Erased Series Review: Weak Mystery, Great Character Drama
Posted on November 29, 2018 November 30, 2018 by Karandi
This is part of a series of re-posts of older reviews on 100 Word Anime. The original review came out in August 2016 and can be found here.
I first watched Erased when it aired and it was an anime everyone was talking about. Being apart of the conversation was fantastic particularly as it was a bit of a mystery so we all got to sit around on social media speculating about where it was going. That said, there was a lot of hype going on at the time and there was also a wave of enthusiasm around it.
Going to be honest, I loved this anime then and I still really like it now. But it was an anime that benefited from going in cold, having to wait each week and being able to mull over what you'd learned and where it might be going and to engage in those conversations, and it also just benefited from the community behind it. In the absence of those things, Erased ends up being good enough, and still tells a fairly good story with interesting characters, but a lot of the 'magic' is kind of gone. The live action series is fairly solid as well though if you'd like to try the story again but a little bit differently (apparently it follows the manga closer or something like that).
Though, it is a mystery anime which makes any kind of review hard. Particularly a re-visited review. There's only so much you can say without giving the game away, particularly in a mystery like this one where it already seems pretty easy to figure out where things are going. Ultimately, mystery is a poor label to give this one. While technically the main character is playing 'Whodunit' the audience can figure it out far too easily and while the reveal is still very worth the price of admission, if that was all there was to Erased it would be a fairly easy to dismiss.
The plot however works well. The tie-in of the mystery with Satoru's ability of revival is well managed and while they don't explain the phenomenon, it almost doesn't need to be. It is established that he can and does jump back in time and they use it appropriately as a vehicle to keep the story moving. Any explanation would have been pretty silly anyway so passing on that and just letting it go was actually the better option. And it does allow for a compelling story with a villain returning after a considerable length of time and seeing adult and child Satoru attempt to overcome his schemes with limited knowledge and at first few allies.
I'm not changing this next paragraph because I stand by it entirely from the original review.
"With Erased, it is the characters who sell the show. And even then you couldn't point to anyone character and say that character is amazing. A lot of people liked Satoru's mum but I found her one of the least interesting characters because she really didn't seem like a realistic mother and was more a plot device that existed only to Satoru the advice he needed when he needed it, cause him distress with her death in the original timeline, and filled in any parts of the plot that you really couldn't expect a child to succeed at overcoming. The friends Satoru has as a child are also a little off and at times serve no purpose. The first potential child victim is interesting but not overly believable as a character. However all of these characters complement each other perfectly and create a show that has a lot of heart and at times emotional depth. Even if they don't shut up and like to endlessly articulate things that really don't need to be said."
Erased is a fun story. It isn't an edge of your seat thriller but it will get you caught up in the mystery even after you figure it out and the characters will warm your heart. The OP is amazing so be sure to listen to it, and some of the visuals are really beautiful. Ultimately, Erased is an anime where lots of small details and moments add up to something that feels great to watch even though there are some issues with pacing, the ability to believe the plot, and the overall mystery falls a little short. Still, two years on I would still firmly recommend this anime for those who have never seen it.
Karandi James
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Posted in Series ReviewTagged anime, Boku dake ga inai machi, character, mystery, review, Satoru, series, time travel14 Comments
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14 thoughts on "Erased Series Review: Weak Mystery, Great Character Drama"
railgunfan75 says:
The title of this review really sums up my thoughts on the series. The characters and their individual story arcs were great but the mystery itself was predictable and lackluster. However, the emotional scenes and moments were damn good. The series' aesthetics are certainly of note as well. There are plenty of gorgeous scenes in this anime. If they nailed the mystery elements better, this would have been an ll time classic.
I agree. Still, even with a fairly weak mystery, the character moments and the visuals and music really do carry this one and make it a fun watch. But, that weaker mystery element is probably the reason this one faded from the conversation fast once it was done airing.
『BloggerGΘ』※ «Read Me!» says:
Yes it's true that the OP is amazing xD. I wasn't able to watch it when it aired but I binge watched this series when I discovered it. Now I'm reading the manga. It's a great anime indeed and characters sell the shows for me. Only reason I watch an anime and stuck to it til the end is because I fell in love with the characters. Great post 👌
And yes, the characters really are the draw here.
ManInBlack says:
This was my top show of 2016 from Japan despite Satoru's mum having those awful fish lips! 😛
Anime_Girls_NYC says:
This was one of my favorite anime in 2016. I remember raving about it and going crazy. Hahah
I know, it was one of those anime that when it first came out it just captured so many people. Since then, it doesn't get talked about a lot so I kind of enjoyed revisiting it.
themisanthropologist says:
I liked the Erased anime and the live action movie as well. I think the adaptation was pretty good.
Having read the manga, I was happy with how the anime started right up to the 10th episode, when it started to go downhill. Still rewatching it today but would definitely recommend to read the manga as it contained some scenes I felt were too important yet were dropped from the anime.
davedalessiowrites says:
I liked the mom, but only because she was a single woman of a certain age. The character I liked best in terms performance was poor little Kayo. In the dub she's voiced by the excellent Stephanie Sheh.
Kayo was great both in the original and in the dub (and I'm not a huge fan of dubs, but this one is pretty solid). She serves her role in the story really well.
I am currently in the middle of watching this (bit late to the party) and I like it though, I do feel it is a bit scattered. Sometimes I end up mistaking a single arc for the scope of the season, and find myself surprised to see that narrative resolve early.
It is interesting, and enjoyable, but in many ways the mystery itself does feel secondary to the character connections. It fills a nice niche, and it feels like a title that doesn't disappoint, but in the midst of so much anime, I'm not sure if it has the right combo to rise above the "reliable but numerous" level for me. Still, I am enjoying it.
A lot of the fun came from watching this one week to week and discussing and speculating, so I think if I was watching it for the first time now I'd have a slightly less enthused opinion about it. Still, it is a nice character piece in the end even if it is a little scattered.
Mmm. And through blogs one can still engage in solid conversations via blog posts and comments.