Back to TheLonelyCynic's Profile TheLonelyCynic's Profile

"Insert random quote here." - Character #01

That's how you begin a review, right? I've never been much of a reviewer, in fact you could say that this is my first review. I don't even know how to write a review. So why am I reviewing this show? I mean, there is obviously going to be an abundance of reviews, so this will most likely get lost among all the simple, spur of the moment 10/10 or 1/10 reviews that lack any real form or structure.

Simply put; something resonated with me, something so profound and deep, that it shook the very fibers of my being, and ... so I had to share my thoughts on this so called 'masterpiece'.

Wait... did I just say masterpiece? More like disasterpiece.


The premise of Boku dake ga Inai Machi (ERASED) is simple. A struggling 29 year old mangaka (or manga artist for those not fluent in the Japanese language) has the special (and unexplained) power to turn back time (also known as 'Revival'), the catch is that this power only activates when tragedy strikes, and only takes him back a few minutes before the tragic event happens. However, tragedy strikes closer to home for our protagonist, and he finds himself whisked off on a magical journey, 18 years into the past. Our hero, now in the body of his child self, finds himself caught up in a series of child-murders, including one classmate, that somehow links the tragedy that transpired in the future (or present day or whatever (time travel is confusing)), and will try to save these victims in order to change his future (or his present time?).

(This show has been compared to Steins;Gate more than once, but those comparisons are unjustified. ERASED may have its time travel elements, but so do other shows. If you're going into this show expecting Steins;Gate 2.0, stop now, as you will surely be disappointed)

On the surface, ERASED sounds good. In fact you could say it sounds pretty damn great; like some intense, mystery psycho-thriller, and the first few episodes prove to be great, but that's about as far as it gets. The reason being: plot holes. In the center of ERASED, we have our protagonist's Revival ability, an unexplained phenomenon, which sadly remains unexplained through out the series. Now I don't have a problem with this, as I prefer no explanation over one that would make absolutely no sense, but in ERASED's case, the way it uses Revival feels so cheap, that it removes any sense of urgency a mystery-thriller like this needs. Simply put, Revival appears to have no rules, and this here is the first and possibly biggest flaw this show has. My biggest gripe are the conveniences that come with this power, one point being that our protagonist is being chased, but before we know it, Revival kicks in. However, once he returns to the future (present), he's suddenly removed from the chase scene and has somehow evaded the pursuer(s). This is just one of many plot holes/conveniences this show has, but the point of this review isn't to showcase every flaw, but rather give you the opinion of some random guy on the Internet.

If you're hoping for a good mystery, like a lot of people were before entering this show, you're not going to find it. In fact as a mystery, ERASED lacks something very important: mystery. In fact the biggest mystery is making us wonder how this show managed to make it into the top 10, let alone top 5. At most times the show falls under two categories: too predictable; or too random. It seems like the show actually tries to cover up who the killer is, but before you know it, you've already guessed. This isn't necessarily a bad thing depending on how the show proceeded, as some viewers were saying that the show isn't about the 'who?', but the 'why?'. Why is the killer killing? After looking at this show from that angle, I was hoping for something more exciting, but what we basically get is that the killer kills 'cause he can, or in other words, he's evil 'cause he's evil and that's just who he is.

The whole idea of the protagonist reliving his childhood, but still maintaining his adult memories feels refreshing, and the way they handle it, for the most part, is done well. There have been some mixed opinions though, especially where romance is involved. Our protagonist is 29, but he's in the body of a 10-year-old, so is it wrong for him to be (what we can assume) interested in 10-year-old girls? I suppose that's something for the viewer to decide on their own. Speaking of romance, it's kept to a minimum, and no actual romance exists outside of a simple crush, so you don't have to worry about this show turning into some romantic comedy involving a 29-year-old man trapped in the body of 10 year old, attempting to get freaky with 10-year-old girls.

At its core ERASED is suspenseful and does indeed have its moments of greatness, albeit few, which really fill you with some hope that this show actually knows what it's doing. The cliffhangers start of good and have you anticipating what's going to come next, but they 're used so often and each one feels more over-the-top than the last, that they start to feel cheap. There are a couple of emotional moments, too, which actually feel quite natural and are probably the best moments in the entire show. One strong point this show suffers from, which could be linked to plot holes and conveniences, is logic. A lot of stuff just doesn't make sense, and this show does nothing to explain it. Some people like to argue that it's not important how certain things work/happen as they're not the 'focus' of the show, but it doesn't matter if they're the focus or not. Whether they're a main point of the story or not is irrelevant, they're still a part of the story and should be treated as such. I will refrain from discussing it further, as it will be hard to avoid entering the realm of spoilers if I proceed.

Overall, the story (though a good idea) ends up feeling somewhat lacklustre with its delivery due to bad direction and writing, some characters get too much, unneeded, focus, while others get little-to-no development and cheap backstories which don't add much to the story, but rather make you wonder why they felt the need to explain certain details. The show really starts to feel rushed later on, and eventually near the end, starts to feel like an inconsistent mess.

ERASED has a small, and somewhat varying cast of characters, but they get so little development over the course of the 12 episodes, that half could be either be combined or be replaced with some kind of inner monologue, and the show would still feel the same.

We have Satoru, our protagonist; a detached 29-year-old who lacks any of kind of personality outside of wanting to be a 'hero'.
His development is minimum, and feels unnatural in that he acts according to the story; making unreasonable and sometimes illogical decisions, acting like a 10 year old more than the other actual 10 year old characters, and thinking that he can do everything by himself regardless of his limitations as a 10 year old.

We have Kayo, the main heroine of the story and victim #01; an abused child, with no friends, and fellow classmate of our protagonist.
She is probably the most developed character in the show, starting off as a quiet and somewhat depressing child, who slowly starts to open up and learns what it means to have friends. At first her character feels like nothing but a shell used for forced sympathy, but as the story progresses, she becomes the center of what is one of the only good, and possibly best moments, in which we see some actual development happen in this show.

I could talk about other characters, but most are either forgettable, or don't add enough to the story to earn a mention.

ERASED's art is pretty standard, but done very well. It's not the best art out there, but it's also not the worst, and I feel it compliments the story well. There are parts where the art looks exceptional, and there are parts where it looks pretty basic. The scenery looks consistent throughout, and is rather nice a lot of the time. The atmosphere gives of a dark and mysterious feel at times, which is good for what is supposed to be a mystery. The character designs are rather simple, but they work to their advantage.

There isn't really anything to complain about, there may be parts where it doesn't look as good as others, but nothing so bad, it distracts you from the anime itself.

The sound is possibly ERASED's strongest point. It's eerie, it's dark, it's mysterious and it takes a minimal approach with its OST, where having less is sometimes better. It's a great compliment to the anime; it adds to the overall atmosphere of each scene, and doesn't stand out where it doesn't need to. The voice acting is also good as far as I can tell. The voices suit the characters well, you can feel the emotions whether they're joy, pain, or anger, it's just a shame that the characters themselves really lack any personality. I rarely listen to OPs or EDs as I find they don't add anything to the show, so I can't comment on their quality.

What starts off as a gripping and thrilling experience, soon turns to headache after headache; with a lack of explanations; lack of development; plot holes; too many conveniences; and a somewhat rushed plot. In the end, it became another forgettable experience. Whether you should watch it or not, is up to you.

If you want some cheap thrills, and don't like to think too much, then this show may be for you. It's not a terrible show, it definitely has its moments, but overall, it's nothing that special either. If you're hoping to find a successor to Steins;Gate, just watch Steins;Gate again.