English Dub Review: Remake Our Life! “Ten Years Back in Time”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

The first semester of art school is coming to a close for Kyoya, and he has formed a group with his housemates for their first big project: a short film.

Our Take:

The first episode offered a surprisingly enjoyable introduction to Hashiba’s revisit to the past, with him attending the arts college instead of a boring university. Plus, its doubled runtime gave me plenty of time to grow attached to the characters without feeling overstuffed. So now, its second episode seeks to continue Hashiba’s journey to turn his life around with his first group project of the semester.

The project, in particular, is a three-minute short film with time being its central theme. Taking responsibility as the producer, Hashiba comes up with the idea of someone waiting at the train station through the different stages of life. This idea came after hearing Nanako and Aki’s reasons why they attended the arts college. Unfortunately, the plot also comes from Tsurayuki, who would go on to use it in the future as a writer. It eventually became one of the reasons Hashiba and Tsurayuki are at odds with one another, with another being Hashiba’s desired changes to meet the project’s requirements.

The episode’s plot focuses mainly on the relationship between Hashiba and Tsurayuki, with the latter being suspicious of how Hashiba came up with the same idea as his. While nothing too severe, this moment showcases Hashiba’s risk of repeating history or revealing himself as a time-traveler. More importantly, it reflects on Tsurayuki’s desire to make his plot a reality despite being over the three-minute runtime. The episode also features the housemates joining the Fine Arts Study Club led by Takashi Kiryu.

But, of course, what drives “Ten Years Back in Time” is the show’s representation of filmmaking. Many shows and movies showcase the process of making a movie, but I think this is the first time I’ve seen it in an anime show like Remake Our Life. Regarding the scene involving Kano and Hashiba, the episode reflects on the challenges of filmmaking in an honest light, mainly the script, leading Hashiba to learn to listen to people’s needs instead of his own. Kano states that the screenplay is a blueprint that often changes before the filming stage, and everyone involved is equally important in their roles, including the writer and the editor.

Along with its humor, mainly from the beginning, this is a great episode that sees Hashiba working to live a better life and to create the best short ever with his housemates/future Platinum Generation members. Additionally, it’s also a suitable and honest representation of filmmaking that would hopefully become a crucial part of the show’s commentary. Unfortunately, with one problem solved, another arises to interfere with their project, as Tsurayuki accidentally bought a standard camera instead of a video one. Luckily, Hashiba has a plan to fix this dilemma.