ReLIFE

An anime that concentrates on high school life but with an older target audience, this was easily one of the best short series I’ve seen. It was just purely fun to watch. I was laughing from the very first episode, the characters were interesting and relatable, and even the plot was pretty good (to say the anime mainly takes place in a high school), with some twists that kept things exciting.

The animation is great; the only slight problem that I have with it is that the characters look almost exactly the same whether teenagers or adults in their mid-20’s. This did undermine the idea of the ‘total change in external appearance’ a little.

The opening and ending tracks are lively and fit the theme and mood well. The voice actors are excellent and suit their characters perfectly, particularly Kaizaki’s seiyuu, who manages to pull off an earnest, sometimes goofy character who can still seem wise and jaded at times.

The plot wasn’t that much different from your average high school anime, but the idea of the ReLIFE pill was presented in quite a realistic way. Clinical trials do require a lot of checking out and closely monitoring the subjects, and the support group generally acted in a way that would be in line with a clinical trial of this nature. I was slightly disappointed with the big reveal at the end (which felt rushed), but not enough to make me lower my rating for the anime.

I found this anime to be strong in the character development department. The supporting characters were developed as well as the main character, and in believable ways. I particularly enjoyed seeing Kariu’s changes; the way she matures throughout the series was convincing and portrayed in a way that made you root for her. There were a mix of personalities interacting nicely with one another - a good example would be Honoka’s relationship with Hishiro and Kariu. It was all done really well, and I grew to like and care about every single one of the characters (which is rare for me in just 13 episodes).
All in all, I really enjoyed this anime. The comedy made me laugh, the emotional scenes…(well, they didn’t make me cry or anything, but they did hit me in the feels,) and even though I didn’t feel any of the episodes ended in cliff-hangers that had me on the edge of my seat, I did always want to watch the next one just because I’d enjoyed the previous episode so much.

I think, though, in order to enjoy this anime to the fullest, you have to be past the high school stage of your life. There are a lot of moments that just won’t be anywhere near as relatable, funny or touching otherwise.

Strongly recommend for fans of the rom-com, drama, or slice-of-life genres.
(Seriously, go watch it!)