ReLife: Real Life Problems Sou Yayois ReLife is a heck of a ride. In addition to being able to capture the comedic/dramatic the art is great and the mc is a truly decent dude. After finishing it I realize how much I like the manga. Sometimes its hard to discern if thats the case while reading. The external conflicts that threaten the lives love happiness wellbeing etc. of characters can be somewhat stressful while reading but this should be viewed as evidence of good storytelling. There are a number of different reasons as to why someone may get wrapped up in a story. Particularly when it comes to manga it could be anything from the plot to the artor even because of the mangaka themself. On more unconventional occurrences a reader may feel compelled to pour through a manga due to resonating with a specific character. This was the case for me and ReLife. Thanks to the protagonist Arata Kaizaki I was able to become invested in the story. Along the way though I realized that this was an emotionally compelling portrait of youths blossom into adulthood. review may contain some light spoilers 500https://i.ibb.co/P9Qyd0F/269sgg.jpg ReLife centers around an individual known as Arata Kaizaki a 27year old man who quit his first job out of college after merely a few months. This decision leaves a permanent stain on his reputation as his attempts at finding another job all end in failure. With nowhere to turn to Kaizakisan spends his early 20s living as a NEET supporting himself through an allowance and parttime jobs. Knowing that he cannot continue on living forever in this same manner he comes facetoface with the answer to his prayers: Yoake Ryou a supervisor of ReLife. Kaizaki is offered an opportunity to be a part of the ReLife Research program. He decides to follow through with it gaining the appearance of a 17year old while he goes back to high school to start over. Realistically speaking it wouldnt take much at all for any one person to end up in a similar situation as ReLifes mc disregarding the ReLife part. Life takes no prisoners. It only takes a moment a splitsecond one measly decision to alter the course of an entire life. Everything can change in the blink of an eye and time doesnt turn back or stop for anyone. Reality is harsh. Things only grows more complicated as we age. The process of transitioning into adulthood and a state of selfindependence does not come without difficulty. Our feelings are often unrelenting and fail to show us mercy. Doubt fear and regret are parasitic beasts. To be able to go back in time or become younger to correct our mistakes seems invaluable. Id be willing to argue that this is something everyone eventually thinks about from time to time. 500https://i.ibb.co/42J6gjz/269sgg.jpg What makes this manga so compelling is that it puts a viable piece of the human experience on display. Not only can it act as a comfort and encouragement to many readers but this manga is thoughtprovoking in its own right. There are a number of chapters and panels which exhibit the psychological nature of this story as insight is provided into the mental state of the protagonist. The mangaka makes it very easy to relate to the mc in this way and the other characters as well. The cast is filled with individuals that are dynamically flawed: their emotional states which ebb and flow in a believable way are shown throughout the manga. ReLife is an incredible slice of life with realistic interactions between high schoolers. So many situations are set up in a way that breed misunderstandings between characters an example of this would be during the volleyball arc with Tamarai and Kariu. Those sort of moments where one friend thinks the other friends angered over something which leads the other friend to become upset as well. And both parties end up upset suffering alone due to a simple misunderstanding. Lack of communication is harmful for relationships and it is an incredibly common issue. To capture these situations is hard to do effectively but this manga pulled it off pretty well. 300https://i.ibb.co/wSh1kbv/269sgg.jpg It is phenomenal to see how different lives are connected and permanently changed for better or worse as a result of their encounter with the relifed 17year old Kaizaki Arata. Without going into too much detail I just want to say that its cool to see how friendships are formed along with how the characters develop as a result of those friendships. I cant speak for anyone else but reading this as someone in their early twenties this provoked feelings of nostalgia. It captures feelings in a way that Id be unable to put into words on my own. Growing up and being surrounded with people that you can rely on is a special experience. Human connection is something we are all in need of this manga shows how important these relationships are and can be especially during our youth. One of the virtues of the manga that I almost forgot to mention is the art. The art is great and it makes for an immersive experience for readers. The fact that it is comes in a webtoon format with colored pages only adds to its appeal. Its unique to have a fullycolored manga and this should be taken advantage of. 500https://i.ibb.co/Xt0cckd/269sgg.jpg Any criticism I had for ReLife pretty much boils down to my emotional/personal preferences. I was reading through the manga pretty quickly at when I first started it but I took a bit of a break around 70ish chapters in. It began to feel somewhat repetitive because there was an area of his life where Kaizaki wasnt making any progress... Whenever I picked it back up and began reading I fell right back into the swing of it. In short I definitely recommend checking this out. If you think this isnt worth reading I would ask that you would think twice about overlooking this manga. And after you finish reading it I would think that you would take a step back while you think twice about your lifeas many of us who have read this have. Great manga. 280https://i.ibb.co/hdYQFGD/269sgg.jpg