January 1st, 2019 
Charles Solomon 
The 13-episode broadcast series ReLife (2016) felt like it ended prematurely, with the main characters’ stories unfinished. The four-part Final Arc OAV (2018) brings the story to a satisfying conclusion.
Arata Kaizaki (voice by Micah Solusod), had been a promising high school student. Warm and caring, he brought out the best in the people around him. But he wasn’t prepared for the brutal corporate world he entered after graduating from grad school. At 27, Kaizaki quit his first full-time job after only three months—something almost unheard-of in Japan, even in the post-Bubble economy.
Although he supported himself with a part-time job and subsidies from his parents, he’d essentially become a NEET: someone Not in Education, Employment or Training. The term was coined to describe underemployed or unemployed young Japanese men who are perceived as not contributing to the economy or society. The term hasn’t really caught on the US, although many people here are in comparable situations.
Things were looking pretty bleak when Ryo Yoake (Josh Grelle) told him the ReLIFE Corporation would support him for one year, if he’d take a mysterious capsule that would make him look like a 17-year-old–and go back to high school for another senior year. Although he didn’t realize it, the ReLIFE company was using him to test a therapy designed to turn NEETs into happy, productive citizens.
In Back to the Future, Marty McFly tried to correct his life by re-working his parents’ past. Kaizaki found himself in a new school, trying to deal with new kids who were actually 10 years younger. He also struggled academically, as it had been 10 years since he’s done high school math. (How do you calculate the surface area of a cone?)
But Kaizaki persevered. The kind-hearted man the business world nearly destroyed re-emerged: His thoughtful encouragement led his new friends to find better solutions to their problems. As the series neared its end, he helped bright, repressed Chiziru Hishiro (Jeannie Tirado) emerge from her shell and make the friends for the first time.
The Final Arc OAV picks up in the spring of Kaizaki’s relived senior year. As the school cultural festival approaches, he becomes increasingly aware that his time is limited. Kaizaki has bonded with several of his classmates, and is saddened by the knowledge that ReLife will erase their memories of him. Ryo assures him that his friendship will have a positive impact on the other students’ lives, even if they don’t remember who led them in the right direction. But that’s cold comfort: Who wants to become the face no one can identify in an old photo?
Kaizaki’s projected disappearance serves as a metaphor for the fate of the real NEETS. Having failed to find a berth in the new economy, they no longer have a place in society. Their limited financial projects make it virtually impossible for them to marry or have children. Few young Japanese women are willing to sacrifice their increasing freedom and salaries to wed a loser with no prospects. Many NEETS have effectively disappeared from the social scene.
As they work on the cultural festival and stumble into a maladroit courtship, Chiziru begins to suspect that Kaizaki is a ReLife subject—as is she. Her handler, An Onoya (Kristen McGuire) refuses to confirm her suspicions. Onoya reminds Chiziru that ReLife participants also have their memories erased and they’re forbidden to contact their high school companions when they return to adult life.
Both Kaizaki and Chiziru prove to be successful test subjects. Their return to high school enables them to overcome their personal problems and live more productive lives. But they’re both haunted by vague memories of a romance, until a pair of phone strap charms triggers a reunion that will remind viewers of Your Name.
On one level, the ReLife and Final Arc are examples of the high school romance, a popular anime genre. But the series stands out for its handling of the NEETS, an increasingly marginalized population who have little hope of obtaining anything approaching the middle class life they knew as children. Unlike their American counterparts, Japanese animators are depicting real social problems spawned by the rapidly growing economic inequality.
ReLife: Final Arc
Funimation: $29.98 2 discs, DVD and Blu-ray
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