Erased

By: Robert Murphy

What would you do for one chance to travel through time and correct a mistake that you made in your past or change the future for the better by righting a terrible wrong? Well for some unknown reason Satoru Fujinuma posses this kind of ability where when tragedy strikes those around him he can travel backwards to moments before it happens and hopefully prevent what is about to occur. He dubs this ability revival and even though he generally feels disconnected from everyone and everything around him, he does everything in his power to help those in need. This becomes painstakingly more perilous however when a murderer from his long repressed childhood comes back and murders his mother, this sending him on the longest revival trip he has ever gone on to try and change not only his current future but the future of those around him as well.

Initially Satoru was a character that I thought would not prove to be an overall engaging one since I had seen his like so many times before. As the story progresses however viewers begin to see more and more as to why the present Satoru felt so separated from those around him. He was so lackadaisical and couldn't quite muster up the drive to do anything in his life, even with his true passion of manga writing, and there was just something missing from his life. Many people out there can probably relate and this ended up working in his favor in a lot of ways but when viewers meet his younger self it also adds some more depth to his character. Satoru's hero complex kicks into full swing once he sets himself on the path of protecting Kayo, a young girl in his class, who was the first victim in a series of murders in his home town. Satoru believes that she is the key to preventing everything in the current future and if he saves her then he saves his mother, his friends and himself from a horrible fate. 

Even before Satoru travels back in time and enters the body of his younger self, the story had major appeal going for it. The mystery as to who was causing all of these misfortunes in Satoru's present was a deeply engaging one as this person was one step ahead of him and absolutely everyone else in the story. Everyone was working against Satoru it seemed, except for a young girl by the name of Airi who believed in him and his innocents, but she too ends up getting caught in the cross hairs. Once in the past the situation is just as perilous as a young Satoru tries to piece together just who is responsible for the impending murders and tries to help Kayo and the other girls in the killer's sights. It becomes delightfully endearing as well seeing as Satoru and his friends are all young children attempting these grand feats of hiding out to protect Kayo. It's cute and you almost forget that Satoru is a thirty year old trapped inside of his younger self, that is until he stops to remind himself of this at a humorous moment of attraction he feels for Kayo.

After a pinnacle moment for the story, Satoru is left to clean up loose ends and try to ultimately make sure the killer will no longer prove to be a problem for anyone close to him. However, this proves to be the dragging moments for the show since the mystery itself is just about solved and in terms of viewership everything already seemed wrapped up. That being said the finale for the show was extremely satisfying to see as it shows how Satoru has come full circle as a character. He has been changed by all the experiences with his past life and he no longer feels the emptiness he once did. He wasn't pretending to have friends, he actually made them and they stood by him. He wasn't just trying to be a hero, he actually became one and felt as though he was just like his childhood hero that brought his friends together and fought evil. The future looked bright and it made the drag for the three preceding episodes feel worthwhile.  

There is a certain artstyle to series that captures all of the drama happening as well and it is truly beautiful. Satoru is shown the moments of an impending revival when a blue butterfly flies nearby and for those of you who have played Life is Strange it will ring remarkably similar, not that I'm knocking the show for this. Erased also cleverly use old time film reels to depict timelines of the situations at hand as well as use it to show moments of connection being severed/created during points of Satoru's revival. Outside of these factors, the animation itself is simply top notch, even though many points in Satoru's past take place in a cold winter setting it is brought to life with many bright colorful moments. A particular highlight in one episode show Kayo and Satoru traveling to a remote spot from his childhood, there are foxes that come and dance around them and other wonderful sights, but the best is when they reach a seemingly desolate tree that comes to life when they stand under it. The stars bring it to life like a massive Christmas tree and it truly shows the height of the shows animation prowess. 

The overall themes of the show go to some intense places such as child abuse, isolation, murder, loneliness and a whole lot more and it adds to the wholly engaging experience that is Erased. The series had an engaging presence right from the get go and despite a brief drag near the end, there was a solid presentation all the way through. This is capped off by wonderful themes, animation and not to mention one heck of an opening theme song for a show that will hit viewers on multiple levels.

Good:

- Saturo's development as a character made him truly enjoyable

- An engaging story

- Tough to swallow themes that are handle very well

- Wonderfully animated

Bad:

- A bit of a drag near the end with the episodes feeling like they don't accomplish too much till the end

Scully Rating: 8.8 out of 10