Everyone wants a second chance in life, amirite? Whether is it to resuscitate loved ones that could've a chance to live if not for reckless decisions made internally or externally, or to amend for mistakes done so badly that he/she falls out of grace from their passion at life? Well, look no further than Bokutachi no Remake a.k.a Remake our Life!: the fortunate pairing of one of the best AniManga tropes ever seen on the face of the earth (which is time travelling, Steins;Gate or Tokyo Revengers style), together with the abundance of school and working life (that are striking similarities to both Re:LIFE and Sakura-sou no Pet na Kanojo). And if the series' tagline of "Let's time-travel to 10 years ago and re-enjoy creative and sweet youthful days." doesn't get to you, then I don't know how to sell this show to you.
"When you have confidence, you can have a lot of fun. And when you have fun, you can do amazing things." - Joe Namath
There're dreams and aspirations that each and everyone of us wants to chase become, whether is it through influence or birthed from young (and it runs in the family), those are expectations. But the world isn't so kind to both good and bad boys and girls like us, such as the thought that the yearning or longing is but a distant dream left in our wildest dreams, that is reality. And for MC Hashiba Kyouya, everything about him screams like your typical MC with no backbone, but only a failure of a life lived with every regret on his shoulders: his 28-year old self being at the despicable end of his young adult life with a company-bust bankrupt of a salaryman's passion job. Even joining hands with one of his co-workers for a quick hand at a similar job also proves to be a bust. Well then, he's out of options, and out of jealousy for this group of people dubbed the "Platinum Generation/Era" that had a tumultuous ride in a different profession from Kyouya, and what is the next logical step down the pipeline? A night's sleep worth of rest to somehow mysteriously bring Kyouya back 10 years into the past of his beginning college days at the Oonaka University of Arts, and that's his new reality to start things afresh with the foreseeable future in mind to rid of potential missteps in the timeline.
"Believe it can be done. When you believe something can be done, really believe, your mind will find the ways to do it. Believing a solution paves the way to solution." - David J. Schwartz
This is where the Re:LIFE similarities end, and in comes Sakura-sou no Pet na Kanojo with the whole vibe livening from the cast of characters and the aforementioned setting: the school life and the shared dorm house of these talents (which they form the Platinum Generation/Era). The Share House Kitayama consisting of the talents of illustrator Aki Shino (everyone just calls her Shinoaki), singer Nanako Kogure and author Tsurayuki Rokuonji, add Kyouya into the mix and you'll have an exact copy of Sakura-sou of young adults just living life together both at home and in school, where these 4 trudge through the usual tendencies of school with their Arts program of learning essential skills pertaining to video making, while keeping their friendship as a track record together. I'm very sure that we've all been through college at one point, and depending on your IRL relationship, these are the last memories of friendships before the adulting stage, where everyone just forgo friendship to chase after their dreams. Even with rival and future co-worker Eiko Kawasegawa, these dreams don't come easy, as Kyouya dips into each of their lives, trying to amend their mistakes by following the future already foretold, that he simply forgot that this absolute madman of a control would come back to haunt their lives. "S(he)'s a super freak, super freak" as Rick James would sing out. Keep a look out for Keiko Tomioka, she's not only a veteran in the game industry playing the Senpai role to the rest, but because she's part of the reason why this show works, with or without reason.
"Doubt can motivate you, so don’t be afraid of it. Confidence and doubt are at two ends of the scale, and you need both. They balance each other out." - Barbra Streisand
Personally, Bokutachi no Remake touches the heart pangs of a specific life chapter where all of us wanted to be: if we could just Re:LIFE, and relive a time in our lives again to fix all the loopholes and missing pieces of our lives being a huge jigsaw puzzle of sorts. But being human, it's easy to be misled that nothing is ever 100% perfect in the first place. There will always be that 1% failure rate where something goes wrong that'll unconsciously balloon into situations or circumstances that we can control, but cannot tamper with the end result that's directed from our actions. And this is what this series tries to attempt at: being a work of art that not a ton of stories like this manages to do so brillantly well, while some can label the story setting as the same generic stuff seen all over again. I kid you not that Bokutachi no Remake is something really interesting and special: a story about regrets, confidence, perseverance, and "Teamwork makes the dream work". And this is no more indicative best than from Stewart Stafford's quote: "Confidence is when you believe in yourself and your abilities, arrogance is when you think you are better than others and act accordingly."
"Confidence is a lot of this game or any game. If you don’t think you can, you won’t." - Jerry West
Studio feel. is back after finishing the ultimatium that is OreGairu Kan (and that one Fruit Tart idol show), and man, does it feel great to see this studio's production still remain stellar from the work ethic of 1 or 2 anime produced per year to give its staff some breathing room to do the best that they could without feeling the crunch. And by far, Bokutachi no Remake is yet another crowning achievement of the stellar and vibrant visuals and animation that we've come to know of the studio, that quality is more than quantity, leading to better produced shows overall. Especially though in the OP and ED visuals, those are some really striking visuals (and not just for fanservice reasons), and my eyes are easily blinded by such incredible talents working on this show. So I must say that feel., you've done it yet again.
If anything, I'm very drawn to music bands from Bushiroad's many franchises (because of D4DJ), and the OP/ED set by BanG Dream! idol groups Poppin'Party and Argonavis are great, upbeat songs. No favouritism, but while Poppin'Party's OP is good, Argonavis's ED is a perfect fit that vibes along with the heartstrings of the anime's themes of possibilities. Also, since this Summer season is a season where EDs are a lot better than OPs, Bokutachi no Remake is no exception to that moniker. I just love the sound of youth from Argonavis which brings the early 2000s teen movie vibes, and I'm all here for it.
"Love who you are, embrace who you are. Love yourself. When you love yourself, people can kind of pick up on that: they can see confidence, they can see self-esteem, and naturally, people gravitate towards you." - Lilly Singh
There a lot of charm that can be said about Bokutachi no Remake, but it would be best said if you watched the anime and let those feelings tug at your heart. To see its underlying profound effects and lessons learnt about risking life at its best and worst, even in the wildest imaginations of a re-do at life. It's a passion project of a lesson that tells of how to use your life to the fullest, and not procrastinate at even wish fulfillments that feels far from reach. Stretch out your hand, and make it your best shot. Don't go at it alone, build friendships, be motivated to work it out, and most importantly, have fun in all that you do, because we only have one life, and that's all it matters.
