ReLIFE... aah, ReLIFE. I remember, a few years back, every morning I'd wake up, prepare a cup of coffee, and read a chapter of ReLIFE before heading off to college. It was a pretty simple, but still satisfying routine of mine, and I kept it until translators caught up with raws. Then, bit by bit, I began losing interest in this manga. Recently, though, a wave of nostalgia hit me, and I decided to pick it back up and see how things are playing out. Oh boy.
I enjoyed ReLIFE a decent amount. The art is nice, clean (and being in full color doesn't hurt
...
either), the comedy is pretty decent and I laughed out loud quite a few times. First 40 or so chapters, although remarkably cliche in their premise, were executed well enough that I had a pretty good time reading. But then it kept going... and going... and going... and, well, you get the gist.
That's the story of ReLIFE in a nutshell: it just keeps going. It has no fuel, but it still keeps on going. Story is the greatest downfall of this manga and the main reason for such a low grade. I don't blame it for hitting every high-school romance cliche in the book. For the most part, unlike other manga (at least early on), it didn't drag out conflicts unnecessarily, and it kept a steady, forward momentum. The problems began cropping up when the pace was broken, and when the story started running in circles, which was shortly after it was revealed to us who the Subject NO.1 was. Before that, the focus was primarily on the side characters, and the events were unfolding relatively quickly. Yes, it had its annoying moments, it had moments you've seen in every other story with similar setting, but it wasn't bad.
Then, the story stepped on the brakes so hard it nearly overturned itself. It did something that no manga of its type should ever allow itself to do: it became boring. Only one central conflict remained (well, if we exclude that random arc about the side dude midway which I wholeheartedly recommend you skip - that's how bad it is), and it was clear mangaka had no intention of ending the story just yet. So, to play the music of the story, characters also began running in circles. And it all just turned into a wallowing abomination that doesn't know when to just stop.
However, there's light at the end of the tunnel; as of ch. 200 (the one I'm currently at), the story seems to be wrapping up. I don't see it going past another 20 chapters (and even that's stretching it), but, considering the history of manga, there's a high chance it'll - again - just keep on going. I don't mind it that much, really. I'll inevitably end up reading however many chapters are left simply because I'm already in too deep to bail. However, it does leave a bad taste in my mouth. Nearly 60-70 chapters could have been cut cleanly, or at least rewritten to follow the flow better, and the manga would have been better for it.
Moving on to characters, while not awful as the story, they're not that great either to be honest. And, to be even more honest, they were never that great. Most of the side characters are just your standard insecure high-school kids with high tendency of throwing tantrums, while the supposed 'adults' of the story work their hardest to match them in that department. I swear, if there was a way to measure self-pity in this manga, it'd have broken the charts. The main guy had about 260 monologues that were nothing short of asinine attempts at deeper characterization that only end up being woeful wastes of space. Every one of his 'self-examinations' follows the same pattern, and he always ends up reaching the same conclusion, before abandoning it to open up some space for the next 'self-examination'. Mind you, this dude is supposed to be 27 years old. Meaning, he has a functioning, adult brain. Meaning that 'coming of age crap' doesn't work on him, because he's not 17 as the rest of the cast.
The main love interest is perhaps the highlight of manga. Unlike the side characters, she's not annoying and, unlike the main character, she doesn't waste screen time by constantly spitting woe-is-me liners. She receives the most character development of the bunch, and is practically the only reason the character score is 5 rather than 3, like the story. All the same, she simply isn't interesting enough to hold the manga on her own. Well, at least, she does behave like an actual adult (for the most part), unlike our MC.
The other two adults in the story are mainly there for either exposition or comedic relief. They do get their own bits and pieces of backstory, but it's so basic it's hard to truly care. They're there - for the most part at least - to explain the MC's circumstances, and to 'excuse' his 'woe-is-me' attitude that he hadn't dropped even now.
ReLIFE could have been something really great. However, it turned out to be just another wasted potential. Instead of tackling the generic high-school romance setting through the lens of an adult's eye, it simply forgets that it has adult characters in the story and just rides that high-school romance setting to ground. Its greatest fault is simply that it's too long. No love story - even one with a decent amount of chapters dedicated to side stories - should take 200 chapters to tell, no matter how short or long those chapters may be.
One thing I forgot to mention was also the mishandling of the tone. There were far too many times when the tone abruptly shifted and changed, making it so that I can neither enjoy the comedy nor immerse myself in the ongoing drama.
Couple all that with the fact that MC goes from 'understandable' to 'plain annoying' throughout the 200 chapters, and you've got yourself a pretty average ride. Not bad, but not great either. Just an average way to kill some time and occasionally slip in the bouts of laughter amidst rolling your eyes dry due to nearly everything else.
 Alternative TitlesJapanese: ReLIFE More titlesInformationType: Manga
Volumes: 15
Chapters: 238
Status: Finished
Published: Oct 12, 2013 to Mar 16, 2018
Theme:
School
Serialization:
comico Authors:
Yayoi, Sou (Story & Art) Statistics Ranked: #862 2 based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #61
Members: 161,730
Favorites: 12,164 Available AtResources | Reviews
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Oct 15, 2017 Mixed Feelings Funny  Preliminary
(200/238 chp)
ReLIFE... aah, ReLIFE. I remember, a few years back, every morning I'd wake up, prepare a cup of coffee, and read a chapter of ReLIFE before heading off to college. It was a pretty simple, but still satisfying routine of mine, and I kept it until translators caught up with raws. Then, bit by bit, I began losing interest in this manga. Recently, though, a wave of nostalgia hit me, and I decided to pick it back up and see how things are playing out. Oh boy.
I enjoyed ReLIFE a decent amount. The art is nice, clean (and being in full color doesn't hurt ... |
