Remake Our Life! (2021)

[ぼくたちのリメイク]

Director: Tomoki Kobayashi
Studio: Feel
Starring: Masahiro Ito, Aoi Koga, Aimi
Episodes: 13

Synopsis:
A failed game developer travels back in time and goes to art school in a bid to find success and fulfillment alongside the creators of the Platinum Generation.

Impressions:
The premise of this series caught my interest right away. I suppose it was me going through my mid-life crisis, but there was a spell where I was constantly thinking of the different paths I could've taken at various critical junctures, fancying the notion of a sort of new game+ to try out the alternative lives I could have lived. I'm mostly over it at this point, but I was curious to see the concept play out in this story. For the first two acts, I liked it quite a bit. There was a good dynamic with the core quartet and it was nice watching them grow as creators. Then the third act happened. I could see the decision Kyoya was going to make and I knew I'd hate it. I actually considered just dropping the series, but I drove on and they didn't do it right away, to the point where I almost thought they wouldn't... but then they did. It's consistent with the character, so I can't fault the author for that, but it makes me hate Kyoya, to the point where I'm docking the series at least one rank if not two. If there's a continuation, I won't be seeing it and as for the series itself, the most generous I can be is to say take it or leave it. It's a good concept with some solid characterization (albeit with some wankery), but I found the ending deeply offensive and I imagine quite a few others will too. (For fans of American comics, think along the lines of "One More Day".) Viewer, beware.

Rating:
50/50