Boku dake ga Inai Machi, or ERASED, is a single cour anime set in 2006 Japan, featuring a world almost exactly as ours. The only exception to that is the existence of Fujinuma Satoru, a guy who sometimes goes back in time for a period of a few minutes, so it is possible for him to alter the recent past. This event is called by him as "Revival", and always happens when someone near him is in immediate danger. Thus, this is a driving force for him to save said person. However, after we are introduced to the cast, a major event happens in Satoru's life, which prompts the phenomenon to occur once again, though now in a major way.
The anime involves psychological drama, mystery, time-travel shenanigans and hints of romance throughout its story. While its premise is not original, we can analyze all aspects revolving it.
PLOT:
The aforementioned event sends Satoru back to 1988, when he was only eleven years old. In that year, he must solve the mistery of his classmates' murder, Hinazuki Kayo, an event that originally stuck in his mind. He believes her death is linked to the reason he went back in time, so he acts in order to save her and alter the future. The anime intertwines both years, 1988 and 2006, following Satoru's struggles to solve this mystery. Anyone familiar to the butterfly effect will recognize what is going on here: the concept is exactly the same, change something in the past and hope to alter the future for the better.
Nonetheless, the anime manages to invest us in the characters, making us root for them and their machinations, and this is the strongest point of this anime. We fear for them. We relate to them. We want the good guys to succeed and the bad guys to have their due punishments. I can safely say that almost all characters are likeable, disregarding corner cases. Satoru is an interesting character, either as an adult or as a child, and he tries to act for not only his own sake, but for the others' as well. His mother is strong, witty and cunning. Kayo is simply amazing, and she is the most developed character. Airi, Kenya, Hiromi and all the others are all enjoyable ones as well. My main gripe is with the main antagonist, whose identity is not as mysterious as the anime wants it to be, and whose motives are quite odd and rather uninteresting. Still, the cast as a whole is absolutely lovable.
While the art is pretty standard, it is good enough to fit the theme. Characters' design is pretty alright, and so is the animation itself. The same can be said about the sound design - nothing to be remembered, neither due to good or due to bad reasons. It must be noted that the opening and the endings are great songs, however.
At times, ERASED made me anxious about the events happening, in a great way. From times to times, it did extract a fine mix of sentiments from me - anger, fear, relief, joy or pity, for example. It is not frequent that an anime does that to me, and when it does, it is a great thing. It is unlike other regular, lower quality shows that do not evoke that.
To end, I have some things to note. Frequently, episodes ended in cliffhangers, which some may not enjoy. The first part of the show was more enjoyable to watch and to develop, whereas the second part featured the inevitable closure of the not-so-mysterious mystery. The latter wasn't as impactant as the former, perhaps due to the feeling of rush I felt while watching it, or perhaps due to how things did play out in the end. Also, the whole Revival phenomenon isn't exactly explained, it is just a plot device without any other relevance, which is just a little bit disappointing. Perhaps it could have used a few more episodes to flesh out some of its problems.
CONCLUSION:
Boku dake ga Inai Machi features amazing characters and their interactions. While the story itself is alright, I could not stop watching episode after episode, craving for more of Satoru, Kayo, and the rest. Assuredly, as a manga adaptation, there is nothing more to come, and that is a good thing, besides my feelings towards it. There is no room to continue the story from where it ends. I do recommend it to those who have slight interest in the theme and are unsure about it.
