Erased (Boku dake ga inai machi) : A Review

“Every day, the words cross my mind. ‘If I had done this back then…’ But they don’t take the sincere form of regret. The words are just an excuse that come to mind, then disappear. I’m scared to get to the heart of my own mind.”

–Satoru Fujinuma, ERASED

Hello Otakus,

As promised we are back with our first pilot analysis on one of the most mysterious and thriller anime, any guesses?

Well yes it is ERASED.

So without wasting any time let’s dive into the story of ERASED.

ERASED follows the life of Satoru Fujinuma, a 29 year old aspiring manga artist, introduced in a very subtle manner who has tried time and time again to live his dream. After his work getting constantly rejected by publishers, it is clear that Satoru has lost all hope and believed to experience some kind of depression. Since not making into the manga world, he works as a pizza deliveryman.

Everything seems normal until it is revealed that somehow he can travel back in time in life threatening situations and has the ability to fix what has occured around him in a limited amount of time. He termed his time travelling ability as Revival. Just 2 min into the anime and we get to see the 1st 'Revival' in which he is able to save a child crossing the road through his heroic action by changing the course of the truck but  by taking a toll to his body and ending himself into a hospital. He is a modern day superhero where he is very normal but his actions and reactions allows him to help others around him on a day to day basis.

Unconscious for two days in hospital being taken cared by a fellow highschool coworker, Katagiri Airi is energetic and optimistic, contrasting to Satoru’s pessimistic nature. Sharing a conversation of hopes and dreams adds to the psychological element of the series. She is a type of girl Satoru needs in his life. She can make him smile and also respects him as a "friend".

Now being discharged from the hospital and going home Satoru's Mother Sachiko decides to live with him for a while. She is a modern day mother and they have a very realistic relationship. She is smart, understanding and knows Satoru is smart and has more potential than to the standard he is living at.

After buying groceries from supermarket and heading home he encounters another Revival phenomenon in which a kidnapping attempt was foiled. This revival holds a special place in itself as he was unable to do anything so as to change the outcome but due to the detective instincts of his mother a kidnapping attempt was prevented.Satoru saw nothing but his mother grew suspicious of the man with the child. Hence through the action of others the result can also be changed. Suddenly she decided to mention Satoru’s childhood trauma, the one she had tried to ‘erase’ from his mind. Hence a series of flashbacks started to flow through satoru's mind reminding himself of a serial kidnapping incident where 2 of his classmates were kidnapped and murdered. He claimed that he could save one of his classmate named Hinazuki Kayo but was unable to do so.

The anime became very dark all of a sudden and darker still as it is revealed that the killer is still alive and the wrong man had taken the fall for it. Sachiko tries to unravel the culprit and is able to do so but before revealing the name to satoru, she is murdered by the culprit. Returning home and seeing his mother lying in this state Satoru is shocked and loses all his hopes in the life. Interpreted wrongly by his neighbour satoru pleads his innocence and runs through hallway before he encounters another Revival...the longest of all taking himself back to 5th grade in high school in 1988 . Hence it is time for Satoru to revisit his past and find out what really happened in order to fix things in the future.

Anime revolves around how Satoru tries to save Hinazuki Kayo from the kidnapper with his childhood friends.The animation crisp clear and on point for its time frame. The vibrant colors and the unique film showing Satoru’s memories and dates gave this anime a futuristic vibe. For such a heartbeat rising and emotional anime, the opening is quite chill and inviting.

In conclusion, I found this anime to be very fulfilling and enjoyable for its 12 episodes. I really wished things ended differently. I would have liked to have seen Kayo and Satoru fall in love and have a second season dedicated to the progression of their relationship. It would have been even better to have seen the killer get out of jail and reek havoc on Satoru and Kayo’s relationship. Other than that, I enjoyed watching Satoru as he went on his memorable adventure to the past.

Well, I highly recommend everyone to watch this anime.

I am sure you won’t regret it.

Final Rating : 8.6

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