~{Story}~
The premise is about a man named Fujinuma Satoru who has an ability called “Revival”, which allows his go to back a couple of minutes before a death happens in order to prevent it. One event brings him back twenty years in the past and Satoru believes that this his chance to prevent a murder from that time. He tries to save lives by befriending them, meanwhile looking for clues to find the culprit. The premise itself is really interesting, since the concept of time travelling ends up being entertaining (if done right that is). And the suspense is done well enough. The story focuses on mature themes like child abuse and child kidnapping, and the anime handles those well. The suspense is there, even if it does feel predictable at times. The writing quality in the last third of Boku dake ga Inai Machi isn’t very good. Some parts get rushed, other parts get completely cut out. Due to this, too many questions are made and not enough are answered. Backstory’s get cut short too, even the most important one too. And the lack of explanation given to the “Revival” concept is a bummer too. That isn’t to say that Boku dake ga Inai Machi completely messed up, as they did the story justice in the first two thirds, with us seeing Satoru go through many hardships in order to save lives. And they way how the anime did is interesting, although not the best one.
Story: 6/10
~{Presentation}~
The production values are great in Boku dake ga Inai Machi. The style used is fantastic. The atmosphere in Boku dake ga Inai Machi is very calm, yet very tense, which really keeps you interested in the anime. The mystery may or may not work depending if one finds the anime to predictable. However, as a thriller, it is successful for most of the time. Wondering what Satoru might do next, or what the culprit might to next is thrilling enough. However, the biggest issue with the anime lies it its pacing. The first episodes start off fast while cutting out some content that helps in developing a character. However the episodes after that layback with the fast pacing, letting you digest these characters easily. The slower pacing in those episodes really bring up the mood and effect as the characters starts getting great development. However, Boku dake ga Inai Machi couldn’t keep that consistency for long. With a couple of episodes felt, the anime started to heavily rush its content since they needed to wrap it up within the twelve-episode mark. This is a great shame since it started off well. The final third in the manga wasn’t too great, and with them rushing those content, they only made it worse. However, the anime original climax was a creative one, although not as intense as it should be. Too many loose strings, not enough reasoning is given, and backstory are cut short. This ultimately ruined everything it was going for.
Presentation: 6/10
~{Character}~
One of Boku dake ga Inai Machi’s high points, most of the characters are very good and very consistent in quality. Fujinuma Satoru ends up being a great protagonist. Throughout the story, Satoru changes as a character. First he started out as someone who didn’t understand what his true values are. When he gets those taken away, he starts learning as he’s helping others. Hinazuki Kayo is also very good as a character. She is a victim of child abuse and child kidnapping and murdering, and the anime handles this well enough. The way she developed for apathetic and emotionless, to someone who learned how to care about others is really well done. Satoru’s mother, Sachiko, is really awesome. Her attitude and personality is something that makes her unique. However, some of her character development gets cut short in the final episodes due to the content being rushed or cut out. Katagiri Airi is a character who started out well, but ended up weak due to her scenes being cut out in the final episodes. Due to this, the viewers don’t get to see the importance of her character. Kobayashi Kenya’s also an interesting character, as he ends up being an intelligent and helpful companion to Satoru. However, the culprit in Boku dake ga Inai Machi is felt underdeveloped due to a lack of a proper backstory since around 95% of it was cut out.
Character: 6.5/10
~{Art}~,
For the most part, the art in Boku dake ga Inai Machi is really good. The background is done fantastically. The snow, the landscapes, they all look beautiful. The character designs are also fantastic. The designs in the manga very a little weird, but the anime managed to make the character look much, much better, especially their faces. However, some of the textures and detailing in the art are mediocre at times. Buildings can look a little too simplistic for its own good. It’s not like they were aiming for a more unique art style like the Monogatari series. And it’s a shame since the art for those looked really good in the manga. Also, details to objects such as cars also lack detail, which can be distracting a times. But the art design makes up for these, using a snow landscape for most of the anime to add effect.
Art: 8/10
~{Animation}~
The animations in Boku dake ga Inai Machi are great. The quality and fluidity is very consistent. The character movements are nice and the animations using very minimal CGI. Car movements weren’t done with CGi which is great since A-1 Pictures used CGI for vehicles last season in Subete ga F ni Naru, which felt very distracting at times. There aren’t any moments in Boku dake ga Inai Machi that tests it’s animations as it’s not action-heavy and not much is happening in a scene, so not too much effort is needed in animating this. However, the addition of snow falling is a nice touch. There are a couple of scenes where the animations could have been better. One noticeable scene was when a car was falling in water, the manga looked a lot better.
Animation: 8.5/10
~{Voice Acting}~
For the most part, the voice acting in Boku dake ga Inai Machi is done really well. Mitsushima Shinnosuke, who’s done dramas before, does his anime voice acting debut with Satoru and he does ha fantastic job with his character, Satoru as an adult sounds very natural and I enjoyed getting that feeling from his character while watching it. Tsuchiya Tao, who also primarily has done movies and dramas, makes her anime debut with the younger voice of Satoru. She also does a splendid job in doing her role. Yuuki Aoi does justice to Kayo’s character. She manages to do the apathetic emotions well. From the supporting cast, the most noticeable voice acting is Yashiro-sensei’s and it’s pretty damn awesome. Miyamoto Mitsuru did really good there. The cast isn’t big in Boku dake ga Inai Machi, but whatever’s done is done well.
Voice Acting: 7.5/10
~{Music}~
The music is probably one of the strongest point in Boku dake ga Inai Machi. The OP, “Re:Re:”, is very catchy and upbeat. I mean it’s Asian Kung-Fu Generation, how can it not be good! The ED, Sore wa Chiisana Hikari no Youna, is also fantastic. It’s got this child-like feeling, while feeling intense. The best thing about Boku dake ga Inai Machi’s music is the background music they use; it’s fantastic. The music is used to create a large about of suspense. The music used for some of the more relaxing/toned-down scenes are lackluster. Some of the composition is fantastic in the music. It may not be one of Kajiura Yuki’s best work, but it’s still really good enough.
Music: 8/10
~{Enjoyment}~
Did I enjoy Boku dake ga Inai Machi? Yeah, it was enjoyable. Should have I enjoyed it more? A lot more! It started off so great and enjoyable. The pacing was perfect and the suspense was there for the first two thirds. The last third started is rushing and cutting the content. The way they decided to do their climax was a smart choice since they didn’t have time to do the manga’s way. The characters are likeable, but some supporting characters are left underdeveloped. Too many loose strings are left untied, or should I say too many spider threads are left uncut (those who watched the anime will get the pathetic joke)! However, Boku dake ga Inai Machi was still a fun time, but it was just not as good as one was hoping it to be.
Enjoyment: 7/10
In the end, Boku dake ga Inai Machi is a fun time. It’s definitely worth watching just for the first two thirds. Unfortunately, the ending lacked substance, depth, and enjoyment to rushed and cut out content. And the fact that the antagonist’s backstory was mostly cut out, it makes him look too one-dimensional as a character. The way the anime made their own climax since they didn’t have enough time to do the manga’s one, was a very smart decision, even if the climax felt very convenient and cliché. In the end, Erased is a must watch for fans of its genres and is worth trying out for those who aren’t a big fan of these genres.
+ Interesting premise with great execution in the first two-thirds.
+ Likeable main characters with a good amount of development for them.
+ Fantastic atmosphere and buildup for most of the time.
+ Background music is fantastic and elevates the mood and tension.
- Some characters lack development due their content being cut short
- A lot of loose strings at the end, some due to rushed and cut-out content.
Overall: 7.2/10
