Story: 8/10
The story itself is great. A manga artist struggling through life has this inexplicable power called Revival where he can go back in time to save others. This power and a few tragic events trigger the story's unraveling and it gets epic really fast. What puts Erased's story to a near 9 is its pacing and how compacted yet fleshed out it feels. The anime manages to put a lot of information and crucial events in a mere 12 episodes. Contrary to many series, the rushed segments feel less blatant and gross. However, things like convenient powers and questions never explained become apparent that hurt the story's intriguing plot.
Art: 10/10
The art features some of the best directing I've ever seen in anime. The visual effects are another level of well done style. Effects like the film reel are used very well and often. There is also interesting transitions from 2D to 3D landscapes to make some beautiful shots. Characters look solid as well.
Sound: 9/10
Great OP and ED to accompany a godlike soundtrack. There is this one track that is charged with emotion. It is so powerful to make bittersweet moments even more tear-jerking. Simply great music.
Voice acting is also top notch with some interesting usage in plot. When the adult Satoru and kid version both talk at the same time, it's honestly pretty mesmerizing. It has a lasting effect on atmosphere and freezes the anime for just a few seconds. Very unique I must say.
Characters: 8/10
Characters are where there is some room for improvement. The protagonist, Satoru, is solid, but it is hard to find his definitive personality traits. His thought process is decent and his actions are reasonable to an extent. His personality is somewhat relatable as well. Having a public mask for others is a common trait in our world. Other than the main, the supporting cast is unexplored but good enough. His group of friends is similar to Satoru without the inner thoughts of him. What remains are masks. We never really get the inner thoughts of them, but their characters eventually become more fleshed out near the end to remedy this. A strong part about the characters is Kayo, a main female lead for a majority of the show. Her story is depressing and her growth carries a large part of the show. There is another female character, Airi, who has so much untapped potential. She should have had a more important role in the scene.
Enjoyment: 10/10
Enjoyment is where Erased shines. Almost every episode has a massive cliffhanger and I've never felt so glued to a show. Erased is a roller coaster of tearful emotion and unparalleled moments of super hype. The presentation effects used to heighten the moments allows the show to be even better than it already manages to. I felt so engrossed in the mystery and trying to figure out who the criminal would be. In contrast to what others felt about the culprit, the anime played me. I was somewhat surprised about how he was revealed. Am I stupid regarding mystery? Maybe. However, regardless of how you find the reveal, Erased is a much bigger show than just who did the crime. The anime's themes of domestic violence, regret, social personalities, etc. are very well done to deepen the experience.
What I also enjoyed was the lack of fanservice. Anime these days can sometimes be plagued with fanservice to ruin its serious mood, but Erased di not have any.
Comedy was done well in my opinion. I was laughing even between serious moments. For some reason, this did not feel out of place like it normally would.
Problems with Erased:
The main problem is the convenience of the power Revival. There are some things unexplained that leave plotholes always found in time travel stories. This then leads to the meh ending. The ending doesn't end up as bad as some people and it definitely provides a sense of closure. However, something feels like it's missing still.
This does not hinder the anime too much and I would still highly recommend this anime to anyone liking time travel, amazing art direction, and sound. Erased is a thrilling series packed with heartfelt emotion to make any viewer feel intense hype and genuine feels.
9.4./10 it almost feels like a 10 tbh
