Read on Renta!:
Redoing My Youth In Another World -The God Of Death Is My Fanboy-
by Taiyo no Taiyo & MANGA SHOKUNIN STUDIO; original story by Hare Takizawa
Japanese title:
青春のやり直しは異世界で～死神は俺のことが好きすぎる～
Seishun no Yarinaoshi ha Isekai de -Shinigami ha Ore no Koto ga Sukisugiru-
Links:
Hare Takizawa’s Twitter (original author)
DeNIMO’s Twitter (publisher)
When it was first announced at our weekly company-wide meeting that our content development team was working on a Renta! Original BL VertiComix, I was ecstatic. Of course, I’m always grateful to get to work with BL regardless of the publisher, and whether or not I personally have a hand in the localization process. But, there’s something especially exciting about being so closely associated (albeit with limited direct involvement) with an original creative work. Renta! already releases some original BL manga through our DeNIMO line, but this would be the very first BL series we’ve made in the form of a vertical-scrolling, full-color comic — which are generally quite different from traditional black and white manga — so I was excited to see what kind of vibe Renta! would bring to the world of BL color comics. After a few weeks of curious anticipation, bada-bing, “Redoing My Youth In Another World” was born, and soon after, the English version was already in the works.
So, what kind of story did we end up making? Initially given very little information besides the key visual, I wasn’t sure what to expect myself, but “RMYIAW” was quite the surprise nonetheless.
What this manga has to offer includes, but is not limited to, a guy in his mid-twenties rocking a school uniform (🥵)(←Ames and Yomogi have already kinkshamed me, so don’t come for me), a God of Death who’s more like the God of Gap Moe, and a plethora of demons and monsters — all of whom want a piece of our dear protagonist. “Literally,” you ask? Well, not exactly…
I don’t want to spoil too much of the story because it’s kind of a wild ride — so instead, I’ll lay out the top 5 reasons this fresh addition to the BL genre won me over, and why I think it’s worth giving it a read!
1. The unique premise
To summarize the story (and elaborate a bit on that mouthful of a title), Makoto Fuwa’s a 26-year-old guy who’s full of regret about the life he’s led up till now. He’s always been an awkward guy who can’t “read the room,” and spent his formative years being a doormat to his bullies as a means of survival. Even after graduating college, his dark past comes back to haunt him — with dire consequences. Just as he’s lamenting that he wishes he could redo his life starting from high school, a mysterious old man appears next to him and tells him that he can do just that, if he wants. There are no time travel shenanigans here, but apparently Makoto’s eligible to enroll in the mysterious man’s academy under special circumstances, tuition-free. With no better options in his life at the moment, Makoto jumps at the chance and jots down his innermost wish on the school application form: “I want to redo my youth.”
Flash forward to the entrance ceremony for Anastasis Academy… where Makoto finds himself surrounded by angels, demons, and all sorts of other furry, feathery, scaly, slimy, wiggly, and overall terrifying creatures! Turns out, this academy is located in another dimension, and is an institution for otherworldly beings to study before taking on their roles in the human realm. Makoto, being the only human in the entire school, is meant to be a way for these magical creatures to get a chance to learn about the humans they’ll be serving in the future. Though flabbergasted at all this new info (and somewhat scared for his life), Makoto nevertheless decides to give this otherworldly high school experience a shot. It could be his chance to finally make some good school memories, after all!
Sound logical? Maybe not, but honestly, I’m sure plenty of working adults — even ones who didn’t have a particularly negative high school experience — would do anything to be able to take a break from the “real world” and go back to student life, if even just for a bit (and, the free spacious accommodations complete with a shadow butler certainly don’t hurt!). It’s the perfect setup for a fish-out-of-water story with a touch of poignancy and relatability.
But what really takes this story up a notch in terms of entertainment value is…
2. The colorful cast of characters
Ames’s alleged top reason for following the series
With a school full of fantasy creatures, it’s no surprise Makoto’s new classmates include some interesting characters, to say the least. There’s the horny himbo archangel Metatron, the elegant but intimidating demon Belphegor, and a charming cast of side characters from all kinds of fantasy races. The manga’s format as a full-color comic lends plenty of strength to the varied character designs, and shots of the student body are a visual adventure. Even the background characters are distinctive and eye-catching (and in some cases pretty funny-lookin’). Appearances aside, though, Makoto’s fellow students make their presence known in other ways as well.
This is mainly due to Makoto’s unique place in the student body. Althought he’s the only human at school, he’s not particularly ostracized or bullied like he was during his time in human high school. But he faces another, just as troubling problem entirely. See, in this world, all humans unconsciously exude “life force,” a form of energy that otherworldly beings feed off of. Since most of Makoto’s classmates aren’t used to inhaling the powerful substance, it sends them into a frenzy and makes them act extremely ravenous (read: horny) whenever they’re around him. This can be a blessing for Makoto sometimes, i.e. when trying to get others to do as he says, and a curse at other times, such as when they come on to him a little too strong in the hopes of getting in on some of his sweet, sweet life force. One of Makoto’s goals for his new high school life was finding love, but even with the multitude of mythical and fairytale creatures throwing themselves at him, he decides the chances of him finding a sweetheart are pretty slim; he’d rather focus on finishing his 2-year education in one piece! Nobody said popularity was easy, right?
The only one seemingly immune to Makoto’s potent life force is none other than Thanatos, the red-headed “God of Death” who’s been mean-mugging Makoto since the first day of school. He’s hot in looks, but cold in attitude toward everyone, and his behavior baffles Makoto; if he simply hates Makoto, then why does he keep stepping in to save him exactly whenever he needs it? The answer may shock you (hint: just peep that super-long title again 😉).
3. The humor
If I had to describe this series in a word, I’d say that it’s first and foremost a comedy — which is probably why I naturally gravitated toward it. As the BLog’s resident shitposter and memelord, I’m always on the hunt for BL that can make me laugh and ease a little of the stress of daily life. So, the sheer amount of “WTF” moments in this series are like food for my soul. Makoto usually plays the straight man to his classmates’ antics and the endless bizarre situations he finds himself in, and his down-to-earth attitude contrasts nicely with his “peers” who seem to have a totally different set of values and societal norms.
Cue all the typical fantasy high school antics you’d expect, with Makoto as our human stand-in. And, since Anastasis Academy is a boarding school, the man never seems to catch a break. He spends his days attending classes where he learns otherworldly things like spell-casting (not his strongest subject, if you can believe it), and preparing for the school’s version of a sports festival (a “competition” wherein the members of the two rival dorms cut loose and beat the shit out of each other), and his nights wrangling all kinds of students back at the dorm, where he basically acts as everyone’s mom. Oh, yeah, and there’s also the odd dorm room orgy he’s invited to unknowingly, where he’s of course the center of attention. Just normal student life stuff!
I should probably note that some of the humor in the series is derived from everyone at the school (students and teachers alike!) wanting to bang Makoto, or at least “suck out his life force” — something he is not on board with — which can get a little uncomfortable. Most of the time, though, the passes Makoto’s classmates make at him are comedically over-the-top, and our hapless but strong-willed protagonist is able to shut them down quickly.
And, we can’t dismiss the other kind of attention Makoto’s getting at school, courtesy of our boy (of death) Thanatos. So, what’s this titular fanboy’s deal? We’re introduced to him as one of the most powerful students at the academy, who doesn’t seem interested in interacting with everyone else. But, for whatever reason, he’s always glaring at Makoto from a distance, which understandably freaks him out a little. What did he ever do to earn the wrath of the God of Death? Well, as it turns out, it’s all just a misunderstanding — Thanatos actually adores humans, and having Makoto as his classmate is a dream come true for him. He vows to protect his “idol” from any danger he may face in his new school, death glare in full effect and giant scythe in hand (note: Makoto did not ask for any of this).
I absolutely love characters who come off as cold or intimidating at first glance, but are actually just huge dorks who don’t know how to express their feelings in a way that’s socially acceptable — so Thanatos won me over right away. He’s a different flavor of weird than the rest of Makoto’s whacky companions — though just as exasperating to Makoto, who doesn’t know how to handle all his fervent fanboy nonsense. Thanatos’s overprotectiveness of and obsession with Makoto is more endearing than creepy, and his coldness toward anyone but Makoto makes for a nice balance with the rest of the zany cast.
But, is Makoto really nothing more to Thanatos than a member of the human race that the Death God loves so much? And, can a fan and their idol really have a genuine connection that goes beyond superficial worship? Well, that’s just what’s explored in…
4. The cute romance (with the promise of 🥴 later on…)
Now, we can’t talk about a BL without mentioning the main couple-to-be! Since it’s right there in the title, I hope it’s not too much of a spoiler to confirm that the main love interest for our dear Makoto is none other than the God of Death and SIMP for all things humankind, Thanatos.
At the time of this writing (15 chapters in), the romance between Makoto and Thanatos has just begun to bloom, and I am locked in. From the beginning of the series, we get some swoon-worthy scenes of Thanatos rescuing his beloved idol from all sorts of sticky situations and giving Makoto the doki-dokis. But, once the two get to know each other on a more personal level, we also get some delightfully awkward moments of the boys (well, 26-year-old man and a 123-year-old god) struggling to understand their own feelings. It may be vanilla, but just like soft serve ice cream, this is the sort of shit I eat up every time I come across it, no matter how many iterations of it I’ve devoured. Emotionally constipated late bloomers finding each other and slowly falling for one another amid the mundane chaos of their surroundings? Sign me UP.
Fluff aside, if you’re a hardcore BL lover, you may be asking: is there any smut in this series? Or will it stay undeniably suggestive but not too explicit throughout? To which I can say, while it may take some time to get there, things will definitely get steamier down the road 🍆🍑, so if that’s something you’re looking for, just be patient!
I like a slow burn myself, so I don’t mind waiting through several chapters of blushing boys getting touchy-feely in a totally non-romantic way and wondering why it makes their hearts beat so strangely (or not strangely, in Thanatos’s case). I’m sure the anticipation will just make the spicy scenes all the more powerful when they finally hit! 🌶️😈
But, that’s not to say things don’t heat up at all early on in the series. For instance, when Makoto accidentally overdoses on life force-enhancing ether and goes into heat as a result (no, this story’s not set in the Omegaverse, but just go with it), well, let’s just say Thanatos “helps him out.” As any good buddy would. 😏
5. The discussion
One of my favorite parts of working with “RMYIAW” so far is seeing readers’ reactions to it. It’s one doozy of a BL for sure!
The series was already quite the topic of conversation within the BLog team before its release just because of how “out there” it is, and many a chuckle was overheard in the office as we were editing and finalizing the manga files. We’ve all got our favorite characters we’d go to bat for — Yomogi’s fave is the handsome Thanatos, Ames has claimed Jack Frost as her newest “wife,” and I’m a fan of both — in addition to having a soft spot for Makoto’s round ASS which gets a nice panel showcasing it at least once in the series (chapter 13 page 11, in case you’re interested 😉).
But, we were also pleasantly surprised to see how quickly the series seems to have gained a following, with several kind readers leaving reviews with their thoughts about this silly, sexy, fantastical school life romcom.
If you haven’t yet checked out the series, now’s a great time to jump in — because we’re actually doing a review campaign right now until April 9th through which YOU could win 100 points to spend on whatever manga you want on Renta! All you need to do is read as much of “RMYIAW” as you’d like (chapters 1-3 are totally FREE, btw!) and write a review telling us — and other users — what you think!
In conclusion, “Redoing My Youth In Another World” is a BL series that I can say for sure is unlike anything I’ve read up till now. Overall, it’s a fun read with an interesting setup and very pretty art, and I’m looking forward to future chapters with even more otherworldly high school hijinx and BL drama as Makoto and Thanatos’s hearts (and bodies 🥴) grow closer. But you should definitely check it out for yourself to see if it’s something you’d be interested in following!
Sou OUT! 👾
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