Anime Reviews (2010-2019) ReLIFE Final Arc (A Neo-Tokyo 2099 Anime on Blu-ray review) (2016)

“ReLIFE Final Arc” is a fitting finale that gives fans closure. It was no doubt an emotional rollercoaster but captivated my attention from beginning to end. If you watched the series or have been curious about it, the final four OVA’s ala “ReLIFE Final Arc” is highly recommended!

TITLE: ReLIFE Final Arc

ANIME RELEASE DATE IN JAPAN: 2016

DURATION: Four OVA Episodes (Episodes 13-17)

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, 16×9, English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: Crunchyroll/Funimation

RATED: TV 14

Release Date: November 13, 2018

Originally Created by Yayoiso

Directed by Tomochi Kosaka

Series Composition: Kazuho Hyodo

Music by Masayasu Tsuboguchi

Character Design by Junko Yamanaka

Art Director: Kentaro Akiyama

Anime Production: TMS/Double Eagle

Featuring the following voice talent:

Ai Kayano/Jeannie Tirado as Chizuru Hishiro

Kensho Ono/Micah Solusod as Arata Kaizaki

Daisuke Namikawa/Stephen Sanders as Nobunaga Asaji

Haruka Tomatsu/Alexis Tipton as Rena Kariu

Himika Akaneya/Bryn Apprill as Honoka Tamarai

Noriaki Sugiyama/Alejandro Saab as Akira Inukai

Reina Ueda/Kristen McGuire as An Onoya

Ryohei Kimura/Josh Grelle as Ryō Yoake

Yūma Uchida/Blake Shepard as Kazuomi Ōga

As the year begins to wrap up, Arata and Chizuru must face the end of their ReLIFE. But there’s still plenty to do, like get ready for the cultural festival and…Christmas dates?! Except there’s one thing that’s been on Chizuru’s mind, and despite her best efforts, she can’t get An to confirm whether or not Arata is a part of the experiment. Even so, Arata and Chizuru find themselves growing closer to one another. Though they both know the consequences, will they dare to follow their hearts, or will the fear of forgetting kill their growing romance?

When it’s finally time for graduation, the true results are in! Has the ReLIFE been a success, or will Arata go back to his life as a shut-in?

Please note that we use the Japanese way of name honorifics (family name, first name):

Back in 2013, Yayoi So created a Japanese webtoon titled “ReLIFE”, quite popular, individual chapters were released by NHN Japan on the Comico website and nine tankobon volumes were published by Earth Star Entertainment.

The series would receive an anime adaptation of 13 episodes between 2015-2016, a live action film in 2017 and in March 2018, after Yayoi completed the webcomic storyline, four final OVA’s (episodes 14-17) were released to finalize the series.

And now the four OVA’s have been collected on Blu-ray titled “ReLife Final Arc” courtesy of Crunchyroll/Funimation.

What is “ReLife” about?

“ReLife” revolves around a 27-year-old NEET named Kaizaki Arata. Unable to find work, one day he meets Yoake Ryo, who works at ReLIFE Laboratory.

Yoake offers Kaizaki the opportunity to participate in the ReLIFE Project, this involves him taking medicine to make him appear as a 17-year-old but also gives him an opportunity to relive his youth to change his current self.

And So, Kaizaki goes for it and he enrolls as a third-year high school student at Aoba High School where he meets his fellow classmates: Oga Kazuomi, Kariu Rena, Onoya An and Hishiro Chizuru.

To support Kaizaki and to observe him through the project, Ryo also takes the medicine.

But his time at Aoba High School, he gets to learn about being with others, having friends but most of all he starts to bond with Chizuru, who is socially awkward, doesn’t understand nor how to communicate with people and wants to change herself. So, Kaizaki encourages her and they become friends. But through this, Kaizaki can also grow as a person as well.

(SPOILER ALERT – If you haven’t watched the “ReLIFE” series, do not read any further)

As Kaizaki bonds with his classmates, he starts to have feelings towards Chizuru. He admits to himself that he is in love with Chizuru but will not confess his feelings because the ReLIFE project is coming to an end and everyone will forget him once the project has ended.

It was revealed in episode 13 by Chizuru that she is also doing the “ReLIFE Project” and she is subject 001. The episode ended with both telling each other, they will never forget each other.

This leads to the release of “ReLIFE Final Arc” which were released as four OVA’s.

I don’t want to spoil the storyline but the OVA’s show viewers how the events leading to the end of the ReLIFE Project and what happens to Kaizaki Arata and Hishiro Chizuru after the project was completed.

I will say that “ReLIFE Final Arc” gives closure to fans who watched the series and will no doubt make fans want to cry because it is a fitting yet emotional rollercoaster right to the very end.

I loved the series for its ability to take the characters and build the character dynamics and relationships around the two protagonists and also how the series and the OVA’s utilized popular J-Pop hit songs from the ’90s and 2000’s for the ending themes.

But if anything, it was a finale that I absolutely enjoyed and I feel the majority of fans will feel the same way.

The Blu-ray comes with two short extra features, one with the handlers observing Kaizaki and the other featuring Kaizaki and Kazuomi talking to each other on their smartphones.

The animation was vibrant and well-done. Character designs were well-done and I like the shadowing and detail, as well as the detailed art backgrounds. But for the most part, the series looks wonderful in HD and voice acting for both Japanese and English dub soundtracks were well acted. Kayano Ai and Ono Kensho were magnificent but I also was pleased by the voice acting by Jeannie Tirado and Micah Solusod for the English dub. They did a great job!

The English soundtrack gets a nod for its 5.1 soundtrack over the Japanese 2.0 soundtrack in terms of sound dynamics.

Overall, “ReLIFE Final Arc” is a fitting finale that gives fans closure. It was no doubt an emotional rollercoaster but captivated my attention from beginning to end. If you watched the series or have been curious about it, the final four OVA’s ala “ReLIFE Final Arc” is highly recommended!

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