The story revolves around Kaizaki Arata, a 27 year old who doesn't have a steady job, lies to his friends about working, faces depression from the fact that he isn't able to provide for himself. What makes things worse is the fact that his parents decide to stop sending him money to live off of. Things look bleak for our protagonist, with no way out. I can definitely relate, and it's not an easy position to be in.
Enter Yoake Ryo, a mysterious man who offers him an offer that seems too good to pass up. In exchange for participating in an experiment where he will physically regress to his high school self, and thereby go back to high school and experience high school life all over again, he will be covered for living expenses and possibly get a job offer at the end of the experiment. It seems too good to be true, right? That's where you're wrong. The eponymous experiment, ReLIFE, is a program to rehabilitate NEETs and those who have turned away from society. What follows is the life of Kaizaki who is now in the body of a high schooler, with the mind of an adult, reliving life with his new classmates, facing the trials and tribulations that follow.
If you stop to think about it, this is a brilliant idea. For me personally, high school is where a majority of my personality was molded, from what I liked, to how I behaved. By having a chance to experience that again, you can see where you went wrong, and what you can do to fix it. So, the logic of the story is quite sound, at least for me. The story really excels at highlighting the differences an adult would face in highschool, from smoking (something I also do), to mingling with high school students, and the age gap that is always on your mind, because an adult is always conscious of that. It aims to show people that just because we made a mistake, doesn't mean we have to constantly suffer because of it.
The art is what I'd call "absurdly average". It's not bad at all, but it's not good, and there's nothing wrong with that. For an anime of this genre, dealing with adults as the main topic (something a lot of anime shy away from), it has very mellow color palette which is just soothing and relaxing to watch. The characters aren't exceptionally beautiful, nor are they bad looking, and that's where I got my "absurdly average" nomiker.
The sound is where I have a huge complaint. The voice actors do their job well, as usual, with the standout being the VA for Onoya An's character, but the gripe is with the musical score. At moments of tension or suspense, you get these jarring piano scores, where, with the excuse of music, it sounds like a 5 year old just slammed his hands onto the piano. If it were one off moments, I'd forgive it, but it's constant, and ever infuriating. TMS Entertainment really screwed up bad with the musical score here.
Character development in ReLIFE is subtle for some, pretty obvious for others. Kaizaki in particular has very subtle development, which you might actually miss if you aren't careful enough. But it's definitely there. Kaizaki shines at what he does best, helping others, even though he's the one who needs help. But the brilliant part of ReLIFE is this. By helping others, being self-sacrificial, he grows as a person, and progresses through the anime. It's heartening to see that he isn't the usual protagonist, with the "Friends are the most important" or self sacrificial to the point of detonation. It's really where he shines through, being average, but likable all the same.
For someone like me who could actually relate to this anime, at the end, it left me with a lesson that I personally feel I should carry with me for a long time. "Your mistakes and failures do not define who you are as a person". Mistakes and failures are important, because they help a person grow, but it's important not to dwell on them all the time, just because they seem so jarring. That's what maximized my enjoyment of this anime. It taught me that I was so much more than what I thought I was. It helped inspire some confidence in myself, when I had none.
Overall, I eagerly wait for a season 2 for this anime, since it is a very open ending. I'd like to see how Kaizaki progresses through the remainder of his ReLIFE term, and what else he learns, because I could very well apply it to myself. If you're feeling lost at life, confused about what to do, please do pick up the anime and give it a chance. More often than not, you'd like what it has to teach you.
