To start with, I am a fan of time-travelling stories. And because I am well acquainted with time-travelling, I know the common pitfalls and problems people have with a show such as Erased. Yes, the mechanic of time-travelling is very flawed. Neither was the mechanic of time-travelling even explained in detail. I believe that’s the point. The goal of this anime isn’t about creating some kind of reasonable realistic time-travelling show. If you watch this show hoping that they will explain why our protagonist is giving the power to do so, you will be disappointed. Perhaps its original source material will eventually progress to that point, but it didn’t seem to be the core theme of the show.
Erased, to me, is a show about the hypothetical question of, “what would you do differently in your life if you had the choice?” Like the person who asks this question, the show is not interested in answering a completely different question of “how do you even make that possible?” The person mostly wants to know about your values, beliefs, past experiences, and where you would want to change if you had the choice. Erased, then, is focused on our main protagonist, Satoru Fujinuma, and how Satoru goes about answering this question. In this aspect, Erased is similar to the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”. The supernatural element of both fictions is there to emphasize the growth of characters and provide a means for these characters to look at themselves in a different light. Similarly, a recent movie “About Time” showed a very similar impression to Erased’s time-travelling mechanic. It was never explained in detail but used more as a plot device to highlight character development. A certain level of suspension of disbelief is needed when it comes to these shows. If you are going in this show with the wrong expectations such as comparing Erased to say, Steins;Gate, you will be very disappointed.
At the same time, Erased also isn’t entirely focused on the murder mystery. Much of the backdrop is indeed based on Satoru investigating and attempting to prevent a string of murders from ever happening, but it isn’t the main element that will stick with you after the series end. At its core, Erased is a character drama that let us see the mind of Satoru and the progress he makes, the hardships he endures, and how he develops from a rather indifferent and uncaring character at the beginning to an endearing character at the end.
At the beginning, we see a brief interaction with his mother Sachiko and see Satoru mildly annoyed that she is going to stay with him for a few days. We don’t really know what their relationship is like, but it seems there is distance between them. Toward the end, we have no question about what that relationship really is. We see Sachiko unconditionally care for Satoru and how much he means to her. We have no doubt that Satoru means the world for her, and how much she means to him. Compared to the beginning of the show, we know that Satoru’s views on family had changed. We also see Satoru opening up to other children and people, becoming more honest, learning and understanding about himself; to finally see him grow into a more complete and caring character. Near the end, we see a photo of Satoru with his friends, which set up a very neat comparison to his life in the beginning of the show.
Along the way, several themes related to the concept of family were explored. Satoru is raised in a single-mother home with a loving mom who’s a bit too good at knowing what he is thinking. Kayo Hinazuki, the main victim that Satoru felt obligated to save, is a girl who’s been consistently abused by her mother, also living in a single-mother home. The show examines what we typically take for granted in a family and shows a clear contrast between a loving parent and a despicable one. One of the most emotional scenes in the show was Kayo seeing a delicious breakfast meal made for her in Satoru’s home when quick flashbacks showed how poorly her mom treated her in the past. Parental abuse isn’t entirely a new concept in anime, but Erased explores it well on how characters would interact with each other and the small subtleties such as seeing a good meal for the first time.
Perhaps more importantly, Erased understands that issues do not occur in a vacuum. Kayo’s mother, despite being obviously one of the clear “villains” in this show, is shown to have been abused before and is clearly under some kind of substance abuse. As an empathetic viewer, I can see that even though she mistreated her daughter over and over again, I can’t really blame her entirely. Bad things happen to people, and it tends to spread quite easily. Of course, she was definitely in the wrong, but just a little of empathy goes out to her as well.
With that said, it becomes a bit puzzling that the same consideration was not made of the main antagonist. Several people have critiqued Erased’s pacing, specifically the latter third of the show. Little backstory was provided about the villain. Here, we see a similar problem akin to the time-travelling problems I discussed earlier. Erased treats the villain mostly as a plot device and a premise of the show rather than highlight any meaningful character development in said person. Much of the development is focused on Satoru, Sachiko, and Kayo, with some minor focus on Kenya and Airi. This problem, to me, appears to be a logistics issue outside the merit of the show itself. It seems 12-13 episode series had become all too common so our perception that the show felt rushed in the latter halves should at least be somewhat accurate. With a 12-13 episode limit, it would be hard to actually shed light on many character motivations, which definitely leaves some room for criticism and improvement.
Other criticisms are also quite valid. One common issue aside from time-travelling is a time skip that happens later on in the show. This is especially problematic because Erased seem to have forgotten that this event ever happened and fails to shed any light on what actually happened. Even for me, as someone who acknowledges that time-travelling is merely used as a plot device with its fair share of plot holes, this appeared to simply be a plot hole with no excuses attached.
Another issue was how obvious who the real antagonist was. The show doesn’t really show enough possibilities to leave us guessing. As a crime show, Erased lacks quite a bit in the area. We’re pretty sure who the antagonist is, even though the show tries to create doubt in its viewers. At some points, I truly wished the antagonist wasn’t this person, but with such a limited cast, it felt like the show had no other choice but this person to be the villain. And when this person is poorly introduced in their motives and background, it really would dampen your opinions on the show especially if you went in expecting an excellent crime drama. That said, Erased do excel in creating suspense in certain parts of the show. An obvious example is having the antagonist enter the same place that Kayo was currently placed. Again, this really isn’t a novel idea, but I haven’t felt real suspense in anime for quite a bit so it’s refreshing to have moments like these where you are at the edge of your seat on what will happen next.
Lastly, I want to bring another concern that I noted when watching this show. When it comes to characters, one particular character acts way, way wiser than what an elementary school child should be. This character’s role seemed like yet another plot device, or an exposition device. If a scenario got too awkward, this character would come in. If there is a burning question that the audience had in mind, this character would ask or answer. While it’s fine to have that element in the show, it asks a bit too much out of its viewers to suspend disbelief. We know why this character is here, but this character did not really fit how children are supposed to act and behave. That said, it’s not like really smart and wise children don’t exist... but this character appeared just a biiiit too mature for its viewers to suspend disbelief.
You might have realized I have not talked about the show’s animation, art or music. There isn’t much to be said in these departments. It’s all around quality material. A-1 is known to create decent artwork and animation, and the music can be spot on in its tender moments and suspenseful moments. The food looks delicious, the lighting is spot on, characters that only have like one dialogue looks unique enough, and there’s enough settings to please the eye.
In summary, I’ll say Erased excelled in creating a character drama where you can become wholly emotionally invested into its characters. I have cried on at least 3 occasions, probably because the topic of family is such a sensitive issue for me. Many viewers will be disappointed with Erased, either because time-travelling is poorly explained, the main antagonist being a bit too obvious, or that the latter parts of the series felt rushed. These are all legitimately valid criticisms and I appreciate the fanbase for dissecting this series. However, I believe the core theme of Erased is based on the complexity of family dynamics and character interactions of those involved. It highlights how bad parental abuse can be, and highlights just how difficult it is to actually try and stop what has been happening. It also highlights common themes we’ve loved about in anime: friendship, trust, and moral dilemmas on what we believe as right or wrong. In these aspects, Erased had well-crafted characters in Satoru, Sachiko, Kayo, and even some of its side characters.
As you can probably tell from the score and this long review, I enjoyed Erased immensely. I have described some of its flaws, but as we all probably heard this quote before: “Love isn't about finding a perfect person; it's seeing an imperfect person perfectly.” As I reiterate and this applies to all works of fiction: If you watch something with the wrong expectations, you will surely be disappointed. Despite Erased’s immense popularity, it definitely isn’t a show for everyone. It demands its viewers to suspend quite a bit of disbelief, which is perhaps asking a bit too much.
However, if you are open-minded and understood the main themes that Erased tried to get across, then hopefully you would or had enjoyed the series as much as I had.
