Yayoiso is a Japanese manga artist and illustrator recognized as the original creator behind the series ReLIFE. Yayoiso is a pen name; the creator is a woman from Oita Prefecture on the island of Kyushu. Her date of birth has not been publicly disclosed, but her professional career began in the early 2010s.

Before creating her best-known work, Yayoiso produced several short manga series, including Cross Line and The Cowardly Resound, which were published digitally in 2013. Later that same year, she began serializing ReLIFE on the comico digital manga platform. The series ran from October 2013 to March 2018 and became a significant success, representing one of the platform’s flagship titles. The complete manga was compiled into fifteen collected book volumes.

ReLIFE is the work for which Yayoiso is most widely known. The story follows a 27-year-old unemployed man who is given the chance to change his life by participating in a social experiment that returns him to his teenage appearance for one year of high school. The series explores themes of second chances, the pressures of adult life, and the lasting impact of youthful experiences.

The popularity of ReLIFE led to several adaptations. A 13-episode television anime series produced by TMS Entertainment aired in 2016. The story was concluded in a four-episode original video animation (OVA) arc titled ReLIFE: Final Arc, which was released in March 2018. Yayoiso is credited as the original creator for this final arc. The manga also inspired a live-action film released in 2017, a stage play, and multiple novel adaptations for which Yayoiso provided illustrations.

Following the conclusion of ReLIFE, Yayoiso created another manga series titled BLUE HEARTS, which was serialized on comico from November 2018 to January 2021 and collected into five volumes. This work continued in a similar genre, focusing on the lives and relationships of high school students.

Yayoiso’s artistic identity is closely tied to the digital manga format, as her work first gained a substantial readership on a digital platform known for its full-color presentation. ReLIFE is notable for being produced in color, a characteristic that distinguishes it from many traditionally published black-and-white manga. The series has been recognized for its accessible storytelling and its sensitive portrayal of social anxieties, earning a place on the 2015 nationwide bookstore employees’ recommended manga list.