So here we go:
Story: The story of ReLife revolves around a 27-year-old guy who feels like his life is going nowhere. He has lost his job and the confidence of his family and friends. When he hits his lowest point, he meets a man who offers him the opportunity to take part in a social experiment with the possibility of being hired after the experiment concludes. After accepting the offer the experiment begins he is thrust into a school where he will stay for one full year. While at the school he meets new friends and helps them grow as individuals and as friends.
The story of ReLife is one that is very simple but is very compelling. I have explained the story line of this anime to a few friends who do not watch anime and they have all mentioned how interesting and fun the story sounded. The pacing of the show and the flow of the story are perfect in this show. I know the manga is fairly long so I was worried the show would feel rushed being that it is only 13 episodes long. This was not the case and I can honestly say I was drawn in from episode one and found it hard to turn off the TV! The growth of the characters was fantastic in this show. Throughout the show, you will meet a host of characters and they all have their own unique flaws. As the show moves along each character grows and learns as they spend more time around the main character. I am a big fan of any show that can provide solid and interesting character development and I feel like this show did that in a very cute and fun way. I constantly found myself smiling and laughing as I watched the events of the show play out before me. There are a number of little love interests sprinkled throughout the show and you can't help but root for each couple to finally figure things out. The last two episodes felt very rushed and they certainly leave you begging for more and the ending of the season leaves you up in the air on how things will finish. But these things do not take away from the story or the show, they just leave you wanting more!!! I liked this show enough that I will certainly be reading the manga soon. I hope there will be more books written and I hope they go on to make another season soon.
ART: I felt like the art was very well done in ReLife. The show did a great job of using the right colors at the right time to help push the story and mood of the scene along. If the moment was fun or funny the lighting was very bright and colorful. If the scene was sad they would use very dark colors and surroundings to help set the mood. I am sure this is a normal thing but I have never really noticed or paid a lot of attention to it until now. They also do a lot of the exaggerated expressions which are both comical and effective. Normally I am not a big fan of the classic anime "over expression" gimmick but in certain cases like Trigun and ReLife I actually really enjoy them. There is a reoccurring theme in this show of a girl who can't figure out how to smile correctly. The exaggerated face they use for the girl during these scenes is hilarious and it had me crying I was laughing so hard.
Sound: I don't have a lot to say here other than I really enjoyed the music for this show. They used different songs for the credits in each episode which I thought was very different and fun. I also noticed they have this soft and light piano part that plays throughout the entire show. This part consists of 3 or 4 notes in a pattern and for whatever reason, I really enjoyed hearing that during the show. The would play the same pattern with high notes for happy scenes and they would use low notes for dark or depressing scenes. Again I don't know why I enjoyed this but it was a very little thing that helped me connect with the show.
Characters: I have already talked about this during the story portion of my review but the character development in this show is fantastic. They characters all have their own little problems, whether it's being socially awkward or being completely oblivious to the opposite sex. They all have their own little things they need to work through. Even the main character who is literally a man amongst kids has a few things he learns about himself throughout the process of being involved with ReLife. They do a great job of showing the progression of the character's growth throughout the show. The characters don't just magically become better they have to work at it throughout the entire show. You will see them try and fail many times but they always continue to work at becoming better until they finally start pulling things together toward the end of the show. The show does leave you with a bit of a cliff hangers so you can't really tell where the story is going so you don't know if the characters fully over come their problems but you can get a good enough idea by the end.
Enjoyment/Overall: Like I said before I really enjoyed this anime. I have never watched a slice of life drama but I am glad I gave this show a chance. The show hooked my from the first episode and I found myself not wanting it to end. It is by no means a perfect show but if you like simple shows that just make you smile then this show will be perfect for you. The story is easy to follow and does not require a lot of in-depth thinking. This is one of those shows you can just set back and enjoy. I think I will certainly try more shows like ReLife, there is apparently more to anime than just giant robots and cool fighting scenes ;p. I would recommend this anime to anyone and hope you all try it out for yourself! I also hope you found this somewhat help full. I know I probably just rambled on in a very vague way about a show but I don't want to spoil the fun for anyone.
Watch and Enjoy I give this show a 9 out of 10!
