Story - 9/10
Erased tells the story about a struggling manga author, Satoru Fujinuma. But that’s that’s not the important part of the story. Satoru has this supernatural ability called a ‘Revival’ which he goes back in time a few moments before an incident happens, therefor giving him the opportunity to correct his actions and prevent the incident from happening. Now here is the meat of the story, a bit of spoiler for the first episode, his mother is killed, by the way who is the best mum in the world. And this causes a ‘Revival,’ but instead of going back moments before his mother is killed, he is sent back 18 years in the past, back to his 11 year old self. Now he is given not only the opportunity to save his mum, but also to all the victims around him when he was 11.
I love how this story is set up. From the very first episode, we get a glimpse of his powers and how they work, then we get sent into the main story, where everything gets interesting. And how does this show keep itself interesting, by having a mystery in it with a lot of cliff hangers. The way the plot is structured is a way Satoru is trying to save different victims that are all connected to the one killer. The story is played out very well, except I would say during the last few episodes it does feel a little bit rushed. The mystery itself, to be honest it’s not really that hard to solve, they weren’t really giving much thought of hiding the killer, so the reveal was too surprising. However this is what I loved, the ending. Not going to spoil anything, but it just explains everything, including the themes and motivations that happened in the story very well, it wasn’t simply a case of ‘who the mystery person was’, the story is more about Satoru and people he saves, and I loved that, because it just completely changed my outlook on the whole anime.
Characters - 9/10
Satoru Fujinuma is the main protagonist of the Erased. Originally was a 29 year old struggling in life until he had a ‘Revival’ and was sent back to his original 11 year old self. Now with a head filled with many regrets of the things he couldn’t do in the past, he hopes to change that by preventing a chain of murders from happening again. And this is what I love about his character, his development. Initially having really no motivation to improve himself in life, he decides to try and help the people around him, and this helps mature his character as the story progress. He learns more about the people around him and learns how to deal with things, and is able to improve on it, and his resolution in the end, freaking genius.
Kayo Hinazuki is one of the other main characters in the story, while also a major plot device. She was one of the original victims in the chain of murders, and so Satoru is trying to prevent her murder by simply hanging out with her more and getting to know her. Now I like her character development from an isolated closed individual, to someone who starts opening up more to the people around her due to the actions of Satoru. Her relationship with Satoru is a nice and innocent one to follow as well.
I’m not going to get into the other characters because pretty much everyone else is a suspect, and I don’t want to get into those characters, because I’ll let you check it out for yourselves. But I like pretty much all the other characters, their developments and their motivations, as the story progress it’s nice to see where the characters end up. Their interactions are nice and they are such likeable thought out characters as well.
Animation and Sound - 8/10, 9/10
The animation and art style is pretty standard for A-1 Pictures, so basically its look good and smooth. Not a lot of bright colours, its rather dull because of the dramatic mystery setting. Only a few times around the mid-points you can see a bit drop in animation quality, but at least it’s not like that for the rest of the show. There is also a really nice use of colours though, especially when indicating blood lust, how certain things would turn red and draw some suspicions another way. Something I loved about this anime was whenever Satoru was in he’s 11 year old self, there will be black bars on top and bottom of the screen giving it a really nice cinematic presentation. And this works really well, because whenever anything to do with memory comes up, they’ll show Satoru’s memories through film reels which look really cool and add a nice touch to the themes. And if you look closely at some scenes, you may get some hints on the killer. And there is some nice beautiful scenes as well.
The music in this anime, starts off pretty normal just doing its job of fitting in with the scene. However some of the tracks in this show is amazing, especially during the more tense scenes and emotional scenes. The OST for the more tense scenes does such a good job at building tension and can get your heart racing. The more emotional scenes, it’s just beautiful to listen to. Not only is the OST a pretty good OST, with some good tracks, but the OP and ED are amazingly great as well. In fact the OP is so good, they just basically re-used an old Asian Kung Fu Generation because it works well, and it’s a good song. The ED is good as well, but I think when pairing it up with the artistic visuals in it in, it’s amazing to watch. Also note, the voice acting is pretty good, even though the main cast are basically newcomers. I love hearing Satoru’s adult voice in his mind when he’s a kid, but also love how they also flipped it later, so when he was an adult we heard he’s kid’s voice in his head, and I think it’s so clever how they did it.
Enjoyment - 10/10
From the very first episode of Erased, I was hooked onto the show. I was already invested in the characters and into the mystery and story. In fact, I thought it was worth it, watching this anime weekly. And the reason for this, is because the cliff-hangers. They use cliff-hangers very well, it keeps you engaged and wanting more. I enjoyed seeing the characters grow, and develop as the cleverly thought out written story progress. I was really interested on how the characters will deal with the killer and mystery. Even though I thought the mystery wasn’t that hard, I was more interested in the motivation behind the killer and how things are done, to prevent the murders from happening. I think the show is very engaging and has really interesting concept that gets you hooked on episode one. And also I think the ending explaining the themes and true story was such a good payoff.
Verdict - 9/10
As we reach closer the end of the review, I give the Story of Erase a 9. It’s a wonderful pace well thought story. It was cleverly done, even though the mystery was rather weak and some plot holes as well, paired up with the fact they never really explained the powers properly. However I thought it was an interest concept and the final themes of the show was brilliant.
For the animation and sound I give it a 8 and 9. The animation and art style quality is pretty standard for A-1 which pretty good. The nice use of the cinematic bars was a nice touch to fit with the themes of film reels. Some inconsistent animation around the middle can be a bit weird but they are not too bad. The OST does a really great job of building tension, that keeps your heart racing. While also providing us with some nice emotional tracks. The OP and ED is just freaking awesome.
As for the characters I give them a 9. I thought each character’s story and development was well thought out. They are all really likeable characters. I like how Satoru’s development helps everyone else’s development, he’s story from being a loner to hero is nice. Hinazuki’s change was very nice to see as well, while being also very touching.
For my own personal enjoyment, I give it a 10. Episode 1 hooked me with its concept, characters and setup. Everything cliff-hanger had engaged and pumped up to watch the next episode, that honestly made me thought it was better waiting the week rather than watching it all in one sitting. I like seeing how the characters deal with the situations at hand and how the mystery was going to be solve.
So for the overall score after rounding it all up, I give Erased, a 9/10. People may say it’s another overhype anime. But it’s still a really good watch, with an incredible start and a thought provoking ending. I recommend this anime to those who love mystery, slice of life, psychological, but really this is a must watch for almost anyone.
