Satoru Fujinuma is a 29 year old manga artist struggling to make a name for himself following his debut. But, that was not the only thing in his life that Satoru was feeling frustrated about… He has a unique supernatural ability of being forced to prevent deaths and catastrophes by being sent back in time before the incident occurred, repeating time until the accident is prevented. One day, he gets involved in an accident that has him framed as a murderer. Desperate to save the victim, he sends himself back in time only to find himself as a grade-schooler one month before fellow classmate Kayo Hinazuki went missing. Satoru now embarks on a new quest: to save Kayo and solve the mystery behind her disappearance.
Boku Dake Ga Inai Machi (or Erased, just for the sake of abbreviation) was probably the most interesting anime title that came out during the Winter season of 2016. And it's not too difficult to notice why: an attractive mix of a __murder mystery__, a dynamic __time-travel concept __and a __gripping thriller__ would move anyone out of their caves. Curiously, and despite the various shortcomings, this experimental bag of genres works pretty well during the first quarter of the series, __leaving a a lot of engagement that is presented in a very organic style__. However, after the show reaches its mid-point, all the positive aspects slowly vanishes as the characters grow quite stale, the pacing of the mystery starts going in circles and a conclusion that leaves a lot to be desired. Erased story goes around the struggles of __Satoru,__ your average part-time worker and mangaka that for a long time has had an occasional ability (which he calls '_Revival_') that permits him to go back in time; normally to fix some problem present on his surroundings. Needless to say, this time-travel element can awake a lot of qualms on most viewers that actually know how inconsistent and convoluted a story can turn when said element is misused to the point of breaking the plausibility or even contradicting some logic of the time-related aspect. Fortunately, this never happens...with the time-travel aspect. Meaning, that this part of the show is simply a gimmick employed to add some attractive aesthetic, thing that works well if not over-analyzed. __There is a huge amount of convenience that comes from this aspect, though__. The plot begins when the mother of the main character (Satoru) getting killed by a mysterious serial murderer, and after a lot of silly coincidences Satoru ends up escaping from the police...only to be taken back in time by the 'Revival'. But, instead of the small amount of time which he usually travels, now he moved almost 20 years backwards! Then, at that past timeline, he begins to think that his mother murderer can be related to the death of his old schoolmate __Kayo__, that curiously happened during the week he has just been send to. The most positive aspect of the series during its starting episodes is obviously __the achieved atmosphere__. When you know the MC has to rescue a girl from an imminent death, you would expect a good amount of tension and character perseverance; two things that the show incorporates splendidly. The constant snowfalls, the silent and potentially dangerous nights, a group of children that act so innocently. All this characteristics, though seemingly details, _form a very solid amount of engagement to the series_. I couldn't stop watching the first 4 episodes, everything related to the presentation was extremely well-polished. Also, when you truly can't tell who the real murderer is, it all turns very gripping. Still, problems are present on this part. Depending on how much attention you pay to the show, some flaws can be easily noticeable and thus quite annoying: like the fact that Satoru goes back in time with a body of a child but __in reality he still has a mind of a mid-20s year old.__ To make it worse, this little problem gets a huge amount of emphasis because of the repetitive internal monologues that Satoru tells with his 20-year old mind, that also happens (mostly) during events he's in a serious or heartwarming moment with Kayo, unfortunately breaking the immersion and it even can encourage a very inappropriate romantic tension for some. Whether some other flaws (like the unnecessary victimizing) can be noticeable, it depends on what mindset you're on while watching Erased. But, generally, they're not _too_ damaging. An despite the various cool aspects of its first episodes, those don't endure too much. After reaching the mid-point, the time-travel aspect comes out again to produce some conveniences that ruin the enjoyable pacing the plot was having at the moment. With that, is added a disappointing amount of __predictability__ to the mystery, just making the culprit more or less obvious before the last episodes. This happens because of a constant repetition of events that goes like a _'I have to save them all!'_ premise. Instead of going to the point of the matter, the show cares too much about including an __incommensurable amount of stupid drama, focusing on showing pity and shame instead of actual character struggle__. In other words: it goes in circles with the same basic objective, even after it is fulfilled. To take it all down, the various revelations and even the ending ended up dumb because of these flaws. What makes the entire experience even more disappointing are __the very superficial attempts to develop some themes that are mainly about the family or the loss__. While having a decent mount of drama to keep you in touch with the events, the cruelty of some adults and the reasons behind the killings feel too basic and distant to actually care about them. It basically develops from an intriguing mystery to a revelation with a level of simplicity that speechlessly treats you as a child in kinder garden. For example: It's later revealed that Kayo's mother hits her child because she suffered of the same trauma before, thing that never delves into a deeper perspective or insight. And, also, don't forget about the Drama tag on the genres description...__which leads us to the characters section__! __Satoru__ is basically, as I wrote before, an average adult male that after a lot of moving events is forced (or motivated) to save Kayo in order to also save his mom. He's not a particularly relatable character, as his often altruistic nature feels more heroic rather than human. __Kayo__ is a kuudere girl that's often hit by her mother, thus gaining the mentioned personality. She's the only character that gains some development, as she changes her personality to a more optimistic and caring side. __Kenya __is the typical cool blonde-haired guy that helps the main character to fulfill his goal. And __Airi __is a secondary love interest of Satoru that has very little screentime to care about. As you see, the cast of characters, though generally bearable, lack of enough depth to fill the gaps made by the tremendous amount of drama that's simply too overblown and excessive. About the production values, they're quite good. __A-1 Pictures __(Sword Art Online, AnoHana, Shin Sekai Yori) normally possesses good budgets, so the animation and art of Erased were certainly very nice. The color palette was leaning towards the cold, white and bright tones, well-fitting with the snowfalls and most of the characters personalities. The character design, for some reason, can be described as innocent: with different eyes drawings but the same childish and soft face design and shape. It's clearly not the kind of anime that focus on severe moments or big explosions, so the animation is just fluid for what it is. __A very well presented show on this aspect.__ __The sound is not particularly good__, though. Most tracks are just repetitions of the ED theme (which is O.K.) in different instruments and pitches. Maybe some piano solos are the only moments Erased uses some variety. The OP theme, on the other hand, is quite likable. It's yet another song with catchy one-line phrases that only change its lyrics accompanied with another catchy main chorus; but it's still nice to hear, specially once the show reaches its worst parts. The seiyuu was solid but nothing too special. __Average performance on this aspect__. __Erased was a show that consumed my patience after it became too dumb for me to give a crap about it__. Some interesting themes were going on, like family drama and other stuff, but the approach to it is just plain superficial and forgettable. About its current popularity, it's just a ridiculous fad that will fade away in some months, after another show takes its place (shame on modern viewers, really). __To sum it up, Erased is, more or less, a mess. Nothing particularly works out because of the basic characters, the mystery that unravels in a very stupid way and the forgettable finale. The interesting themes were taken down by the awful dramatic moments, and the soundtrack feels too recycled apart from particular piano tracks. If you are searching for a truly coherent and enjoyable time-travel anime that has believable drama and an extremely likable cast, stick to Steins;Gate. 'Erased' has just as much forgettable value as its name could allude to you.__
##The paradox of bizzare mixtures Why do you think there should be a starting sentence, a quote which sounds smart or maybe a brief introduction to the series? Why do you expect that to happen? The answer lies within our extrordinary strong bond with time and chronology itself. So is Erased – it has sublte and, no matter how inappropriate it sounds, realistic aproach to time-traveling. Why did I like it so much then, some may ask and I'll bestow effusive prays on them because of that simple question. Even though the storyline is simple, naive and typical, I completely adore the strong feelings it carries – I wanted to know what will happen and at the same time I didn't want to experience those events which were about to come. I was trembling every time nasty but tasty cliffhanger appeared – it was simple. I managed to see through it and in no later than 3rd episode I knew the answer to The Question: Who? Even though, I felt through eve~~ry single emotion, every single one of those little dissapointments and every single one of the biggest shots right in the heart. Ask me why is that and I won't be able to answer in just one simple reason – there isn't even the major factor. Maybe plot? As I mentioned the story itself is simple and naive. Silly, some could say and those woudn't be wrong. But as far as I'm concerned plot isn't just a story – it's also storytelling, directing and the atmosphere. Could the ambience, which follows so superfical storyline, be strong enough to draw such an animeworm's attention? Maybe it's all about narration of a 29-year-old man trapped in a body of a little boy? I guess it makes the difference. Somehow it deepen feelings and make whole series more realistic. I could identify myslef with this little brat only because his way of thinking wasn't irritating ( as it was eg. with Kaneki or Shinji ). So, artstyle then? It is mild. Correct but washed out off personality. But the directing is so intense that it felt as if it is living creature which is talking to me and making fun of me all the time. Despite of the artstyle being only pretty good it has it's moments – frozen tree and the park illuminated by only one lattern. My score is round TEN points out of ten. Why? Primo, I was trembling because I deduced what will happend and I didn't want to observe my expectations became true ( as they always did ). Secundo, the obvious mix of heavy atmosphere and heartwarming almost utopian moments or the hidden mixture of fabulous grown-up narration in the world of middleschool. Neither the story nor characters nor the artstyle made that show amazing but those weird mixtures which shouldn't have worked. I'd say that this series changed the time-paradox to paradox of bizzare blends.~~~~~~
Warning this Review May contain spoilers- So another review but for one of the most popular shows I've seen in a while, making it to the #2 spot on the anime-planet rankings. This was definitely a show that everyone wouldn't shut up about and honestly I can see why they wouldn't, to me it was good but not my type of anime. STORY The story was good, the pacing was good up until the end and it overall was very consistant in what it was producing. It was only the ending for me that got me a bit disappointed, and I know that is how the manga ended and to some people it was the best way to conclude the series, that may be so. But it just seemed really empty and honestly quite predictable (but I won't spoil as that's kind of the whole point of the anime). Other than that the character development was quite good and the build up until the ending was quite good. ANIMATION The animation was great, I couldn't find much wrong with it....yeah nothing is perfect in this area and I felt when we got to certain points it started to lack in this area but it was still good. The opening animation was nice as well, bright colours and interesting way to present it, all good here. SOUND The sound, no complaints really. The opening was catchy along with the ending, I did hear both of these before I started watching the series though so while I was watching it didn't impact me much. The voiceacting was good, they were perfect for each characters at all ages. CHARACTERS Characters, urgh, this was my main problem, I just found half of the characters introduced pretty pointless in the overall scheme of things. Our main character was fine, I haven't got much to complain about him and Kayo was a cute girl to go alongside him. I just wish that some of the other characters were noticed more, they seemed to focus on Kayo and Satoru then the other characters just kind of faded into the background. Satoru's mother was a nice touch as well and I like how she impacted the story :3 I kind of wanted more of Airi, I feel like she was one of the characters that faded once everything went a bit weird. That ends another review, thanks for reading xx -SwiftArrowYui- Please Note: Originally this Review was from anime-planet from my other account- AngelBeatsYui
[Disclaimer: The arguments I've made for story structure and such I'd probably still stand by. However, events of the plot I didn't judge necessary to address when I first wrote this review I can't say if I'd defend now. I made the choice to let the review as it stands and make no further edits.] I was originally not planning in writing anything in regards to this anime in specific, as I thought I had nothing interesting to say about the title. However, after reading the analysis by Zephsilver, I managed to put together some thoughts in regards to Boku Dake ga Inai Machi (or Erased, if you are not fond of tongue-twisters) that I’d like to offer in addition to the debate. I also would like to say: Zeph, I appreciate and respect your text, since it had a rational depiction of your perspective that I could reasonably grasp, but I’d like to politely disagree. Before getting into the review, though, I want to give some context: before the beginning of the winter season I had read the synopsis of Erased and added to my Plan to Watch list, as it seemed mildly interesting. Later, after watching the first two episodes, I was hooked by the premise and highly invested in what could be the outcome of the story. Only then that I got to know about the hype surrounding the series and from that point I witnessed the internet go insane over its score. __Story and Characters __ My reviewing method for this one will be somewhat different from the norm. By the time I’m writing this, the series itself is still surrounded by controversy with two sides with very questionable motivations either raising it as the best thing since Page 3 or clamming it’s an overrated abomination pandering to masses who want to think of themselves as smart (doesn’t that apply to 99% of humanity?). Here, besides commenting of the story and characters within the work, I’ll also discus some of the arguments brought up against Erased and offer my perspective if they are correct in any form or if they hold any water. The first thing I think it’s important to understand is that Erased is, at its core, a very simple story. Besides the time-traveling plot, it has a very streamlined narrative and it is focused almost exclusively on the actions of the main character, in accordance to the fact that he is the “strange element” in the child timeline (suddenly feels like I’m talking about Zelda!). What it avoids in complexity, it opts to use in character interaction, developing the drama and the motivations that move the story forward. Before I get to the meat of the argument, though, let’s talk about some of the characters. Fujinuma Satoru is the main protagonist. “Gifted” with the ability he calls Revival, he can go back a few minutes in time, whenever something bad is about to happen. Detached and constantly feeling unfulfilled, he holds a strong regret due to events of his childhood, when two of his classmates were murdered and one of his friends was incriminated. These feelings lead him to distance himself from his past, but he is forced by a Revival to go back to the days of his childhood in order to prevent those crimes. Hinazuki Kayo is the girl who Satoru wants to prevent from becoming the first victim. Frequently abused by her mother, she avoids interacting with her classmates and is usually seen alone. She initially tries to keep a distance from Satoru, not understanding his motives for trying to get close to her, but his friendly demeanor ends up softening her emotional barriers. Yashiro Gaku is Satoru’s teacher and one of the main agents in the narrative, as he seems interested in solving Kayo’s family situation. Satoru later comments on how Yashiro was an influence to him due to a speech he gave at school, before the story had began, and a specific moment in which Yashiro looked like what Satoru expected his deceased father to be. Shiratori Jun, mostly known as Courage, is an adult who was friends with Satoru in his childhood. Socially awkward and with a heavy stutter, he feels more comfortable interacting with children, which leads him to be framed for the child-murders Satoru tries to prevent. Besides feeding the motivations of the protagonist, the story also uses him to briefly comment in how his inability to be socially active and preferring the company of children led society to misjudge his intentions, especially when Satoru faces a similar situation in the future. While the thriller aspect of the anime is in the center of the driving forces of the narrative, the bulk of the emotional investment Erased strives to build is on the bonding between Satoru and the people he is trying to save, and his motivations within the story. Great focus is given to his interactions with his friends, who with the exception of Ken’ya, who seems unusually mature for someone of his age, are all very believable child characters. By that I don’t mean being as obnoxious as an inch-deep testicle wound, by the way, these kids are actually designed to be likeable. This aspect of the story is built upon until the conclusion, where they play a part in finally getting the killer arrested. Having all of this in mind, let’s tackle some of the complaints about the series. “The time travel element is underdeveloped” The time travel element is kept simple. Firstly, Satoru’s ability to go back in time is nothing more than a plot device to put him on the track of the murders and since it seems to be simply a supernatural element instead of the usual sci-fi occurring, keeping it simply is a better idea. The story in Erased isn't about time travel, it just features such element as the one necessary for kicking the narrative into motion. Stories that are centered around time travel usually stumble and fall when they decide to flesh out this element without paying proper attention to consistency, which leads to gross plot-holes. Maintaining this element simple and undetailed allows Erased to avoid major inconsistences and focus on the main drive of the story. Also, I know some people were upset by the second instance where Satoru goes back to his child-self as it seemed he had gained control over his ability. To that, I hope you can forgive me stepping out of my polite demeanor for a while to say: For fuck’s sake, that only happened ONCE and it doesn’t even look like he had much control over it! Being it a supernatural ability, and one that seems to have a mind of its own, nonetheless, the event itself isn't so out of place as one might think. “The identity of the killer is obvious and the reveal is underwhelming” This complaint is one that fans and detractors of the series seem to agree, although in different levels of importance. I mean, the opening itself tells you who it is. The point of contention here is not whether or not the average viewer can easily guess the killer’s identity, but the purpose that such attribute plays in the story. To some, working under the mindset that Erased’s genre is Mystery; such flaw would represent a sign of incompetent use of red-herrings, as well as inability from the writer to effectively create other suspects. In other words, hack writing. Fans of the series, however, work under the mindset that Erased is, in reality, a Thriller. Such idea is supported by an interview with the director of the anime, where he states: - “I see this story as a suspense thriller, or well, a human drama in the guise of a suspense thriller” By that definition, the tension within the story would come not from the mystery over the killer’s identity, which is constantly flashed throughout the story, but from the knowledge the audience has in opposition to the cast, since knowing who is the killer would raise tension whenever he and the main characters were close, and that emotion would then culminate when the villain finally reveals itself for the protagonist. Some of his attitudes could be very ambiguous, like the ones at episode 09, but they ultimately filled the role of driving him closer to Satoru, which would then lead to their connection in the years to come, finally bringing his downfall, as Satoru himself had become the killer’s weakness. But seriously, folks, the opening just flat-out tells you who it is in the very episode the killer is introduced, how do you get to reach episode 10 still thinking it's supposed to be a secret in the first place? “Erased becomes an unfocused mess in the latter half” This is the one argument to which my response is a categorical NO. Before I get into a fair explanation in relation to that statement, though, let give a better example of how to define lack of focus. For that, I’ll actually give the other face and throw under the bus an anime that just so happens to be one of my favorites, Ergo Proxy, because self-awareness is important. The first 8 episodes of the anime are some of the most tightly written episodes in anime, with barely any line of dialogue wasted and plenty of subtle details in character reactions. Right before the first half, though, the main characters go into a journey looking for the truth behind the main mystery of the series, and from that point on Ergo Proxy adopts a highly experimental structure, focusing plenty of episodes in isolated conflicts tied only to the theme it wanted to address in that specific episode (I apologize for the repetition). Very little of those episodes has connection to the main goal, and when the characters reach their destination it turns out to be a dead end, forcing them to return in order to find the truth. For all of that, it’s not unreasonable to say that Ergo Proxy specifically lacks focus on its narrative. From the point Kayo leaves the center of the plot, Satoru’s objectives change, from saving the girl to protecting the other victims and uncovering the identity of the assassin. As a result, the series follows along with such change and turns its eyes to him, in the same fashion as does the danger of attracting the attention of the villain, just like we would see later on, when Satoru’s actions lead him to be the new target. In that sense, the anime simply shifts its focus, it didn’t lose it and that was the natural root to take. That also leads us to another topic; “Erased lost its charm once Kayo left the picture” I always found questionable the idea of attributing the entire appeal of a story in a side-character, but that aside, let’s understand this argument: The idea here is that, since the anime spent so much time revolving around Satoru’s efforts to save Kayo, much of the audience’s investment was crafted around the girl, as she would be the one the viewer would immediately want to see shielded from harm. The series does many efforts to frame her in sympathetic light and give her endearing qualities, so when she is moved away from the plot many felt it had wasted their investment. This is a comprehensible thought, indeed, but I believe it ignores another important aspect of fiction: by maintaining focus on a character that has already fulfilled its narrative purpose, the work runs the risk of saturating such character, diminishing the values that made them endearing in the first place and ultimately compromising the story to make room for them. Moving Kayo away from the narrative not only makes sense from a logical point of view, as it completely places her away from the killer, but also preserves her from becoming a hindrance to the story and leaves her character with the emotional baggage that comes at play during the last episodes. There is a merit in avoiding wish-fulfillment if it prevents characters from becoming a problem to the flow of the narrative. "The ending is rushed and the villain's motivations are poorly explained" This criticism specifically I can understand on the basis of how the anime progresses in his final episodes, but I’d like to explain the reason for my disagreement by discussing one of the references made by the villain, the spider thread tale. This element is first brought up at the beginning of episode 11, when the antagonist comments that after a specific event during his childhood, he begins to see spider threads hanging above the heads of his victims, in reference to a tale about a criminal who gets the chance to escape from hell using the thread sent by Shakyamuni Bhudda, but is condemned once again when the thread breaks, in punishment for his selfishness. In this tale, the thread was the last source of salvation given by a superior being to a soul in despair, so seeing it above the heads of those he wanted to kill can be interpreted as the antagonist’s desire to be someone above his victims, to be an “entity” with the power to condemn or give salvation. When he is finally defeated by Satoru, he sees a spider thread above his own head be torn apart. This is the point when he realizes that he was powerless and susceptible to being manipulated and judged just like his victims, he realizes he’s not an entity in control. By the same line of thought, he takes an interest in Satoru, after the kid survives his first attempt to kill him, because Satoru was the one able to escape his judgment. __ Presentation__ I believe many of you heard Erased’s visuals being called “cinematic” and that is actually a statement that holds water, as the anime utilizes some techniques of traditional cinema in much more noticeable fashion, a result of the experience the director had working with other professionals like Hosoda Mamoru or Araki Tetsuro, this last one an expert on making anime with mainstream appeal. Now, another term I believe can be applied to the show’s presentation, in general, is minimalistic. The characters are frequently framed in wide shots within the scenery, with the fixed camera giving full comprehension of the environment while the figures are kept small and with minimal action. The purpose of this directing style is to avoid the viewer getting lost in the imagery and lead them to focus only on the details that are relevant to the narrative. In the other hand, it also serves to emphasize emotional moments and heighten the impact of scenes that display a little bit more of flare, giving them a whimsical feel. This trait also manifests in the characterization, as the shots stealthily introduce certain details and character motivations, like the hero’s Mask in Satoru’s bedroom, to show a figure that inspired him as a kid, or in the manner in which the killer is framed, from the point he’s fully introduced to the brief interactions that hint to his identity, like when the camera is focused upwards, mirroring Satoru’s perspective. These choices of framing serve to cut on the necessity of exposition, reducing the dialogue only to what is essential. This can also be noticed on the sound work: important scenes, like the moment Satoru makes the first impactful contact with Hinazuki, frequently opt for not having soundtrack, driving even more attention to the dialogue and giving full responsibility to the viewer to infer on what is going on between the characters. For an anime that has been accused of being heavy-handed, I’d say this directorial decision is pretty respectful towards the audience. The points that feature soundtrack, though, don’t tend to be impressive. Most of the noticeable tracks play their purpose, but are fairly generic, serving only to highlight the specific mood the scene wants to convey. Exceptions would be, of course, the highly catch opening, the fitting and mellow ending, and tracks such as “Only I am missing”, “I have to save her”, which is brief but very effective at crafting tension despite the upbeat vibe, “Reasoning” and “She was there, alone”. Hum, I’m noticing a pattern here! When it comes to the acting, it’s very consistent with character portrayal and overall quite solid, but one aspect that might raise disagreements, more than usual at least, is Satoru’s voice actor. Despite a solid performance, even taking into consideration it’s his first anime role, Shinnosuke Mitsushima is one of those actors who has a voice that is too singular, which can drive attention away from the acting itself. __Personal Ramblings__ I think now we can address some of the external questions related to Erased. Is Erased the best thing since dark beer? No, I can myself point out more than a handful of titles that are better, without taking away from the anime itself. Was it overhyped? Sure! I mean, it’s hard to refute that an anime getting into MAL’s top 10 before it is even finished is quite a ludicrous event. Is the negativity warranted? My stance, at least, is “not really”. I believe it’s fair to ask how much of the negativity towards the series is a direct result of its hype, as some people might think it pressures them into a position. I’ve seen even better shows get attacked with far less meaningful arguments, as a result of public opinion being highly favorable towards them, so the attitude itself doesn’t surprise me. The most interesting question, though, seems to be: how did Erased of all anime become so hyped? Think about the most notorious titles of recent years that can be considered overhyped: Attack on Titan was a shounen with focus in drama and a high body count, with an overall gritty setting and story; Kill la Kill was a self-aware ride of nonsensical action with very little restraint; One Punch Man was a parody of superhero tropes centered around fast-paced action and comedy. To think that a slow-paced thriller like Erased, with such an emphasis in children interacting and very little action, would become the hit of the season is a very surprising event. I must admit that I somewhat enjoyed the polemic surrounding the anime, not so much for how it affected the show itself in the public eye, but because it rings specially close to one of my personal beliefs: fixation on scores is bullshit! People going crazy over one title’s score seemed ludicrous and drove the discussion away from the important elements by turning it into an exercise in group-think. Now you had to rate the show a certain way so that your opinion could be taken seriously by certain sections of the anime community. Now, however, the fires of the flame wars are on the rout to be tamed, so I thought it would be a good idea to offer my perspective on the anime, hoping that it can invoke some respect around. Since this is the section of the review I leave (specially) dedicated to self-indulgence, I’d like to talk about specific details about Erased that I really like: I like Satoru’s interactions with his mom as a child, showcasing that he still cared for her, even with the distance between them in his adult self; I like his interactions with his friends, both as a child and as an adult, when we can see the contrast their relationship takes; I like the lack of control Satoru has when talking as a child, showing the disconnect between his body and his mind; I like the meaning the title takes at the end of the series; I like the whimsical moments between Satoru and Hinazuki, which really drove home the meaning of his actions even at short term; I like the childishly awesome lines Satoru’s friends said; I like when he reads the text he had written as child, about his favorite hero; I like it, simple as that. With this review I don’t aim to change people’s opinions or scores about Erased (although if it leads more people to give the show a try it would be really cool!), I hope simply to showcase how this opinion in specific can be valid, because as minimalistic of a story as it was, it did something for me, and for that I appreciate it.
Warning this review contains spoilers. First impressions, so I am doing a review on an anime that is the top ten on my anime list at the moment what could possibly go wrong. Story, 3/10 So the story begins with this guy named satoru a falling mangaka. who has the ability to time travel when ever some one dies near him and he is forced to save them unless he wants to live out a time loop for the rest of his life. So one day while going to visit his mother or something like that he finds his mother dead and out of nowhere people see him covered in blood and see his mum dead body and now think he killed his mother Just before the police arrest him. he is just magically transported 18 years back into the past, Where during this time a string the children marders was happening, realized what's happened goes on a quest to solve the mystery behind these marders Ok so this sounds good enough I mean we got some mystery shit going down with who is the person who is killing these kids and we got this we got to save these kids before they killed going on in the background. So overall the story for eased sounds like a good idea on paper. The story basically is him living out his younger years and befriending an abused girl who will become the first victim in this series of child killings. And him solving the mystery of who this child killer could be. Which I thought overall the story was interesting and it has this sort of nostalgia feeling to it. Because main character is getting the opportunity to live out his childhood years again and play dragon quest with his old friends. The only positive I am going to say is that the mystery is interesting and they build it up very well and it's really sad that this is where the pros end. Because time for the cons One problem I had with this show is that the main character who has this time travel power with nothing explained why he has this power or if there are other people with powers like him. Another problem I had with the whole time travel thing is that it kills all tension in the plot because when somethings bad happens he can just time reset and very thing goes back to normal. It makes the drama that comes up in this show very cheap, forced and overall not engaging. Oh yes speaking of drama. It drama for the most part in this show is mallow drama and shock factor involving a little girl being abused my her mother Because reasons. yet people will tell me that this is realistic and not forced in any way. Also quick question how many of you guys reading this review right now just level with me here how meany people do you know that are abusing there kids right now? Like they could have done more with it instead of using it for shock factor and cheap emotional manipulation. Ok another problem I had with the mystery. Because as a mystery show this so this is so god dam convent when it needed to be. Like for example the killer info dumped about that he was the killer and why he did it. Oh if you want to know why he did it I will tell you it was because why the hell not. I mean one day you when your an adult you get little bored and then this idea comes to you a geat way to pass the time by killing kids you know this happens all the dam time you see it in the news so often. Also there also some romance in this show. That is pretty much the text book example of paedophilia With the main protagonist being sexually attracted to a ten year old girl. And Just because he in a ten year old body doesn't excuse it. On paper it's fine just sadly it put pretty colors and presentation over actual substance and depth Characters,3/10 The main character is as bland as toast and also comes of as a complete loser that learns nothing. Because i would actually expect a character who is an adult to have some sort of personality. The side characters are one very one note. Like even the kid characters don't even act the like kids like when could kids psycho analysis on an adult who lives in the Internet age. I know the some children can be very smart and can pick up thing most people will miss but I don't believe that those characters are those type of children. Also the Main bad guy was very disappointing as well I mean all that build up for that. And also the main character didn't even figure out who it was Because the killer just info dumped what he was doing and his evil plans to the main character. Who at the time didn't come to the proper conclusion to who the killer was like he was close but he still had other factors to think about before he reached the actual conclusion. It like that thing in movies where the bad guys like info dump there plan to the good guys and then the good guys stop there plan. Art,7/10 Very well done animtion. It also fits the tone of the show with this Kind of dim color scheme and also the fact it also winter In The anime with makes it quite. The background animation is fine as well it goes very well with the whole it's winter. The character designs I quite like them. Because the kids look like real kids. Sound, 6/10 The opening is quite nice to listen to. But it didn't really catch my interest but I still think that quite a few people could get some enjoyment out of it. The ost is ok there are few parts that don't really fit with the whole tone of the show. The ost was done by yuki kajiura who has done the ost for sword art online and fate zero. Sub voice acting as ok-ish Enjoyment, 5/10 So the only thing I like about this show as the idea and the ost. other than that I thought that this show is over hyped and i also think it doesn't deserve to be on the top ten anime list on m.a.l or any site for the matter. Overall, 4/10 So if you want to see a good example of over hype and how it can destroy a show as a whole then this will be a good show for you to watch. It also a good example of what not to do when your writing the story. If you like mysteries or want to check out mystery shows. then maybe esraed would be good one timer experience, But other than that I couldn't really recommend it.
Hype can be a fickle thing when it comes to seasonal anime. At first it allows fans to get excited and anxious for the next episode, but majority of the time it ends up with many feeling somewhat disappointed with what they had been watching. This can be attributed to the fact that only one episode is released per week, and this week-long wait between episodes is a breeding ground for die-hard fans to praise a show as one of the best anime after only having seen a couple episodes. You only have to see the ‘Top Anime List’ on MAL to see that whenever you’re reading this, there’s probably at least one show currently airing that snuck its way onto the list, only to slowly drop off once hype dies down and reality sets in. At one point I was a victim of this mentality, but now after experiencing disappointment as a result, I see hyping up a show like this as asinine, often leading to impairments in judgement. Erased, a Winter 2016 anime produced by A1 Pictures is one of the best examples of this: before the halfway point of its runtime, Erased had managed to capture the #4 spot on MAL’s Top Anime List, a feat I have never seen any other weekly seasonal anime do. And as I am writing this it isn’t even in the Top 50 anymore, with many of its top reviews being negative; truly a fall from grace. So, looking back at show over a year since it ended, here are my thoughts on Erased: __*EDIT: SPOILERS ABOUND, BEWARE IF YOU LIVE UNDER A ROCK AND SOMEHOW HAVE NOT WATCHED THE SHOW YET*__ The story of Erased follows Satoru Fujinuma, a struggling manga artist in his twenties living a rather dour life, having to work a pizza delivery day job to make ends meet. However, Satoru has a supernatural ability called ‘Revival’ that causes him to travel back through his own time, usually only by a couple minutes, allowing him to stop any accidents or disasters nearby. The catch is that Satoru’s time-travel ability works out of his control, being the setup for the premise of Erased. By the end of the first episode Satoru finds his mother murdered at his house, and is quickly framed as the prime suspect. This chain of events causes Revival to activate, sending Satoru 18 years into the past and back to his 10-year-old child self. Seeing this as a sign, Satoru uses this opportunity to prevent the abduction and murder of three young students at the hands of a serial killer, starting with the first victim, Kayo Hinazuki. The premise alone is nothing special and somewhat contrived from the start, but the way it is presented through great visual direction along with setting up an important mystery element in the murderer/serial killer leaves viewers eager to see how things will unfold. Episodes 2-4 are what I consider to be the highlight of the entire show. It’s in these episodes where we see Satoru attempt to save Kayo’s fate through befriending her when no one else would. Kayo is cold towards everyone due to domestic abuse from her mother and her overall troubled life at home, so it’s no surprise that she does not care about Satoru’s attempts at friendship initially, but Satoru remains committed and continues to pursue her. The process takes some time but she slowly opens up to Satoru and sees him more like a real friend as time goes on. The 4th episode also leaves us with a cliff-hanger regarding Kayo’s safety; was Satoru successful in stopping Kayo’s fate? Or was all his effort still not enough to change the past? The character interactions, atmosphere and overall direction all worked well here, drawing more viewers into the world, the relationship between the two leads and Satoru’s goal. The supporting characters also get some shine on screen, with Satoru’s mother Sachiko and his teacher Gaku slowly getting more involved in the main plotline, as well as his friend Kenya who seemed to know more about the story than what a boy his age should have. Characters still need more development, questions still need answering and they could use some more exploration overall but from the great setup so far, it’s not surprising that fans were excited for the series and what would happen next. Sadly, this was the highlight of the show, meaning what would happen next would be when the series starts to fall. It’s revealed in episode 5 that Kayo did in fact go missing, and Satoru having failed to change the past is brought back to his own time, still under suspicion of Sachiko’s murder and goes into hiding. He encounters Aira, his co-worker who believes him to be innocent and allows him to stay at her place. Aira was on screen with Satoru before the time-skip, even admiring him after seeing him save a child from being hit by a truck, but it’s here where her overall character is explored and, unfortunately, there’s not much to go into. Airi and Satoru have a conversation about how she can trust him and she reveals how her parents divorced over the theft of a chocolate bar, this being one of the dumber explanations in the show overall. Regardless, from using that awful example she states how she has conflicting thoughts when it comes to believing in people and their motives. This could have been an interesting concept if explored into, but that never happens, and that seems to be a common nuance I have with the show overall. It has these interesting concepts and elements that could have the series more interesting and deep, but they all end up being undeveloped, underwhelming and a waste of potential. The writing only gets worse from here. Satoru activates Revival through sheer willpower and reverts back to his child form soon after he is found and arrested by police, and with this second chance he intends to do everything he can to stop Kayo from being kidnapped. His actions go so far as to ‘abduct’ her himself and attempting to murder her mother. Both of these actions are pretty ridiculous, especially when you consider that it’s a 29 year old man that’s doing this, not a child. Eventually he returns her to her mother, who reacts violently towards Satoru and Sachiko, going so far as to try and kill Sachiko with a shovel. Now it is obvious that Kayo’s mother is a loon that needs more than just counselling, but I find it annoying how she was previously shown to have gone through all the trouble of making sure her abuse wasn’t noticeable, given that she was shown to have almost struck her daughter while in the company of other people. Through poor writing as the plot progressed, she proved to only be a one-dimensional villain; a mere caricature that ultimately holds no merits. Unfortunately, she’s not the only one who turns out like this. It is at this point where I see the story start to turn into shambles. Because of her mother’s actions, Kayo moves away to live with her grandmother and away from Satoru, and with that subplot finished, Satoru begins on working to save the lives of the other two abductees. So far the show was loved by many at this point because of the progression of Satoru and Kayo’s relationship and their individual development; Kayo learning to open up to others and Satoru never giving up on others. It was a cute friendship with hints of romance that swooned the anime community with its cute charm and visual guise. So when one half had left the show, it made many viewers feel like their investment had been somewhat wasted, myself included. However, there are more problems that stem from this change of focus, mainly in regards to the characters. The other two victims are Hiromi Sugita, one of his classmates, and Aya Nakanishi, a student from a neighbouring school and viewers learn next to nothing about either character. While Kayo was never the pinnacle of character development by any means, she mattered so much more to the overarching plot than Hiromi and Aya. It is so obvious that they are nothing more than replaceable characters to make Satoru look more heroic and likeable. Other supporting characters are also left lacklustre, with much of their rationale turning out to be, ironically, irrational. Kenya, one of Satoru’s classmates, is perhaps the biggest example of this, seeming to be a character that was far more intelligent than he initially led on. But he just ended up getting shafted by poor writing, like most of the other characters in the show. The best character by far is Sachiko, and the reason why is because all of her actions are completely logical as well as the fact that beyond episode 1, she is never really explored, thus never even having the chance to get screwed up unlike everyone else. But there is one character that stands out from the rest by just how awful he was utilized, and that is the real culprit; the man that abducted Kayo 18 years ago, and in present-time killed Sachiko. That man was revealed to be none other than Gaku Yashiro, Satoru’s homeroom teacher. This revelation is made in episode 10 to Satoru minutes before his apparent death by being trapped in a frozen lake. This moment had any sense of shock or suspense completely absent because no one who watched this show was even surprised! The killer’s identity is so obvious that it destroys any element of mystery – which it was initially marketed as – and does not help the show in any possible way. It only takes a couple episodes to figure out who the killer is with the blatant foreshadowing, and even if by some chance you don’t realise it then, it’s simple process of elimination. Just ask yourself “Which characters look like the killer?” and there’s probably only one person that comes up. Another issue I have with the character is how he is presented as a mastermind for half the show, seemingly omnipresent and always throwing the blame to someone else. But towards the end, he turns into this incompetent idiot so drastically that it’s laughable. Gaku being caught as the killer is also incredibly stupid to the point where you legitimately cannot take the series seriously anymore. It’s as if his entire development jumped off a building ala Satoru in the last episode. Terrible Matter of fact, the entire ending is terrible and leaves a sour taste in the mouths of even the most die-hard fans. From the lead up with Satoru being in a coma for 15 years, to the final moment where Satoru and Airi meet again, it is all so contrived and full of plot holes that makes me wonder just what the original writer was thinking. Satoru becoming a successful manga artist afterwards because he ‘found himself’? I call bullshit! It left so many questions unanswered and decided to go for a “happy ending” than anything realistic, sacrificing what was left of any good writing and revealing its true colours as a show that at its core, was just emotionally manipulative. Its comparable to a slap in the face to those who wanted to know more about the world and the people in it, but perhaps the biggest problem I had most of all was how it completely ditched the concept of Revival. The very first thing that intrigued me about this show was the Revival ability. While I did care about other features of the show later on, I was always thinking about the concept of it and how it could be explained. Time travel is in no way a new concept when it comes to anime, and the notion for it in this case seemed to just be a simple plot device to move the narrative along, but with time, effort and proper focus, could have developed into something more substantial. But as the show went on, the potential for this slowly dwindled down to false hope. At first, Revival only activates when an accident happens nearby, but on the fourth reset he was able to trigger it by yelling “Go Back!” with no accidents nearby him (of course, this had to happen the minute after the police had found him). And then they have the audacity to say Revival no longer activates once the real culprit is caught. What was even the point? The time resets were only used when it was convenient with all kinds of ways to trigger them, losing any sense of consistency by the end. When it comes to the visuals, Erased is consistently good with some breakout scenes here and there. The animation was done by A1 Pictures, a studio well known for their shows having a similar art style and while I can see many similarities to shows like Sword Art Online and GATE, Erased’s style feels more refined and unique. This is probably due to how the show tries to go for a more cinematic look; the animation techniques used really helped to intensify the plot and overall atmosphere. It has the kind of visual look similar to that of Mamoru Hosoda films, a kind of spectacle uncommon among the medium. The way Erased was also able to present character emotions, specifically Satoru’s internal conflict is certainly commendable; the kind of detail that is rarely seen in anime. However I do think the overall animation is somewhat overrated when it comes to symbolism. Both their handling and utilization of ‘red is dead’ and spider threads are rather poor, adding nothing to the actual narrative. When these literary devices are dumbed down so much, it should not be praised. Spoon feeding symbolism to viewers like they are all children is just lazy. Thankfully, Erased does manage to excel when it comes to its music. The soundtrack was composed by Yuki Kajiura, known for her great work on the music from Sword Art Online and Fate/Zero, but here her work feels somewhat unimpressive. Many of the tracks complement the variety of scenes they are in, but overall are fairly typical and generic, with one OST in particularly – Only I Am Missing – sounding more like a classic Ghibli track than otherwise. The OP and ED however, were definite standouts, with Re:Re being an upbeat catchy opening that was never skipped and the ending fitting the mellow undertones quite well. Both were well crafted and made the experience more enjoyable. The English dub overall was well done, with extra compliments for having Satoru sound the least anime-like of all the characters; a rare yet wise decision from the director. Not only was this choice helpful in making the story feel more special, but also helped make Satoru a more likeable and relatable protagonist. The sound effects were the most admirable part of the entire show, as throughout all 12 episodes it has some of the most technically proficient use of basic sound that A1 Pictures has ever produced: from the footsteps in the snow to the whistling wind. These little things made the most impact in my opinion as it further immersed myself into the story and overall experience. And thus, these are my thoughts on Erased. It set the standard quite high in the beginning, but this turned out to do more harm than good in the long run. I would still recommend the show as it is an enjoyable watch and tells a heart-warming tale of a man trying to save those he lost in the past. But that in no way correlates to a good show. For every aspect about how visually stunning the show is, lies a handful of issues and problems in the writing. And when it slowly exposed these flaws it was as if the show was a snowball rolling down a hill, gradually picking up more plot holes and contrivances overall. But when it hits the ground, it breaks apart under its own weight, leaving hunks of snow in its place. Children still play with what is left, until it slowly vanishes and disappears from the ground. They’re all sad the snow has left but only for a short time, as they all see right on the horizon another snowball starting to make its way down the hill. And just in time for the next season too.
"The town without me. That is my treasure." --- _This review contains only mild spoilers for the first episode, just like the summary._ --- img700(https://i.imgur.com/Vjc20ff.png) __Introduction__ "Boku Dake ga Inai Machi" tells the story of an struggling manga author who feels estranged from everyone else since a devastating incident happened in his childhood which has made him callous and bitter. However Satoru has a strange ability which he has no control of - whenever something happens harmful happens around him, he is sent five minutes into the past as if he was meant to prevent it. This ability which he calls "Revival", however efficient in preventing said incidents, can have harmful side-effects to himself as he gets entangled in matters he would otherwise be only an observer of. This time-traveling quirk has yet to prove the lengths at which it can transport him back in time, and as he becomes involved with a string of grisly abduction murders, he is taken to revisit his past and to try to prevent them. --- img700(https://i.imgur.com/4MvKQwb.png) __Story & Enjoyment: 10/10__ The story pacing is slow for a thriller but in my opinion, does not rob you of your enjoyment, as it creates both enough suspense and times of reflection for you to connect the dots and make sense of the multiple time lines happening. The story itself is a crafty web of intrigue and action as Satoru devotes his newly acquired opportunities to re-do his past mistakes, and is occasionally thwarted by the inevitability of certain key events. If you have seen Steins;Gate or other time-traveling pieces, then you must be well acquainted with the thrill and frustration that comes with this kind of endeavor, and if so, I cannot recommend this anime more to you! Finally I cannot appraise enough how beautifully intricate the plot is laid before our eyes in these twelve episodes and in particular the ending, which (without revealing any spoilers) wraps everything up in such a wholesome experience for the viewer, connecting all the final dots left to connect, and leaving enough space for the viewer to imagine what may come to pass from thereon. --- img700(https://i.imgur.com/nuil7TZ.png) __Sound and Music: 10/10__ The soundtrack is not there to shine by itself, but to envelop and complement the plot in its tones and variations, ranging from sharp and mysterious keys that accompany the suspense-filled scenes to beautiful sad pieces that go with the most sad and heart-warming scenes that the anime world has to offer. --- img700(https://i.imgur.com/m1nCrMt.png) __Art And Animation: 10/10__ The art is superb, everything from backgrounds to character designs and lighting is top-notch art work. The directing and editing also features some really incredible and smooth cinema transitions like match-takes, crafty but almost unnoticeable L-Cuts and J-Cuts in intense conversations building to climatic effect, the pan-outs, zooms and everything else that makes up a varied and uplifting editing work. --- img700(https://i.imgur.com/FZo0yBm.png) __Characters and Voice Acting: 10/10__ The characters are unique and by no means follow character conventions. All the characters seem rather simple, but at the same time show levels of depth, feelings, transformation and growth. This an anime where you may find yourself feeling empathy for plenty of characters, both the good and the bad, enjoying every tiny bit of information about them, as with each little bit they reveal another facet you had not yet considered they might have. What surprised the most, though, was the voice acting. The voice acting is probably one the best you'll ever see in an anime, both the child and adult voice actors are outstanding. The delivery of key reflections and revelations with their natural, well-toned and empathic voices, resonates in you. So I do recommend you try the Japanese audio, if not for this then for the loveliness of the Hokkaido accent! --- __Conclusion__ To me this anime was life-changing, a refreshing reminder of what makes me like anime in the first place. As mentioned, the story plus the ending were such a beautiful and wholesome experience it brought tears to my eyes. I hope if you're reading and have already watched the show forgive me for being unable to find any fault in this anime to deduct points from, and if you haven't then what are you waiting for? Thank you for reading!
Okay, so I went into this anime hearing a lot about it. Both good things AND bad things, especially with regards to it’s ending. I was fully prepared to expect it.......and I still couldn’t help but feel disappointed. But before I get into the spoilers, lemme talk a little bit more about my overview. In general, the storyline and plot was VERY interesting and engaging at the same time. Even through the storyline, the character development and interaction was always kept in place. I appreciated how the characters weren’t too forced or generic either, especially with Kenya. Let’s get on with the final review! Art and Animation: 7.9/10 - Okay, nothing too special here. The character designs were cute and unique, but as far as the pure beauty of it, there aren’t those “magical moments” that take our breath away. There were definitely some parts that were so bad they were laughable, and yes, I even LAUGHED. Anyone remember that part with the airplane in the background? Yup, that’s the one.... Soundtrack and Audio: 8.5/10 - Gonna give it a solid score, that OST is just great! So good that I listened to it every episode, and I didn’t even get tired of it one bit. Other than that, there isn’t much of a soundtrack. As far as the voice actors go, they fit the characters very well. No one was too annoying or obnoxious, which is always good. There definitely was potential though when it came to adding more of a soundtrack throughout the anime. Just wish they delivered a little more in this department. Storyline and Character Progression: 7.2/10 - This is where this anime struggled the most. I can really see now why many felt the way they did about the ending of this anime. Overall, minus the ending, the story was engaging and interesting. There weren’t many mistakes in the execution of the storyline, and the characters development was very interesting to watch. Just a warning though, MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD! ~!So as I said, the overall beginning of the anime was VERY good. I was engaged and on the edge of my seat every episode as I tried to figure out who the killer was! I loved each episode as Satoru and Kayo grew closer together as he strove to save her from her cruel fate. Kayos progression as a character was clearly seen, and it fit the pacing of the story very well. My main problem with this anime came towards the end........the infamous “amnesia” plot twist. There was absolutely NO reason why they had to throw this generic plot twist in there. Was is to accelerate Satorus age to face his teacher? Was it for the final showdown to happen? One thing is for sure, this amnesia “time jump” completely threw all character progression out the window. This is why I don’t like it the most, because in the end, Satorus relationship with everyone just advanced 15 years without him knowing. On top of that, the girl he saved and devoted his childhood to got married with a useless boy who BARELY received any real screen time or attention. Like, I would’ve somewhat understood if Kayo got with Kenya, but there was NO chemistry whatsoever with his other friend. It’s as if any and all character progression or interaction didn’t matter. As far as closure goes, it’s as VERY weak and predictable. Satorus showdown with his teacher was still interesting, but was missing that “something” to really make it a true Final Confrontation. Even the ending with him meeting Airi was pretty light in terms of reunions. Their relationship wasn’t deep enough to really make this reunion a powerful and emotional one, it felt very standoffish to me. It felt as if something was holding both of them back from really accepting one another and further develop their relationship. I know this anime doesn’t focus on romance, but if it’s gonna give a love interest to a protagonist, at least make it make a LITTLE sense. Unfortunately, with the awkward relationships and development after the amnesia, it really made the original storyline fall apart.!~ So there you have it! In the end, this anime fell short in terms of closure and finishing the story. While it was about average in terms of its overall performance, it’s strongest point was the early development of the storyline. In the end, the final score of Bokutachi is... 7.8/10 I really enjoyed this anime a lot more than I rated it, but there were just too big of mistakes in terms of storyline execution. Hopefully the rest of you can overlook these mistakes and just enjoy the beginning of this anime. Well, this ends the review of Bokutachi! Hope this helps you to decide whether to give it a try, but I definitely recommend it! That’s all for now though, see y’all in the next one! ~~~Streaming Platform: Crunchyroll~~~
Time travel is a dangerous concept. I'm not referring to how meddling with the past is an astronomically terrible idea that could invalidate the future. I'm referring to how things are never gonna fully make sense once you use it. An entire anime based on time travel is bound to require you to make concessions in order to still appreciate it. If the character writing and general narrative are strong enough, even the dodgier time travel elements can be excused. Just look at "The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya", the most beloved and most gorgeous installment in the Haruhi Suzumiya franchise. Meanwhile ERASED is an example of what happens when the writing can't hold up to scrutiny, crumbling under the time travel weight. Perhaps that's not accurate enough, especially since for about 2/3 of the series, the writing is generally solid despite its child characters being practically written like teenagers and the directing being a little heavy-handed. Call this a case of a beloved series going downhill: the classic television tragedy. One of the major problems of the series is that it tries to set itself up like a mystery when: A. It barely follows up on that until episode 10 despite how much the show likes to remind you of this plotline, mainly focusing on time travel and relationships instead. B. For a mystery, there really weren't enough feasible suspects, and the true culprit doesn't carry a very strong motivation for committing the crime of murder in the present day, one such murder that affected main lead Satoru enough to inadvertently jump 18 YEARS into the past. Sure, a dramatic story about child abuse is presented, but the payoff to both that and the "mystery" set up at the beginning were so unbelievably bad that they kicked off the ruinous final third of the series. Then again, the cracks were beginning to show earlier on. After discovering that Kayo's mom beats her on a regular basis, Satoru convinces his mom and his friends to allow him to hide Kayo somewhere safe, knowing the danger of both her mom, and a kidnapper that happened around this time. He convinces his friends that this was all just role play, and given that, it is more than a little difficult to accept how they allow this to temporarily change their lives so abruptly for an extended period of time. The time travel aspect isn't really fleshed out or explained properly, as it's apparently supposed to be this involuntary and symbolic thing, yet if it's so involuntary, why did Satoru have to manually activate it via screaming towards the heavens? What is up with that stupid, stupid time skip? What is with the whole symbolic anecdote about the spider web from heaven? Perhaps the manga makes sense of all of this, but you shouldn't have to handwave it with "oh it's symbolism" so that it can be a justified and still not properly explained core mechanic of your series and its world-building. Then again, that's the price you pay for settling for a 12 episode slot when what you're adapting requires at least one and a half times that amount if shows like Blazblue Alter Memory were any indication. The finale being a laughable Batman and Joker style encounter after a huge time skip that ends via asspulls and anticlimaxes is just the final nail in the coffin. From what I've gathered, integral aspects of two characters (Airi and Kenya) were cut out from the adaptation. As troublesome as that is given their lack of relevance, both of them were generally likable. Satoru is a likable enough protagonist forced to grapple with all sorts of death while reeling through the failures of his manga-author life, while his mother is perhaps the purest character in the entire show. The other mom in the show, Kayo's mom, is utter garbage. For the majority of the show, she's just this singularly vile being without a hint of redeeming or tragic qualities to speak of, and then episode 9 tries to pull a sob story out of her in an attempt to make us care. Yeah, no. Fuck that. Maybe try making her an actually complex character instead of trying to make her earn cheap sympathy points at the very end. It undermines the abuse story, which was already hampered by the mother being almost cartoonishly evil. Kayo herself is a jaded child character suffering from abuse, and the target of the audience's sympathy. She's ok for what she is. The main antagonist of the show is not only obvious, but very shallow and idiotic as a villain once he's revealed. Also, yes, it is odd seeing tweens (11-year-olds to be specific) tackle such serious topics so seriously, even despite Satoru convincing them that this was role play, all except for Kenya who knows what's really going on. Maybe if these guys were around the age of 15, it would be more understandable in a lot of ways. They're basically written like teenagers anyway. Despite how terrible A-1 Pictures' working conditions are, they're sometimes capable of releasing anime that look pretty good. This is perhaps one of their most visually distinct titles. Some of the environments look great, particularly the sky during the aurora Borealis scene. The art style is also one of the more attractive ones that this studio has done. Tomohiko Itou's directing is a bit hit and miss. There are some problems with how heavy-handed the visual communication can be, especially regarding its...shall we say, "liberal" use of the "red means dead" motif. On the flip side, there are plenty of lovely match-cuts and shots that are simply gorgeous. The letterboxing also adds a distinct style to the show's visuals. The OP, "Re:Re" by Asian Kung-Fu, Generation, is one of their best songs. Even more impressive are its visuals, always having more than enough stuff moving to not only keep your eyes plastered to the screen, but new tricks and sights to see if you merely slightly adjust where you look. The ED, "Sore wa Chiisana Hikari no Youna" by Sayuri, is one of her best songs as it's a wonderfully uplifting and grandiose song with a somber start before kicking into overdrive. The vibrant colors and minimalistic shapes are also a feast for the eyes. As for Yuki Kajiura's OST, it's surprisingly unmemorable. Nothing really stood out, which is odd for her and disappointing for me. There's really nothing else I can stay. I remember when a few episodes in, ERASED was widely heralded as an absolute masterpiece. Things sure do change. After the show's final act, ERASED quickly went from a critical darling to one of the most common examples of a great show that couldn't stick the landing in the eyes of many. Several fans would still recommend the show despite the dodgy conclusion, and to some extent, I can see why. There aren't that many abuse stories in anime, let alone popular ones. It does have an exciting premise. Its visuals are some of the best in the studio despite some heavy-handed moments. That said, I'm not sure I can do the same. The show isn't terrible, at least until the last act. However, it's difficult to recommend something that implodes later down the line. It's even more difficult when the show was already questionable at times beforehand. It's a shame since I did enjoy this show at first, and there are great things that can be said about it. Alas, here we are at the corpse. The case behind this particular murder is closed, and the autopsy is complete.
~~~img(https://i.imgur.com/QaJD46b.jpg?1)~~~ When I first heard about the popular 2016 anime, _Erased_, my initial thought was, "Another time travel anime about fixing your past? Come on." It didn't impress me and I wasn't sure what all the hype was about. _Madoka Magica_ did it, Mamoru Hosoda did it with _The Girl Who Leapt Through Time_; all of them taught you that traveling back in time to change your past is a very bad idea. There just doesn't seem like anything new you could say that hasn't already been said. By the time I've finished the series, however... I was left in tears. _Erased_ is probably one of the most sincere love letters to the often mocked values of friendship and optimism in children's anime. The series is a message of hope even when there is none, and it even reconstructs the idea of friendship in anime by saying that friendship is not given freely, and you need to dig deep and take that first step first if you're feeling lonely and disconnected from the world. Such a message couldn't be more relevant for our protagonist, 29-year-old Satoru Fujinuma, a comic book artist who's struggling to create a compelling story. His editor tells him to "dig deep" to find that voice, but at the start of the series, he doesn't know what that means. He's someone whom I relate to on some level because it's revealed that he only puts up a polite and civilized front as a way to make friends as he doesn't know how else to socialize with people. In a society like Japan with an increasing number of hikikomori (or social recluse), this is probably a very relevant theme for them as well. Satoru also possesses an ability called "Revival," where he's able to experience events ahead of time (usually from 30 seconds to a minute) whenever something bad is gonna happen. However, even when he does use this ability in the beginning, it doesn't feel like he does it because he genuinely cares about others - it feels more like he does it because the power is a part of him, so he might as well help others with it. There's this detachment Satoru has from "normal people" where he doesn't understand their humor and doesn't try to communicate further than ordinary greetings and conversations. In that sense, you could almost say that it doesn't even matter if he's erased from his town. Nobody will miss him that much aside from his own mother. ~~~img(https://i.imgur.com/wXJI7BQ.png?1)~~~ But everything changes when a tragic event involving his mother, Sachiko Fujinuma, leads to his Revival powers magically transporting him back to 1988 in his 10-year-old body. In order to prevent Sachiko from meeting the same fate, he tries to find the links to the incident that led his Revival to return him 18 years into the past. This leads him to encounter his classmate Kayo Hinazuki, a victim related to the tragic event in the future. She accurately discerns that Satoru is merely acting amiable towards others just to get along with people, and through his interactions with Kayo and his other classmates (whose help he seeks to protect Kayo), he gradually learn what it means to connect with people and the precious friendship one could gain from such effort. Usually, I'm not one to care about anime dealing with themes of friendship and family, not because I think they're childish, but because because I don't have many friends and I'm not that close to my own family. Friendship is practically an alien concept to me and I'm in the shoes of Satoru as well, putting up a front just to get through life. But there's just something so sincere about Erased and its childlike way of dealing with an adult issue of disconnection, the way it brings you back to your childhood when you were playing heroes with your neighborhood pals, and the way it shows how such small efforts could result in greater relationships in adulthood that inspires one to try putting in effort the way Satoru does. Furthermore, the anime isn't simply about good guys fighting bad guys like many adventure anime such as One Piece, but instead, it's a mystery thriller that deals with the very realistic theme of child abuse and how hard it is for child protection services to find out the truth about these abuse. In a report back in May, the National Police Agency of Japan says that a total number of 1,991 minors in Japan aged under 18 were victims of child abuse in 2019. Of the 1,991 child abuse victims, 1,654 were subjected to physical abuse, followed by 248 who were sexually abused, 53 who were verbally and psychologically abused and 36 who were neglected. Naturally, in the year that the anime is set in, 1988, such abuse was very much prevalent in Japan with unclear regulations as to what constitutes "abuse" (particularly unclear was the definition of physical abuse). In a survey during 1984, over 70% of parents supported the use of physical punishment on their children. Even the revised Civil Code of '97 approved the use of such punishment as a form of discipline 'in so far as it is necessary,' so it can be very challenging for the authorities to determine what is abuse and what isn't. ~~~img(https://i.imgur.com/KWS6G3U.png?1)~~~ Knowing what I know about child abuse, the anime feels very realistic in its portrayal of such crimes: the Child Protection Service would be unable to protect Kayo in spite of repeated reports of abuse; her mother, Akemi Hinazuki, would hide away bruises and coerce her daughter to lie about the abuse; and Kayo's behavior of reclusiveness, anxiety and self-loathing feel very much like the traits of such abuse victims. Oftentimes, it can prove difficult to watch the anime because of how authentic its portrayal can be. It all goes back to the anime's theme of disconnection between people, how it can be difficult to reach out and help someone facing such hidden abuse or even to reach out and seek help when you're under the coercion of your own parent, the person whom you trust and look to as a guiding beacon. Growing up with such physical and emotional scars of my own, I just can't imagine how someone could bring himself to hurt an innocent child. It's explained why Akemi acts like this in the anime - she was a victim of abuse herself - but I found it hard to sympathize with her in spite of understanding this perpetual cycle in abusive families. While spending time finding clues to what he's supposed to do, Satoru comes across an essay written by Kayo that the anime title is based on: The Town Without Me: _When I get bigger, big enough to go somewhere by myself, I want to to a land that's faraway, I want to go a faraway island, I want to go to an island that has no people, I want to go to an island that has no pain or sadness, There are no adults, children, classmates, teachers or my mom on that island, On that island I can climb a tree when I want to climb, Swim in the sea when I want to swim, And sleep when I want to sleep, On the island I think about the town that I left behind, Kids go to school as if nothing has changed, Adults go to the office as if nothing has changed, Mom eats as if nothing has changed, When I think about the town without me, I feel sense of relief, I want to go far far away._ The town without Kayo, where she becomes just another statistic that's forgotten in 18 years, another unsolved case in some record book. It's a depressing yet realistic view of cases like hers. Determined to change her fate and that of his mother's, Satoru begins to dig deep and welcome Kayo into his life. For the first time ever, he makes a great effort to do whatever he can to reach out to someone to prevent tragedy from repeating. It's an emotionally riveting tale that makes you root for him, even as he fails, stumbles and has to do it all over again with his 'Revival.' ~~~img(https://i.imgur.com/4c0xm7c.png?1)~~~ Interestingly, the essay and the title's meaning would take on an opposite tone by the end of the anime, a more optimistic tone that reflects on how Satoru's earnest efforts have left behind impact on the people around him. Even when he's far away from people, his actions have made him memorable in the hearts of many. In a town without him, his friends and family patiently waited for him. Something has changed, but only because of his conscious effort. But that's the extent of spoiler I'm going to go into. Remarkably, a lot of people hated this ending with a passion, most notably those who have read the original manga and loathed the changes the anime has made to the conclusion. There are two major changes that led to this outrage; one involves a more subtle change related to romantic commitments that I personally find nonsensical to complain about, while the other is a change that's more understandably hated because it lessens the depth of the antagonist and reduces him to a generic psychopath that does things "For the Evulz." I'll address the second change first. Apparently, the final episode of the anime crams several chapters of the manga into a single episode, resulting in not only 1) the villain's motivation not explained, but also 2) a contrived plan put together by Satoru and his friends. I could understand why people were upset with this, but I'll explain more on why I'm not that bothered by the this change later on. Satoru's plan does seem annoyingly contrived and convenient, yes, but when you consider the larger theme of friendship and belief that the anime seems to be subverting, it just makes sense why this ending plays out like a typical children's anime where the hero conveniently saves the day. ~~~img(https://i.imgur.com/1pb1PwF.png?1)~~~ The other major change is the more subtle one. There's a very tiny detail where between the events of episode 10 and 11, the manga explains why Kayo gradually grows separated from Satoru and marries someone else instead of waiting for him. The anime left the detail out. Yeah. That's the complaint, that the anime fails to explain why a 10-year-old girl wouldn't wait for her savior and chooses to move on with life. Such an action is normally something one wouldn't need to ask about if he uses common sense, but apparently, this change is too drastic for many manga fans as everything needs to be explained. And the thing that's so peculiar is that the anime didn't even really seem like a romance drama to me. It's supposed to be about a guy learning to open up to people around him through his childhood friends. It's an endearing exploration of the relationships you could build if you make an effort to dig deep and find that courage to reach out to people. I don't get why whether if Kayo moving on is explained or not should matter in such a story. Why does everything have to be about romance? It's not a romantic story! It's not about whom marries whom or which characters you ship! And while I could understand that the exclusion of the villain's backstory is indeed problematic, the thing is, I wasn't that bothered by it because 1) I didn't read the manga so the difference wasn't noticeable for me, and 2) the villain doesn't really matter because this is a story about Satoru. The story still works fine even with a stock villain because it still manages to touch on its more heartfelt themes of connecting with people; the villain is secondary. And if not having experienced the source material still results in you enjoying a show (such as watching Watchmen without reading the comic book), is the adaptation really that bad? It must be made quality enough to still generate such emotions from the audience, and in the case of Erased, I was literally moved to tears by the time the anime ends in the final scene. ~~~img(https://i.imgur.com/eybJdE2.png?1)~~~ As the end credits roll in the final moments of the last episode, we see Satoru, now a successful comic book writer who has found his voice, narrates an essay he has written in his younger 10-year-old voice. The essay, titled "My Hero", is written in a way that mirrors Kayo's essay, and it describes how he lacks the courage to dig deep and take the first step in gaining allies. The choice of word for "allies" used in the Japanese dub of the anime is a special one: nakama. It particularly carries a lot of weight in children's anime like One Piece and Fairy Tail, and while it can be used to say "friend," it's mostly a boyish term for "comrade" or "ally," a relationship that's closer than just a "friend." Satoru says that while he has "friends" (he uses tomodachi to denote 'friends' here), he doesn't have "allies" because he lacks the courage to reach out... unlike the superhero he worships on TV, "Wonder Guy", whose perseverance to fight on no matter how tough life gets earns him his allies. I can't tell you how much I love this final scene because not only does it show how much Satoru has grown as a person, having his own allies that he bonded with as a result of reaching out to Kayo and his classmates (as opposed to just "friends" he works with at his workplace), it's also clearly a tribute to those anime someone like me would normally dismiss as "kiddish" and "juvenile" because of their simplistic themes like courage and friendship. By the end of the anime, it shows how much significance such values we'd usually take for granted can mean in the adult world, having that courage to step out and bond with people. I think with how I feel towards such values and anime that explore them, such a message resonates deeply with me. In the end, Erased isn't just another whodunit mystery or even another generic time travel sci-fi, and even though it portrays child abuse very realistically, it might not even be about that. Considering that it's a seinen anime targeting adult males, one might say that it's meant to appeal the aforementioned social recluse who has lost touch with the world and forgotten the bonds one could make with others if only you just dig deep with courage and make that first move. It might seem like a childish notion that relies on the belief in people, that they will reciprocate your gesture, but Satoru has said something else in the last episode that addresses such a belief: _"'I believe' is such an odd turn of phrase, isn't it? I mean, if you truly believed from the bottom of your heart, you wouldn't need to spell it out. It's like saying 'I believe in air.' So people only say 'I believe' when they doubt something? I'm not trying to say that 'believing in something' is a barefaced lie, just that they are words of hope born from a desire to believe."_ Notably, Satoru only comes to this conclusion because, while he was accused of a crime the villain has committed in the anime, his co-worker, Airi Katagiri, was the only one who believed in his innocence. When asked why, she said she didn't necessarily believe in him, but rather, she wanted to believe in him, the same way an innocent man like her father (who was also accused of a crime) wants to be believed in. Perhaps that childlike faith is what's required for us to connect with people. After all, what are stories but a medium to empower our beliefs?
Erased had a lot of things to be a masterpiece. A lot. The plot is intriguing and hooks you completely, the characters are amazingly written and the whole show is entertaining. THAT WAS....UNTIL THAT TERRIBLE ENDING. Well, now let's go Synopsis by our friend wikipedia: "The story follows Satoru Fujinuma, a young man living in Chiba who somehow possesses an ability known as "Revival", which sends him back in time moments before a life-threatening incident, enabling him to prevent it from happening again. When his mother is murdered by an unknown assailant in his own home, Satoru's ability suddenly sends him back eighteen years into the past." Firstly, the things that I liked... and that is Almost everything! The directing was a bit heavy handed at times, imo there could be some changes here and there, but that's personal. I watched the first episode and immediately went on a rampage to watch everything in that same day. I was expecting some kind of turn near the end, a brilliant thing... And nothing happened. So let's go to things I really dislike First off, why did they make so godamn obvious who the culprit was? Not going to give spoilers here but from the start I was thinking "Hey, this person is so suspicious it's probably not them" AND IT WAS THEM. For no other apparent reason than "oh boy they psycho >:::v they kill kidss!!! Scary!!" In the end, I think they were fairly well written. Just...why not make the culprit another person? Another thing [SPOILERS] ~!Did they just try to redeem Akemi by giving her a tragic backstory? A woman that abused her own child multiple times like that does not deserve to be forgiven so easily. Seriously. What. The. Fuck. !~ OKAY YOU CAN READ AGAIN NOW cof cof Satoru's friends have no f l a v o r or much relevancy. I heard that in the manga they were way more complex characters so I guess that's what happens when you try to put a whole manga on a 12 episode anime. I also think the whole thing when he screamed for his powers to conveniently work was really really forced but ok. Okay, let's go to the thing you have been all waiting for.... WHAT THE HELL IS THIS ENDING? Not just the ending, everything after episode 10. It sounds like someone tought "what's the worst ending I could write?" and just went with it. I seriously cannot stress enough, it is so lame. I was watching it with my mom at the time and she called what was happening in the roof ~!"homosexual tension" and I think that answers everything. WHY DID THIS SCENE FEEL...ROMANTIC??? It really isn't supposed to be but that dialogue mam... yikes.!~ Not going to spoil it here but it is on the edge of ruining the show completely. They tried to seemingly transform it on a superhero dialogue (awfully a lot like Batman and Joker) ??? Why would you do this. Why. I am in despair. My life is ruined. So is Erased worthy your time? Yeah, maybe it is maybe not. I personally think it doesn't really matter the ending is so horrible if the anime had a great start. Do you think endings can ruin an anime? This one isn't for you tho. Are yoh chill about anything and thinks the synopsis sounds cool? Go ahead! Remember to drink water and bye bye
Very nice thriller/mystery anime. Based on the manga with the same name written and illustrated by Kei Sanabe, was animated by A-Pictures and directed by Itou Tomohiko (both known for their work on SAO, among others). It has an interesting plot well executed and developed throughout the series but very poorly presented. We don't get to know anything about Revival. How did it appear? Who gave it to Satoru? Also, the characters don't have a very detailed personality or a deep background, but that's kinda forgivable since most of the characters are just school kids. Of course, there are some characters very well designed. A detail that I really like is the red jacket Kayo usually wears (because of the color meaning) and how it is related to her life and past. The soundtrack is one of the biggest pros of the series, using classical instruments to represent such themes as loneliness, happiness, fear, devastation in a brilliant way. It certainly generates emotions in the viewer, and helps the plot a lot. The opening is a great song that fits very well with the environment as well as the ending. The seiyuus work is pretty good overall, but I would've liked to feel a little bit more from the lead actor. It was a little bit expressionless to me, mostly in Satoru's adult phase. But again, it is somewhat forgivable as it was his voice acting debut. The art caught my attention very much; the pale and soft colors suit the atmosphere of the story perfectly and I really can't imagine anything different. The direction in general seemed quite neat to me, and left quite memorable scenes thanks to the direction/animation rapport. However, with all that said, I've to admit that the main plot twists throughout the series were quite predictable, and as the chapters went by my suspicions became practically a hidden truth. The series suffers a lot with the lack of development in some themes like the time travel, which I already said before, or in the characters' actions. The first episodes are quite filling, they give you a sense of satisfaction when watching them, but from there the segments that should be determining for the plot feel very rushed or lacking in detail. The biggest issue I find however is the development of the characters: Satoru is a 29-year-old man, mangaka wannabe, who shows indifference towards society but has a strange ability of going back in time some minutes every time a human being's life is threatened. Sounds weird, doesn't it? There's also Kenya, a very clever boy to be 11, but that simply dedicates himself to fulfill a supporting role for the protagonist,not being able to solve or do almost anything despite being much smarter than Satoru. Or Kayo, who at times feels like she's presented simply as plot bait rather than as a child, showing us the struggles she was going through. I have to say in favor of the series that as the chapters progress you can see the changes in the way she acts and how she changes for the better thanks to the actions of Satoru and the rest. ------SPOILERS ZONE!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED------ Master Yashiro - who reveals himself to be the killer in the 10th episode, despite truly looking as a villain, makes many mistakes for being a killer, starting with the simple fact of why he didn't change targets when Satoru started to interfere. Furthermore, the reason why he carries out these atrocities does not convince me personally. But not everything is negative; There are some adorable details that help make the story more moving: The perspective they gave to Satoru's actions, as if he were a real superhero, not really getting anything in return (or in Yashiro's words, getting Kayo's smile); the "are you idiot?" too or the one that I find the most important: How Kayo and Satoru use the "a town without me" differentiated by the circumstances that both lived at the time. Kayo, in the terrible conditions that she found herself, wrote that story as a real relief, as if it were a utopia (which it was), wanting it to happen, trying to get out of the depressive spiral in which she was living. And Satoru, in the final episode, quotes those words to thank his friends, to thank them for having lived that time he lost while he was in a coma. A duality not so far-fetched that all it achieves is to move you even more Overall, I enjoyed this anime so much, especially the first half, and it generated several sensations while watching it - I even cried at some point - but it is true that the new original ending, changing the one that the manga has, wasn't the best idea at all, because it practically killed all the plot they've built up until that point with a really flat scene in the rooftop with only Satoru and Yashiro. Thhe development Satoru had with the other people after the coma got lost in the anime as well. Thanks to this, many people really thought Satoru and Kayo should have ended up together, when in reality that type relationship was never destined to exist between them. Satoru's and Kayo's relationship goes further than just an affective one, it's a relationship between two people that overcame terrible adversities thanks to each other. It is almost surreal, but the scene with Kayo's baby shows that. If they only would have animated all of Kenya's scenes or even just allign Satoru's thoughts with the manga this overreaction towards Kayo and Satoru not being a couple could've been easily avoided. However, despite how poorly they treated the finish of it, the anime's definitely not bad at all. In fact, it is pretty good, but it's true that the anime doesn't reach its full potential at all, and if only they would've treated the last episodes better, it would be a great great work.
Honestly, I started erased thinking it'll be boring. Though, I was quickly proven otherwise. The second episode is where it got really, really good. I got hooked right after that. The story was interesting, and really well done. The characters were all very well written, and interesting on their own. Erased made me think, and I love anime's that do that. It dealt with serious problems, like child abuse. Though many anime's do deal with child abuse, erased went into depth of how much it affected Kayo. The breakfast scene, though quick; dealt with a lot of emotions, and showed just how neglected Kayo was. It felt real, and honest. It made happy, and sad, angry. A whole pile of emotions. It was close to home too, which made it all the more heartbreaking. ~!!~Seeing the characters grow, and seeing how Kayo moved on, got married and had a kid, made me very happy. Till the very end, the show had me.. hooked. Even after we figured out who the real villain was, getting to know that it was Yashiro was strangely disappointing. Like Satoru, you wanted to believe he was good. It kept me on the edge, till the very end. If i could go back, and re-watch it, totally erasing it from my mind, I would. This show was probably the best show I've watched in a while, I'd definitely would suggest a friend to watch it. The animation style, the characters, the story. All of it, even the relationships between the characters were all beautiful. Kayo's and Satoru's friendship was warm, and sweet. They may of not ended up together, but I believe their friendship is a lot more important then anything. They have a sweet bond, one that's platonic, but gorgeous. Watching Satoru live his life without regrets, was amazing too. Seeing how everyone grew up, and became their own people, was so cool. I wish there was more, I'd watch it, no matter what. Satoru was an amazing main character, and I'm glade he finally became happy with himself, and content with the life he's living. You kinda cheered Satoru on throughout it all, and I like that. Basically, the show's amazing. Its worth the watch, and the time. I've honestly re-watched so many time, and it's just as good as the first time I watched it. >"Believing in someone." That's a weird phrase, isn't it? After all, if you truly believe in a person, you wouldn't need to say, "I believe in you." It's like saying, "I believe in air." >When I get bigger, big enough to go somewhere by myself, I want to go to a land that’s far away. I want to go to a faraway island. I want to go to an island that has no people. I want to go to an island that has no pain or sadness. On that island, I can climb a tree when I want to climb, swim in the sea when I want to swim, and sleep when I want to sleep. When I think about the town without me, I feel a sense of relief. I want to go far, far away.
# ~~~__This is mine and only my opinion on this and I hope you'll understand my point of view.__~~~ ~~~Also this is my first ever review where I mostly talk about the show so don't expect professionalism. And do expect spoilers.~~~ # __All the things that I liked.__ First things first. Erased is awesome, I often really like the time travel ability in anime and stuff, and this one is just, YEAH. The first episode is really what surprised me and got into it. Unsuccessful mangaka that works as a pizza delivery man, that later shows that he has the ability to rewind time by 2 to 5 minutes. Saves a kid but gets into an accident, not really sufferring any major damage. His young-looking 52 year old mother visits him and then kinda makes him remember what happened in his childhood, giving us the information why he has a "hole in his heart". Or something like that, philosophy stuff. He then later with his mother prevents another child abduction by the main killer of the show... (All of this is in the first episode, so I don't need to write an entirety of it here as you should already know it.) Predicted the end of the episode by guessing that he will go back like really far into the past after his mother gets killed, and because of that I wanted to watch it even more. My friend later joined and started making Steins;Gate references which kinda added a bit to the experience. But also prevented me from getting all the emotions I could've had in the fullest. (Not important) I really, really liked the child Satoru with a mind of 29 years old man, that was pretty funny when he mentioned it in some situations. And I also liked how much he wanted to save Hinazuki, everything he did was cute and wholesome and I really liked that. Gave me warm feelings. _(Typing so much "liked" to show how much I enjoyed this.)_ Was a bit sad that he couldn't save Hinazuki even after doing so much. He only delayed her death by 1 day. But it was to be expected because it was only 4 episodes in. Then we learned that because of it he didn't really change the history, only that on a paper she was 11 instead of 10 and her death date wasn't 2nd March but 3rd. Also the relationship between Airi and Satoru gets better and I think that was cute. After he gets caught and arrested because of Airi (not her fault) he desparetly activated "Revival" and went back again, gave himself a second chance. Would be awkward that after shouting "TAKE ME BACK", he would just stand there, shocking some people, not accomplishing anything. And again, it was really cute and wholesome with Hinazuki and Satoru together, making us think that they would be in a great relationship in the future. More warm feelings. All of his friends trying everything to help him help others. Kenya helped the most. He kinda himself changed the future with Satoru by just wanting to talk to him. Cool stuff! Satoru while trying to save Hinazuki (and succeeding), also goes out to try and help other victims and the potential ones. By this he saves Hiromi and Aya. Also, the opening is even better after watching this! I used to listen to it sometimes without knowing anything about the anime, but after watching it, it really is impactful. Because it reminds me mostly of Satoru and Hinazuki, which is cute and wholesome at the same time. <3 And now. # __All the things that I did not like.__ Pretty much the entire ending. Because of that I can't give this 10/10. Unsatifying. Satoru not getting the fact that Misato could not leave the bathroom by any means. Like, he saw her going into the bathroom. Why would he believe that she could just leave without him noticing that? She didn't even know he was there so she would not have any reasons to go out the window if it was there??? Also she could not leave the same way the teacher came to see Satoru, because why would she??? He is 29 years old mentally, he should've known that! Well, maybe he just trusts his teacher more. BUT THAT SHOULDN'T BE THE REASON WHY HE DIDN'T SUSPECT EVEN HIM! (He realized his mistake later but AHHH.) That just shows that Satoru is too trustful... And I hate that. (Maybe I just watched too much anime with good endings but oh well. I am me.) ALSO HE COULD JUST BRING AT LEAST KENYA ALONG... (or he could follow him, they all are too trustful) :( Because of that he gets into one of Yashiro's traps. He catches his bait and thinks Misato is inside the trunk of someone's delivery truck (forgot who's) and because of that he falls into another trap. I still don't get why he gets into a car that's clearly white, not dark blue? That's clearly not Yashiro's car... But maybe he was just in a rush and did not notice that, I can get that. Still, annoying. Satoru's belt is stuck (another trap) and because of that he just gets dumped into the water with a car... Not dying, but gets into a coma for 15 years... _Which he obviously could avoid by not getting into the stupid car._ 15 years later and he wakes up. His mother is alive and happy and every one of his friends are saved. They come to visit him and then... We see that Kayo has a child with Hiromi... (Satoru gets his memories back because of it ofc) well, this is kinda depressing after seeing Kayo and Satori getting along together so well in the past, expecting to see them together in the future, married. But this is very understandable since he was in a coma, but still sad and unsatisfying. :( Then the ending of the ending. Satoru meets Yashiro and of course, Yashiro makes his move. Puts something in Kumi's medication just before the surgery and brings Satoru to the hospital's roof. They talk and Satoru of course tells him that he recovered his memories. Then we learn that Yashiro's been taking care of him too, when he was in a coma. Trimming his nails, cutting his hair. They talk some more and then Satoru says that he cannot kill him. Then he rushes in his wheelchair into the opening on the roof to fall off. Yashiro saves him, not allowing him to fall off. Satoru says that Yashiro cannot live without him, that he is filling that hole in his heart (from his own philosophy). Which then he agrees on, he releases Satoru's wheelchair, making him fall off. And after a while, he is getting ready to kill himself. Only that everyone is at the bottom, firefighters, police and Satoru's friends (who saved him from the fall). Telling him to surrender as he is caught on attempting a murder. (Damn, I do not like typing out half of an episode xd) Yashiro didn't kill himself because Satoru survived, so he had not reason to. Yeah, that's cool. It shows us that Satoru ultimately won by having his friends and family save him in return for what he's done. Some years later and Satoru can walk again, gets his job as a manga creator and that's pretty much all. He doesn't get anymore "Revivals" , he meets with his friends, and then we see him going outside, meeting Airi once again, in this new perfect timeline he created. Also we see the "Revival" butterfly at the end, probably showing us that everyone who he met in the past timeline, will meet in this one.
How would I summarise Erased? Well, there’s plenty of heartwarming scenes and (emotionally manipulative) moments that will make you want to cry. Consistently great animation and art, and I thought the differing aspect ratio was a nice touch too. The soundtrack is solid, with some particularly good ambient tracks in the more tension filled and tender moments. The actual story is interesting if somewhat unoriginal, and I had plenty of positive emotions about the show once it was over. So, I’m kind of conflicted with Erased. When it’s good, it’s very good and the show never hits a true low point. The problem is that there’s a number of notable flaws which, while they don’t sour the experience overall, they prevented a ‘good’ series from being ‘great’ or even something above that. Before I go into my problems with Erased, I’m going to give the show some leeway because (as is usually the case) most of the faults lie in the fact that they had to fit a lot of story and character development into just 12 episodes. Meaning, they had to cut out content from the source and even had to change the ending too. Let’s talk about the mystery first. Well, let’s be honest here and say that there was no mystery. It was blatant from the beginning who the perpetrator was and I rolled my eyes at the reveal. Any possible tension started fading away early on because it was so obvious who the big bad was. I had hoped they’d be a bit smarter about it and possibly even present a different (or at least plausible) villain to us but that didn’t happen. Even his backstory was severely cut down. I guess you could praise it for how ‘in the open’ it was but it didn’t work in practice. Just a missed opportunity, and probably the biggest disappointment in the show. It’s gotten a lot of criticism, but I thought the ending was still decent. That’s the problem, it was ‘decent’ and not any better than that. I wasn’t left with a bad taste in my mouth, and again it comes straight back to the problem of fitting everything into so few episodes resulting in them having to come up with a new ending. The pacing for most of the series while not perfect was still acceptable, but the last few episodes felt rushed. My main fault with the ending lies with the ‘final showdown’ which makes use of a trope called ‘Batman’s Gambit’. You’ve probably seen this plenty of times before but didn’t know it had a specific name, so here’s Tvtropes with the details https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BatmanGambit (god I love that website). To put it simply, I despise this trope with a passion because it’s intellectually lazy and rarely plausible. Parts of the last two episodes felt like they were lifted straight out of a fan-fiction, this sort of writing doesn’t belong anywhere outside a Superhero cartoon (like its namesake). I thought half of the cast was fine as they were, and the other half were severely underdeveloped. As an example, I thought Satoru and his mother were solid characters while Gaku and Kenya were very generic. The child characters I think suffered most, they either didn’t act like kids or weren’t given enough time to feel developed or worth caring about. Kenya in particular was an annoyance for me because he was essentially a child genius with no flaws. There was more than one Mary (and Gary) Sue in the cast. That being said, I thought Kayo was a fine character too and I disagree with a lot of comments about how the abuse storyline was a cheap way to garner pity for her. I also didn't see much to complain about with how her relationship ends with the protagonist. I liked that it was realistic, life isn’t a fairy tale and I respected the show for taking that path; it’s rare that something like that happens in an anime. I did however not like how her character was handled at the end; she is the focus for most of the story and then all but disappeared at the end because the focus had to shift to the 'showdown'. Again, more content being cut to fit 12 episodes. Not without its flaws, I still recommend the show overall and would be happy to watch it again.
Hello! As of writing this, I finished Erased last night, it was a series on my list and having just finished a larger series I decided to watch a couple short and sweet Anime's. My brother speaks incredibly highly of Erased and it is seemingly his favourite Anime so I thought id give it a go. In essence, Erased is a short, simple but lovable story with characters you can't help but adore and a storyline that is very easy to follow. Having just finished Steins; Gate, i was quite happy to watch a show with a more simplified time travel element that was explained as much as needed without complication. I never "fell in love" with Erased, thats not to say its bad but it also wasn't something I itched to finish, that being said I still did it in 2 days. The first 6 episodes were strong, I was thrown into this world and with a small pool of characters it was easy to understand what was going on, I enjoyed the young Satoru more as a character than older one simply because i believe thats the way it was intended, as a kid he was more hopeful and friendly, whereas older Satoru is empty and just lives life in a routine. The killers identity was obvious to me from around Episode 4, I'm not bragging about this as I feel its not meant to be difficult, the point is to create suspense when the characters are around the Killer as they don't know what we do, however up until the actual reveal you will always have a doubt in your mind which creates even more suspense. Kayo was a very enjoyable character, even through all the difficulties, getting to see her slowly become more happy with ~!Satoru and the others up to her final smile and goodbye once she was saved was a very rewarding sensation and I couldn't help but feel warmed. The fact that I was so quickly invested into these characters is impressive for such a short anime but even now I am content that Kayo was saved.!~ ~!The switch between past and present was also quite enjoyable, as it gave more suspense for the second "Revival" knowing if he failed then Satoru would be locked away and killed, it really was the last chance, also it developed more character relations which I found enjoyable.!~ Satoru and his Mums relationship seemed strained originally, as it was intended, but once he travels back in time, he realises the effort and love she really felt for him that he had forgotten along with the entire incident. Seeing this realisation grow on Satoru was heartwarming, as if he succeeded it would mean a more fulfilling and happy change to their lives. I hear there is quite a lot of debate around how it ended and that the manga ended better but as an Anime only I'll give my thoughts. Once Kayo left the scene I was sad but I felt it actually made room in the final episodes to better show Satoru's friend group and grow that relationship, until then Kenya was the main friend and we had seen little growth or interaction with the others. While Kayo had gone, it still felt like the same show to me and I enjoyed it just as much. The killers motives weren't an issue to me either, I simply accepted it and moved on. The entire end sequence of catching him was enjoyable and felt similar to that of an L vs Light moment from death note but simplified, also getting to see how the future had changed was a great ending to me. ~!At first, the fact that Satoru had now lost 11 or so years from his life felt unfair and like a bad ending, but after thought I realised it made sense, Satoru had already lived those 11 years, alone, empty and with no friends or relationships, that was the town with Kayo. But after going back in time, he changed all that, this time he made proper, true bonds with people that would stay forever and instead of Kayo, it was Satoru the town was without, this time Satoru would miss 11 years but Kayo got to experience them for the first time ever. To Satoru, he never really lived those 11 years on either timeline, the first one he simply wandered alone and empty but this time, he awoke to a life of friendship and love and honestly I believe that is a much better end for his story, to have the friendships he wanted and a filled heart.!~ Anyways thats what I think, it was a good short show that i enjoyed a lot and would be something I'd watch again for a heartwarming experience as the bonds in the show are so great.
_"Penso che sia disegnato con una certa cura, ma... Insomma, come dire... Dovrebbe disegnare con maggior introspezione. Non mi sembra che la sua personalità emerga dall'opera."_ ARRIVI a sperare che la farfalla compaia, in primo luogo perché ogni volta che Satoru torna indietro hai un eargasm, e poi perché non sei capace di accettare il naturale avvenire delle cose. O forse è più complicato di così. Perché la farfalla arriva sempre in un momento critico, quando la violenza è palpabile e qualcuno rischia di morire, vero? Allora l'intervento nel passato è giustificato, no? Oppure si tratta di altro, di una criticità più profonda, di "karma", magari? Come potrebbe mai il misterioso potere di Satoru manifestarsi ogni volta che sta per avvenire un incidente? La tragedia e la morte ci circondano, ma raramente ci toccano. Satoru dovrebbe fare molti più salti indietro di quelli che si possono osservare nell'intera serie, invece sembra che i Revival siano piuttosto egoisti sotto questo punto di vista. Però gli incidenti veri sono quelli che non si vedono, e forse ci stiamo avvicinando alla soluzione. Perché in verità Satoru rischia quasi di morire e passa 15 anni in coma. Nessuna farfalla viene a salvarlo mentre sta annegando in un automobile, e pensare che si trova lì perché ha tentato di salvare la vita dei suoi amici. Sembra che lo scopo dei Revival sia un altro. Che questi capitino, in realtà, per spronare Satoru ad agire, ad amare, ad essere. Anche una persona indifferente e apparentemente svogliata come Satoru ama ed è amato da coloro che lo circondano, e può rendersene conto solo tramite il dolore. Il dolore che tira fuori il meglio di Satoru. I revival che salvano Satoru dal suo nichilismo. Il dolore che in fondo passa in secondo piano, quando si può tornare bambini e festeggiare il proprio compleanno preparando sandwich. Il dolore fisico che è differente da quello spirituale, il dolore che vale la pena provare sul proprio corpo, piuttosto che rinunciare ai propri sogni e distruggere la propria anima. I Revival smettono di accadere non perché Satoru abbia sconfitto la fame nel mondo, ma perché egli nel suo piccolo ha scoperto la forza della collaborazione, il valore dell'amicizia, l'unicità del proprio essere più intimo. "Il fruttivendolo all'angolo della nostra via può manifestare la Santa Fiamma della Follia, se gli piace quello che fa ", scriveva Paulo Coelho. E aveva assolutamente ragione. La farfalla lo spinge a combattere la paura di scavare dentro di sé. Si ha paura perché si potrebbe scovare il male: e invece il vero male è non scavare, poiché in verità la bellezza è un valore intrinseco dell'essere umano. I Revival non servono più, perché ormai Satoru è un bravo disegnatore di manga: lui adesso ci mette il cuore.
Finally! An anime where the protagonist child acting like a 29 year old actually makes sense! One of the worst TV tropes is children of 12 speaking and acting as if they're 30 year olds with lifelong experience. Even here we did have one (Kenya) that felt out of place, but pretty much every other child acted as if they were their age which is brilliant. ~~~img520(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/37/4d/93/374d932255c41f3fbac4540aae472deb.gif)~~~ This was my second watch of _Erased_, my first was five years ago and there were some things that I just straight up forgot existed, which probably tells us it was a bad thing... Aaaaand that my memory is absolutely terrible. Though, some things stuck pretty hard. Almost everything involving Kayo Hinazuki was easy to remember, and not just because of her as a character, or her relationship with Satoru. It was about the story that was shown through her and her relationship with not only Satoru, but his entire group of friends. The development of who she was at the very beginning , to who she became, was definitely the highlight of _Erased_. I know many dislike the idea that _Erased_ isn't as good when Hinazuki leaves, but both times I watched it I had the exact same feeling, the feeling that the heart of this anime was seeing Hinazuki's progression and outcome. This doesn't mean the show got really bad, but nothing in those last few episodes touched me the same way that this did ~~~img520(https://i.gifer.com/9eUE.gif) img520(https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5b23e822f79392038cbd486c/1651581736175-6EW7U291CSV0SQLJPAYY/kayo-erased.gif)~~~ Anyone that was abused as a child knows the significance of this scene. When you're in that situation you spend a lot of time wishing you were someone else, wondering what life would be like with a loving happy family. Hinazuki gets to experience what her life not only could be, but what it probably should be, but it isn't because life just isn't that fair. As much as the viewers are intrigued by the child killer, they're also very invested in Hinazuki's safety when it comes to her own mother. So yes, when she is out of the anime, it definitely loses a bit of its charm. I know most of the big critiques are based around Yashiro, that he's too obvious and his motivations make no sense. I somewhat can agree with the latter, but the former I disagree because whilst yes when he first appears I got the biggest sense of "okay __this motherfucker__ ~~~img620(https://image.myanimelist.net/ui/OK6W_koKDTOqqqLDbIoPApphGLsPatMI5KEPHzJarfs)~~~ ...is definitely a child murderer", as time went on, I did start to second guess myself as the guy actually seemed to come across as likeable and have good reasoning for his sus moments. Obviously, this may have been only me whereas everyone else wasn't fooled at all, because there were times I did ask myself "who else could it even be? There isn't anyone else in the show left." They may have created the Scooby Doo problem where you always know who the villain is because, well, there's only ever 2 or 3 characters in each episode that it even can be because it isn't a very big cast of characters. _Erased_ really only had 4 or so suspects, and even some of them were very too obviously not the one 1. Yashiro (suspect from the very beginning, most obvious choice) 2. Jun Shiratori (very unlikely to be him) 3. Guy living in Hinazuki's house (but we only seen him once the entire show) 4. Hinazuki's mother 5. Shiratori's dad Okay, so even if we do agree that we created the Scooby Doo problem, how does a mystery show with a clear villain end up considered good? By not making the entire show __about__ being a mystery, and I'd argue that it didn't. The fact many consider it to get worse after Hinazuki left kind of proves that point, right? It wasn't about who the killer was, it was about what happens to a character we were invested in. It was a thriller, a game of cat and mouse. The mystery is what hooked you, but the outcome of the character you felt invested in is what was most important here. Despite it maybe being too easy to figure out, I still think the reveal was done well ~~~img520(https://animesher.com/orig/1/141/1418/14187/animesher.com_erased-yashiro-gaku-gif-1418738.gif)~~~ As far as Yashiro's motivations go, I can understand why people are confused by that. He did explain at the very beginning of the 11th episode in his monologue on "The Spider's Thread", though a lot of it doesn't match up easily. So here's my interpretation of him. He told us from a young age he simply killed a bunch of hamsters, this is probably showing us that he is sociopath. Though, he did get enjoyment when he realised one of them survived, and that he then could choose to keep it alive. He was the one that had control over these spider threads which made him feel like a God. His victims were people that were isolated around him because those are the ones who are easiest to snatch and kill. He became enamoured with Satoru because this kid was testing his own belief in if he was a "God" when he lost control and power over cutting the spider threads due to Satoru's interference. It's possible he thought they were both Gods, which is why he would kill himself after Satoru because he thought he finally found someone like himself. Although he was a sociopathic child murderer, he was alone in the world, which is why at the end he seen a spider thread above his head just like he did with all the isolated children. Now, there is a few things people have mentioned on the Manga's side where his desires were explained more and it just seems like the guy was a nutcase who didn't feel much enjoyment like a normal person would. We spend most of the anime seeing how Hinazuki was abused, and at the end of her story we saw flashbacks of her mother being abused too. It was a matter of the cycle of abuse. They handed it well I think, they allowed for the mother to seem human and give a reason for why she is this way, but didn't let her off the hook because having an understanding of something doesn't automatically mean you get to make it a justification for what you did. Jun Shiratori also had a story that many dudes will have experienced in their lives. It was easy to frame him merely because he wasn't your normal outgoing good looking guy. Satoru in the future does touch on this when he himself gets judgmental comments and side-eyes for helping some children fix their paper plane. I don't think Jun was supposed to ever be a suspect, but a highlight on how easy is it to believe some socially awkward slightly odd guy could do something so evil. Contrast that to the actual murderer that was never expected. One of the main themes in this anime is belief, belief in other people. In the future he wasn't believed about his mother, until Airi who ended up helping him massively decided to. His friends and mother in the past believed in him, which helped him push forward and gain the trust, and belief, of Hinazuki, and in turn saved her life. In the future Yashiro died by himself as he was alone, he was defeated by a group of people that had belief in one another, because as Airi said "I want to believe you for my own sake. It's the flip side to someone saying 'please believe me'." __Being unable to believe in others means you don't have hope in anyone, which makes for a pretty nihilistic world __
_[The post is written in Bengali language] (19 May, 2020)_ ___~~~The question is not WHO but WHEN, HOW, and WHY.~~~___ কেমন হতো যদি আপনার নিকটবর্তী কোনো দুর্ঘটনার পূর্বেই টের পেতেন এবং এটি রোধ করতে অতীতে অর্থাৎ ঘটনার প্রাক্বালে অনিচ্ছা সত্বেও চলে যেতেন? তবে হয়তো দুর্ঘটনায় হারানো প্রিয়জনদের অনেকেই বাঁচাতে পারতেন, তাই না? ▶ Plot: সময়টা তখন "২০০৬ ফিফা ওয়ার্ল্ড কাপ জার্মানি" শুরুর কিছুদিন পূর্বে। অন্যান্য মাঙ্গাকাদের (জাপানিজ কমিক আর্টিস্ট) মতোই প্রতিদিন স্ট্রাগল করতে হয় ২৯ বছর বয়সী এক তরুণ মাঙ্গা রচয়িতা সাতোরু ফুজিনুমার। একই সাথে ওয়াইসি পিৎজাতে ডেলিভারির কাজ করা কাতাগিরি নামের এক সহকর্মী মেয়ে প্রতিদিন তার সাথে মজা নিলেও জীবন নিয়ে খানিকটা হতাশায় ভোগা সাতোরু তেমন কিছু মনে করে না। তার এরকম সাধাসিধে জীবনে রয়েছে এক অদ্ভুত ইন্দ্রিয়গোচর বিষয়। সাতোরু এর নাম দিয়েছে "রিভাইভাল" অর্থাৎ পুন:প্রবর্তন বা পুনর্জাগরণ। নিকটবর্তী কোনো দুর্ঘটনা ঘটার পূর্বে তার ওপর রিভাইভাল ঘটে। এসময়ে দুর্ঘটনার প্রায় ৫ মিনিট পূর্বে অর্থাৎ অতীতে ফিরে যায় সে। এতে করে নানারকম দুর্ঘটনা রোধ করতে পারে। অবশ্য অন্যের উপকার করতে গিয়ে নিজেই নানারকম দুর্ঘটনার শিকার হয়। এভাবেই চলতে থাকা জীবনে একদিন চরম দুর্দশা নেমে আসে। তার মায়ের সাথে ঘটা এক দুর্ঘটনায় পুলিশ তাকে মিথ্যা অভিযোগে অভিযুক্ত করে। এসময় পালাতে গেলে ঘটে যায় তার জীবনের সব থেকে বড় রিভাইভাল। সাতোরু চলে যায় ১৮ বছর আগে অর্থাৎ সে যখন সবে প্রাথমিক বিদ্যালয়ে পড়ে। তার শরীরে শিশুর রূপ থাকলেও স্মৃতি, চিন্তাভাবনা এবং বুদ্ধি থাকে ২৯ বছর বয়স্ক। তার মনে প্রশ্ন জাগে, এটিই কি তবে মাকে বাঁচানোর আদ্যস্থল? স্কুল থেকে বাসায় গিয়ে মাকে দেখে আবেগে আপ্লুত হয়ে পড়ে সাতোরু। এর পর প্রথম দেখাতেই মনে পড়ে তার ক্রাশ কায়ো হিনাজুকির কথা। মায়ের হাতে অত্যাচারের শিকার হিনাজুকি অতীতে অপহৃত হয়ে খুন হয়। মৃত্যুর তারিখ বের করে হিনাজুকিকে বাঁচাতে শুরু হয় সাতোরুর মিশন। ধিরে ধিরে মনে পড়তে থাকে, আরও দুইজন সমবয়সীর অপহরণের ঘটনা। সাতোরু উপলব্ধি করে, তার মাকে বাঁচিয়ে নিজেকে নির্দোষ প্রমাণ করতঃ প্রকৃত খুনিকে ধরতে অর্থাৎ বর্তমানকে পালটাতে, কায়ো হিনাজুকি এবং অন্য দু'জনকে অপহরণ তথা খুন হওয়ার হাত থেকে বাঁচাতে হবে। কাছের বন্ধুদের নিয়ে নেমে যায় তাদের বাঁচানোর গোপন মিশনে। সাতোরু কি পারবে পূর্বের অতীতকে বাঁধা দিয়ে শোচনীয় অতীতকে পালটে প্রিয়জনদের বাঁচাতে? কেই-বা এই আততায়ী? সাতোরুর সাথে তার কীসের লেনাদেনা? রিভাইভাল জিনিসটাই বা কেনো তার সাথেই ঘটে? কী এর রহস্য? সে কি পারবে মিথ্যে অভিযোগে ফাঁসানো আততায়ীকে ধরতে? নাকি ফেঁসে যাবে অতীত কিংবা বর্তমানের মাঝে অথবা ধরা পড়বে আততায়ীর কাছে? অ্যানিমেতে এসবকে কী বলে আমার জানা নেই, তাই লাইভ অ্যাকশনের ভাষাই ব্যবহার করবো। ▶ Screenplay: অ্যানিমেটি একদিকে যেমন প্রাণজুড়ানো মনোমুগ্ধকর সুন্দর, তেমনি চরম নিষ্ঠুর প্রকৃতির। একসময় বলবেন, এরকম সুন্দর এক পৃথিবীতে থাকতে পারলে কতোই না ভালো হতো। আবার বলবেন পৃথিবী যেনো কখনই এরকম নিষ্ঠুর, নির্মম, নিদারুণ না হয়। কী লেখনী! নির্মমতায় গায়ের লোম দাঁড় করিয়ে দেয়। ▶ Cinematography & Shots: এই অ্যানিমেটিতে যেভাবে ক্যামেরার অ্যাঙ্গেল তথা শটগুলো নিয়েছে, কিছু মাস্টার ক্লাস পরিচালক ছাড়া টিভি সিরিজ বাদ দিলাম, সিনেমাতেও দেখা যায় না! অসাধারণ! অসাধারণ! অসাধারণ! আর সিনেমাটোগ্রাফি? আজ পর্যন্ত যতো অ্যানিমে সিরিজ দেখেছি, এরকম সিনেমাটোগ্রাফিওয়ালা একটি অ্যানিমেতেও পাইনি (হাঁ, আমার কথা বলছি। আপনি পেতেই পারেন। নতুন হওয়ায় খুব বেশি এক্সপ্লোর করা হয়নি)। চোখ জুড়ানোসব দৃশ্য। এতোসব ক্ষুদ্র ক্ষুদ্র ডিটেইলসে মনোযোগ দিয়ে কাজ করেছে, বলার বাহিরে। আর এমনসব কিছু সিন আছে, যেগুলো বারবার দেখতে মনে চাবে। পরিচালক বোধয় বারবার দেখার জন্যই বানিয়েছেন! আর কালার নিয়ে মেটাফোরিক্যাল যে বিষয়টা দেখিয়েছে, just WOW! ▶ Art & Voice: অ্যানিমেতে আর্ট এতোই গুরুত্বপূর্ণ বিষয় যে, এটি ভালো না হলে গল্প যতই ভালো হোক না কেনো, সব ওখানেই শেষ। আর এখানে বরং উলটো। যদি অ্যানিমেটির আগামাথাও না বুঝেন কিংবা একদম ভালোই না লাগে, তারপরও আপনি আর্টের সমালোচনা করতে পারবেন না! আই মিন, এর আর্টের সমালোচনা করার মতো কিছু নেই। আর পারফেক্ট ভয়েস যেনো এই আর্টের পরিপূর্ণতা দিয়েছে। জনপ্রিয় ভয়েস শিল্পীদের পাশাপাশি অনেক নতুনরাও এখানে কাজ করেছে। ▶ BGM & Intro: সবাই জানি ভালো ইন্ট্রো-আউট্রো তথা OST ছাড়া অ্যানিমে একদম পানসে। এখানেও হতাশ হতে হয়নি। আর BGM? সিনেমাটোগ্রাফি আর বিজিএম বোধয় এখানে যুগলের মতো কাজ করেছে :3 একটার কারণে আরেকটার গুরুত্ব বেড়েছে। এন্ডিং এন্ট্রোটা Ear-Catching না হবার কোনো কারণ নেই। OST: https://spoti.fi/2AJyd2Z & https://spoti.fi/2X7v4Bw ▶ Afterwords: পোস্ট অনেক বড় হয়ে গেছে। ক'জন পড়বে জানি না। নিজেও বড় পোস্টের ফ্যান নই। কিন্তু যতটুকু লিখেছি এতেও তৃপ্ত হতে পারিনি। সবাইকে আকৃষ্ট করতে স্পয়লার ছাড়া লিখলাম। শুধু শেষ দুই এপিসোড এবং কিছু নির্দিষ্ট ব্যাপারে লিখলেই এরচাইতে বড় আরেকটা পোস্ট হয়ে যেতো। আর হাঁ, অবশ্যই খুব মনোযোগ দিয়ে দেখতে হবে। খানিকটা কমপ্লেক্স এবং মেটাফোরিক্যাল। এজন্য খুনিকে ধরতে পেরে গর্ব করার বা এভারেজ বলার মতো কিছু নেই বরং তারাই নানাভাবে ক্লু দিবে। আপনার বরং ভালোমতো নজর না দেওয়ায় নানারকম বিষয়াদি নজরে না পড়তে পারে। এজন্যই তো ওপরে বলেছিলাম "The question is not WHO but WHEN, HOW, and WHY. " এখানে কে খুনি, এটি আপনার জন্য খুব বেশি জরুরি বা আহামরি কোনো টুইস্ট নয় বরং সাতোরুর জন্য জরুরি এবং শকিং। আপনাকে বরং মেটাফোরিক বিষয়গুলো ধরতে হবে এবং উত্তর বের করতে হবে কখন, কীভাবে এবং কেনো'র। শেষ করার পর যখন একের পর এক প্রশ্ন সামনে চলে আসবে এবং কিছুই মেলাতে পারবেন না, তখন গুগল এবং ইউটিউবের সাহায্য নিলেই হবে। >The essence of good deeds and evil deeds is the same. They're both no more than a person's actions to make up for a defect in themselves.____
~~~img220(https://i.imgur.com/RnOtFur.png) The butterfly effect, any and every action, no matter the size, has a ripple effect larger than you can imagine. Every good and bad thing we do, has a ripple effect. It impacts us, those around us, and the world at large. But most importantly, it determines the trajectory of events to follow. Even the smallest alterations to our pasts can have a huge impact on our future. Enter Satoru, a failed mangaka tasked with going back in time to prevent the murder of his mom, three young kids, and the incarceration of a victim who was framed for murder. Just how well does Erased utilize the idea of the butterfly effect and time travel to effectively tell a good story? This might come as a surprise, but I put off this anime for who knows how long. It wasn’t due to the infamy of the ending. But rather, this was a show I had no idea existed, yet my mother of all people insisted on watching it with me. I always have a gargantuan backlog of anime and manga to read and watch. Coupled with my usual busy schedule, and this being a NETFLIX anime, I had no immediate impetus to watch this series. Man, I can be so stuck up and I wish I wasn’t because this show is an emotional roller coaster, and forceful tear jerker. From the bonds Satoru forms with every character, to him triumphantly squabbling the killer’s plans. I am certain that the joy and sorrow I felt throughout my viewing matched Satoru’s one to one. Through Satoru’s inner-dialogue, you get a pristine look into how he views the world and everyone around him. Because to us the viewer, sure, it’s pretty obvious who the killer is. But despite this, through the use of music, colors, lighting, and Satoru’s (despite retaining his 29 year old mind when traveling back in time) innocent outlook towards those around him, I still felt my heart plummet into my stomach as I saw reality sink in for Satoru. In short, the writing is superb and even the characters whose appearances are rather brief and lackluster still feel layered thanks to Satoru’s interactions with them. img220(https://i.imgur.com/xqrBBr9.gif) But what about the visual component of the series? With it being a Netflix production, it must have had the budget for impressive visuals right? I’m glad to announce the the visuals are stunning, when they choose to be. Yes, the character movements are fluid and their designs are pleasant to look at. With the faces having this ovalish shape to them, and the eyes taking up most of the space on their face, with the lighting of their environment bouncing off their skin and clothes, this was pure eye candy. But the beautiful spectacle doesn’t end there, each time Satoru experiences a revival (when he’s transported back to the past and must prevent a mishap) there’s usually a blue butterfly going across the screen with us being shown the events through a grainy filter and the edges of film tape taking up the top and bottom portions of screen initially rang me as a cheap effect. But I started singing a different tune after a while, maybe it was the attention to detail I noticed in these sequences, but I started to enjoy the visual aspect of Satoru’s revivals after a while. The last bit I want to bring up as far as the visuals are concerned are the environments and backgrounds. The movie was able to give me the vibe of each location on visuals alone. And no, I don’t mean something basic like making a hot room red. I mean that, for example, when Satoru visits his mom after time traveling for the first time and eats dinner with her, I felt the warmness pouring from their meal onto myself. And Satoru seeing Kayo’s beaten body laying down in the shed, has a much more cold and shivering feeling to me than Satoru being in the snow, even if it’s late at night, with his friends. And the moment Satoru reveals to the killer that he couldn’t kill Satoru even if he tried because he loved him, felt euphoric and gratifying. This is thanks to all the glowing in this scene around Satoru as he’s about to become a Martyr for all the non-victims, by intentionally falling off a hospital morning in the bright day light (though it was raining in the same scene not too long before that). I know not too long ago I was praising how well the characters and their interactions with each other were written, but there is only one (well technically two) aspects where this falls short. The first is Airi, she’s such a good girl. She’s incredible actually, because despite not getting a whole lot of screen time she’s one of two people in the original timeline who believe Satoru is innocent for his mom’s murder. My issue with her isn’t her morals, but rather, for being the person Satoru ends up getting with in the end, she doesn’t get nearly as much development or chance to form a strong bond with Satoru as Kayo does.~! I’m not one of the many who hated the reveal where Kayo ends up with Satoru’s friend and even has his baby as Satoru wakes up from his 15 year long coma, but I was peeved by the fact by how much development their emotional development got when compared to Airi’s and Satoru’s.!~ img220(https://i.imgur.com/9E7rbmW.gif) It’s not until Satoru has to save her from her house burning did I get a sense that he cared for her. Up till that point, he always seemed annoyed by her presence. I’m not saying I’m not happy that he didn’t end up with Kayo, cause that’d be a terrible forced ending and I think what we got was impeccable. But I’m not surprised by others being vocal about how the girl WE get emotionally attached to and expect to get with Satoru ends up being sidelined for a girl with not even a quarter of the development that Kayo had with him. Maybe this was an artistic decision, us feeling robbed of Kayo x Satoru made people feel like they lost someone. What we felt might’ve been an intentional small taste of how the people around the victims felt when they were killed. Enough comparing child murders to crushes people had fifteen years ago for like a week, what are my final thoughts about this series and is there anything I might’ve forgotten. img220(https://i.imgur.com/5Po5MhT.gif) This nitpick can be made for most great anime, but god dammit this needed more episodes. There’s two arcs, one is focused on dealing with Kayo’s abusive homelife and the second is confronting and figuring out who the murderer is. ~!The first arc is solved by a deus ex machina. Just as Kayo’s mom is about to flee and report the CPS to the cops, I don’t know what she intended the cops to do with them, Kayo’s mom’s own mother shows up and just starts apologizing for her daughter’s actions. Saying that she forced her daughter to divorce her abusive husband. Leaving Kayo’s mom to raise a daughter all on her own and to start dishing out beatings herself. Kayo’s stable grandma gets custody of Kayo, the end of arc one. Now this is a fine resolution and all, but the grandma comes literally out of nowhere and is on screen for less than five seconds. Maybe it’d feel less like a forced plot convenience if she was introduced earlier in the series, are maybe we had more subtle allusions why Kayo’s mom did what she did.!~ ~!The second arc big reveal is the murder turning out to be their homeroom teacher. There was literally no other option to guess as to who could be the culprit besides him. If they implemented more suspects throughout the series, then this mystery could be a legitimate mystery instead of just an amazing show about a guy sacrificing fifteen years of his life, to make sure three other people get to fully enjoy theirs.!~ So Erased is an incredible show chalk full of moments that tug at your heart strings, shows beautiful relationships blossoming, and the heartbreaking reality that plagues our world to this day. Both kids being unfairly beaten and people getting framed for crimes they didn’t commit. I wish I had watched this show sooner because it was so fun to watch despite the predictability at times because I enjoyed the dialogue between characters and situations they found themselves in so much. Did Erased use the concept of the butterfly effect to effectively convey the emotionally gut wrenching story it set out to be? Yeah, the mystery might’ve not been covered in a dark shadow like they might’ve hoped, but it excels at everything else it does (all while not having any plot holes in a freakin time travel story) profusely. And that ED, just thinking about it makes me an emotional wreck. Great stuff, beautiful anime. img220(https://i.imgur.com/TnErI38.gif) ~~~