Erased achieves the perfect anime, you’ll feel the anxiety, the pressure, the insurmountable odds, and a little trace of awkward humour – you know, just to offset the demands placed on our hero Satoru. Thrown back in time, and into his childhood body, Satoru has to stop both the murders of the future and those of the past, starting with saving his classmate Kayo. But just what can a ten-year-old boy do?
Throughout Erased you’ll be fighting the urge to rush ahead and know the ending, the show being unpredictable in its direction – for the good could just lose here. The consequences of which would mean leaving a serial killer to murder all over again.
A brilliantly conceived plot that expands on simple but realistic aspects. For example, if you were to time-travel back to your childhood, would you remember who all your friends were? Would you know how to act like a child while still having the mind of an adult? And though you might know where it all began you still wouldn’t know the who or the why? And just who will believe you?
Adding to the complexity of this psychological thriller, is the fact that the first victim’s life is already a nightmare, with the audience shown this from the perspective of a child, introducing a sense of honesty and helplessness to it. It’s also a tale of friendships, for one of the biggest and emotional challenges for Satoru is opening up to people. His adult mind having closed off from them long ago, but in connecting with people he might now just save them, and himself.
The series is superbly well paced, and though it has one trope of partial time-loops, with fixes not having fixed things, it certainly doesn’t drag on, and neither does the tension of danger. The show’s quieter more subtle moments providing a rest break for your head – which will almost be touching the screen when the ongoing and background threat really hits home, for you’ll want to be there to help Satoru fix things.
Erased is beautifully animated and the actors’ voices well-chosen – it’s always best to watch an anime in the original language for the dubbing makes it stand out, and not in a good way. The story’s progression is comfortably anxious, but enjoyable, while it sticks in large to the original material in the well-received manga it’s based on. However, it does diverge from the manga’s ending – due to this not being completed at the time – but it’s not too far off, and presents an alternative ending that for me, and others, is still satisfactory.
In regard to characters, Satoru is hero-worthy, without ever being over the top, he’s realistic, fumbles, but is determined, and most of all has the perfect attitude – he just can’t afford to lose. And though the serial killer is somewhat strongly hinted at, due in part to the show’s lack of visible suspects, Erased still does a good job of making you question whether it’s them or not. When the reveal does occur, it doesn’t lessen the ominous atmosphere of their character, but enhances it. Unlike an invisible threat that’s usually more terrifying for being unknown, the transformation of this character into their serial killer-ego is something else – for you then see it’s never really been that far away.
Aside from the enjoyable dynamic between Satoru and Kayo, who are simply adorable together and present an idealistic view of childhood innocence, the best relationship has to be Satoru with his mum. Often thinking she is a “witch”, her perceptive abilities making her a walking talking humorous mind-reader – and not forgetting, she’s oh so cool.
There are aspects of Erased that will never be fully explained, from Satoru’s ability to jump back, the relevance of a butterfly, to what has happened to those wrongly accused etc. However, you forget about these when watching Erased, for life isn’t neat and tidy, but full of possibilities. You just have to hope that Satoru manages to find the right possibility – one that saves the past.
Director: Tomohiko Itô
Other notable works:
- Sword Art Online 2012 –
- Silver Spoon 2013-14
- Death Note 2006-07
Writer: Taku Kishimoto
Other notable works:
- Fruits Basket 2019-21
- Haikyuu!! 2014-20
- 91 Days 2016-17
- Usagi doroppu 2011-12
Based on the manga series Erased (Boku dake ga inai machi) by Kei Sanbe
