Too often of late in anime, studios are falling back onto fan-service pandering, questionably aged lolis, and read-the-manga endings to try and push more sales. Rarely exists a show of a single cour that delivers one complete, self-contained story with an extremely satisfactory ending and with no cheap fan-service to boot! ERASED delivers just that. Reading the manga is an option for a bit of a different telling of the story, but isn't mandatory. These reasons alone are enough to put ERASED above many, many other shows of late, but I'd like to delve through each rating category to see what I think it is that makes the show so compelling!
Story (10/10) - Right out of the gate, the story to ERASED is a fantastic one. It is a mature, grounded story about a man unhappy with his own life and wanting to resolve past regrets that plague him even to this day. Fortunately fate grants him that chance via the ability to travel back through time to his older self and relive pieces of his life in an attempt to change the future! And this is how we begin our story: with our protagonist Satoru having just suffered a terrible loss and immediately sent back to when he was 11 years old, to a time when several girls at his school went missing. He believes it is his job to save them to right past wrongs and hopefully change his terrible future! Unfortunately his task is muddled as he doesn't know who the primary culprit is, so he instead races against the clock to try to save the children from their grim fate. To make matters worse, the main female lead Kayo, one of the targets of this child murderer, is severely abused by her parents making protecting her a rather difficult task. It is a very human story in the middle of this suspense thriller, and it does a fantastic job connecting you to the characters and pulling at your heart strings. It makes you care when they are in danger, and really ratchets up the tension in ominous moments. You get to follow Satoru on this harrowing journey, praying every step of the way that he makes it through. It builds up to a couple huge and very heartfelt climaxes at the end of the show, and then an extremely satisfying finale that ties up all the loose ends. It really is a great story that pulls you in, leaving you stressed one moment and ecstatic the next!
Art (9/10) - The art in this show is quite good. It isn't the best ever, but it is consistently high quality. I never noticed any severe drops in quality, and there was never a point where anything was unclear to the viewer. The character designs are quite interesting and a bit different than what I'm used to seeing, especially with some adults like Satoru's mother, Sachiko. They do a marvellous job of making the children adorable. The art is also cleverly used to convey a lot of symbolism throughout the show, and you really have to pay attention to notice all the clever details packed into the art/animation! Colours and contrast are used to the fullest to deliver a subtle messages to the viewer and influence their emotions as necessary.
Sound (8/10) - The sound in this show is also very well done. There isn't a lot of complexity to it, but the OP/ED are both highly enjoyable to listen to, and the insert tracks throughout the show cue up perfectly at the exact moments required to really punch up the tension of a scene, or melt your heart with joy. The VA work wasn't the best I've ever heard, but it was quite good. I also appreciate the newcomer Shinnosuke Mitsushima voicing Satoru in an attempt to make him different and stand out from the rest of the show. The director was clearly trying to stuff in as much symbolism as he could in ever facet of the show. Kayo's VA and Sachiko's were both excellent and I enjoyed them every time they were on the screen.
Characters (10/10) - The characters of this show are absolutely fantastic. The only real negative I can apply to this category is that the villain of the show is a little bit underdeveloped, but the direction they went with said villain is acceptable in my eyes as he is logically motivated and fleshed out enough to make the story interesting. He doesn't need a deep backstory, as this isn't about the villain, this is a story about the protagonists and their plight. The rest of the main cast were absolutely fantastic though. Satoru was convincing as a super-hero wannabe, Kayo was beautifully developed and her unfortunate abuse really hit home for me, and Sachiko has got to win some awards for best mom in anime. There's also the great supporting cast of all of Satoru's friends that help him along the way that get adequate screen time and do a great job supporting the main cast and letting them grow, while still managing to grow a little bit themselves! I could connect and relate to a lot of the characters in this, with their thoughts often mirroring my own as I watched, and I absolutely adored Kayo and Airi every time they were on the screen. One of the easiest 10/10s I could give, the characters were by far the highlight of this show.
Enjoyment (10/10) - This show was absolutely one of my favourite things to watch of the 2016 Winter season, and probably one of the most enjoyable shows I've seen to date. The human element resonated deeply with me, the suspense had me on the edge of my seat, even when I could have sworn I just KNEW the answer, and the ending was tied up absolutely perfectly for my liking. I got to see people grow, I got to see tragedy, I got to see victory, I got to see a mature story told without pandering fluff. I adored every second of this show, even in spite some of the minor flaws with it, and I would gladly rewatch this again in the future, preferably with a dub so I can try and catch all the subtle details I missed on the first pass!
Overall: 10/10
By now I think you realize I loved ERASED. It really is a fantastic show. I think everyone owes it to themselves to watch ERASED at least once, or to at least give it a try before writing it off at face-value. You may be surprised at how such a simple story can be so engaging. Like Shirobako, it will be a staple recommendation for me to others. The characters are just great, and the ending let me walk away with a smile on my face, regardless of the outcomes of all the characters and what was lost, because what was gained was so much more. Rarely do I get to enjoy such a complete and satisfying experience from an anime, let alone one I think good enough to show to even non-anime fans, but ERASED is definitely one of them. Props to A-1 for delivering such a fantastic experience, I value every second of it!
