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"Everything will eventually rot away. As long as the factor of time continues being the apex predator of the universe, the inevitable decay of all pain and memory is unstoppable." - Overpriced Mac computer

In the beginning of 2016 an anime with an absurd rating popped out of nowhere on Mal's top list.That anime was ofcoarse Boku dake ga Inai Machi.Being the tea-drinking gentleman that i am,i've disregarded it as the Oscars did with Edward Norton,but lately i've mustered some fate in humanity and decided to give the short 12 episode mystery a chance.


The story centers around ... a 29 year old pizzaman (sadly that is not Kenji the Enji) trying to become mangaka,while also having convenient time traveling powers given to him by the Magical Space Jesus,that only work when they are needed for the plot.
One day,while driving his fancy pizzamobile,he sees a speeding vehicle going towards a little kid and much like a certain protagonist from Yu Yu Hakusho he decides to be the hero.While managing to save the kid he also ends up being in a hospital.After being released his mom decides to live with him and on the next day in his absence she gets stabbed to death by a shady looking character wearing fedora.When he returns and finds her body some woman conveniently sees him and calls police.The police then assumes him as the prime suspect,but instead of clearing his name,he runs away from them,using his inexplicable time traveling powers given to him by the Magical Space Jesus to go back in time,precisely 18 years ago and find and prevent the killer from killing his mother.But to do so by his logic he must become someone else,he must become something else.That something is his 11 year old self,By doing that he assumes that if he prevents the kidnapping of a classmate of his - Kayo,he will exculpate his friend who was originally framed for the kidnapping and sentenced to death,leaving the real perpetrator free to kill his mom in the future.So he decides to get friendly with her until the day of her kidnapping,giving a weird uncomfortable pedo vibe.
But the thing is,it really didn't matter which kid would the killed choose to as his victim.Making the entire effort pointless if the wasn't convenient for the plot the killer to be someone that Satoru knows from 18 years ago.
Another thing thing i want to mention is that the emotional scenes in this particular "gem" are probably the worse i've seen in just about anything.I've laughed in every single supposed sad scene there was.

Characterization is probably the biggest flaw in Boku dake ga Inai Machi. The characters are irritating, flat, inconsistent, contrived, and they alone destroy any possibility of this being even a decent anime..
Every single one of them is a bland plot device which acts anyway the plot wants them to act and without a doubt will be forgotten in the next 2 months or so.You really can't tell which one is worse or best since they all suck.
But ofcoarse then most noticable one is the one with the most screen time.That ofcoarse is Satoru.He makes really illogical actions in just about every episode.
The other main character for the majority of the series is Kayo.For the sake of shock factor,she is abused by her one dimentional evil mother, a fact which all the adults around her are aware of,but are unable to do anything about. Child Protective services had attempted to deal with the situation but were unable to gain any concrete proof or even set up a meeting.
Due to this abuse, she's a social outcast at school, preferring to distance herself from other people, hoping that if she wears the mask of apathy long enough, it will become real. After school, she spends her time mostly alone at a local park until 6 P.M., to avoid going home and facing her mother.
The killer is an absolute copy of Mark Jefferson,except that his plans make no sense at all and unlike the charismatic Life is Strange villain,he is very predictable and his motivations are non-existent.
The rest of the characters's personalities can be deducted from their character designs alone.It was like they weren't real life people, with their own mindsets and ideas.
Although the ending wasn't bad,although extremely cheese and predictable,because of the poor character development it didn't manage to become paramount.

The animation as avarage as it gets for this damn age !Nothing more to be said.

The voice acting was as bland as the characters which in this case is a good thing.
The ost was pretty meh.It didn't make my ears bleed nor did it impress me,so it's between avarage and fine.

Although having avarage Sound and avarage animation,this anime had MAJOR phasing problem,rushing until the very end,failing to emotionally connect the viewer to the characters and some''genius'' mind though using monologues to the point of beating a dead horse.

Overall:
Boku dake ga Inai Machi is one of the dumbest show to ever take itself seriously. It is essentially a hackneyed amalgamation of cliches and overused plot devices that clumsily attempts to disguise itself as something greater.
Watch Boku dake ga Inai Machi if you have a weird Deus ex Machina fetish, but otherwise stay away. It does nothing new and it does nothing well. It doesn’t even fail in an interesting or original way, destroying any chance for campy "so-bad-it's-good" appeal. As a result, I can't think of a single positive thing to say about it, and I have no choice but to give it a 2.

Moral of this is.....
It's time to stop!It's time to stop!Ok?No more!Where are your parents!?Who are your parents ?I'm gonna call Child Protective services!It's time to stop !

For some actually good anime that revolves around Time travel i point you not towards Steins;Gate,because chances are that you've already watched it,but towards Noein.Not one of my personal favourites tho,but it did everything that Boku dake ga Inai Machi failed to do with flying colours.Even Crispin Freeman is in it.Who doesn't like Crispin Freeman ?Nobody!

Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso is a coming of age story about the 14 year old pianist Arima Kousei.
After the death of his mother he loses the ability to hear the piano.
Until one day he meets a very forced tsundere girl - Miyazono Kaori.
The writers wanted for Kaori to help Kousei return to the music world and show that it should be free and mold breaking unlike the structured and rigid style Kousei was used to.
But instead she literally forces him to do things her way turning him into her doge (couldn't resist) and becoming a Taiga (from ToraDora!) clone, giving a wrong message, that ... bullying traumatized people is fine as long as it's for their own good.

I understand that this show is suppose to be drama, but this is melodrama to the next level.
I couldn't help cringing at parts I should be feeling sentimental about instead.
Speaking of laughing, this serious show also attempts to throw in a bit of comedy.
Not sure how beating up an already traumatized person, but whatever makes your clock tick is fine by me.

Despite the large amount of unnecessary episodes, the majority of the supporting characters remain bland,forgetful and undeveloped. I would go as far as saying that most of them were completely unnecessary.
The only good developed character is the main protagonist who starts as a dull, gutless Shinji (from Neon Genesis Evangelion) clone who has no reason to play music anymore to something slightly better.
And another thing the character of Kaori got very late development. For the 90 % of the show she was just a forceful tsundere doing forceful things.

The main reason i even watched this sad excuse for an anime was because of the classic music it promised and it delivered.
There are some timeless pieces from Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninoff and other prominent names of the music world.
Tho the Opening and the ending however were absolutely horrendous,but i have to say they were fitting for a show of the same caliber.
The voice acting was good,but not because of an amazing Seiyu cast,but instead of how easy it is to voice characters so shallow.

The animation of is beautiful full of vibrant backgrounds.
Another thing that made an impression on me was the scenes in which an instrument is being played the animation was at its peak.
The art itself is just plain moe which can piss some viewers,but that doesn't mean it's bad.And Unlike other moeblob the characters in this one have full lips.
What more can you want ?A good story ?Who needs those !?Just gimme dat tsundere loli!

Although having great Sound and decent animation,this anime had MAJOR phasing problem jumping from the tragedies of the main hero to the romance of a minor characters,pointless character interactions and some''genius'' mind though using monologues to the point of beating a dead horse.
At one point i just wanted Kousei to get in the damn robot!

For some actually good anime that revolves around music i point you towards Sakamichi no Apollon, White Album 2, Nana and Nodame Cantabile. Heck if being a weeb is not quite your tempo you might even watch Whiplash.(ba-dum-tss!)