Boku dake ga Inai Machi

When tragedy is about to strike, Satoru Fujinuma finds himself sent back several minutes before the accident occurs. The detached, 29-year-old manga artist has taken advantage of this powerful yet mysterious phenomenon, which he calls "Revival," to save many lives.

However, when he is wrongfully accused of murdering someone close to him, Satoru is sent back to the past once again, but this time to 1988, 18 years in the past. Soon, he realizes that the murder may be connected to the abduction and killing of one of his classmates, the solitary and mysterious Kayo Hinazuki, that took place when he was a child. This is his chance to make things right.

Boku dake ga Inai Machi follows Satoru in his mission to uncover what truly transpired 18 years ago and prevent the death of his classmate while protecting those he cares about in the present.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Fujinuma, Satoru Main

Mitsushima, Shinnosuke Japanese

Hinazuki, Kayo Main

Yuuki, Aoi Japanese

Fujinuma, Sachiko Supporting

Takayama, Minami Japanese

Kobayashi, Kenya Supporting

Taichi, You Japanese

Katagiri, Airi Supporting

Akasaki, Chinatsu Japanese

Yashiro, Gaku Supporting

Miyamoto, Mitsuru Japanese

Sugita, Hiromi Supporting

Kitou, Akari Japanese

Shiratori, Jun Supporting

Mizushima, Daichuu Japanese

Hinazuki, Akemi Supporting

Okamura, Akemi Japanese

Osamu Supporting

Nanase, Ayaka Japanese

Suzuki, Kenta Producer

Itou, Tomohiko Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Iwanami, Yoshikazu Sound Director

Ishii, Toshimasa Episode Director, Storyboard, Assistant Director

Reviews

Nov 17, 2025

MiRR0RMaN

Recommended

Boku dake ga Inai Machi is one of those rare anime that sneaks up on you, wraps itself around your heart, and then refuses to let go. It’s a masterpiece in the quiet, deliberate way—never flashy, never overplaying its hand, but always pulling you deeper with every scene.

At its core, it’s the story of a man with an ability we’ve all secretly wished for at least once in our lives. But the beauty lies in how the anime shows that even a “gift” like that comes with enormous weight. Every choice he makes has a cost. Every moment feels like it matters.

The ambiance? Man… the ... atmosphere hits the same haunting, melancholic notes you get from Silent Hill—both the games and the first movie. There’s also a touch of that tender, eerie vibe from Let Me In (and the original Let the Right One In). It’s emotional, snowy, lonely, hopeful… all at once. Just gorgeous.

I loved every second of it, and I’m not spoiling a damn thing—this is one of those shows you should go into fresh.

PRO TIP: If you fall in love with the anime, you’re not done yet. There’s a live-action TV series and a movie, and both of them are surprisingly beautiful adaptations.

Honestly… why are you still reading this? Go watch it, my guy / girl. It’s worth every minute.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Jul 29, 2025

Supersonic_Pain

Mixed Feelings

I got a general feeling that the feeling around Erased was that the ending was kinda bad but the show was great beforehand.

And I was watching the show and I was like "nah, the streets can't be right about this one, this show is pretty great" and goddamn it, the streets were fucking right.

It looks very good. I like that the 1988 segments have a vertical border to show that this is The Past. The score is also pretty good, noteworthy enough to get a mention, it is great at making you feel emotions, I teared up a few times during this show.

Time travel's a ... tricky thing, huh?

It actually starts off with a cool power (that it never explains how he got this power since it's an otherwise not supernatural show, but whatever). Satoru can basically do a mulligan. For example, if he sees a car crash, he can rewind up to five minutes before the accident happens and change the future so that the accident doesn't happen.

This is a great setup for a supernatural detective story but the problem is it just turns into him praying to God to let him fix his Big Mulligan from 18 years ago because it's tangentially connected to an event in the present.

At some point, it makes you wonder why it ever explicitly gives him a power at all instead of just Magically throwing him back in time for this one instance.

Speaking of which, since he's 11 in 1988, it makes all the interactions kinda weird when 29-year-old Satoru has to wrangle around 11-year-old children (except for the one conveniently super-genius/hyper-competent one). He blushes multiple times at his interactions with 11-year-old Kayo Hinazuki and has to go "ackshully, you're 29, Satoru!"

Which was cute the first time because heat of the moment and it's a cute way to kind of sidestep the grossness of the concept. It's more than certain "characters with higher mental than physical ages" get.

And they just keep doing it, which kind of throws my immersion out and really does make him look kinda weird for having some sort of type of feelings for her.

Generally speaking, I like the characters, but not enough to go through and talk about them. For a 12-episode show, they fit their places in the story well.

I won't say who it is but I was initially shocked and satisfied with the reveal of Pedophile Killer (as in a killer who is a pedophile, not a killer of pedophiles).

Idk though, they reveal it so late that he only gets a couple episodes to BE PK and it feels like they covered their tracks too well. They said he was on the list of suspects and I went back and checked and, at least on the Crunchyroll stream, that is bullshit and not true. He also changed his name... because? No one would've been able to attach him to the crimes and there's no real indication that he would do this or have the opportunity to do this.

He retroactively is written as an absolute psychopath with a fixation on Satoru and idk, man, it just makes PK kinda lame when I liked him prior.

I can't really say much about the ending for obvious reasons (although I will say I find it to be lame, PK aside, how they handle the new timeline from the changes they did in 1988 to present day is a very weird and kinda suckass way) so instead, indulge me on a tangent.

Why is Airi seventeen?

For those not in the know, in present day, Satoru (29) and Airi (17) worked together at a pizza parlor and, like, they weren't explicitly together or anything but it never felt like that far off of an opportunity.

In general, I think Airi is kind of an underbaked character, a victim of the majority of the story taking place in the past. She kinda feels like a substitute love interest for Satoru in a way. She even kinda looks like an adult version of Kayo if she was cheerier.

Idk, this is a show that really needs to have a spoiler section to be properly discussed for me because it's a great, gripping show that tells an interesting story with tense direction, solid characters, and good production... for 10 episodes. Sure, some of the characters (PK, Airi) are done worse than others but I would've been happy recommending this if it stuck the landing and it doesn't. And, for most shows really but ESPECIALLY shows like Erased that are "mystery" and "suspense", you need to stick the landing and I don't think it did.

The villain is just kind of a "force of nature" for a long portion of the show where we don't really get to see him do anything, he's just an imposing presence looming over the show and when the curtain rises, he's a half-baked, underwhelming villain.

The way Satoru's mental age is depicted in this show really hits a roadblock when it's time for the timeline to continue forward since he's not REALLY 11, he's a 29-year-old piloting his 11-year-old body, so they go with a real... cop out of an ending

Do I suggest you watch it?

I mean, maybe?

It's a good show for the vast majority but the way it ends is kind of underwhelming and I don't know if the juice is worth the squeeze for a show like this if it has a rather weak surprise in the box.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Nov 27, 2025

Alby49

Not Recommended

If you've already seen the first season of Steins;Gate and Re:ZERO, this series probably won't have the same effect. Erased starts with an interesting idea and a pace that, at the time of its release, could have truly kept you on the edge of your seat. However, revisiting it today, in 2025, after having already absorbed works that play more sophisticatedly with temporal paradoxes, psychological tension, and mystery-building, ends up making it very predictable.

After a few episodes, you already know who the villain is, and this takes away much of the impact the series was aiming to build. In 2016, when the genre wasn't yet ... so overused and we hadn't seen plots as elaborate as those of Steins;Gate or Re:ZERO, surprise worked much better. Today, however, we find ourselves following the story with every narrative twist already in mind, and this inevitably detracts from the experience.

Personally, I continued watching it only because I don't like to interrupt something I've started, but the overall effect was that of a work that no longer manages to amaze as it probably did upon release. Erased remains a well-crafted series with some emotionally charged moments, but if you're used to more complex titles, it risks simply seeming too predictable.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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