Erased

ERASED also known as Boku dake gai Inai Machi is the breakout winter hit for 2016 based on the manga by the same name. Going into this series I was largely skeptical, between Aniplex as a business souring me on shows produced by them, the show's director being the same who did Sword Art Online adding to that a time travel plot I was set up for this to be a failure. The only thing this had going for me was hopefully a passable Yuki Kajiura score. From episode one I was already hooked and as the series continued on I was immensely pulled in by the strong atmosphere and strongly woven mystery.

Time travel usually falls along one of two plot lines, set-right-what-once-went-wrong or change the future sometimes with overlap of both. In the case of Erased we have an overlap as our main character Satoru goes back to his past to rewrite the wrongs of history to solve a kidnapping he feels partly responsible for, for not doing enough to possibly prevent it in the first place and help a friend who was set up to take the fall for such a crime. Through the course of several episodes we see him craftily work out tactics as a grown man occupying the body of his 10-year-old-self. Slowly but surely he has to make a connection with Kayo, a seemingly cold and distant person but finding out she's a girl hiding incredible amount of pain in her life.

As the episodes progress the series really is less about the time travel and more about a kid trying to do the right thing, even if that kid is really an adult. If not for the clever visual reminders and the ongoing mystery of the future which propels Satoru back in time, it would be easy to forget this is supposed to be a time traveling mystery.

If the show has a few shortcomings it does unfortunately suffer slightly by it's short length. With a 12 episode count a good chunk of the story is focused on Satoru's efforts to save his classmate, Kayo Hinazuki from a grim fate and terrible home life while the other victims of the story largely come in and are quickly resolved. The who-done-it aspect of the mystery might not hold you for long thanks to some fairly obvious clues and hints but then again plenty of red herrings can keep you guessing all the same.

The finale does bring some good emotional closure but as it is but felt rather rushed and anti-climactic as a culmination of 11 episodes worth of suspense and buildup. In spite of the flaw the dramatic pathos and tight scripting of the series as a whole should keep you engaged consistently.

The animation by A-1 Pictures is quality with many good uses of symbolism in its art, color design and cinematography. The art of the manga is evolved to fluid and dynamic looking animation with clean looking character designs making them adaptable and distinguishable.

Yuki Kajiura's music shapes up to make a good atmospheric score using her usual blend of synth and real instruments to mix and match mood of the series highs and lows. The opening theme provided by Asian-Kung-Fu Generation feels like a standard rock song but with a few listens manages to mesh decently into the series as a whole. The ending by Sayuri is a song bolstered by a good melody written by the accomplished Kajiura but hampered by a poor arrangement by Ryou Eguchi.

ERASED in the end proves to be a gripping thriller filled with many emotional twits and turns and will leave you consistently on the edge of your seat. A few shortcomings aside I can't deny it had me biting my nails through most of it and I highly recommend it.

The basic premise of ERASED is not totally unique - Time Travel. There has been a lot of movies and shows based on this concept but ERASED stands apart for several reasons.

1) Pace:: The anime moves at a soothing pace. It's neither too fast nor too slow, but ideal and so, it never gets boring or too hard to follow.

2) Character Development:: There are a lot of anime in which even after watching 100-200 episodes, one would never feel empathetic with the characters. But in ERASED, even from episode 1, all the characters seem so real and you would really feel connected with at least one of them.

3) Narration:: This is one of the few anime which shows the lead character thinking out his strategy. Like Code Geass and Death Note, you will get a clear picture about the insights.

4) Animation Quality:: It has one of the best screenplays! There is also a lot of attention to details and colors are used very effectively to convey the message / emotions of the characters.

It is definitely worth a watch, especially given that it is a short series.

Thank god I found this anime on Netflix. First of all I'm not a anime expert and this was literally the first anime series I watched completely. I started watching this whitout any expectations and just after the first episode it touched my heart and I wanted to watch the whole series. There were so many deep conversations in this series and so many heartwarming and beautiful moments but also sad moments and that's why I love it so much. It also had elements of a crime series like searching for clues etc. Many people complained about the ending but I don't had any problems with it. It's confirmed that we will get a second season on 10th December 2021 and I can't wait to watch it. All I can say is that you should definitely watch it it's really worth it and the series just has 12 episodes anyways so you could finish it in like 2 days like me.

Anime is simply amazing...In less words.It has a great plot and the in very first episode you will love the main character and his uniqueness.While watching anime you will be getting the feeling of watching a movie this the first i've seen which delivers that.There are scenes which will make at the edge of the seat before you know it.The voice actor of the protagonist (Shinnosuke Mitsushima) was his debut and he nailed it and he deserves a special applause.This anime will keep your mind in the story till the end of the episode and that's a big thing.It has great opening and ending song even though i don't understand Japanese the songs are good to hear.Their are no negatives i can point out in the anime.Art is great and it has nice background music.Anime overall is a must watch anime if you are looking for something good!! there hasn't been anime like this in a while..Must watch! :-)

Erased started out as a very interesting decent anime. It already had gotten attention on just episode one. But it made insane progress on MyAnimeList. On merely episode two it was already rising through the ranks of MyAnimeList. By episode three it was already within the top 20 of the website, and with the release of episodes 4 and 5, it broke through the top TEN, an incredibly rare occasion considering the numerous episodes and efforts put into the other classic shows (such as Your Lie in April or even Code Geass). As I type this up now, with the show having 7 episodes, it is already at 6th place, threatening to overtake the legendary Hunter V. Hunter! Even though it is based on a manga, and its pace may feel a bit quick, it is still excellent for a 12-episode anime. With a very nice soundtrack and voicing, along with beautiful scenes combined with the very tense plot along with good characters, this anime brings the manga to life! With a less obvious display of the murderer than the manga, and with full suspense making the watcher want to know more, tortured by the weekly cliffhanger, Erased is looking to be one of the best anime of 2016--if not of all time! You should watch it if you like murder mystery, mind-games, psychology, tension, along with some supernatural powers.

Even so, be warned that the anime is not perfect. The ending may disappoint some who were expecting a red herring-- but those who have read the manga will not be surprised. Even so, the overall characters are in-depth, the tension is taut, and this anime is very good.

FYI: the highest this anime has been was in 4th place, threatening to overtake Gintama and/or Steins;Gate!