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Sep 15, 2023
Tl;dr: An isekai with a bit of depth and a gradual power-climb. That feels rare these days (at least to me), so I'm having a great time with both the manga and the web novel.
I'm always down to give an isekai a shot. They're usually pretty bad, but I read them all the same. Surprisingly, this is one of the good ones. Most isekai have an OP MC where his/her "cheat" ability is so strong that there's no real tension, or the world is underdeveloped to the point where the setting is nonexistent, or there's a harem of ladies that throw themselves at the MC
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for no reason at all. Often it's all of the above. This one bucks that trend, to the point where the story is actually compelling. The recipe is the same - so you know the drill - but there's a bit more heart here than in most of the isekai schlock out there.
Here's the deal, MC finished playing game 2 of a 3 game series set in a fantasy world. He then reincarnates into the villain of game 2 as a child. MC wants to change the events of the story, not because it leads to HIS "bad end", but the bad end for others. It's a common isekai story, but it's just different enough to be interesting. Also, he's not instantly OP, which is great. I mean, he's just a kid. He gets hurt, nearly gets killed at times, and his decisions have far-reaching repercussions (his actions take place before the start of game 1, so the butterfly effect is in full swing already). He IS getting really strong - sure - but he doesn't start that way. It took him like 6 months for his sword skill to hit level 2, and then another 3 years (time-skip) and he still hadn't hit level 3. Sometimes it seems like most isekai are worried that they're going to get axed within a dozen or so chapters, so they need to get to the insane action immediately. This one is taking it's time with the power-creep and I'm a fan of that. At most, he can kill rank D monsters, and that's a struggle. He's not flicking his wrist and killing rank SSS+ monsters by the bushel. I'm sure he'll be killing some crazy monsters and doing some cool stuff pretty soon, but so far it's been pretty tame. Then there's the world. As of chapter 9 (current) he's still just a 13 year old kid in his tiny village, but we already know about royal factions, the history of the world, and where the story is going. I'm a sucker for a well-established world with characters that act with intelligence. Since I found that here, I started reading the web novel so I can keep the party going.
Personally, I'm giving this a 9 for now, but objectively I'd say this is around a 7 or so. It's pretty darn good for an isekai story and frankly it's just fun. It has more heart than I was expecting and for that alone, I'm going to stick with it for a while.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Feb 22, 2023
Tl;dr: Takes a neat idea and stretches it out WAAAY past its' welcome. If you like teenage-angst that takes multiple volumes to resolve... well this might be right up your alley (I say begrudgingly, from deep in the alley).
I like this series. I don't like this series. ... My feelings on this series are complex. I've never been so invested in something that I can barely tolerate. I read the short manga and was DEFINITELY intrigued by the plot. The MC is isolated in a school that wants him gone. He has no friends, no allies, and even his childhood friends hate him for "reasons".
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Oh, and he sucks at everything because his ability is power suppression that kills his ability to use magic along with everything elsel. So he pretty much has no chance to be good at anything (yet he hasn't gotten kicked out of this elite school yet...). The rest of the story is MC fighting, dealing with just about EVERYONE who hates his very existence, and his attempts to change his fortunes. To that end, it's a decent story. In fact, all of the plot points are fun and drew me in. The big problem is HOW it's written.
There are multiple times where the author will explain something, whether it's a character's thoughts, a sword/magic attack, a character's emotions, etc. and literally repeat them multiple times. Like, almost verbatim. Then they'll come back later in the chapter and repeat it again. Then maybe in the next chapter, maybe the thing, but from a different angle. Or we'll go back in time 5 minutes and see it from another character's perspective. For example, there are a few times where some characters are going to meet, fight, or whatever, and it's a BIG deal. Like, we've waded through multiple LNs to get to this point. So the chapter ends with the characters going to talk/fight/whatever. Then in the next chapter, instead of the action taking place, we've gone back in time 5 minutes and we get to listen to a character monologue about everything leading up to that point (also repeating stuff from previous chapters again). Then the chapter ends with those characters meeting. Next chapter? It might go back in time 5 minutes to a different character and repeat it again. Will this repeat a third time? Maybe. It could also jump to another unrelated event or two before FINALLY getting back to whatever we've been waiting 5 CHAPTERS to get to. Imagine multiple novels like that. It was pretty funny/sad to read chapter comments of people reading the web novel translations (because, no official English anything anywhere) and dealing with the same cliffhanger week after week. They had to wait weeks or months to get a resolution that never seemed to come.
I'm giving this a 6 because it has fun ideas, but this author could really use an editor. There are whole chapters that could be removed or shrunk into a few lines. I might come back here and add in my spoiler-y critiques later. Things like how we're told certain characters are "good" or "kind" while the reasons are LITERALLY laughable ("he blocked an attack heading toward me one time". ONE TIME. Never mind the fact that he's a violent drunkard, a bully known to ONLY target weak people, and physically threw you against a wall when you were already injured. Ugh, no spoilers). Or how we're told a certain character's actions are strange, when in reality if you REALLY look at it, it isn't abnormal at all. E.g. not immediately trusting your deepest, darkest secrets to your previous multi-year bully & other people who openly hated you. Luckily they're friends with you now! Oh, but only after you saved their lives and proved you were strong. When you were weak? Worthless. But now that they know you're STRONG? They want to be friends! You must be a good person if you're strong! The themes are really strange in this story. To be fair, a lot of my critiques come from the web novel since there are only 2 untranslated LNs so far. It's probable that these issues will get fixed during the conversion to LN form, but supposedly a 3rd novel hasn't been released in the past year+. Anyway, if you start this series, be prepared for resolutions to important "things" to take MULTIPLE volumes. They DO get resolved though. That's why I'm sticking with it... for better or for worse...
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Dec 23, 2020
Tl;dr: Came looking for a cute romance, left with a nice message about honesty and the problem with putting people on a pedestal...but no romance (which is the only "spoiler" I'll leave in this review).
I decided to read this series because I assumed there would be a romance between the leads of this series (I saw the Shoujo Ai tag and jumped to conclusions). While that never happened, the rest of the story was definitely still enjoyable and unique, especially for the angle it took on celebrity. To be clear, I've read numerous manga about characters interacting with idols/celebrities all the while not knowing they
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are interacting with the alter ego of their celebrity-worship (and the subsequent desire of the celebrity to reveal their identity, etc.). However, this story takes that devotion in an interesting direction; that being true obsession. Unlike in other series where the celebrity-worship is dismissed as a funny or quirky trait, in this case other characters sometimes interpret it as borderline scary or unnerving. While Aiko (the obsessive fan) is harmless, the unease from other characters when she starts to discuss things such as "sacrificing herself for Shinonome" feels genuine. These moments really help this manga stand out because I feel that it takes a peek into the less glamorous side of celebrity-worship. Something that I believe is often overlooked in manga.
I believe the series is worth a read if you want a story that strays a bit from the typical path regarding idol-worship in manga while still maintaining a mostly-pleasant atmosphere (it has a few darker moments, but it never gets really bad). As a whole, I gave this a 7. I found the characters likeable enough and the plot strange & interesting. Nothing to write home about, but might be worth a read if you're curious.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Mar 22, 2018
Tl;dr: Average anime made into good anime when budget constraints taken into account. Read manga for full experience.
(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),
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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.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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