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Okay this is my first review and its 5 years after the fact. I had heard of Erased before but didnt realize that it seems to be polarizing. Before I begin I want to make it clear that Ive only watched the anime currently. I Plan to read the Manga because I really did like this, enough to make me write a review. Besides I have seen people say the manga and even the live action are better than the anime. Again some gripes I mention may have an answer in the manga but until I read it I'm going off of what was presented(or ... not)here and whatever I have to work with based on what I personally was able to see or interpret. Needless to say there will be SPOILERS following this.







Alright to start off I had no idea that the series was so highly popular but also from what I've seen here, disliked. I loved it personally, it kept me very engaged and I was eager for more for the first half. I'm a sucker for the whole time travel stuff and who-dun-its so this one was gonna stick. I couldnt give this anything less than a 7 in general but again thats just me. It had me reacting out loud and trying hard to figure everything out at just 2 episodes. That said its not a perfect series nor is it as awful as I saw some opinions state.

The Story as I mentioned is a murder/mystery that involves time travel in a way that I enjoyed. It's not quite unique, however considering only the main character can do it and he doesnt control it, for the most part it doesnt happen so many times that it becomes hard to keep track of events. The time travel happens in 2 forms so to speak. 1st only about a minute after something(usually bad) is about to occur and the second is almost 2 decades. as with all stories that involve time travel somethings don't make sense but unless its really nonsensical it doesnt bother my suspension of disbelief.

The art is nice I like it. Sometimes the characters side profiles look odd like their heads and faces look ballonish but thats more of a style choice I suppose. It didnt bother me much. The backgrounds are a bit drab at times but its winter for the most part in these moments so I guess they nailed winter.

The characters are about 50/50. My favourite was Satoru's mom Sachicko. She's just very perceptive, kind, strong and likable. I liked Air, seeing Satoru and Kayo grow closer. Kayos mom is also good for what she is. When it comes to the culprit I wont deny I suspected this person almost instantly. I had ideas on what I believed was going on but how it actually went left me not really liking the culprit in general as a character.


Alright so from here its Heavy spoilers implied or mentioned so If anyone is actually reading my review in 2021 or beyond and has yet to watch you've been warned.

I said earlier that the first half really kept me engaged so I'll just write about what I personally didn't like about how it wraps up. Not uncommon to see dislike for the ending of this show from what I've read online but it's the reason I wanted to write a review.

First there are a couple of characters that looked so suspect in more than one occasion that it honestly felt like we were being told that perhaps the culprit isnt working alone. In fact there were somethings that I interpreted as outright showing that it wasnt just a single person. One can say its my own fault for seeing it that way or falling for tricks but in the end the characters being suspicious was never cleared up or explained. It felt like trying to solve this with whatever clues the show presented either outright or more concealed was pointless. Instead we just have to let it take us there. Which may sound kind of silly but in something like this its fun being able to try to solve it as it comes. Again I had guessed the culprit right away but I honestly thought it was going to be culpritS. In any case the actions and implications at times for certain characters werent explained and irked me.

Second what happens to the culprit character near the end makes no sense. On top of that the motives and reasonings for their actions past,present and future make no sense and arent ever explained properly. We get a snippit of something but if that was the full reason to become a murderer it was really dumb imho. Plus again at the end we're told why what their name is was different from what we know as a viewer but it was such a specific reason that it felt like the pieces couldnt connect until it was told to us. Now Ive heard that in Japanese the Kanji can be read as both names but I dont know if its exact. If so then it's a translation thing and my point is moot. I fully suspect that the Manga better explains and expands the character but this is what was presented in the anime so.

Third the original Timeline kinda felt pointless in retrospect. I didnt think it would be lost but it is and some things things left behind wouldve been nice to have answered. I had another point to make on this but it eludes me right now. I expected the series to end up back here but it didnt really amount to much in the long run which kinda sucks because again it feels somewhat unresolved and an easy way to eliminate explaining.

Fourth This is more silly and the most personal in taste. We spend all that time seeing Satoru go back and try to prevent Kayos murder. In doing so he and her develop together and become so close. I expected her murder to not be preventable in the end and instead a necessity in getting the culprit into a position to be caught in the future. I was actually happy to see I was wrong and that she and the other victims survive through Satorus efforts. But after all that and what ends up happening, Kayo and Satoru dont even have an ending together. Kayo ends up with Hiromi out of nowhere and even has a kid with him. It's just odd that Hiromo who didnt really have any development with Kayo as kids ends up with her. It wouldve been less odd if she was with Kenya or some rando at the end. Hell the perfect scenario(for myself, I admit rather selfishly) wouldve been she found out about what happened to satoru and was by his moms side and when he was back would be there to welcome him back and it would be a nice ending with them finally being together. ahaha its dumb i know but it still makes no semse to me that it was Hiromi. Then its implied, and to be honest I assumed this, that Misato, a girl in their 5th grade class who was a bully to Kayo, liked Satoru the Whole time. Even further at the end in the bar when Satoru sees her as an adult now and even he seems to be attracted to her. Making you think okay maybe theres that but that amounts to nothing based off what you can tell at the very end. Hiromi ending up with Misato wouldve made some sense to me as at one point he tells satoru that she seems lonely too and he'd like to help her as Satoru helped him. This point is more about ships which not everyone cares about but after all those sweet moments they had together it wouldve been more sensical(satisfying) to see Kayo and Satoru have a future together. He begins the series seeming unhappy fully so his future having been changed based off his efforts and the results wouldve directly come from said efforts wouldve been better. I mean all he has at the end seemingly is that he made it as a Mangaka. More friends because theyre alive, but I assume he wouldve still had Kenya, Kazu and Glasses. If they werent his friends in the 29yr old timeline and the reason would be, well they grew closer due to stopping the murders, that makes sense for Kenya, but the other 2 he didnt want to involve. So There would be no real reason that he wouldnt have had the same relationship with them in the 1st timeline.

5th some of the characters future arent sufficiently explained. Just 2 to keep it short are Sachiko and Kayos mom. They were important characters in the story. It wouldve been nice to at least see her in the end and what shes doing. Kayos mom, even if Kayo just mentioned it. She may not have wanted her mom in her life anymore but she lived with her grandmother. Her grandmother seemed to want her daughter back in her life and likewise Kayos mom seemed to want her mother back too. SO regardless Kayo would most likely have known about how she was doing. She wasnt arrested or anything so yea I wouldve like to know how their issues went.


Alright most of those were down to personal preference but some of those I feel shouldve been explained or better executed because the only reason I question them are based off of questions or expectations the series itself raises or leans towards. As I said this is not having read the Manga so these may all have answers and resolutions that I am at this time unaware of. I really did love this series and thats why I wrote a review and was disappointed on how it was wrapped up. It's 2 am, ive had a bad headache that didnt let me sleep properly last night and these were my unorganized and sloppily put together thoughts and questions. So if any or all of this seems silly or just not properly thought out my bad but I did this on a whim and Ive never written a review like this before. This is a bit too long but if you took time to read it all I appreciate it. It's 2021 this series is old now in the anime world but I only just enjoyed it so.