What would you do if you were offered a pill that could make you look younger and give you the opportunity to re-do a year of your life? Well that is the basic premise of ReLIFE.

This premise is what drew me to this anime, because what adult hasn’t wished they could re-do some part of their life. Even though stories like these aren’t anything new and they are always told in some comedic way that in the end makes you glad that you can’t have a do-over in life. I was still intrigued by how this story would be told.

Comico decided to take a page out of Netflix book and released all 13 episodes in one day, so no waiting til next week to find out what happens. So if you are a Crunchyroll Premium Member, you can binge watch the whole series in just under 6 hours.

So here are my personal thoughts on this series ...

Story

Arata Kaizaki is a 27 year old unemployed man who fails to land a job after having numerous interviews. Due to complications at his last job, he quit after just three months with the company. As a result of not being able to find steady work he becomes a NEET, loses his confidence, and feels like a failure amongst his friends who have found success in their lives. One fateful evening he meets Ryo Yoake, a man who works for ReLIFE Laboratory who gives Arata a chance to redeem himself and possibly change his life. All he has to do is become a test subject for ReLIFE and they will pay his rent and all expenses for one year. Ryo offers him a pill and gives him the choice to use it or not. The next morning Arata wakes up and realizes that he looks 17 years old. Ryo shows up with a contract and a tells Arata that he will spend the next year as a third year high school student. In exchange for not telling anyone about the test he is participating in and showing that he can change his life, has a chance to be offered a job when the year is complete. Arata accepts and so begins his ReLIFE journey.

Characters

All the characters from our MC to supporting characters were very likeable and relatable. Their character development was amazing and you will become emotionally attached to every one of them.

Arata surrounds himself with classmates immediately and bonds with them all throughout the series. We meet Rena Kariu who is curt, competitive, and plays volleyball on the school’s team. Next we have Kazumi Ooga who is smart, but a bit clueless and is the male class rep. An Onoya is a friendly new transfer student who struggles with her studies and hides a secret from most of the group. Ryo Yoake is the ReLIFE Labs employee posing as a student so he can monitor Arata’s progress and support his ReLIFE choices. Lastly we have Chizuru Hishiro, she is a top student and female class rep who is socially awkward, blunt, and a bit oblivious to other people’s feelings. Add to this mix are the supporting characters Tamarai, Inukai, Asaji, and Miss Amatsu that frequently have interactions with our main group.

Voice Acting and Animation

Several known voice actors/actresses make up the cast. The choices for each character were fitting and good choices. Each character’s voice fit them and their feelings and dialogue were conveyed in a manner that drew you in.

The animation seemed to be the norm, not too flashy or dull, mostly clean and pleasing to the eye. I did notice a few odd issues with facial features or expressions in the far away shots, but nothing that was unbearable or ugly.

Sound/OST

This is the first anime that I’ve watched that had a wide variety of music in just thirteen episodes. The OST consists of one Opening song and thirteen different Ending songs. The OP song fit the opening sequence well and has a nice catchy rhythm to it. The ED songs ranged from jazzy sounding music to piano riffs, all had a nice relaxing mood to them and fit the various endings well.

Overall Enjoyment

This is definitely a MUST WATCH for the Summer 2016 season! Going into this I was expecting a comedic, slice of life, typical high schooler anime, but I was surprisingly wrong. Not only did it tell the story of our MC’s present situation, but it delved into his past and what actually caused him to quit his job and become a NEET. Arata’s school life and home life were complete opposites, but that is what made him such a great MC. His personality and his life experiences are what made him so approachable and easy to talk to, that I could see myself hanging out with someone like him. All of the characters stories were well written and made you feel a connection with everything they went through. The overall story touched on so many subjects such as social awkwardness, jealousy, love, regret, friendship, competition self worth, and even death. Many of these situations were handled exactly the way most high schoolers would handle them.

The story was a nice twist to the adult do-over fantasy that is commonly seen in movies today. This anime has something that everyone can relate to and will probably draw the attention of older anime watchers. In the course of the story we only seen 4-6 months of Arata’s year of ReLIFE, so I for one am hoping that we get a second season that covers the rest and maybe beyond. The reveal of Test Subject 001 surprised me as I was leaning towards a different character throughout the series. The ending was very satisfying, but left me wanting more episodes.

Overall I gave this series a 9/10! Definitely take the time to check this one out!