ERASED, from the start, is a time-travel anime... kind of. The main character, Satoru Fujinuma, has the power to go back in time, usually from five to fifteen seconds. The catch is that he cannot do it at will and is instead willed to do so whenever somebody around him is going to be killed or greatly injured. He has been keeping this power of his a secret from everybody as, obviously, no one would believe him. It is established very earlier on that Satoru's past is a very dark one in which three murders in his home town. One of the murders was one of his good friends at the time and, though the police are convinced they have caught the killer, Satoru thinks otherwise. The man they have, Jun Shiratori (or Yuuki), was friends with a ten-year-old Satoru before the murders happened and the Satoru of today doesn't believe that he could have done it. Everything changes for Satoru when the killer from his past murders his mom for knowing his identity and, when the police are about to bring Satoru in for custody, he is whisked back to 1988 about two weeks before the murders start. From here on out it is up to him to catch the killer and ultimately save the day.Let me just make it clear from here on out that I believe ERASED is a very subjective show and one's enjoyment of it all relies on how the individual can suspend their disbelief and accept certain scenes. For example, it is made very clear from the start of the show that Satoru can only go back in time when someone is in danger so it doesn't make much sense that he is brought back to 1988 after his mother dies. What the viewer thinks of this is completely up to them. I can really go both ways on this. If he was brought back before his mother died then Satoru wouldn't have a reason to find the killer that he suspects killed her. Throughout the rest of the series there is a number of plot holes that, though aren't too major, tended to slightly take me out of the experience. I can't dive into spoiler territory but I can say that there is a lot of cut content from the manga regarding secondary characters.
Damn, Yuki Kajiura. Calling back to my Sword Art Online review, I stated that, though the story sucked, the soundtrack was pretty decent. ERASED soundtrack is pretty great. I've only seen a handful of anime with Kajiura's works (mostly the Fate/Stay Night series and SAO) but from what I've heard she has greatly stepped up her game in the past year and I tend to agree with that statement after this anime's soundtrack. Though not every track is good there are a lot of stand-out pieces like "Only I Am Missing" and "Show Me Your Smile" and a bunch of others. She did some great work on this score.
I have a strong belief that it isn't about the end but about the journey. Though ERASED has a number of plot holes and plenty of cut content from the manga and the ending is lack-luster I still had a great time with it. To me and a lot of others the big picture is what counts for this show and its short comings are just a little too short to really matter. After I finished the show on MyAnimeList I gave ERASED an 8/10. The day after, I changed it to a seven. At one point I even brought it down to a six but then immediately raised it again to an eight. I am still torn on the series but I believe that it is at least worth the watch if you haven't seen it yet.
ERASED is whatever you want it to be.
Personally, I had a great time with it.
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