Remake Our Life!

 Remake Our Life! (ぼくたちのリメイク) is a 12 episode anime based on the light novel series of the same name by Kio Nachi.  The anime originally aired over the Fall of 2021.

     Hashiba Kyouya struggles working in the video game industry.  After returning home when the company he works for went bankrupt and he looses his job he finds another job with a bigger company, only to have the team he was on dissolved and fired.  Living again at his parents house, almost in his thirties with zero prospects for the future he wishes he could go back and redo his life, hoping to see some portion of success the top creators of his generation have.  He struggles with the 'easy' direcion he choose when people his age have become pillars of creativity in the field.  Somehow, perhaps due to the stress of failure, he wakes up in the morning to find himself living ten years ago, as he is about to choose which college he will attend.  Unsure about whats going on, he recognizes the opportunity to redo his life, armed with the knowledge and experience of the past ten years.  He chooses to enroll in the art college, willing to keep his fears at bay, looking towards a successful future.  While attending school he moves into a shared house with three other students; timid Shino Aki, head strong Kogure Nanako and composed Rokuonji Tsurayuki.  All four of them are enrolled in the same department and agree to work as a team, with their success in college a priority.

    As time goes on and the four co-eds grow closer Kyouya realizes that each of them is one of the big talents he admires the most in the future.  Aki is his favorite graphic artist, Nanako is a successful singer and Tsurayuki is a well regarded author.  Kyouya decides that he will do everything he can to help his new friends succeed in the careers he knows they will have.  With his understanding of the future and his experience in the adult world he is able to be the strength the group needs when they encounter problems with their school work or personal projects.  Those around him begin to marvel at his ability to succeed and his ability to instill confidence in everyone around him.  As time goes on he begins to notice that his influence on the creators he admires begins to change them in unexpected ways.  He is unsure if this new path will negatively affect the future he fondly recalls.  With the gift he has been given at a second chance to redo his life as an adult is he setting his future up for bigger failure, dragging others along with, crushing them with his own arrogance?

    I wasn't sure what to expect going into this series, watching it on a whim more than anything.  Since I had zero expectations I was overwhelmed by the story.  I'm a sucker for time travel and stories about redoing your past in particular.  In some ways it felt like an isekai, due to the way Kyouya approached his redo and his incredible confidence and drive.  'Reborn In My College Years After Failing In The Game Industry' may have been a better title.  But, this really isn't an isekai based on standard definitions.  The story hits all the right notes when it comes to a redo time skip fantasy.  Kyouya's character though seemed a bit too much with his humble persona.  Though, if he was cocky and manipulative that would have made for a worse story and worse character.  The story is sweet and fun in the end, with a group of passionate friends who are trying to make their way in life...except one of them has already has a ten year start.

    The artwork and character designs are nothing special, standard middle of the road fare for current anime.  The characters fit into nicely defined tropes but the genuine realism of the story kept their more absurd qualities at bay.  There were a few dips into romance tropes that felt forced and out of place but ultimately didn't impact the story.  Underneath it all there is a simmering romance that becomes a focal point later in the story, but explaining anything would actually ruin a fun twist in the second part of the anime.  Over all, I really enjoyed this story and will need to track down the light novel series as well, to see what was left out...and perhaps get to spend some more time with these characters that I quickly grew to enjoy.  This was a fun series with the first episode being almost three times the normal length, building a lot of the needed set up, not unlike Oshi no Ko.

     The anime is currently available in sub and dub on Crunchyroll.