Boku dake ga Inai Machi

It's becoming more apparent to me by each passing season that if an anime gets any sort of recognition like this, it's bound to divide the community into 2 groups. The majority goes on to ride the hype train and hype the series in question up to the high heavens, while the other hops onto the hate train and then the shit-fest begins. I usually see myself not siding with any of these but frankly, the latter seems more reasonable to me than it ever was. I'll try to offer an unbiased opinion on this even though seeing its rating is kinda baffling. So let's ... get into it, the most hyped up anime of the season and quite possibly the most overrated anime of the year (I'm asking to get shot, aren't I?) - Boku dake ga Inai Machi, otherwise known simply as Erased. This review won't spoil anything beyond the first episode.

The story centers around a 29 year old emo Pizza Hut employee who is trying to become a mangaka. On the other hand, he also has a reset power, "Revival", that occurs a few minutes before an accident, lending him the ability to stop said accident before it ever takes place. So yeah, he's basically a Final Destination lead. One day, while stopping an accident from happening he gets injured and in that time his mother moves in to live with him. The next day in Satoru's absence, his mother is stabbed in the back and killed in his apartment by some random guy with a fedora. Do you see the problem here? I said the next day which is quite literally the next day. We don't even get a full episode to get to know or sympathize with this character. Instead we just know her for half of the first episode until she is brutally murdered. Oh no, it's almost like Attack on Titan. Who didn't cry at the first episode of Attack on Titan?!

Anyway, we don't know the man who did it nor do we know his intentions. When Satoru arrives to the crime scene, someone conveniently finds him next to his mother's corpse with blood on his hands. Everything is going downhill for Satoru as the police arrives when he is suddenly, out of nowhere sent 18 years into the past to the year 1988, which at the time he was merely a 10 year old elementary school student. It definitely isn't too far of a stretch to say this is a lame plot device at this point, especially now that he has no control over it. Also, I'd like to mention how further down the line Satoru says that it will be his last Revival. So how does this thing work? Plot convenience, duh.

Prior to this it is also shown that a few kids from Satoru's school were murdered at that time period, namely our loli heroine, Kayo Hinazuki. Hinazuki was a troubled and lonely girl who never got along with anyone and was often abused by her mother. Satoru decides that as well as preventing his mother's death, he will also save Hinazuki before her birthday which is on the 2nd of March. Considering it's already mid February he doesn't have much time. The accused murderer of these kids was 23 year old Jun Shiratori or known to the children simply as Yuuki due to his courageous nature. He was a person who would always approach the lone students around his house, which already raises a giant red flag. However, Satoru always remembered Yuuki to be a kindhearted and happy guy who would never commit a crime.

So obviously the show's primary element is mystery, which I have mixed feelings about. If the mystery is done well it can really lead to a great series, but that usually isn't very easy to pull off and more often that not it just falls flat. The worst mistake a mystery series can make in my eyes is when it raises so many questions but in the end fails to answer them, or maybe just leave it off at a cliffhanger like Rokka no Yuusha. Erased done well in that aspect, seeing as it didn't raise that many questions to begin with. See, what I think is the main problem in Erased's mystery department is the amount of suspects it brings up, or lack thereof. 4 episodes in I was pretty confident in my guess on who the killer was as it was so easy to trace back once you actually think about it. I would of been surprised if my guess was wrong to be totally honest, and that's not because I'm some sort of super-genius.

I seem to have a very obvious bias when it comes to works done by A-1 Pictures. I thought the art style resembled their previous works too strongly and therefore it derived from the series for me as it didn't strike me as dark enough in tone, especially for the kind of series Erased is. So, much like the opening and ending, the art and animation slowly grew on me the further it went on. It's very soothing and visually appealing. Combined with a decent musical direction and atmosphere it even felt cinematic at times.

I wasn't a very big fan of the opening at first to be honest but it gradually grew on me and is easily the best opening of the season and even one of my all-time favorites. That also applies to the ending, it's neat too. As for the OST, I'm indifferent about it. There wasn't anything that struck me as good or above average, it all just felt like regular background music to me but it does it's role, for what it's worth. The voice acting is rather impressive as everyone had a great performance. Seeing as both of Satoru's seiyuu never done any previous work, regarding anime at least impressed me quite a bit. I especially like the guy that does the adult version, his voice is very soothing. Aoi Yuuki was also really good at portraying Hinazuki's character but that is to be expected.

The characters in Erased are for the most part incredibly lackluster - from the protagonist to the supporting cast. Because most of the series takes place in the past, a lot of the characters are just 10 year olds, which leads me to my next point - Most of these kids don't even act their age! At parts they act like full-grown adults which really derives from the show, why even bother making them kids in the first place? Looking at you, Kenya, Hinazuki.

Satoru, while being more interesting than your harem protagonist doesn't have that much going for him, which is fine to a point because the characters aren't really where the series shines but his character could have definitely been more solid or maybe had a stronger personality. He doesn't seem like he particularly enjoys the time resets, but he still decides to help out. What a nice guy! The series has a much heavier focus on the past than the present, so for the most part we just get kid Satoru. Well, he's just a normal 30 year old man who's trying to save his 10 year old girlfriend from her seemingly inevitable demise. Sounds about right.

Hinazuki is a very reserved and closed off girl but she opens up more and more as the series progresses. She gets abused by her parents for some unknown reason aka SHOCK FACTORRRRR. She suffers from the same problem as Satoru, as she doesn't have a personality that defines her either. Instead (for the most part) we are simply supposed to feel sorry for her and like her because of the predicament she's in. She is pretty cute though - good character.

The supporting cast is also very lacking, filled with 1-dimensional characters. The reasoning of a lot of characters can be pretty unreasonable and even ludicrous at times - people getting divorced because of a chocolate bar, etc. Then you have characters like Hinazuki's mother who, every time she is on screen tends to turn this show into a misery porn galore.

Kenya is another instance of wasted potential. They done as much as they could to make us understand that he is incredibly intelligent and by the end of it all, he barely does anything and his character is awfully utilized. I feel the same way about the killer as I've heard his reasoning is a lot clearer and better explained in the manga. It's not that surprising though as they did try to bash 8 volumes into a 12 episode series. All in all, the characters aren't done very well.

I can sit here all I want and point out the flaws of the show, but truth be told, I had quite a lot of fun with it! I think this is mostly due to how the pacing was handled as it is very fast for pretty much the entirety of the series, yet tends to not feel rushed for the majority of the first half. Only at about the halfway point does the pacing start to affect my outlook on it and turns for the worst. Despite this, I was still entertained for most of the show. The two major downfalls here are the tremendous amount of plot conveniences all throughout the story and the (in my opinion) poorly done mystery.

Erased is mediocre in every sense of the word. Despite that, I'd still argue that it's one of the better titles of the season. Does it deserve the hype, praise and to be ranked higher than LotGH? NO. The characters are awfully lackluster + the story is not that great as it has to rely on an iffy plot device and a ton of plot conveniences throughout. I wanted to say that it has more good than bad but A-1 stayed true to their nature and managed to ruin a promising show for me, once again.

In the end, I don't think Erased is neither as good as some praise it to be nor as bad as others make it out to be, it's simply average. It's like a rollercoaster and the further you go down, the messier it becomes. However, if you're not a critical watcher and just want to have some fun, Erased is definitely your go-to this season.

It was a cold, uncompromising winter in the early weeks of 2016 but thankfully a new anime had heralded its arrival with a promise warm the world’s hearts. People braved the blizzard of mediocrity to find that one show that could rise to the top and be the ray of sunshine they craved. Boku dake ga Inai Machi (Or known by its English title ‘Erased’) waved its hand high and proud, promising a touching tale of one man’s journey to fix both the past and the present. The show did indeed have a certain glow about it that appealed to me but it’s sad to ... say that it died out into a whimper by the time the curtains had closed.

It’s unsurprising to see the initial widespread interest Erased generated because it had a list of ingredients that when put together could create something special. Time travel? Murder? Mystery? I strapped myself in for what I expected to be a tense experience that would leave me searching for answers. But as anyone would know, you could have a list of the finest ingredients available and in the hands of an incompetent chef it would turn into a disaster. Erased delivers what is an underwhelming execution to a setting that promised more. I was left bitterly disappointed by the show’s conveniences placed into the script and its underwhelming reveals. Despite some memorable scenes, Erased has left little impact on me.

We follow Satoru Fujinuma (Voiced by anime debutants Shinnosuke Mitsushima and Tao Tsuchiya), a 29-year-old manga artist with an ability to go back in time several minutes before some form of tragedy strikes. His ability, which he titles ‘revival’, gives him a chance to change events to prevent any disaster from happening. When one of the most horrifying incidents imaginable befalls him, his ability kicks in. This time however it’s not just minutes but years that Satoru gets sent back. Working with his old school classmates he tries his best to catch a criminal and change the future – or the present he just arrived from depending how you look at it. Realising the significance of the time period he’s found himself in, Satoru starts to dig around for the solution to not just change one but several lives for the better.

The opening episode of Erased was one that left me asking questions – but in a good way. It had easily done enough to get me make me care about what the end result could be. It screamed one thing above all: Potential. There was one big problem that began to develop however and that was the anime betrayed my expectations that it had helped me to establish early on in the piece. Following its presentation of suspects and the crimes in 1988 that took place I was led to believe that we would be dealing with a mystery. Everything in the first couple of episodes pointed the show towards going in that direction, from being shown the wrongfully accused to Satoru playing the detective with his childhood friends. As the episodes progressed, however, I came to realise that there was no chance the show would be taking that route. The perpetrator becomes bleeding obvious far too early on, so all that was left was to see Satoru’s progress in getting closer to them. I couldn’t help but feel that the writers of Erased were treating me, the viewer, like an idiot. Any ‘clues’ they start to throw your way are as subtle as taking a tyre iron to the head. This strange misdirection Erased put me through took me some time to assess and get over.

What I was left with when the show reached its final few episodes was some strange mess caught halfway between a mystery and a thriller, just floundering about and being below average at both genres. For a while there was enough in both respects to keep Erased entertaining. It seemed the less I knew about the overall picture that the more the show had me by the hook. But as it peels away the layers of the story guarding the identity of the culprit it tore away my emotional investment. There aren’t enough interwoven clues in the story to be deemed a rewarding mystery yet there is nowhere near enough tension to labelled a competent thriller. Is there at least some interesting character dynamics to cling on to? Not really. Because the characters at the centre of the conflict aren’t compelling – particularly the culprit – I didn’t find myself on the edge of my seat when I was clearly being prompted to. Erased is, essentially, a show with no identity.

Erased ultimately abandons its ‘mystery’ and spends far too long building up the relationship between Satoru and classmate Kayo Hinazuki in its place. In a rough defence of this, Kayo’s story at least does enough to keep the show watchable. Watching her outlook on the world shift thanks to the events of the show is somewhat satisfying. Aoi Yuuki (Madoka Kaname of Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica) is a good choice as Kayo’s voice actress, carrying across a certain bitterness and melancholy to the role of the downtrodden class member. Her arc at least did enough to get me invested in her character but the cast as a whole just didn’t reel me in. Kayo’s angle could only carry the overall story for so long, and it’s clear to see the pacing then kicks up into overdrive to compensate for the lost time. As much as I didn’t mind her screen time, Erased spends too much time making us care for Kayo when Satoru could have used a similar amount of attention. The character interactions suffer because Satoru’s at the centre of most of them. A negative mention must also go towards Kayo’s mother who was a laughably over-malicious character written that way just to stir the pot, looking at baiting an emotional response from the viewer with her abusive antics. The reasons for her behaviour are never explored and thus cheapens the attempt at generating empathy for Kayo.

The writing behind Satoru’s character is bizarre. For a 29-year-old he seems to lose a ton of emotional maturity upon being sent back to his 10-year-old body. On top of that, for someone attempting to play the detective, logic seems devoid from Satoru. He makes some unbelievable decisions throughout the course of the show that might have been excusable for a 10 or 11-year-old to make but not someone with two decades more life experience. It’s almost like the writers forgot to separate his mind from body when writing the scenes set in 1988. There actually isn’t much that’s memorable about Satoru’s character as a whole, whether it be his older or younger self. He’s a standard, cold main character that does nothing to leave an impression. We’re supposed to be following his story but it feels like we’re riding along the coattails of others.

It’s disappointing to see that the show’s writing doesn’t match up to its presentation. There’s a few good visuals utilised to help set the tone. There are some scenes that can even be called drop-dead gorgeous. It’s ultimately a wasted effort because a good script and interesting characters aren’t there to make use of it. The motivations of the perpetrator are glossed over to the point where I even questioned why on earth I even bothered to use my brain to try and search for the answer myself. The reasoning was so unsatisfying it actually made me angry, considering it was what set the entire series into action. I’m not a manga reader of the series but, from what I have discerned, the writers left a massive chunk of information out of this area. The best villains in fiction are flawed for reasons we can understand, when we are given reasons for their actions that we can dwell upon. If you come into Erased expecting something of that sort, then prepare to be left sorely disappointed.

After a first episode that got me hooked Erased began to stall, then ultimately collapse under the weight of all that it was trying to take on in the space of 12 episodes. No amount of decent visuals from A-1 Pictures could fix their clunky handling of the story, mostly forgettable cast and simply shambolic writing choices. Conveniences that lay around every corner go a long way to distracting me from any tension director Tomohiko Itou (Sword Art Online, Gin no Saji) was attempting to layer into the story. There always feels like a way out no matter how cornered or dangerous a situation seems to be. Satoru’s revival ability isn’t explored or explained in great detail, making itself useful at the most convenient of times. Many parts of the story feel irrelevant considering the conclusion the show arrives at. Erased seems like an appropriate title for a show that won't be hanging around in my memory for long.

Well, now that Erased reviews are a dime a dozen, might as well add my two cents.
--Quick version:
The first thing to consider when reviewing Erased is what exactly is it good at?
The mystery?
No. The formula is taken straight from Scooby Doo, some people predicted the killer before the halfway point of the series.
And no, the red herrings don't make it any less predictable after they've been used multiple times already.
Well is it a good thriller then?
No. The predictability kills any thrills this show would've had.
Maybe it's a decent drama then?
Kinda...sorta...when they don't use pointless victimization by one-dimensional characters to make you feel bad for ... the cast, now that's some lazy writing.
Also the time travel is BS.
Nothing too great to watch.

--Full review: spoilers incoming.

-Presentation (visuals & sound)
Definitely the strongest part of the show.
Asian Kung-fu generation does a great job with the opening and the ending is almost as good.
The director clearly knows what he's doing with how he presents things, The film bars especially were a great addition.
I like how they present Satorus Internal dialogue and how he actually speaks differently at times.
Nothing looks out of place and I have nothing to complain about here.

-Story
And here's the weakest part of the show.
From the first episode it's clear that the story could be better, the first mistake was to make the MC, Satoru run from the police for no reason.
They actually explained the whole thing in the manga, and that shows that the whole thing is a pretty rushed adaptation.
The time travel makes no real sense, it works when it's convenient, it doesn't take butterfly effect into consideration and it always seems to transport Satoru to a safe location for no reason.
Also there doesn't seem to be any limitation to the time travel abilities, which is yet another reason why this show is just not very thrilling.
Something that also got stuck in my mind is how forced the drama can feel, this show has characters whose only job in the story is to victimize others.Lazy writing.
The killer's motives are also just...pointless...basically he does it because he likes it...I'm starting to think Scooby Doo actually had better writing.
Also the children in this anime actually seem smarter than most of the adults.
As I said before Having a mystery most people will be able to solve before the characters makes the mystery almost pointless from that point on.
The ending felt a bit comical and corny to me, but aside from that no real problems there.
I also have a couple of nitpicks about the show:
-Satoru doesn't know how seat belts work(you know what i mean).
-Some people have claimed that having a 20-something year old guy in his 10 year old body almost dating another 10 year old is creepy,
it didn't seem like that to me, aside from one scene where Hinazuki is taking a shower with Satoru's mom. That actually seemed a bit weird, why is that even there?

-Characters
Finally something I even have a few positive things to say about.
Satoru's mom is made to be a very compassionate person, maybe even overly so, but i can't complain because there's a real lack of decent parents in anime.
Most of the characters don't have that much personality behind them, but at least they're not cardboard cut outs.
Satoru himself is a very cynical MC, those have been very popular lately, he develops pretty much like you would expect.
So at least halfway decent main cast, but as I said before Some characters are just obviously evil and have no redeeming qualities.
The killer is also a completely uninteresting character.
Satoru's friends at least got a personality quirk or two.
And the pizza girl whoever she was felt like a pretty pointless character.

-Summary
The best thing I could compare this anime to is Mirai nikki, That one is also completely filled with plot holes and has a cool premise that doesn't really work out.
It's not a good watch if you want a mystery, it's not good as a thriller and it only kinda works as a drama.
At the very least it's presented nicely so it's easy to consume.
Unless you absolutely need to watch a Time travel Drama and can't just watch Steins;Gate again there's nothing here for you.
It's not like this is the worst thing ever but it was still a big waste of potential.
PS. can we all just collectively agree to never hype shit up again?

Overview:

I'm late to this party, but I'm kind of glad I took my time to review this series. This anime got absurdly overrated and overhyped back when it came out for reasons I never understood. It's been 3 long years since then...and this is still one of the most overrated anime on MAL. The series has little moments where it has potential. It's not THAT bad on a technical level. I gave it a VERY generous 5 because I really don't believe in rating bombing. Otherwise, I would create 10 clone accounts and keep giving it a 1. I just sit back and laugh that ... this garbage is sitting at an 8.5+ rating 3 years later. Even the most "filthy casual" anime can laugh at Erased. This is a series that doesn't deserve to shine Gundam Wing's shoes or stand in the presence of Inuyasha. Elfen Lied wipes its ass with Erased. Then again, I can't spend this entire review talking about its MAL rating, so let's get on with it!

Plot and characters:

The main character is a 29 year old manga artist named Satoru Fujinuma. He has a mysterious super power called "The Revival" that allows him to travel back in time a few minutes and alter history. He uses this a few minutes into the first episode to prevent a fatal traffic accident. Throughout the series, Satoru's powers never seem to follow any consistent rules. We don't understand how he gained The Revival. We don't understand the mechanism by which it works. We don't know shit about The Revival...other than IT GOES HARD (HARD) ALL DAY ALL NIGHT! (cough) I deeply apologize for that joke.


Anyways, Satoru's mother suddenly figures out who the real killer was that murdered several of Satoru's classmates back in elementary school. For some reason, the real killer instantly realizes that she figured it out and kills Mrs. Fujinuma. Satoru walks in to see that his mother has been stabbed to death and then the police instantly burst in and think he did it for some reason. Fortunately, The Revival triggers and Satoru is sent back in time 18 years. Now Satoru must find out who the killer is and prevent the murders from taking place. The next few episodes are actually pretty decent. Satoru helps a childhood friend who is dealing with domestic abuse and the anime tackles this topic with surprising grace. The good times don't last though, because this is only 12 episodes and we find out very quickly who the killer is. Hint, it's the guy that looks blatantly evil.


Satoru is able to prevent several murders and here is where the series really goes downhill. The killer gains this absolute obsession with Satoru and the thrill of having a rival. The anime tries REALLY hard to force this Batman/Joker dynamic, but it doesn't have enough time to feel remotely natural. The killer figures out the Satoru is the one thrwarting his plans and leaves Satoru locked in a car that he drives into the middle of a lake. We flash forward 18 years and Satoshi wakes out of a coma. How the hell was he rescued from the bottom of the lake? The anime never tells us. Fuck you! That's how! It is revealed that the killer has been anxiously waiting this entire time for Satoru to wake up and hasn't killed anyone in that whole time because it would be no fun without his rival to try and stop him. Satoru completes him and life is meaningless without his rivalry with Satoru. Are you fucking kidding me?! Satoru stopped a couple murders and temporarily set back his child killing scheme for a few months. This dynamic worked in The Killing Joke, because Batman and Joker had 50 fucking years of history together! Satoru nabs the bad guy in an incredibly contrived set up and everything ends happily. Well...besides Satoru spending his entire young adult life in a coma in this timeline. The End.


Art and sound:

The art and animation by A-1 Pictures was fine here. A lot of people love to shit on A-1 because they made SAO, but it really wasn't that bad. Oh and BTW, Erased happens to share a director with SAO. Just an interesting bit of trivia. The soundtrack was handled by the talented Yuki Kajiura, who has done far better work on series like Baccano. However, I have no complaints about the music. It's fine.


Overall:

Erased is a very condensed manga adaptation that had about 12 unforgivable flaws for every one thing it did right. Most of us have series that we love despite being heavily flawed. Hellsing Ultimate, Parasyte, and Fate/Zero are all series I love despite them having laughably stupid plots. I love Berserk 97 despite the fact it's barely animated. I love this one anime that had budget problems so severe that it ended with a 2 episode philosophy powerpoint. My frustration with Erased is not just that it had a few flaws, it's that watching Erased is an infurating experience. You board the plane and it has technical issues and sits on the runway for 2 hours. Then it finally gets into the air and you're sitting there like " Ok, this is fine". Then one of the engines explode and the plane nosedives right into the New York City dump. That's essentially what it's like to watch Erased. This is one case where you REALLY can't trust the MAL rating. I'd highly recommend skipping this one.

When it involves new anime, hype usually starts with something small, the cause either due to a title being created by a prominent mangaka, being produced by the studio Madhouse, or being something that very, very subtly thinks outside the box. Then, the hype surrounding this new title becomes so ridiculously out-of-proportions that there’s little chance of the series fulfilling these expectations. With that said, I will introduce the 12-episode mystery known as Erased, whose birth, rise, apex, and decline in MyAnimeList.net’s (MAL) Top Anime rankings epitomize the hype machine as a whole. When Erased was first released, it surpassed Cowboy Bebop, Mushishi, Death Note, ... Gurren Lagann, the 2011 remake of Hunter X Hunter, Monster, and even Legend of the Galactic Heroes, all considered timeless, transcendent works of the medium. Erased settled into the top 10 for a while before soaring into the top 5 and, during this voyage into the upper echelon of the Anime Hall-of-Fame, I bought a nonrefundable ticket for the ride. As someone who adamantly sticks to the older, more renowned series, I was immediately suspicious of the widespread idolation of Erased but my insatiable urge to witness what the hype was about pushed me to watch this series. Whether its ranking on MAL and my decision was ultimately justified remains to be seen.

Erased revolves around a time-traveling mangaka named Satoru Fujinuma venturing into the past, reverting into a child in the process a la Dragon Ball GT, to confront his mother’s killer. As the drama unfolds, the series showcases a truly masterful, variety-filled soundtrack. When the focus is on R&R, soft, barely audible guitar melodies ease into the atmosphere. When the pulse-pounding suspense is at its climax, tragic violin pieces are flawlessly alternated with sweeping, powerful piano tracks. Every once in a while, Erased experiments with different combinations of music, at one point having tech house and an opera string quartet perform the Fusion Dance.

Though I am helplessly enamored of the show’s music, I am even more in love with the cinematic style involved in the animation of Erased. When Satoru discusses or thinks about his time-traveling powers, a film reel effect occurs with the film reel frames symbolizing Satoru watching his life so far like a movie. In episode 1, the smoke released form the cigarette of Satoru’s mother guides the transition from one scene to the next. In episode 3, Satoru visits the bedroom of Yuuki, a friend from long ago, and there’s a beautiful back-and-forth shift between past and present. In episode 5, there’s a cutaway to a painting of The Last Supper as Satoru eats his dinner to foreshadow what will occur next. The cinematic style in Erased climaxes at the end of episode 6, where Satoru is in the rain, about to be hauled off to jail, and he spots his mother’s killer. It is at that moment where everything suddenly stops (even the raindrops are frozen!) and turns black-and-white, the color erased (pun unintended) from the scene except for the killer’s dark red pupils. Let’s just say that what occurs in episode 6 doesn’t happen too often with anime titles.

As someone with a theme song fetish, I have always believed that an anime’s opening, which is often a viewer’s first glance at a title, can make or break the series. That said, the theme song for Erased isn’t particularly terrible but it’s not memorable in any way (It will never be compared to “Mystical Adventure”, “Tank!”, “Cruel Angel’s Thesis” or any of the other classic theme songs). The theme song for Erased is all about Satoru: him in a theater, him on the playground, him playing Rock Paper Scissors with his friends, him screaming outside in the snow, him running away from his mother’s killer (You get the point). The question: who is Satoru? He doesn’t have any unique physical features, personality quirks, or any special gifts besides the whole time-travel thingy. Satoru has a purpose that drives the series forward, to protect the ones he loves and even those he doesn’t know too well, but it’s hardly a unique purpose. In other words, Satoru is (shocker!) yet another one of those self-insert protagonists that I despise with a passion. Unfortunately, most of the supporting cast don’t fare much better when it involves depth and uniqueness. Hinazuki is the main female character of erased, one of those quiet loner types that never get a chance to really develop, a damsel-in-distress relying a little too much on Satoru to rescue her, and a child that acts nothing like a child (More on this later). Airi is one of Satoru’s co-workers with what’s easily the dumbest backstory ever (#candybarsarecursed). Kenya is a quiet, abnormally intelligent scholar of a child seeking to protect others just like Satoru (Kenya is, unfortunately, not black). The only person in Erased that actually acts like a real person is Mr. Yashiro, my favorite character. At first, Satoru’s teacher appears as relatable as possible whose gentle, relaxed personality resembles that of a midmorning autumn breeze. However, the depths of Mr. Yashiro’s soul reveal a mortal man marked by obsession, rejection, and an obvious yet intriguing plot twist. If only the rest of the cast of Erased were as complex as Mr. Yashiro…

“If you don’t dig deeper, the readers won’t be able to see you in the work,” – Satoru’s editor (Episode 1)

Above all else, this is the underlying cause of every issue in Erased. When I look at Erased, I discover an ambitious young writer filled with larger-than-life ideas for his work but doesn’t know how to fully express them or inject his personality into his writing. This problem is apparent in Erased having some serious pacing issues and in the show not knowing what it wants to be (Erased is generally labeled a mystery but there are also sci-fi elements, an insane amount of time spent on the school grounds, and it mostly feels like a simple slice-of-life than a gripping suspense-thriller. Honestly, Erased would’ve been better had it stayed loyal to the mystery aspect). Spawning from the show’s lack of structure are, of course, the plot holes issue, like not explaining the effects of Satoru’s time-traveling or how he acquires this ability in the first place. It is obvious a little before the 15-year time skip but, afterwards, the animation style that I obsess over is decimated almost entirely, the once-overpowering OST lacks its flair for the dramatic, the plot isn’t as intense, and overall Erased just isn’t the absurdly addictive thriller that it used to be. The last (and probably most crucial) thing I don’t like about the author of Erased is how he characterizes children in his story; it’s like he was never truly a child himself. Me, I can easily recall and cherish my childhood. Being a young boy was building the biggest castle in the sandbox. Being a young boy was making fun of other boys who wanted or had relationships with a girl (Back then, we thought they were infested with “cooties”). Being a young boy was riding your bicycle down the street by yourself to the grocery store so that you could feel like “a real man”. Being a young boy was doing what you previously thought was scary or impossible or reckless. Being a young boy was fighting boredom by using your imagination to invent new methods of entertaining yourself. Being a young boy was about pulling pranks, getting into fights, and having fun.

No young boy or girl talks about an Edgar Allen Poe book that doesn’t exist.
No young boy or girl jokes about having a friend kill someone.
No young boy or girl willingly locks someone or allow themselves to be locked in a bus alone for days on end, no matter the circumstance.

When I finished Erased, there wasn’t that empty feeling you get when you complete a memorable series, that feeling of “NOW what will I do to spend my time?” When I finished Erased, I immediately thought, “Should I write a review for this? Maybe I could use my time for something more productive and worthwhile.” That’s not what I thought when the life-changing experience known as Gurren Lagann came to a close (you know, a CLASSIC title). I was staring at my computer screen with my mouth agape and my eyes watering for what felt like forever (Somehow, I did not cry). As for Erased, I watched it, loved it, stopped loving it, tolerated it, and then it ended. As fast as an eye-roll, Erased has faded from MAL’s Top 10 and from my anime-watching life. In conclusion, this series wasn’t particularly terrible or great. In fact, it was so unmemorable that it will be eventually erased (pun intended) from my memory until its name pops up again one day and I’ll vaguely think, “Oh yeah, think I checked that out a while back.”

Few times have I seen an anime so incredibly hyped only to find that it falls into cardiac arrest as the series progresses. Oh wait, I've seen that plenty of times (Sword Art Online I'm looking at you). The latest case of this dreadful curse is that of Erased, the winter 2016 series that caught the eye or ear of just about every anime in the otaku universe. Is Erased overhyped? Yes. Is Erased bad? Well, that's all dependent on the individual. It took an incredibly interesting concept and started off with a bang. The reception it has ... received was initially praise-worthy but has diminished to critical reviews and demeaning memes about squandered potential. I can say that although I am not a fan of the way the plot was handled, I'm not going to change my reviewing standards and give it a 3/10 because that's the thing people are doing.

When I say Erased started off strong, I truly mean it. That first episode is so jam-packed with action that I actually rewatched it several times. I'll be the first to admit I fell victim to the inadvertent "bait and switch" Erased had to offer. This series introduces a character Satoru Fujinuma who can encounter "revival", another word for time travel. It only occurs randomly, and sets him back several minutes in order to seemingly correct what's out of place. No one else knows about Satoru's strange ability because he's kind of an unaccomplished loner. Time travel is always a hairy plot device because since it's not necessarily fact, it's open-endedness births harsh critics who think they know how it's supposed to work. When I see time travel in shows like this and Steins;Gate I just press the "I Believe" button and go with it, as should you. I did enjoy the nod the writers made to the "butterfly effect" phenomena by including the graceful image of a butterfly prior to Satoru entering revival. As previously mentioned, the first episode is pure gold when it comes to the writing. I was completely gripped as we watched the underachieving Satoru be thrown into a whirlwind of precarious events which ended in his own mother being killed. It is at this moment that Satoru's revival takes him all the way back to when he was a ten year old boy. Only in this case, he's a 29 year old stuck in a ten year old's body. It is at this point where Satoru begins a roller coaster ride where he tries to protect his mother, his friends and even himself as he's pitted against time travel and the looming threat of the anonymous killer. Erased had the groundwork to be a fantastic series. Notice the key word in there, "had".

I felt that one of the biggest issues for me in Erased was the pacing. As many have already pointed out and I will reiterate, the first 5 or so episodes were great. I though this anime had the possibility of becoming one of my favorites. There was intricate and delicate care given to the handling of suspense, and many hints to who the killer may be, almost popping up as red herrings. However, to fully give the background to the characters, I feel this anime should have been expanded to 26 episodes. Once the killer's identity is uncovered, the pacing is destroyed. It's almost as though the writers forgot how many episodes they were writing. The only real backstory you get for the killer is a 2 minute prologue to the second to last episode. Not to mention the lack of exploration into Kenya's character. I mean, what kind of ten year old is that smart? He acted more intelligently than our main protagonist, who was 19 years older than him. I really wanted Kenya to have more to do with the killer or plot.

The second issue I have with Erased is the unrealistic behavior of Satoru when inside his younger self's body. His actions touch on pedophilia and you don't often hear him inner-monologuing reminding us that he's still 29. I mean, I'm 27 and some of the decisions he pursued made absolutely zero sense. The biggest example of this I can think of is when he's laying next to Kayo with his mother in between them and mutters yes when she asks her son if she's in the middle of something. That's kind of sick, don't you think? The writers attempted to shroud this by occasionally having him blurt out random things he was thinking. That has nothing to do with how old he is, but who knows?

WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD!

The ending also kind of rubbed me the wrong way. From what I understand of the manga, seeing Airi is the one thing that makes Satoru's memories come back after he was in a 15 year coma. In the anime, the tapping of the killers fingers on his wheelchair are what bring them back. Now although I've never dealt with amnesia firsthand, how the hell do you get every memory back from your previous self in 10 seconds? That seems so implausible to me. Not only that, but the killer is set off so easily by Satoru that he almost gets talked into committing double suicide. At least that type of ending would've been unprecedented. I knew Airi's presence would've been inserted somewhere in the final episode, as if to say "yeah I know you wanted to see her more in this show so here's a cocktease of what could have been". The ending just felt too rushed and vanilla for me. Not to mention that Kayo reappears with a kid of her own... with none other than another friend Satoru protected, who everyone else probably thought was a girl. I've already seen plenty of memes with something to extent of "when your girl doesn't wait 15 years for you but your pedophile teacher does". Now that's some good humor.

The character development was low in Erased, partially because of it only being 12 episodes. I feel so many anime are plagued by this unfortunate drawback and few get it right (Ping Pong, Anohana to name a few). Satoru was intelligent at times, but at others a dunce. I just feel that a real 29 year old would've acted differently uncertain situations. Airi should've been explored more! She ended up being such an important part of the manga, but almost completely neglected in the latter half of the anime. Same goes for Kenya, this kid must already be a member of MENSA. Might I add that Sachiko, Satoru's mom is the greatest anime milf of all time? That bathtub scene though... The lack of depth and relatability in the killer has already been touched upon, but I can't stress it enough. He was just another vanilla villain (say that 5 times fast).

The OP was pretty decent. It was a nice change of pace from the jpop I'm used to seeing in newer shows. I also liked how they changed it up to exclude Satoru near the end of the series. I absolutely loved the ED. Something about it nailed the aura that the beginning of the show had, with the snowy setting and dark presence. The rest of the OST was well placed, and the sound effects were some of the best I've heard recently. On the same token, the art was damn good.

In the end, am I happy to see it in the top 20 on MALs top anime list? No, not one bit. Am I surprised that people also give it 1 or 2 out of 10? Nope, once the popular opinion of a show declines, everyone becomes a critic. However, this is why we all have our own lists and ratings. I am not surprised that it was highly acclaimed based on its first few episodes (another reason why MAL shouldn't allow ratings until the conclusion of a series' current season). I actually enjoyed the series for what it was, an intense thriller. Nothing too intellectual can be pondered from its writing, and it was a good time passer. However, it would've been nice to see more characters explored, and certain elements of the plot handled differently. It just kind of fell flat for me once the over obvious identity of the killer was revealed. Anyways, thanks for reading the review and I hope you check out my future works!

Hey, everybody TheCodeTrigger here and welcome to my next anime review.
For this one, we are taking a look at the Winter 16 anime Erased.
Now unlike any other show that was airing in winter 16 hype was high for this one. Does its deserve the hype it gets? Let’s find out.
Erased was directed by Itou, Tomohiko and it consists of 12 episodes airing from Jan 8, 2016, to Mar 25, 2016.
Story.
The story starts off with Satoru Fujinuma who has the ability to go back in time to prevent disasters from occurring and we are basically thrown in 18 years in the Satoru past of where ... he soon realizes that that murder is connected to the abduction and killing of one of his classmates named Kayo Hinazuki. Now this is now Satoru chance of making things right so that Kayo won't be murdered and as well as not being framed for the death of his mother in the future.
Now I have to admit. The first four episodes are fantastic and easily Anime of the Season material with great writing and story direction.
However as the story progresses the story starts to feel kinda rushed.
We get more boring characters, the story itself slowly breaks due to bad writing that actually hurts the show for me.
Also, the way they handle the killer was just terrible and rushed as hell.
Also, keep in mind that this is a mystery series but through the whole fucking anime there is barely any mystery elements at all. We don't get any clues or hints about the killer because this anime lacks any mystery whatsoever.
This makes your themes and genre feel pretentious.
At the end of the each episode, it ends with a cliff-hanger which is nice but over time unlike Death Note or Code Geass the cliffhangers of Erased are forced and they don't add attention value whatsoever.
One thing that I want to point out is where the anime goes anime original in the certain part of the story meaning that certain scenes in Erased that meant to be explained are not explained at all in the anime.
Overall the story starts off promising but becomes lacklustre after episode 5 where it just becomes a mess. Not in a train-wreck level of messy but messy in its own right.
5/10

Characters.
The characters in Erased like with the story starts off promising however like the story the character just become a mess or

Satoru is one hell of the wasted potential characters because he is just bland to be honest.
One thing that I was really disappointed is that where he didn't change as a character from episode 1 to the end.

Hinazuki is the only character from Erased that I actually enjoyed because she kind girl that gets abuse by her parents because for some unknown reason aka (Shock Factor) but at the same time she suffers like Satoru as she doesn't have a personality that defines her either (for the most part)
In the end, Hinazuki just became one of those charterers that we feel sorry because you know Shock Factor.
The rest of the characters are just dull and uninteresting to be honest because I really wanted to like these characters but I just couldn't.
Overall this character cast was a let-down for me.
4/10

Art/Animation.
Erased was done by A1 Pictures the same studio that gave us Shigatsu, Kuroshitsuji , Sword Art Online and Shin Sekai Yori.

The art which I hate to admit is pretty good using a well soft colour pallet that mix perfect in the environment that the anime is trying to set.
The character des the animation is nice with smooth movements with the characters and the environments.
I really liked the cinematic effect that shows the MC memories because it’s looks nice and smooth but I wished they more advantage on that because it would have made a story better instead in my opinion.
7/10

Sound.
The OST itself is alright but compare to other anime from A1 Pictures like Shigatsu, Kuroshitsuji and Shin Sekai Yori it's not as memorable tbh.
At this time of the review, the OST hasn't been released yet so I won't be mentioning any track on this.
The OP theme itself is catchy and a good listen but for an anime that it based on time travel, it didn't work out for me.
The ending theme is okay it's nothing to write home about really.
At the time of this review, there is no English Dub announced. If it gets an English Dub in the future am just gonna write it off as an SAO type of dub,
6/10

Enjoyment.
I personally enjoyed Erased what is worth but at the same time, they could have done much better in the story and characters department after episode 4 because there so potential for Satoru character but in the end he's Satoru arguably ruined my enjoyment for the series.
Also, I wished that Erased was 24 episodes because I would have enjoyed the series more and actually adapt the last two episodes instead of presenting us with anime original content.
I personally enjoyed the opening because it was nice and catchy.
I just love the cinematography in this anime it’s just looks nice and presentable of the world that Satoru was living in the past.
6/10

Final Thoughts.
Erased had a good concept.
It had an amazing first four episodes with good writing amazing visuals and a solid story.
However after episode four the show just become a mess with the remaining episodes being lackluster two of them being anime original mind you, poor writing come into play in certain scenes and the ending itself was just terrible in my opinion.
The art is good but I wasn't a fan of the lips but I like the cinematic effect of the show.
The OST was okay but nothing memorable but the OP was great and the sub is good on its own.
It's sad to see that Erased is now just an above average anime because it has some things that I loved but the some of the cons in this show are just downright bad.
If you’re looking for time-travel done right watch Steins Gate because it’s does the time travel concept probably and the characters feel more alive and they are memorable.
BTW Okabe is GOAT ^_^

I give Erased a 6/10.

Anime recommendations.
Steins Gate
Shinsekai Yori
Toki Wo Kakeru Shoujo
NHK ni Youkoso!

Anyway, this has been TheCodeTrigger and I will see you guys next time.

ERASED is the most tragic kind of failure to witness. To put it simply, it is an anime full of ideas that it doesn’t know how to use. Forging an engaging premise with many mysteries that are yet to unfold, the ideas it had initially presented are suddenly shoved under the rug, only to be pulled back out when convenient, as if they were nothing more than a mere afterthought. And so without the support it needs, the story loses its way and tumbles down into an abyss of mediocrity. There is nothing more saddening to me than the failure of something that could have ... been excellent if handled some other way.

For a show that comes off as a mystery anime, not much mystery is to be found here. After such a meticulous build up to what would be an exciting murder mystery thriller full of mind games and plot twists, ERASED doesn’t make good use of this. The show suddenly shifts its main focus from the murder mystery tale onto how Satoru will get Kayo rescued, and stays that way throughout the majority of the show, leaving all other aspects of the plot underdeveloped and unexplored. With the amount of mysteries from the beginning, little to no progress is made from there. Satoru rarely considers coming closer to the mystery or making any kind of plan, for he is unable to get Kayo off of his mind. He doesn’t come in contact with any of the suspected individuals nor does he suspect anything along the way. In the end, Satoru confronts the killer through nothing but convenience, making the payoff measly at best. I never felt involved in the mystery up to this point and I was given little to think about. To make matters worse, the identity of the killer is so thinly veiled it’s downright insulting. If you think you’ve guessed the identity of the killer by the third episode, trust me, you guessed correctly. And the show continues to make it more and more obvious to the point where you might as well ditch the mystery entirely. This kind of thing would have worked if the show was intending to mislead the viewer through this method, but assuming this was the case would be giving the writer and the director too much credit.

And now on to the time traveling aspect. Time travel has always been a risky choice when it come to writing stories, due to how difficult it can be to handle. But nonetheless, the “Revival” power beheld by Satoru is an interesting story element that makes way for possibilities. Sadly, this power turns out to be little more than a convenient way of getting Satoru in and out of certain situations, and is neither experimented with nor fleshed out beyond that. In writing, any consequences spawned from the use of time travel is the least of the show’s concern when ERASED doesn’t even bother to take any kind of risk with it. On top of this, the rules on how it operates are unclear, and it only seems to activate whenever convenient for the plot. At first it activates when a tragedy occurs, but then it activates based on Satoru’s emotions. Not only does this create more holes than a colander, it eliminates any kind of tension taking place in the story, which is the biggest kick in the nuts for a thriller. Without the necessary knowledge for any possible outcome, I’m unable to feel any kind of investment. The Revival power is yet another aspect with could have delivered if only the story knew what the hell it was doing.

There are plenty more elements of the story that the show refuses to take advantage of. Jun Shiratori is a close friend of Satoru’s who was falsely suspected prior to the main plot, and yet we don’t ever hear of him again. We are given info on Satoru’s career as a mangaka, and yet it contributes absolutely nothing to the plot. The core plot of ERASED feels so disconnected from the initial premise, that it might as well be only written as a simple story of a child’s mission to rescue his abused classmate. Satoru doesn’t act like a 29-year-old as he should, the Revival power has little involvement in this plot, there is nothing thought provoking about the mystery, and numerous other elements stick out like a sore thumb.

The plot with Kayo Hinazuki wouldn’t be as much of an issue if it held some merit to warrant being the main focus. But this sadly isn’t the case. Kayo is not a bad character, but she isn’t a very interesting one either. She is little more than an ordinary child who suffers from abuse, and is yet to be murdered. Her development is scarce throughout the story. For these reasons, this particular plot would be better off being little more than a few episodes long, which would also clear some room for the mystery and the Revival power to be tampered with. In addition, her parental abuse gets an unnecessary amount of focus, in spite of how insubstantial it really is. Kayo has no psychological struggle we can relate to other than simply needing friends. ERASED fails to realize that the negative effects of parental abuse extend far beyond being lonesome. When a subject such as child abuse gets as much focus as it gets here, I expect it to be fleshed a whole lot more than a mere concept of emotional appeal.

To make matters worse, Satoru is incompetent as hell when it comes to protecting someone, let alone solving mysteries. He never plans things out, and instead dives headfirst into any situation in front of him, never thinking about anything that might go wrong. Why not take a picture of the evidence of Kayo’s abuse when you see it? Why not put a lock the RV you're keeping her in? Why does he try to perform a sneak attack on Kayo’s mother instead of...I dunno...spying on her? Disregarding how bland of a character Satoru is, it’s difficult for me to root for him when he doesn’t even have the thought process of a human being.

It’s worth mentioning that ERASED tries its darndest to have empathy given to any character, whether they be an ally, or a villain. Even the most heinous acts, whether they be child abuse or a murdering spree, is given a motive to show that these characters were actually good people who just did some bad things. But little insight is given to their psychology or their character, and so I remain disconnected, and unable to believe these backstories contribute to any theme or story element other than superficial empathy from the viewer.

ERASED does have strengths. As little meaning as the interactions between Satoru and Kayo hold, they are certainly entertaining to watch. With Satoru being timid and Kayo being composed and dominant, the moments between these characters are most certainly the strongest aspect of ERASED. It gives some life to the story and as such is the main selling point of the show.

The cast of characters in ERASED ranges from being a mixed bag to forgettable overall. Satoru’s introverted nature serves little to the story and his personality isn’t fleshed out beyond a simple good-moraled hero. And yet again, it’s a damn shame his career as a mangaka turned out pointless. Kayo is little more than a plot device whose arc is unworthy of having so much time spent on. The cheerful personality of Anri perhaps serves as a light in Satoru’s dark night sky, so to speak. Too bad that her involvement in the plot or effect on Satoru’s character is minimal. Satoru’s mother is the bomb. She is easily likeable due to having a sense of ration along with her being sincere and practical, as well as being an awesome mother. She is a good character, even if she doesn’t really develop. Every other character is either defined by only their struggles, or is just a blank slate. While some are entertaining on a surface level, pretty much all of them are as bland as a rice cracker in terms of character dimensions. Drama is forged through victimizing rather than actual relatable, human struggles.

Moving on to the visual aspect, it’s rather hit-or-miss. Not necessarily in terms of how it looks, but by how it conveys things. It’s generally a good-looking show overall. The backgrounds are rather lovely and the animation is fluid enough. The character designs, although generic, are very appealing and are well-fit for the characters’ personalities. The directing, however, is handled like a child. Suspenseful and emotional moments are so ham-fisted and over-the-top it’s almost laughable. When I have pretty much gotten the point of what a scene is trying to convey, the directing then takes extra steps to make full certainty that I understand, which only serves to hurt more than help. An example is how inhumanly spastic Kayo’s abusive mother behaves. As far as I’m concerned this isn’t how abusive parents really act. The directing also overuses stylization with its use of color and obvious symbolism, which is often borderline immersion-breaking. Any character with a feeling of malicious intent will be given red eyes, because apparently the viewers are too incompetent to get the point otherwise. On the other hand, the 1988 sequences are given a nice atmosphere to them, making it easy to feel involved in each scene. So while the director seems to be headed in the right direction, he has not proven to be skillful enough based on what we find here.

ERASED is not a bad show. It has its moments, and some deal of entertainment can be found. But the end result of what it was initially hyped up to be is nothing short of a disappointment. With no idea of what it wants to be, clumping numerous underdeveloped plot elements together, along with irrational behavior of the characters, and what we’re left with is a Frankenstein’s monster of a storyline. It is easy to say that the premise of ERASED had overpowered the writing, and would have turned out better if it had been handled by a different author entirely.

Note: This is more of a "Thoughts on" than a review.

If you haven't heard of Boku Dake ga Inai Machi (Erased) by now, then I'm assuming that you either started anime yesterday or you don't visit biased websites that add shows onto their top 10 with only four episodes, because Erased is one of the most popular shows to come out in the past 2 years. Almost as popular as Fall 2015's One Punch Man. So with everyone praising Erased and holding it up as a flawless masterpiece, I decided to give my two cents on it.

Erased isn't really a bad show, but I ... gotta say, that it's pretty dumb. Keep in mind that I'm one that really enjoyed this show, but that doesn't mean that there aren't obvious flaws to this show. Some that I'd probably have to point out by spoiling a few things here and there, so consider this your spoiler warning.

The show is simple, we're presented to our 29-year-old main character named Satoru, who is a manga artist with a special ability to go back in time 1-5 minutes earlier to stop something bad from happening. How this ability works or how he got it is not told to the audience, and while you can try and defend it by saying that it would be too convoluted and stupid to explain time travel, I believe the show should set up its own rules and at least show us how he got this ability. Is he the only one with this ability? How does he even get this power? If he has a kid, will the kid have Satoru's power? Is he living in Charlotte's universe?

Where Erased shines is on how it's presented. It's not a bland show with uninspired shots and nothing else to grasp except for exposition; there's a lot happening on screen, and they remain to keep it that way throughout the whole show. Its direction started off pretty great at first, with a very standout atmosphere, but unfortunately, the show ends up tripping a few times with its direction and pacing. As much as I love how the first 4 episodes were done, episode 5 & 6 dropped the ball and made the show look a lot more dumb. I stopped taking this too seriously once they made up a backstory for a character getting divorced for stealing a candy bar.

Erased fails thanks to the time travel. It's not explained and it's just plot convenience. It kind of feels like the restart button every time you fail at a mission on a video game, and don't tell me that's how it works, because if so, then the ending would make no sense. His power disappeared or stopped working at the end of the show, so if that were the case, we're saying that he lived happily ever after for the rest of his life without any problems whatsoever.

Anyways, we're told that Satoru doesn't know how to control his ability, it just goes off whenever it's convenient, but there's a scene where he's about to get arrested and he starts begging to go back in time, and for no reason, the ability listens to him and goes back in time, but then he says that this is his last revival (which is what he calls his ability).

What the fuck does that mean? What do you mean he can't go back in time if he fucks up this time? How does he know this? A little bit of consistency would've been appreciated, Erased. Oh wait, he's the main character, so he obviously knows everything and we're supposed to accept it and give it a 10 without thinking about it.
"No, don't think about it. It's time travel and it's too hard to understand, just accept it."

The mystery in the show isn't a mystery. The killer is the most obvious killer in every mystery that I have ever watched in my life, but here's the interesting thing. I was told that this show wasn't trying to be a mystery, but more of a mystery for Satoru, and we see it unfold, as we see Satoru dealing with this problem. No matter which direction you go, it's retarded either way. I know that the whole point is that Satoru doesn't want to realize that it's the teacher, but keep in mind that Satoru is from 2006 in the 80's right now. He shouldn't be mentally retarded. If you see an adult with candy, you're most likely going to think that the guy is a child molester. It's excused that the killer would use such a cliché tactic to get children, because this is the 80's, but it's not excused for Satoru to be retarded unless you point it out, unless you want to keep it vague like his ability (pfft).

Also, can anyone explain why every kid acted like they were 30, even though they were 10? Not only are they 10-year-olds, but they're also in the 80's, yet some of these kids are smarter than Satoru, who is a 29-year-old from 2006. Yes, it started off well at first with having some of the kids being fun and dumb, talking about video games and all, but that's long gone after episode 3. After that, every character is suddenly smarter than Satoru, despite being in a kid in the 80's.

The visual storytelling, filmmaking and editing are all quite great when compared to regular anime, but not when compared to actual artsy films, including some anime ones like Satoshi Kon's work. It shows that there was effort put into it and that it's not bland, but it's unfortunately not subtle enough to get the pass. Sure, if you're a fan of these things (like me), you'll definitely enjoy seeing it here, because it's pretty rare to see it in anime, but it's too obvious at times. There are scenes which are very clever and well crafted, one of which is from the second episode in the park scene, which if you want to look into more, I recommend you watch this great video on it by MothersBasement on Youtube, but other than that, it's mostly spelled out for you, making it feel less special as it goes on. Even the way they show us the killer is not subtle whatsoever.

So if you didn't know, the manga for Erased covers a lot more stuff, and thanks to this show's length, it had to cover a lot in only 12 episodes, but the ending didn't feel as rushed as I anticipated it to be, mostly because it was anime original, which is usually a bad thing, but it was surprisingly well done in this case. Of course it would've been better if it took its time with more episodes to flesh everything out, and not just cram in a lot of things in general. Still, props for not fucking up as an anime original ending.

So after the very obvious reveal that the teacher was the child pedo molester (may have a lot in common with Satoru), he explains his plan to Satoru like a cliché villain, yay. Then when Satoru can't slip out of a fucking seatbelt, despite being able to escape easily, he drowns or something and wakes up 15 years later (what a fucking coincidence), and noticed that the killer was waiting for him all of these years, but unfortunately Hinazuki didn't (insert sad track). But Satoru regains his memory and stops the horny killer from... Whatever he was gonna do now, but oh no, as we all thought it was gonna end normally, Satoru finds Airi (another goddamn coincidence). He always believed. The end.

Despite my problems with Erased, it's nowhere near a bad show; there are a lot of things that made Erased stand out, and I found myself interested in what was happening for the most part. It also looks and sounds great, plus the opening is one of the best I've seen in a while. Even though they didn't really answer everything and left a few things hanging, I enjoyed myself. Hope this show gets ERASED from existence.

Boku dake ga Inai machi, or ‘Erased’ in its English title, is the anime adaption of Kei Sanbe’s supernatural/thriller/mystery manga which had dominated the charts throughout its run in the summer season of 2016. At its peak Erased managed to reach as high as the 4th overall placement by score on MAL, while currently sitting just within the ‘Top 50’ range.

The 29 year old protagonist, Satoru Fujinuma, is a failing manga artist currently employed as a pizza delivery guy. Satoru is an unassuming person seemingly without any exceptional qualities, hence his current state of employment. His character design is pretty boring; the standard scraggly ... brown hair, slender physique, etc. this design choice does emphasize how ‘normal’ his life is at a glance, but this image is quickly and intentionally flipped on its head. During a scene of Satoru out on a delivery he witnesses a traffic accident, the frame distorts and a jarring sound blares. When Satoru returns to his senses, he realizes that he has been pulled back a few minutes into the past, where he has time to intervene preventing the accident from happening, Furthurmore, this is a common occurrence for Satoru.

This ability initially has some intrigue to it, as a viewer I really enjoy when time control is well executed in anime. The implications of cause and effect are vast enough that the idea can be explored in an innumerable amount of ways, and this style of vaguely introducing the ability provided them with infinite freedom to flesh out its mechanics; What conditions must be met to trigger a loop?, What’s the extent and frequency to which Satoru can control it?, How did he come to possess this ability in the first place?, Are there consequences to using it? There were a limitless amount of ways they could have spun the idea, but they did literally nothing with it. It’s mind blowing how so much potential was cast aside here. The only time Satoru ever mentions this incredible ability of his, he always says something to the effect of “it’s something that happens sometimes before a disaster”. The ability is turned into a plot device; an unexplained contrivance which completely negates any tension the narrative attempts to establish. Anytime that Satoru messes up anything remotely important, he is returned to a convenient point without any consequences; Erased ends it’s episodes on cliffhangers in an attempt to force tension, but it’s always followed by an anti climactic payoff in the form of either a time reset, or a character appearing out of nowhere to help him out because plot convenience. The reasoning behind Satoru’s desire to intervene in the these future situations during the early episodes is never explained or justified either, they leave it to the viewer to assume he is ‘just a good person’, which isn’t preferable to providing us with set characterization. This way of writing let’s Satoru act whatever way works best for the narrative, because the audience can just ‘assume’ things about how he thinks.

Back to the narrative’s lead up; after discovering that his mother has been murdered, Satoru becomes implicated as a primary suspect in the investigation, because he ran away from the scene. There is no motive, and no evidence, the decision to run away from the police was a stupid one that only served to strengthen the case against him when he was only implicated because of a misunderstanding to begin with. This is understandable considering his state of mind at the time, but even after he calms down his thought process remains unchanged. The dramatic crux of the introductory arc involves Satoru being sent back in time to 1988 when he was eleven years old. Events lead Satoru to the realization that the murderer of his mother might be the same criminal who murdered a young girl when he was in elementary school, killed the same year Satoru is currently reliving. By preventing the death of the child he can indirectly save his mother. This establishes Satoru’s motivations, and leads us into an interesting setting. The only thing I have to question here is why Satoru is so certain that this will work, he doesn’t question that this is the singular deciding factor of future events, even though there are a lot of things he can do over the next 20 years that would protect his mother.

The unique perspective of an adult living in a child’s body is actually pretty well utilized. The biggest problem being the awkward hints of a possible romantic route for the relationship between Hinazuki and Satoru thrown in despite the obvious age difference, there wouldn’t be a way to write this without it being absurdly creepy, so it’s played off as comedic, and scraped pretty quickly. In his adult life Satoru was almost constantly alone, the only relationships in his life are with his mother, and a coworker who had taken a friendly interest in him. Whenever Satoru provides exposition as to what his life was like as a child, he always mentions that he had plenty of ‘friends’ but never formed a meaningful connection with anyone, something he came to regret as he grew up. This set a foundation of development for Satoru, he has an opportunity to improve himself layered below his primary motivation of saving his mother.

Kayo Hinazuki is the single exceptional character aside from Satoru, her character arc spans through the majority of the series early episodes considering she is the child Satoru is sent back in time to protect. Satoru has vague memories of Hinazuki from before her murder, but remarks that she was always quiet and doesn’t know much about her. While attending school, now an observant adult, he notices a bruise on Hinazuki and quickly pieces together her situation at home. His suspicions of child abuse are later reinforced by the contents of an essay written by Hinazuki found later in the episode. She’s presented to have an apathetic front covering her emotional nature, and she cuts herself off socially because she is afraid of getting hurt. Satoru and Hinazuki share some great dialog between them, and the contrast in their home lives create a really interesting character dynamic that leads into the biggest emotional outpouring in the series; Hinazuki’s realization of what a family is supposed to be like, and her experiencing it for the first time in her life. Satoru act’s under the impression that if he pushes Hinazuki’s life in a direction of stability in enough ways, while watching over her as much as he can as a child, he can make her a difficult target for abduction, and eventually end the abuse she receives from her parents.

Outside of Satoru and Hinazuki, everyone else in this series is made of cardboard. The other children are especially poorly written, their characterization over the course of the series doesn’t even extend as far as being set within an archetype for some of them. They are vehicles in Satoru’s development and nothing else, except for a child named Kenya, whose characterization actually makes him worse. His whole character can be described as ‘the smart one who wants to be a detective’, convenient for a mystery anime. Kenya’s only relevance is to provide insightful exposition in uncovering the murderer’s identity. What makes his character ‘worse’ doesn’t lie in how minimalist his characterization was, but in that they made this 11 year old child smarter than every adult, including Satoru, in the entire series. Every character in Erased seems to act only on what Satoru tell’s them to do, they don’t even ask for specific details as to why a lot of the time. There is a point where the children help Satoru to practically kidnap Hinazuki for a three day span, they don’t know that she is being targeted by a future serial killer, he tells them nothing about the situation, but they don’t even bother to ask for a reason.

Unfortunately, Erased completely fails in the handling of its mystery element. The mystery genre is inherently difficult to write within. The author must attempt to introduce important information in a way that feels natural, while stringing these pieces together in a way that is difficult for the readers to follow, but at the same time, isn’t esoteric to the point where the conclusion feels like an ass-pull. In Erased these clues fall into Satoru’s lap without any deductive work on his part, everything Satoru learns about the killer is provided by info dumping through poorly contrived ‘chance’ encounters. I mentioned that the show has frequently used the ‘red eyes’ motif to establish dangerous elements, and to that effect it can also act as a ‘red herring’ to throw the audience off, but this is made transparent immediately when used for a character that was obviously just introduced for that purpose, or a character whose place in the narrative probably won’t lead to him to be recurring again. I’m trying to avoid spoiling key plot elements, but throughout the entire series there is only one reasonably suspicious and recurring character, and they couldn’t have made it more obvious if they tried. This character is given a variety of creepy character traits that could hardly be called subtle, and he is literally framed in the shadows through many scenes; his reveal as the killer isn’t even through deduction of the protagonist, or a mistake on his part, he outright displays himself to Satoru, and proceeds to soliloquy his intentions aloud like you would see from a cartoon villain. This character is as bland as an antagonist can get. His motivations are nonexistent; the vague reasoning they provide for him targeting Hinazuki essentially chalks everything up to insanity because the author couldn’t think of anything meaningful to give his character. Throughout the final episodes his actions completely contradict his spoken intentions, and just make no sense considering his current position; passing up opportunities under justifications that go against everything he said previously, and this happens multiple times.

Erased tries to present a lot of creative ideas that sound interesting when put together, but there are a lot of times that it fails to bridge these ideas together in a coherent way, it often struggles with basic execution, and almost never expands on anything past the initial premise. Two characters are fleshed out and developed by the end, but most are just blank slates or act with flimsy justifications. Hinazuki aside, the characters don’t really make a lasting impression. The time reset is never explained, and it triggers under so many different situations that any reasonable first conjectures were ruled out by the end, It acts whenever it needs to push the narrative forward without cleaver writing. With its unreasonable resolution and laughable antagonist, it utterly fails as a mystery series. I can’t see myself recommending Erased for anything other than some brilliantly directed scenes throughout the show. Despite getting a fair amount of enjoyment from the series, notably in the early episodes, I don’t feel like the end product is anything above average.

Time travel is a dangerous concept. I'm not referring to how meddling with the past is an astronomically terrible idea that could invalidate the future. I'm referring to how things are never gonna fully make sense once you use it. An entire anime based on time travel is bound to require you to make concessions in order to still appreciate it. If the character writing and general narrative are strong enough, even the dodgier time travel elements can be excused. Just look at "The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya", the most beloved and most gorgeous installment in the Haruhi Suzumiya franchise. Meanwhile ERASED is an example ... of what happens when the writing can't hold up to scrutiny, crumbling under the time travel weight. Perhaps that's not accurate enough, especially since for about 2/3 of the series, the writing is generally solid despite its child characters being practically written like teenagers and the directing being a little heavy-handed. Call this a case of a beloved series going downhill: the classic television tragedy.

One of the major problems of the series is that it tries to set itself up like a mystery when:

A. It barely follows up on that until episode 10 despite how much the show likes to remind you of this plotline, mainly focusing on time travel and relationships instead.

B. For a mystery, there really weren't enough feasible suspects, and the true culprit doesn't carry a very strong motivation for committing the crime of murder in the present day, one such murder that affected main lead Satoru enough to inadvertently jump 18 YEARS into the past.

Sure, a dramatic story about child abuse is presented, but the payoff to both that and the "mystery" set up at the beginning were so unbelievably bad that they kicked off the ruinous final third of the series. Then again, the cracks were beginning to show earlier on. After discovering that Kayo's mom beats her on a regular basis, Satoru convinces his mom and his friends to allow him to hide Kayo somewhere safe, knowing the danger of both her mom, and a kidnapper that happened around this time. He convinces his friends that this was all just role play, and given that, it is more than a little difficult to accept how they allow this to temporarily change their lives so abruptly for an extended period of time.

The time travel aspect isn't really fleshed out or explained properly, as it's apparently supposed to be this involuntary and symbolic thing, yet if it's so involuntary, why did Satoru have to manually activate it via screaming towards the heavens? What is up with that stupid, stupid time skip? What is with the whole symbolic anecdote about the spider web from heaven? Perhaps the manga makes sense of all of this, but you shouldn't have to handwave it with "oh it's symbolism" so that it can be a justified and still not properly explained core mechanic of your series and its world-building. Then again, that's the price you pay for settling for a 12 episode slot when what you're adapting requires at least one and a half times that amount if shows like Blazblue Alter Memory were any indication. The finale being a laughable Batman and Joker style encounter after a huge time skip that ends via asspulls and anticlimaxes is just the final nail in the coffin.

From what I've gathered, integral aspects of two characters (Airi and Kenya) were cut out from the adaptation. As troublesome as that is given their lack of relevance, both of them were generally likable. Satoru is a likable enough protagonist forced to grapple with all sorts of death while reeling through the failures of his manga-author life, while his mother is perhaps the purest character in the entire show. The other mom in the show, Kayo's mom, is utter garbage. For the majority of the show, she's just this singularly vile being without a hint of redeeming or tragic qualities to speak of, and then episode 9 tries to pull a sob story out of her in an attempt to make us care. Yeah, no. Fuck that. Maybe try making her an actually complex character instead of trying to make her earn cheap sympathy points at the very end. It undermines the abuse story, which was already hampered by the mother being almost cartoonishly evil. Kayo herself is a jaded child character suffering from abuse, and the target of the audience's sympathy. She's ok for what she is. The main antagonist of the show is not only obvious, but very shallow and idiotic as a villain once he's revealed. Also, yes, it is odd seeing tweens (11-year-olds to be specific) tackle such serious topics so seriously, even despite Satoru convincing them that this was role play, all except for Kenya who knows what's really going on. Maybe if these guys were around the age of 15, it would be more understandable in a lot of ways. They're basically written like teenagers anyway.

Despite how terrible A-1 Pictures' working conditions are, they're sometimes capable of releasing anime that look pretty good. This is perhaps one of their most visually distinct titles. Some of the environments look great, particularly the sky during the aurora Borealis scene. The art style is also one of the more attractive ones that this studio has done. Tomohiko Itou's directing is a bit hit and miss. There are some problems with how heavy-handed the visual communication can be, especially regarding its...shall we say, "liberal" use of the "red means dead" motif. On the flip side, there are plenty of lovely match-cuts and shots that are simply gorgeous. The letterboxing also adds a distinct style to the show's visuals. The OP, "Re:Re" by Asian Kung-Fu, Generation, is one of their best songs. Even more impressive are its visuals, always having more than enough stuff moving to not only keep your eyes plastered to the screen, but new tricks and sights to see if you merely slightly adjust where you look. The ED, "Sore wa Chiisana Hikari no Youna" by Sayuri, is one of her best songs as it's a wonderfully uplifting and grandiose song with a somber start before kicking into overdrive. The vibrant colors and minimalistic shapes are also a feast for the eyes. As for Yuki Kajiura's OST, it's surprisingly unmemorable. Nothing really stood out, which is odd for her and disappointing for me. There's really nothing else I can stay.

I remember when a few episodes in, ERASED was widely heralded as an absolute masterpiece. Things sure do change. After the show's final act, ERASED quickly went from a critical darling to one of the most common examples of a great show that couldn't stick the landing in the eyes of many. Several fans would still recommend the show despite the dodgy conclusion, and to some extent, I can see why. There aren't that many abuse stories in anime, let alone popular ones. It does have an exciting premise. Its visuals are some of the best in the studio despite some heavy-handed moments. That said, I'm not sure I can do the same. The show isn't terrible, at least until the last act. However, it's difficult to recommend something that implodes later down the line. It's even more difficult when the show was already questionable at times beforehand. It's a shame since I did enjoy this show at first, and there are great things that can be said about it. Alas, here we are at the corpse. The case behind this particular murder is closed, and the autopsy is complete.

It's done, and all I can say is... good. Finally. I originally started watching Erased because I heard good things about it. I wanted to give it a chance, but it ended up disappointing me. However, I also won't say this anime is trash or the worst thing ever. It's pretty bad, but not offensively bad. I don't like being overly cynical, and I wanna give credit where credit is due. So, let me finally go into some detail and explain myself. Vague spoilers be ahead.

- Story [4/10] -

Oh, Erased... You had so many good things going for you: Interesting premise, nice animation, good ... direction, etc etc, but ya blew it, didn't ya? I think this is the category where Erased dropped the ball the hardest. It started off strong, though perhaps a bit shaky, but not too long after completely lost itself. The main issue here (which has been noted over and over again) is that Erased sets itself up as a mystery and then utterly fails to live up to it. It also tries to be a thriller, but it half-asses the mystery element so badly that the thriller element suffers heavily as a result.

I think the author wanted to keep everything from Satoru's point of view as the unreliable narrator of the story but also didn't understand how to create a competent mystery with multiple suspects and red herrings. Nope, it's easy as pie to figure out, and it's exactly who you think it is. I had 'em pegged by episode 4. The author tries but doesn't succeed in any capacity. You just can't have your cake and eat it too unless you're legitimately that skilled at writing.

One other major problem is that the pacing is terrible. From episode 10 onwards, it gets so incredibly rushed. This should really have been a 24 episode show, and it ends without covering a lot of details it brought up earlier. I'm sure there's even more things like plot holes and whatnot, but I don't care enough to figure them out. Anyway, enough of the story, I'm getting annoyed just thinking about it.

- Art [8/10] -

The art direction is one of two things I'll say is good in /most/ cases. The art style itself is pretty nice, albeit a little too cutesy for this kind of story. The animation is also pretty dang good and consistent overall. If there's one complaint I had to make is that it completely lacks any subtlety. I mean, really? Glowing red eyes to indicate murderous intent? The villain even gets a crazy smile after revealing that he's evil. That would be excusable if this show was a genuinely good mystery, but nope, it just comes off as cheesy and laughable. Subtlety is not always necessary, but for something in the mystery genre, it is crucial.

- Sound [7/10] -

Sound is the other thing which I think qualifies as good. By good, I mostly just mean "competent with no major issues". The music is fine. Almost all of the seiyuu do well enough for what they were given. Once again, I have one issue, and that is the newbie seiyuu who voices adult Satoru. He's just so monotone and boring all the time. Like yes, I understand he's new, but he really is not showing any potential with such a limited range. Thankfully, much of the time is dedicated to child Satoru, so it's not like it's just adult Satoru all the time.

- Character [5/10] -

There were two characters I can say I actually liked and got invested it. The first was Sachiko (Satoru's mom). She's the best mom, alright? The other was Kayo, whose arc ends 2/3rds of the way through. That's it. Satoru is boring, Airi gets shafted hard after the first few episodes, and Kenya is not a child, he's an automaton. The teacher, Yashiro... well, he has a nice character design and seiyuu. Uhhh, basically what I'm saying is that I thought he was cute, but that doesn't really make up for a badly written character. (I'll be looking for him on pixiv though)

- Enjoyment [6/10] -

Eh, I can't say I hated watching this. In fact, I was really enjoying the beginning, but from the halfway point onwards, things started getting increasingly bad from a writing standpoint. Still, it never got to be, like, unbearable or anything. At least it was short. And yes, I know, I said earlier this show should've been twice as long, but that just means it would fix the pacing and maybe get rated slightly higher. I don't think more time would fix the author's lack of writing skills.

- Overall [4.8/10 (D) rounded up to a 5/10] -

I think I've said all that I wanted to say (at least without giving away more spoilers). I think I'm being fair when I say this show is as average and forgettable as it gets. It's not good. It's not terrible. It just has almost nothing about it that stands out to me. Just go ahead skip on this one, especially if you like mysteries.

Let me tell you about A-1 Pictures. It's a studio that was established back in 2005 by Aniplex in order to oversee some of their productions, but eventually grew into its own big thing. And boy did it grow big, because every time I look at an anime chart, there's always three or four shows being made by them each season, and not a single one of them is good. They have some talented animators, but they have a tendency to put all their eggs into one basket whilst churning out a bunch of barely animated garbage in order to cover costs (or because they're ... oblivious to the fact that churning out so many shows at once is never a good idea for your schedule). They have some neat concepts, but their desire to cater to the mainstream ends up causing them to spread the execution too thin to the point that their shows succeed at nothing. They're the studio that's most attached to the noitamina timeslot. And they're pretty much the main reason why that slot has lost all dignity.

Nevertheless, ever since 2015 became the year of the "surprise hits", I've been trying to keep a more open mind regarding studios and people that I've lambasted in the past as long as they're not adapting a light/visual novel. As such, whilst I had my reservations, I was willing to move on from A-1's last disastrous attempt at making a mystery anime for the noitamina slot as well as their entire resume in general given how ERASED looked a lot better in terms of source material, and directors seem to be a lot more motivated when they themselves think the source is good. At least, that's the only reason I can think of why this show looks so much better than either Silver Spoon or Sword Art Online. And it seemed that the rest of the world was just as willing to move on as well, because there is absolutely zero chance of ERASED getting dethroned from its current position as #1 anime of the year for better or worse. It's getting critically acclaimed everywhere in the community, it's one of the highest rated shows on MAL and APR, and most of all it's watchable - which is something I can't say for the majority of A-1's stuff.

But as is usual for A-1, this show tries too hard to cater to what the mainstream wants to the point that what should have been excellent ends up being "not bad" at best and "downright ludicrous" at worst. Here's the premise of this series in case you're one of the few anime fans that didn't jump in on this the moment it blew people away: a young man named Satoru with the ability to randomly travel through time and prevent deaths with it at times is suffering from regrets in life due to some people he knew being serial killer victims in elementary school. When his mother ends up getting killed by the same killer and he's framed for it (somehow), his powers end up sending him back in time to when he was still a kid and the victims were still alive. Determined to prevent their deaths and save his mother, Satoru decides to cut the killer off at the source by protecting his first victim, a little girl named Kayo Hinazuki. How does he choose to do this? By being the cutest little defender of justice that girl has ever seen of course.

ERASED's combination of time travel, mystery thriller, and school children trying to be adults has the unfortunate problem of being immediately comparable to the hit French video game, Life is Strange, and it doesn't help that it borrows some of Steins;Gate's execution as well even if it doesn't use its time travel premise quite the same way. Whilst the show isn't written by a visual novel author, it might as well have been, because it's pretty much a melodramatic "save the girl" story under the pretense of a thriller. You have your male lead who doesn't have much of a personality and does whatever the plot requires him to do. You've got a lot of exposition. You've got multiple girls he needs to save - including one trap - but he only focuses on one at a time. You've got time-travel. You've got multiple set pieces that don't come together very well. Really, the only thing it doesn't have in common with a visual novel adaptation is the fact that it actually has decent pacing for the most part. Kudos to the director since his previous stuff moved slower than a mule carrying Paul Bunyan up a canyon.

Where it differs from Steins;Gate and more into Life is Strange territory is that the story treats the time travel thing as an unexplained thing the protagonist actually has because it's ultimately nothing more than a convenient plot device to get on with the real story, and it goes even further in that it's never brought up in the narrative at all after the first episode. However, whilst Life is Strange tackled multiple aspects of what it means to be a teenager through Max's dramatics attempts to save her friend Chloe whilst outwitting a serial killer and averting a giant tornado that threatens to wreck her town, ERASED doesn't have much to support its drama other than raw emotion. Although the plot involves Satoru saving the victims of a serial killer because somehow that'll keep his mother alive in his own timeline on paper, in reality, large sections of the series are devoted towards the twenty-something year old stuck in an elementary-school body getting friendly with one of the girls whilst the others are mostly just an afterthought. And to make matters worse, there's nothing much to draw from the relationship between the two besides acknowledging that parental abuse exists and it's hard to gain support to avert it - which wasn't even really an intriguing story when Higurashi did it ten years ago.

To be fair, I did enjoy the relationship parts quite a bit because they did a decent job of capturing what it means to be young and in love, even if they weren't doing anything all that interesting with it. But mostly, I liked them because they were a hell of a lot better than the actual mystery elements. Now in Life is Strange, the mystery/time travel stuff were kind of meh, especially next to all the teenage social issue stuff. But they were definitely easier to swallow than ERASED's thriller elements, which are so by-the-books and so divorced from the majority of the show that you can see the writer struggling to mesh the two in the background before giving up altogether after Kayo's arc ends.

For starters, it is incredibly obvious who the killer is by the halfway point - not helped by the fact that the credits show he has the same voice actor as a major established character - and yet the show persists on dragging the reveal out for another few episodes. Secondly, by the time it comes to reveal the dude, there's only one possible suspect it could be and no amount of denial from Satoru's side of things change the fact that the foreshadowing was so obvious the guy might as well have been wearing a T-shirt saying "I am the murderer" the entire time. Whilst I was spoiled the identity of the murderer in Life is Strange beforehand, at least the game had the decency to distract us from figuring out his identity with genuine red herrings. And whilst they both turned kind of cartoon-y upon the reveal, ERASED really overdoes the theatrics in regards to him - and that's saying a lot considering the show's overall direction is about as unsubtle as a giant dog playing bagpipes in the middle of an ice-skating competition.

Now both series do have things that happen after the reveal of the murderer, and this is where ERASED really falls apart by comparison. Of course, Life is Strange's ending is controversial in of itself and I stand by that the decision to let Tampa Bay die should have been excluded from the narrative entirely, but you can't deny that both final choices focus on the characterization and how the chase affected Max. ERASED decides to give closure to the characters that Satoru grew up with, which is fine in of itself, but then it tries to give closure to Satoru and that's when you realize that he never had a character arc. He never had any interesting flaws. His time-travel powers are so arbitrary they might as well not exist, despite needing to in order for the plot to work. So even if you ignore how silly the final confrontation is by nature, Satoru just isn't strong enough to support his end of the bargain, nor the epilogue where he makes it big in the manga world. I understand he's supposed to be a guy who inspires others to develop, but when he's left to carry things on his own, he's basically as interesting as Robert Zemeckis' current career.

If ERASED had ditched all of its mystery thriller aspects and just been a story about a guy trapped in the past falling in love with a girl he knew long ago, only to lose her again and moving on from his life after realizing that changing the past is just not feasible, this show might have been the Shinkai-esque series I'd really support. If it had actually tackled mature topics in a morally ambiguous way through its EMOTIONAL moments and lackluster thriller elements, it might have been the anime equivalent of Life is Strange except more "visual novel-y". If its main character wasn't such a reactionary putz who does whatever is most dramatic according to the convenience of the plot, I might have had as much hope for the show's future as everyone else did when that first episode aired. Seriously guys, the premiere was fine, but I don't understand what puts it on the same level as the premieres to either of Shinichiro Watanabe's noitamina anime or Ping Pong or The Tatami Galaxy. Last I remembered, it was mostly prettily-told exposition that set up the concepts and plot, but didn't establish what the actual story would be about, nor did it do a satisfactory job of making the main lead interesting.

So, final grade?

Average.

"Insert random quote here." - Character #01

That's how you begin a review, right? I've never been much of a reviewer, in fact you could say that this is my first review. I don't even know how to write a review. So why am I reviewing this show? I mean, there is obviously going to be an abundance of reviews, so this will most likely get lost among all the simple, spur of the moment 10/10 or 1/10 reviews that lack any real form or structure.

Simply put; something resonated with me, something so profound and deep, that it shook the very fibers of my being, and ... so I had to share my thoughts on this so called 'masterpiece'.

Wait... did I just say masterpiece? More like disasterpiece.


The premise of Boku dake ga Inai Machi (ERASED) is simple. A struggling 29 year old mangaka (or manga artist for those not fluent in the Japanese language) has the special (and unexplained) power to turn back time (also known as 'Revival'), the catch is that this power only activates when tragedy strikes, and only takes him back a few minutes before the tragic event happens. However, tragedy strikes closer to home for our protagonist, and he finds himself whisked off on a magical journey, 18 years into the past. Our hero, now in the body of his child self, finds himself caught up in a series of child-murders, including one classmate, that somehow links the tragedy that transpired in the future (or present day or whatever (time travel is confusing)), and will try to save these victims in order to change his future (or his present time?).

(This show has been compared to Steins;Gate more than once, but those comparisons are unjustified. ERASED may have its time travel elements, but so do other shows. If you're going into this show expecting Steins;Gate 2.0, stop now, as you will surely be disappointed)

On the surface, ERASED sounds good. In fact you could say it sounds pretty damn great; like some intense, mystery psycho-thriller, and the first few episodes prove to be great, but that's about as far as it gets. The reason being: plot holes. In the center of ERASED, we have our protagonist's Revival ability, an unexplained phenomenon, which sadly remains unexplained through out the series. Now I don't have a problem with this, as I prefer no explanation over one that would make absolutely no sense, but in ERASED's case, the way it uses Revival feels so cheap, that it removes any sense of urgency a mystery-thriller like this needs. Simply put, Revival appears to have no rules, and this here is the first and possibly biggest flaw this show has. My biggest gripe are the conveniences that come with this power, one point being that our protagonist is being chased, but before we know it, Revival kicks in. However, once he returns to the future (present), he's suddenly removed from the chase scene and has somehow evaded the pursuer(s). This is just one of many plot holes/conveniences this show has, but the point of this review isn't to showcase every flaw, but rather give you the opinion of some random guy on the Internet.

If you're hoping for a good mystery, like a lot of people were before entering this show, you're not going to find it. In fact as a mystery, ERASED lacks something very important: mystery. In fact the biggest mystery is making us wonder how this show managed to make it into the top 10, let alone top 5. At most times the show falls under two categories: too predictable; or too random. It seems like the show actually tries to cover up who the killer is, but before you know it, you've already guessed. This isn't necessarily a bad thing depending on how the show proceeded, as some viewers were saying that the show isn't about the 'who?', but the 'why?'. Why is the killer killing? After looking at this show from that angle, I was hoping for something more exciting, but what we basically get is that the killer kills 'cause he can, or in other words, he's evil 'cause he's evil and that's just who he is.

The whole idea of the protagonist reliving his childhood, but still maintaining his adult memories feels refreshing, and the way they handle it, for the most part, is done well. There have been some mixed opinions though, especially where romance is involved. Our protagonist is 29, but he's in the body of a 10-year-old, so is it wrong for him to be (what we can assume) interested in 10-year-old girls? I suppose that's something for the viewer to decide on their own. Speaking of romance, it's kept to a minimum, and no actual romance exists outside of a simple crush, so you don't have to worry about this show turning into some romantic comedy involving a 29-year-old man trapped in the body of 10 year old, attempting to get freaky with 10-year-old girls.

At its core ERASED is suspenseful and does indeed have its moments of greatness, albeit few, which really fill you with some hope that this show actually knows what it's doing. The cliffhangers start of good and have you anticipating what's going to come next, but they 're used so often and each one feels more over-the-top than the last, that they start to feel cheap. There are a couple of emotional moments, too, which actually feel quite natural and are probably the best moments in the entire show. One strong point this show suffers from, which could be linked to plot holes and conveniences, is logic. A lot of stuff just doesn't make sense, and this show does nothing to explain it. Some people like to argue that it's not important how certain things work/happen as they're not the 'focus' of the show, but it doesn't matter if they're the focus or not. Whether they're a main point of the story or not is irrelevant, they're still a part of the story and should be treated as such. I will refrain from discussing it further, as it will be hard to avoid entering the realm of spoilers if I proceed.

Overall, the story (though a good idea) ends up feeling somewhat lacklustre with its delivery due to bad direction and writing, some characters get too much, unneeded, focus, while others get little-to-no development and cheap backstories which don't add much to the story, but rather make you wonder why they felt the need to explain certain details. The show really starts to feel rushed later on, and eventually near the end, starts to feel like an inconsistent mess.

ERASED has a small, and somewhat varying cast of characters, but they get so little development over the course of the 12 episodes, that half could be either be combined or be replaced with some kind of inner monologue, and the show would still feel the same.

We have Satoru, our protagonist; a detached 29-year-old who lacks any of kind of personality outside of wanting to be a 'hero'.
His development is minimum, and feels unnatural in that he acts according to the story; making unreasonable and sometimes illogical decisions, acting like a 10 year old more than the other actual 10 year old characters, and thinking that he can do everything by himself regardless of his limitations as a 10 year old.

We have Kayo, the main heroine of the story and victim #01; an abused child, with no friends, and fellow classmate of our protagonist.
She is probably the most developed character in the show, starting off as a quiet and somewhat depressing child, who slowly starts to open up and learns what it means to have friends. At first her character feels like nothing but a shell used for forced sympathy, but as the story progresses, she becomes the center of what is one of the only good, and possibly best moments, in which we see some actual development happen in this show.

I could talk about other characters, but most are either forgettable, or don't add enough to the story to earn a mention.

ERASED's art is pretty standard, but done very well. It's not the best art out there, but it's also not the worst, and I feel it compliments the story well. There are parts where the art looks exceptional, and there are parts where it looks pretty basic. The scenery looks consistent throughout, and is rather nice a lot of the time. The atmosphere gives of a dark and mysterious feel at times, which is good for what is supposed to be a mystery. The character designs are rather simple, but they work to their advantage.

There isn't really anything to complain about, there may be parts where it doesn't look as good as others, but nothing so bad, it distracts you from the anime itself.

The sound is possibly ERASED's strongest point. It's eerie, it's dark, it's mysterious and it takes a minimal approach with its OST, where having less is sometimes better. It's a great compliment to the anime; it adds to the overall atmosphere of each scene, and doesn't stand out where it doesn't need to. The voice acting is also good as far as I can tell. The voices suit the characters well, you can feel the emotions whether they're joy, pain, or anger, it's just a shame that the characters themselves really lack any personality. I rarely listen to OPs or EDs as I find they don't add anything to the show, so I can't comment on their quality.

What starts off as a gripping and thrilling experience, soon turns to headache after headache; with a lack of explanations; lack of development; plot holes; too many conveniences; and a somewhat rushed plot. In the end, it became another forgettable experience. Whether you should watch it or not, is up to you.

If you want some cheap thrills, and don't like to think too much, then this show may be for you. It's not a terrible show, it definitely has its moments, but overall, it's nothing that special either. If you're hoping to find a successor to Steins;Gate, just watch Steins;Gate again.

Hello guys! This is my review on an anime that have recently finished airing, Boku Dake ga Inai Machi or ERASED.

Okay so ERASED was the most hyped anime among all of the Winter 2016 anime as far as I know and then when it ends, it disappointed so many people out there, some of them even saying that this is just like Sword Art Online (in which I can't deny it fully since both are produced by A-1 pictures.) Okay so I personally think that ERASED isn't that bad. It's just average. So without further ado I'll review this anime.

First of all, we have the ... characters called Satoru Fujinuma, in which acts like your typical shounen Seigi no Mikata (Ally of Justice), helping everyone in trouble with his 'revival' power, in which let him to time travel back to the past few minutes. He works as a pizza employee with a teen girl called Katagiri Airi, and also having a mom in which love him so much. To be honest the characters introductions were great, as well as in the end of the episode 1, the murder incident and Satoru's time travelling back to his childhood era makes us glued to what can actually happened next.

So then Satoru, believing the culprit of her mother's murderer was the same as his friends murderer during his childhood, he decided to protect his childhood friend while also try to findout the culprit while more characters were introduced within the story. Okay so here lies the first problem for me. Actually, by seeing on how the characters act, there's already a pretty big clue on how is this on the 4-5th episode, so basically, the major mystery ends here. The way of that culprit somewhat a bit nervous and contradicting his past words already makes that culprit very suspicious. But still somehow as a 29 years old in mentality, Satoru our protagonist, seems never noticed that.

Next I'll talk about the first murder victim Kayo Hinazuki. Despite the story are based upon Satoru's POV, Kayo is actually the most well written character among all of the character. The way she act, is somewhat feels realistic for me. As a child who's being treated that bad, there's no way that she won't be mentally down and shut herself upon others and also having a bit paranoid. Also, her ending was realistic enough for me. No single problem with Kayo.

So what's the problem with this show? Why there's so much rants, complaints, etc upon this show? Okay so from now on, I'll tell you about the problem that lies within this show. There might be a little spoilers here but I'll kept it minimum.

The first problem of this show is that has a bunch of plot device on it. What are them? First, it's the 'revival' ability. Honestly this 'Butterfly Effect' ability sounds pretty unique for a person to have one, but until the end of the show, as probably other reviews told, this abilities was never explained or explored further. On the other hand, although this ability seems to come out randomly when there's a person who gets troubled, it also will loops our protagonist back to his childhood when he got caught by the police. Is this the rules or just a coincidence? We never know. It's never explained further within the stories. The background of other victims of the murder was never explained further too, which is also for me, counts as another 'plot devices'. As for Airi, she had at least some background on why she being nice to Satoru and so on, for people who saying that she's not a well written character, I'd like to say that based on her amount of screentime, she is a pretty well-written character (yep we need more of her screentime tbh.) There's plenty other 'plot devices' within this story (e.g Satoru's childhood friends, etc) but well let's just end this section.

The next problem of this story lies in the execution on the last 3 episodes. Most people said that the revealing was bad, but I'd like to say that it's not and it's perfectly normal, what isn't normal for me is when another major clue was introduced a.k.a the loli, Satoru still can't recognize the culprit. SO where's the problem within this part? So when this culprit decided to drown Satoru in the car, I found that it's pretty weird if he can't just slip below the seat belt to escape his fate, as his body is tiny enough to do that, not to mention that the car window was open wide.

Satoru as a protagonist is well, pretty unexplored for me as a 'Seigi no Mikata' type of protagonist. And also sometimes although he is a 29 years old in mentality, sometimes he acts in reflex just like a 10 years old. Well of course he must act like one to avoid others suspicion, but sometime I found that his way of act is somehow like not pretending but a real, childish act.

As for the pacing, well I don't read the manga, but I feel that when Satoru tried to save his other schoolmates, it was clearly rushed. I can't tell on how he survived during the incident I said at the previous paragraph. Well I heard it's explained in the manga though, that's why I said it's rushed. And also as for the ending, some people might disappointed due the difference with the manga, but after I heard about how the manga ends, I found that the anime ending was far more realistic than the manga, considering Satoru's condition during that time. But still, there's some part on the last episodes about Kumi which is a bit miss for me because of the rushed pacing, but well I still can relate on what Satoru's did to her so that's not a very big problem for me. The culprit itself isn't that bad as a villain, he's just average for me, although his reasonings may be not that relatable, but at least he have one not like your 'evil for the sake of being evil' villain.

So was ERASED that bad? Not really. As an atmospheric anime fan, the scenery from Erased and the artwork was indeed a very well drawn, not to mention that the music which brought us to a mysterious and cool place in a winter during Shouwa era. As for me I liked the ED more than the OP, perhaps because I'm really into that kind of music. Perhaps this show had a big budget revolves around it so that they can make it that great. Also overall, ERASED was a quite enjoyable anime, despite of its major flaws.

For a story in which the main plot revolves around the time travel I highly recommend Steins;Gate, although I don't really like a hardcore Sci-Fi myself. The exploration of the theme, settings, and characters are somewhat better in that anime.

Thank you for reading my reviews and have a nice day.

I think it's safe to say at this point that the hype train for this show is dead. I still see it in numerous favorite sections, but I can't find any more Kayo themed profiles or people screaming on the forums that it was AOTY. What surprises me, though, is how Boku Dake ga Inai Machi was able to hold it's place in the rankings. This has plenty of negative feedback as well as plenty positive, but to me, I didn't really see it as a topic for discussion in the first place. It was an average anime that just happened to be produced well ... and for this reason gained explosive popularity.

For me, the first problem with Boku Dake ga Inai Machi, as many others have already stated, is that it's listed under the mystery genre, when it's quite honestly obvious who the killer is right from the start if you payed enough attention. It's made even more evident when there really isn't any other suspects for who the killer could be. However, I don't believe that to have been the main focal point of the story from the start. What really was meant to captivate the viewer was the exhilarating twists and turns of the plot, and anticipating what could happen next. Even this ended up being more of a weakness than a strength though. Not because these routes were uninteresting, but because they weren't explored enough. Despite them being entertaining nevertheless, I believe it set the bar too high, and during the episodes I felt myself dissatisfied, possibly even BORED, until the cliffhanger kicked in, and that ending song... OH MAN DAT ENDING SONG. Without getting too off topic, the story is weak in most aspects though not quite pathetic, and it definitely emitted some strongly positive vibes in those first couple episodes.Those same positive vibes, however, are what made it's fall in the second half even harder.

A-1 pictures are one of the more well known anime studios, because of the massive amount of shows they put out, and because of how most of them are terrible. One of the few things that aren't ranted on about usually is their animation style. Sword Art Online would be a great example of what their animation can do when the directors and staff for the episode are just right. Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso may or may not have the most beautiful art style out of any anime ever. Even anime from the same season (Hai to Gensou no Grimgar) was gifted with a beautiful landscape and character design. Boku Dake ga Inai Machi... wasn't as lucky. What I find strange is the craze over 'OMG GUYSH CAN YOU BELIVE THE SCREEN NARROWS WEHN SATORU IS KID NO WAYAY'. Uh, that really doesn't change anything besides making it easier to animate... the character design, also, is a major turn off. It may have improved from the original manga, at least, but it's still nowhere near impressive. Maybe there really is some deeper meaning to the animation, or maybe it is legitimately above average, and effort was put into it. But, I didn't see it with the first glance, and there really isn't any point if you can't.

I would consider myself a Yuki Kajiura fanboy. I'd go as far as to watch an anime I wasn't even relatively interested in just to hear her composing skills at work. However, even I have to admit that she isn't perfect. For the last couple years I feel her talent had been on decline because of how similar everything sounds. No matter how much you like a song, you WILL get tired of it eventually. So, even though I love her work more than my own life... I can't usually give it more than a 9/10. Keyword in that sentence being USUALLY. For every SAO and Fate/Zero there will always be a Madoka and a Boku Dake ga Inai Machi. Wow, that feels weirder than I thought putting Boku Dake in that sentence. But it is true. Boku Dake ga Inai Machi is her best work in a long time, with the chiming sounds and soft melodies giving Boku Dake ga Inai Machi the boost it needed to make it a mystery story. However, what shone even brighter than the soundtrack were the opening and ending themes. The opening theme is a phenomenal buildup to the show with it's odd sound effects and unique voice acting. The ending, almost as to 1-up it, does the same thing but twice as well, becoming one of my all time favorite ending themes. The voice acting is great as expected from renowned seiyuu. On the topic of seiyuu, Satoru's seiyuu is an interesting case. He was hired specifically for his inexperience and yet sounds totally experienced. I'm neutral as to whether this is a good or bad thing.

Speaking of Satoru: what is UP with him anyway? What was the point of making him how he is? He's like a failed attempt to be both relatable and cool. I can't really pinpoint anything interesting about him whatsoever, design, personality-wise or through any of his actions and interactions. Hinazuki is just a kuudere that gets the development a kuudere normally does. Nothing really specially, but at least she's not a harem character. There is one thing that sets her apart though: that gorgeous red coat. The contrast of it on the snow she's repeatedly portrayed on is eye candy, bringing out the best visuals the show has to offer. None of the side characters really stand out, but there are a couple notable ones like One Punch Girl (Manager deserved it) and Super Mom. The rest are just there to advance the plot, my favorites being Generic Abusive Mom and Headphones kid, that do almost literally nothing but people like them anyway.

Boku Dake ga Inai Machi gave signs of being a terrible anime straight from the start, but it also let out extremely positive vibes. It's a great showcase of how anime can take different paths and end up being terrible or fantastic. I don't think Boku dake ga Inai Machi is as bad as I put it out to be, and a portion of the flaws mentioned are hard to pick out unless you pay serious attention. It's a mediocre show but an enjoyable one nevertheless.

At the end, i was laughing my ass off at how ridiculous sounded the things satoru and yashiro were telling each other.

Because nothing in this series has enough background explanation for it to make sense. We just needed a little, just a little more background for it to be at least ok, but it seems like the series thinks that with feelings everything is justifyed. That is not what being of the psycological genre means.

For starters, the villain is ridiculous. If he is antagonized because he is psycologically unstable, at least show me how and show me why. Everything we get from him ... is some hamster crap and the thing with the spider web and how he felt the need to cut it, but that´s it. That alone means nothing to me. It´s such a weak presentation of character.

Moving on to Satoru--> the main character is always going in the direction he is not supposed to go, if we think things through logically. When he goes back in time, he tries to save the victims instead of shooting for the kidnapper directly, he nevers stops to think why he is in his situation. Not to mention his romantic and pedophilic affairs, not only with kayo, but also with airi (if the romantic implication of the ending is true).

Also, a lot of questions left unanswered--> the logic behind the revival, how was it possible that at the beginning of the series satoru´s mother was about to find out yashiro was the real kidnaper, how was it possible that yashiro found out and killed her.

Drama was exaggerated to the point it made me cringe. It is not the type of drama that is so realistic and emphatical that makes you cry, it´s the type of drama that is always shooting for the shocking factor, and it becomes tyring at some point. All the deal with kayo´s mother was just ridiculous especially.

AND... logic fails enourmously at a pecific point. what is not logical is how yashiro in the present time tried to make satoru´s life impossible, not only killing his mother but tring to implicate him even further on the case. In the series it is being made clear that this happens because the killer knows satoru in some way and holds a personal grudge for him. But this does not make sense because at that time satoru still had not frustrated his plans in the past, so he did not have a reason for hating him that much. The kid was just a normal student that did not know what was happening at the time before the revival happened and he changed the course of events.

So based on all that:

Story: 3
Art: 6
Sound: 6
character: 5
enjoyment: 6
overall: 5

This is my first review, so feel free to give me constructive criticism.

Oh Erased. I remember when the first episode came out and the entire anime community was hyping it up as one of if not the best anime they've ever seen. Now, I'm just going to say right now. This is something you should never do. There are many shows with very captivating first episodes that quickly go downhill as weeks go by and Erased is unfortunately one of those shows. The story is about a 29 year old manga artist and pizza delivery man, Satoru Fujinuma. Satoru has a mysterious power dubbed "revival" ... which can send him back a few seconds to prevent deaths or serious injuries. One night, when Satoru comes home from work, he finds his mother lying dead on the floor, with the killer just leaving the scene, tipping his hat to Satoru. Satoru gets the bright idea to run up the the body and get blood on his hands, causing his neighbor to blame him for the murder and call the police on him. When Satoru tries to go back in time to prevent this death, he goes all the way back to 1988 when he was in grade school. It was around this time that that same killer was killings little girls from his class, and Satoru, now knowing this, decides to solve the mystery of who this killer is, and stop him in his tracks. Sounds good right? Well, the story did have A LOT of potential but unfortunately, it fails to live up to any of it. The show is classified as a mystery, and it's clear that Satoru's main goal is to find out who the killer was. The problem with this is that the show made it way too obvious who the killer was. I was able to pin point it by episode 3. In fact, if you pause at the right time in the opening, it literally shows you the killer's face. This ruins the entire point of the show. A mystery show is supposed to make you think and theory craft as to who the killer is and why he would be committing these horrible crimes. To do this, the show must present at least 3 plausible suspects for who the killer could be and focus on each of them equally, giving the viewer time to get to know them, and use their brains to deduce who the killer is. Erased unfortunately gave us one plausible option and wasn't very subtle with it either. I won't spoil who the killer is, but if you decide to watch the show, I won't be surprised if you figure it out by episode 2 or 3. Another thing wrong with Erased is its characters. Very few are fleshed out. Satoru, Kayo (one of the victims of the killer) Satoru's mother, and arguably Kenya (Satoru's best friend) are the only characters to be fleshed out at all in the story, when there are plenty more characters that seem like their just there to be there and add little to nothing to the story. The biggest example of this is Airi, Satoru's co worker. We did get some neat interactions between the two and I'm the manga, her character was fleshed out and likeable, but here, she's just a forgettable one dimensional girl who appears for like, 3 episodes if that. We get a brief explanation of the killer's motives but in the manga, we get treated to his entire backstory and learn more about his motives and why he mainly targets little girls. Although I will give credit where it is due. The art and animation are very good, and the music (especially that opening) is top notch. Other than that, I see nothing but wasted potential here, and as a manga reader I can definitely say that the manga is better. It fleshes out more of the characters, it makes the killer less obvious and adds a whole new arc to make up for the anti climactic ending. In the end, Erased gets a 5/10. The ideas were there, but little was done with them.

After hearing a ton of positive comments about this, it quickly went to the top of my watch list. Having now just finished the last episode I'm having some mixed feelings about the show.

At its core, Erased combines elements of time travel with a murder mystery to tell its story. And with an effective use of cliffhanger endings it ensures the viewer is allways kept eager to see the next chapter. Sadly, I found the time traver aspect of this tale to be way more compelling than the actual murder mystery, which results in a world and setting that I loved but a story ... that I think could have been done better.

But let's start on a positive note. I loved the concept of the main characters mind going back in time to his child self. While not the main focus of the story, the show often reflects on your life as a kid from the point of view of an adult with the main character noticing things you often didn't think about as a kid, like how much our parents worked for us or how there probably was a reason why the lonely and quiet kid in your class was like that.
I didn't grow up in japan but some scenes combined with the great visual style of this show really gave me a feeling of nostalgia in a way that not many shows have.

But dissapointingly, the element that's supposed to glue all these aspects together and turn a setting into a story: The murder mystery, is utterly dissapointing.
The core element of any murder mystery is, well.... the mystery, and that's where Erased fails. The identity of the murderer is pretty obvious from very early on, and the writers never add anything to make you doubt yourself.
The problems begin before the big time jump even happens, by showing too much of the killer. While he isn't shown fully revealed, we end up seeing too much of a character that should have been little more than a figure in the shadows. Before we are even presented with the suspects we already know enough of how the killer looks to discard most of them. I don't want to try to sound clever, but as soon as the killer first appeared on screen in the past, I was already thinking "boy, he sure resembles the killer from the present day segments". At first I though it might be intentional: They give you a character designed for you to suspect him only to throw you a curved ball a few episodes later to shatter your theory... but that curved ball never comes.


Still, the animation and overall presentation are solid, I liked the characters and as already said I think some of the secondary elements of the story are really strong. It's an enjoyable show and at 12 episodes it won't take too much of your time. But if you are looking for a mystery, chances are the average detective conan episode will have you more covered than this.

Mystery thriller? Please do not be fooled there is no mystery to this show (especially when people were calling who the killer was as soon as he appeared). If you wanted to label this show as anything maybe disappointment? OK, ok I won't be mean, but seriously this is not a mystery. I guess thriller is the more appropriate label. However this show left me anything but thrilled.

So I'm just going to jump right into this, and start with my thoughts about the story. The plot suffered severely from an uninspired premise and awful pacing. It tried to create tension by addressing topics ... such as child abuse and murder, however they just felt like an afterthought. Neither were explored in depth and just felt like cheap plot devices there for shock value. It was same thing for the time traveling. It was never really explored in depth either it was just seemingly there for the writers to change the direction of the narrative. I mean the time traveling was supposed to be completely random, which is a unique concept to me (never heard of this being done in another time traveling story), however it felt like it was oddly convenient for the main character. I'm not going to spoil the show, but this did ruin a lot of the tension that otherwise could have been. I thought I might as well throw in that there is also a time skip in the show that is handled questionably. The main character is in a life threatening situation and it hints at who might have saved him but doesn't go into any detail so if you haven't read the manga its kind of a guessing game. It's hard to talk about without spoiling the show but all we get is kind of a montage of the main character and his mom, and then we receive some vague info about the other side characters and what happened to them during the time skip afterwards. If I had to say one good thing about the story it is that it does know how to appeal to your emotions. That alone kept me invested in the first nine episodes. However it goes down hill quickly from there.


The biggest problem I have with Erased isn't even the lackluster story. I've always been a firm believer that you can take a pretty boring premise and still make a great show as long as there are well written characters that people are going to relate to. Unfortunately this is Erased's biggest flaw. Starting with the main character, Satoru, he's not a bad character necessarily but he is cliche. I get that he's supposed to be an introvert, but the cool and edgy introvert stereotype is inaccurate and overdone. Seriously an introvert is just someone who is energized by being alone and whose energy is drained by being around other people. Some might say he acts that way because of the trauma he suffered as a child, but he doesn't act like someone who has suffered from a traumatic experience either. He just acts look a cool, edgy teen to me. I think the most off putting thing about his character though is his pedophilic tendencies. Like come on dude your 29 stop having romantic feelings for a elementary school student and high school student. I guess it could be argued that he doesn't have romantic feelings for them, that he just views them as friends, but the context and the way the relationships are written is still weird to me.

Then there is Hinazuki. The show's treatment of her is despicable to me. Hinazuki is a victim of child abuse and is treated like a plot device throughout her whole arc in the show and then she's just kind of thrown away. Which is sad because she's given a lot more development than most of the other characters in the show and I found myself really drawn to her character. She does reappear after the time skip, but she could have been a totally different character since were not really given any in-depth info on what happened during the time skip to any of the other characters besides Satoru. The only other notable side character besides Hinazuki was Kenya. Like he was kind of played up to be something more than he actually ended up being. Like the other side characters he didn't really end up doing anything or providing anything to the plot. They're just kind of background noise.

The villain was a major let down as well. As I stated earlier it was pretty easy for some people to tell who he was early in the show. Then they just kind of come out and tell you abruptly who it is. There was no mystery to it. His development was kind of absurd to me. He is played up to be very intelligent and methodical, but turns into a typical bumbling anime villain by the end of the show. The explanation the writers gave to us for why he left Satoru alive was absurd. The fact that he just apparently lost the desire to kidnap and murder kids because Satoru was out of commission (trying so hard not to spoil the show :( ) was absurd. It would have been so much more interesting if the writers could have delved into the villain's psyche, but like so many other things in this show it was just left unexplored and vague.

As far as art and sound go they were pretty decent. Nothing much to complain about there. Even so that wasn't enough to save the show. I feel like it should have been longer so that they could have explored the topics they presented us with in more detail, and give the characters the development they deserve. I honestly left the show feeling major heartburn. It's not that its bad, definitely not when compared to some of the other stuff that comes out, but it is disappointing and mediocre at best.