No question about it, ReLIFE is a darn good series.  Once you get past the suspension of disbelief stage, it’s a great premise.  And in Arata and Chizuru it has two of the more interesting romantic leads in recent anime history, and collectively one of the more interesting couples.  It’s always great to see an adult romantic comedy in anime – even if the principals have to be disguised as kids in order to make it happen.

Still, it strikes me that more than most series, there’s a lack of suspense about where this one is going.  The specifics of what’s going to happen are still a mystery, but the climax of ReLIFE has been handwritten on the wall almost since the beginning.  What’s going to happen when their year ends, and Chizuru and Arata have to face reality again?  In effect, then, this is really a slice of life show for most of its run, with the individual storylines existing more as entertainment for their own sake than crucial builders for the final arc.  That’s fine, as long as the show works on that level (and it usually does) but it may not be the worst thing in the world that this series is relatively short.  I’m ready to see what happens when the shit hits the fan.

The slice of life this week is the Aoba culture festival, certainly an important moment in any high schooler’s life.  It’s interesting to watch the dynamic playing out here, as Arata desperately tries to keep an emotional buffer zone between he and his friends and Chizuru keeps picking at the scab of her suspicion about Arata’s identity.  She, fascinatingly, is really upping the ante on their relationship – throwing caution to the wind it appears, which is rather out of character for her.  I’m not sure what exactly she hopes to accomplish – is she trying to capture a fleeting packet of memories with Arata before it all comes to an end, or imprint herself so deeply in his consciousness that there’s no way he’ll forget her, ReLIFE or no?

What ReLIFE is asking of us with the ending, really, is to judge a fantastical premise on realistic terms.  Whatever it decides, we have to assess it in terms of the Chizuru and Arata relationship and how they deal with it.  So even if we know that’s the question that’ll be asked, not knowing the answer is a pretty big mystery.  It’s a high bar ReLIFE has set for itself here, and I hope it’s able to clear it – I have a lot of affection for this show and I really want to see it go out on a high.