(Spoiler-free review)
On the surface, Relife: Kanketsu-hen felt extremely average; maybe below average. After reading the manga (which I LOVED) this adaptation left so much to be desired. It cut out so much of the backstory, the buildup, the tension, and the pain which nearly every character - including the side cast - had to push past and overcome. Unfortunately, the triumphs and heart-wrenching moments from the manga are missing here. Without these important character moments, which I won’t spoil in case you haven’t read the manga (READ IT), this conclusion doesn’t hit nearly as hard as it could have. HOWEVER, with that being said, I believe that it performed splendidly given the clear budget constraints of this 4 episode finale.
While these 4 episodes rushed through the second half of the story, I watched them under the assumption that it was a struggle even to get funding for that much. The lack of funding is clear in just about every shot, with some nice tricks used in some places to try and hide this (the montage in the mall, for example). Taken in this light, I find that while the rush of the second half is not appreciated, it is understandable. The studio did what they could with the resources available to them, and from that perspective these 4 episodes feel a lot stronger to me. I never judge anime based on real-world restrictions, but I couldn’t stop thinking about them here. This brought my score from ~4-5 up to an 8. This is because I realized they were able to take a fantastic story and condense it into ~90 minutes and still keep it coherent. This is a herculean task and I believe they did a commendable job.
Please bear in mind that this is basically ReLIFE: Abridged. It cuts out nearly all of the story from the second half, but keeps the major plot point. If you like to read manga, I suggest reading this one from start to finish as this anime doesn’t do the story justice; and it truly IS a wonderful story.
