ReLIFE (リライフ) is a Japanese manga series in webtoon format written and illustrated by Yayoiso.[2] The individual chapters were released by NHN Japan on the Comico website from October 12, 2013, to March 16, 2018,[3][4] for a total of 15 compiled volumes published by Earth Star Entertainment.[5][6] An anime television series adaptation animated by TMS Entertainment was announced on February 13, 2015, and premiered on television on July 2, 2016.[7]
The story revolves around 27-year-old Arata Kaizaki, who works part-time at a convenience store after quitting his job at a black company. One day, a mysterious man named Ryō Yoake offers him a job opportunity. At first glance, Arata needs to become a test subject for the ReLIFE Experiment, which will make him appear to be ten years younger, and enroll as a third-year high school student. The ReLIFE Experiment is supposed to provide a chance to experience youth once again and fix whatever is wrong with the test subject's life in the process.
The manga began publication on the Comico app in 2013 with physical publication of the series following in 2014. The series was added to the Crunchyroll Manga service on December 21, 2015.[14] On March 5, 2018, Crunchyroll removed the series.[15]
Several new chapters were also published by Yayoiso but are not for sale on Amazon. These episodes are available as online reader on the Comico official website. An English translation is also available for this manga on Comico's English website Pocket Comics.[16] The last Report is 222 Named: "Restart Life". In volume 15, two bonus chapters, were added. The first is an epilogue. It picks up the same night Chizuru and Arata regain their memories of each other, and ends just over four years later. The other bonus chapter was a prologue, which covers how Arata was chosen to be a subject.[6]
It was announced on February 13, 2015, that the webtoon series would be getting an anime television adaptation that is scheduled to air on July 2, 2016.[7][9] The anime's main cast, broadcast information and first key visual was unveiled at the AnimeJapan 2016 convention in Japan on March 26, 2016.[8] TMS Entertainment produced the series,[28] with Satoru Kosaka directing, Michiko Yokote and Kazuho Hyodo handling series composition, Junko Yamanaka designing the characters, and Masayasu Tsuboguchi composing the music.[29] All 13 episodes of the anime were pre-streamed before the television broadcast on the ReLIFE Channel app on June 24, 2016.[30]
The opening theme is "Button" by Penguin Research, while various artists perform a different ending theme for each episode.[36] The ending songs are compiled into one album titled "MD2000 ~ReLIFE Ending Songs~" to be released on September 21, 2016. The title "MD2000" comes from a type of mini disc that came out in 2000 while the concept of the ending themes comes from the songs that Kaizaki used to hear back in his previous high school days.[37]
A series of character songs also released from August 3, 2016, started with Arata Kaizaki from volume one.[38] Each CD contains two songs with a respective instrumental version. A soundtrack CD containing 23 pieces of background music from the anime is released on September 14, 2016. The music is composed by Masayusu Tzboguchi.[39]
A live action film adaptation of the same name and directed by Takeshi Furusawa was released in Japanese theaters on April 15, 2017. The film stars Taishi Nakagawa and Yuna Taira as Arata Kaizaki and Chizuru Hishiro, respectively. The film was given an original ending.[40]
A stage play adaptation was performed in Tokyo and Osaka in late 2016.[20]
Volume one reached the 30th place on the weekly Oricon manga charts and, as of August 17, 2014, had sold 33,637 copies;[5] volume two reached the ninth place and, as of November 16, 2014, had sold 46,040 copies;[41] volume three reached the 23rd place and, as of April 5, 2015, had sold 73,019 copies.[42]
It was placed sixth in Zenkoku Shotenin ga Eranda Osusume Comic 2015.[43] It was also nominated for Best General Manga at the 39th Kodansha Manga Awards.[3] The series ranked sixth in the first Next Manga Award in the print manga category.[44] The series had sold one million copies as of February 8, 2016.[45] As of October 2016, the manga had been downloaded over 20 million times.[46]
A four-episode finale was streamed on Amazon Prime Video and released on Blu-ray & DVD on March 21, 2018.[33][34]
