Erased follows the life of Satoru, a manga artist who finds himself with a peculiar ability – ‘revival’ allowing him to jump back in the past and relive an event he must change. When his mother is murdered by a mysterious killer, ’revival’ takes Satoru back – this time 18 years ago.
What Erased does so wonderfully well is how it juggles tension, fear, friendship and a bit of romance. From the very beginning, we are plunged into a deeply unsettling ambiance, only for this to then be developed in the past. Erased is well written, and expertly layered. It seems as if Satoru rediscovers himself as he goes back 18 years, he is able to re-appreciate moments again, this time more intensely. It really makes us think about how golden the past was, but also about life chances. What chances we should have taken, things we should have pursued which we didn’t, our regrets. Yet all this is accompanied by a task, a timed mission to save kayo as well as his mother.
The established atmosphere is sombre, with infantile, school scenes hiding an injurious darkness which seems to cloak the show’s universe. Satoru finds his friends again, but he knows a dreadful fact that no one else does. In fact when watching we rarely feel relaxed at all, the only ‘safe’ areas appear to be the classroom and the house. The show is so suggestive, yet reveals nothing, we are lured to suspect, but then to eradicate. The camera timings are perfect, with the camera dwelling on certain characters just a couple of seconds too long, just to spark our senses and suspicions. The art style perfectly complements the mood of the show, and furtherly influences our suspicions. The characters have this vague, regardless look in their eyes (Yuuki is a good example), somewhat a mixture of harmlessness and harm. But again, ultimately suggesting nothing. The show can also be as tender as it can be petrifying, with Kayo and Satoru’s relationship having its (very) wholesome and moving moments (I loved the scene when kayo cries at breakfast and when she has a bath with Satoru’s mum).
The ending isn’t bad, but feels slightly - lukewarm, as if it only partially belongs in the anime. As a viewer we feel lowered into a new, awkward ambiance, these final two episodes are ultimately a ‘mini finale’, but compared to the rest of the anime, they feel like bit of a let-down. As the show’s ‘climax’ was achieved previously in the car scene where Satoru realises everything, this later ‘finale’ sadly feels a little forced. The main reason for the strange feeling experienced in the final episodes is the fact that the tension and suspense that the show carried so incredibly well from episode 1 has evaporated. A ‘suggestive’ scene in the past such as when Kenya is seen talking to the teacher carried more emotional weight and instigated greater fear and excitement than any of the ending did. In fact the reason why the show is so good is much due to the way it manipulates tension. Also the success of Yashiros character rests in the fact that he’s a perfectly normal man, but with a twist – his horrifying double nature. At the end he’s portrayed as a disarrayed, evil relishing supervillain – which he is not. The battle of wills against Satoru, even the whole ‘spiders thread’ and ‘hamsters’ thing felt totally unnecessary. This somewhat destroys his carefully constructed character. Despite the ending I loved Erased, it remains one of the best animes I’ve ever seen.
