an A+ anime. Highly recommended!