Photo by Nicole. Volumes 1, 2, and 3 of Re-Living My Life with a Boyfriend Who Doesn’t Remember Me on a green background.
Re-Living My Life With a Boyfriend Who Doesn’t Remember Me – Information
Author of Story: Original story by Eiko Mutsuhana
Manga by Gin Shirakawa, character designs by Yugiri Aika
Chapter Count: 5 volumes, 21+ chapters
Status: Ongoing
Seven Seas Entertainment page for Re-Living My Life with a Boyfriend Who Doesn’t Remember Me
Content Warnings
These content warnings do not reflect the contents of the review below; only the literary work itself.
- Topics / depictions of death, dying
- Illness
- Anxiety
Spoiler Disclaimer
This recommendation post may contain small plot spoilers for review purposes. Any major spoilers are hidden by default and are able to be revealed via click or tap.
Plot Summary
Today I have a review for a series with a very long title, haha. Long titles often make me more wary of a manga series to be completely honest, but thankfully I still gave this one a go—and it’s fantastic.
Re-Living My Life with a Boyfriend Who Doesn’t Remember Me is a manga adaptation of a novel series with an even longer title; Return From Death: I Kicked the Bucket and Now I’m Back at Square One With a Boyfriend Who Doesn’t Remember Me!
This series follows the 17 year old Oriana Elsha, a magic student who is deeply in love with her boyfriend, Vincent (a.k.a. “Vince”) Tanzine. They are both preparing to graduate happily when Vince asks her to meet up with him to speak about graduation. When Oriana arrives, she finds Vincent sleeping soundly in a chair.
But upon further inspection, he turns out to be dead! As she begins to spiral into despair and sheer panic, Oriana blacks out, only to wake up in her family home… as a 7 year old!
With her past memories intact, she works hard to keep her life on track so that she will once again meet Vincent. The story skips over to when Oriana arrives at magical school (for the second time). But when she finally meets Vincent again… he has no clue who she is!
From then on, this mysterious romance follows Oriana as she tries to not only rekindle her relationship with Vincent again at magic school, but also figure out how to prevent his death during their second chance at life!
Shirakawa, Mutsuhana, Aika. Volume 3 Cover Art, Re-Living My Life with a Boyfriend Who Doesn’t Remember Me, Seven Seas Entertainment.
Why You Should Read This Series
Plot:
So far, this manga series has been super engaging and fun to read! The premise is interesting and well thought-out; even though memory loss tropes, time loops, and things of that sort aren’t anything new.
However, it really digs into how the characters would feel in this unique situation and keeps you incredibly engaged via drama and romance—all while maintaining an air of mystery about the main characters’ deaths.
Speaking of drama, there is so much angst in this series. It really feels sad or painful to read at times, but in a good way, haha. It’s the perfect level of drama without ruining the romance between the main characters. And their romance is very exciting and lovely. I love how romanticized their relationship is!
This story also perfectly captures the nature of a young girl’s heart. Oriana is so in love, and is easily made happy by the littlest of things. She’s so excited just to be next to Vincent, and happy to see her loved one alive and well.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t stop her from having immense anxiety about his death… The plot really captures all her emotions: love, excitement, disappointment, fear, desperation, anxiety, and even her fangirling, haha.
The plot does a great job at mixing both the romance and the main conflict at hand (a possible imminent death). I’d say the pacing of both of these events is done well—there’s plenty happening at all times, and the story doesn’t take too long to progress relationships.
I have no idea what to expect from this point onwards, but I’m so excited to see what this exciting manga adaptation has in store for the future!
Characters:
Re-Living My Life with a Boyfriend Who Doesn’t Remember Me has some fantastic characters. Firstly, we have a cute, strong-willed FL who is very determined—but also has her own physical and emotional limits. She does what she can to achieve love once again, but isn’t unrealistically OP, effortlessly smart, or anything of that sort.
That may sound like an insult, but I actually love that about her. She’s just a normal girl who is hopelessly in love and determined to win her man back! I love her fangirling and bubbly personality that tries to stay positive even considering the situation she’s in.
Next we have the handsome ML that’s sort of put on a pedestal by everyone. He’s seen as a perfect, handsome, talented, highly sought-after boy… and sort of matches this perfect image in the earlier flashbacks of Oriana’s first life.
However, he is actually hilariously realistic: a little lame when it comes to love, easily embarrassed, and understandably confused when it comes it Oriana. This doesn’t stop the female lead from fangirling over him, though; she can still see all his good points. Isn’t that true love!?
Anyway, I absolutely love his design in both appearance and personality! I was pleasantly surprised by his adorable, shy, uncooperative, and slightly sassy attitude. It wasn’t at all what I was expecting, but his character turned out even better than I could have imagined.
Lastly, there’s a few side characters that are just so lovely. We get to enjoy some friendships that are to die for—one that is a totally reliable friend and wingman to the main pair—as well as a super engaging and lovely side couple with their own troubles. I really enjoyed these characters, and I’m sure you will, too.
Art:
I absolutely adore the art style in Re-Living My Life with a Boyfriend Who Doesn’t Remember Me. Although I haven’t personally read the novel, I feel like the manga artist did a superb job at capturing the characters’ emotions, solely based on how I felt while reading this!
I love how gorgeous the style is and I’ve really enjoyed every aspect of the story and art. The individuals who helped bring this adaptation to life did an amazing job!
Shirakawa, Mutsuhana, Aika. Volume 5 Cover Art, Re-Living My Life with a Boyfriend Who Doesn’t Remember Me, Seven Seas Entertainment.
Any Cons?
So far I don’t really have any cons for this story. However, I’ll admit that this series is pretty cheesy and riddled with simple misunderstandings. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but fortunately for me, I love cheesy romances and drama.
I’ve enjoyed every bit of this story, so this isn’t a con for me—but if you aren’t a fan of clichés and drama fueled by miscommunication, perhaps you should skip out on this series!
More In-Depth Review (Warning: Spoilers!)
I’m really excited to see how this story progresses. So far, it is tons of fun and filled to the brim with exciting romance. However, one of the reasons I loved this story was because of the immense amount of angst found within, haha! This series has the sort of romantic drama that makes you want to cry for the two main characters and their unfortunate situation—it’s amazing.
The best part is that the characters aren’t bad people, and they don’t really do anything wrong. It’s all just circumstance and misunderstandings that cause the conflicts. Both characters are sort of stuck in their own struggles. Oriana struggles with being pushed away by the new Vincent and the fear of his incoming death.
Vincent, on the other hand, is most often being jealous of, well, himself (from the past). While that sounds sort of hilarious, I absolutely love it. It’s such a weird and unique take on a romantic story. Oriana can’t help but see the Vincent she knows and loves in him, and to see him act differently towards her is so difficult.
But for Vincent, his life is being suddenly interrupted by this strange, beautiful girl. He didn’t fall in love with Oriana in the same way during their second life, so he’s experiencing all sorts of trouble in their relationship—his sudden death sentence reveal, not understanding who he once was to Oriana, and the way she treats him even though they aren’t dating. It’s such a fun set-up for drama!
It seems like a lot for the two of them to handle, and so of course there will be confused feelings and plenty of angst. I think the author created the perfect set-up—all of these factors contribute to a big jumble of emotions that causes them to have some occasional conflicts, and it’s so exciting to read. The author is great at ripping my heart out with a conflict and then returning it to me with a lovely, romantic scene.
Especially now having read volume five and seeing the side couple absolutely torn apart. It was such an emotional read that revealed new sides to these beautiful characters. I’m devastated for this side couple, as I really loved their dynamic, but I also live for the drama. I really hope they have a happy ending!
Overall, I think this story has such amazing characters and is so much fun to read. I’m really looking forward to seeing the rest of the story adapted!
Final Thoughts
Re-Living My Life with a Boyfriend Who Doesn’t Remember Me really blew my expectations out the water. It doesn’t necessarily have a super complicated plot, but the characters, romance, drama, and art style all come together to make a very exciting, impactful manga adaptation. Every little moment is given so much meaning, and so the story is never boring. I’ve genuinely enjoyed it!
Have you started this series? Will you start it? Feel free to share your thoughts on this lovely manga adaptation below!
Disclaimer: Any cover images used for this blog are for illustrative purposes only, are not owned by me, and are under ownership of the artist or publisher.
Images Credit: Mutsuhana, Eiko (original story); Shirakawa, Gin (manga adaptation); Aika, Yugiri (character design); Re-Living My Life with a Boyfriend Who Doesn’t Remember Me, Seven Seas Entertainment, 2024.
