Boku dake ga Inai Machi (Erased) Review
So I started watching this anime series because there has been a lot of hype about it. People online are exclaiming that it is "one of the best anime we've had in a long time" and rating it 8.8/10 on MyAnimeList. I was skeptical, but I ran out of anime to watch, so I gave it a try. And I gotta admit, the first episode really lured me in.
The premise of the story is about a 29-year-old man named Satoru, who has a somewhat dead-end job (and life) as a part-time manga artist and part-time pizza delivery man. However, he has a unique ability, though outside of his will, that allows him to travel back in time whenever a crisis happens, so that he can prevent the crisis from happening. He basically has this whole "life sucks, who cares?" kinda attitude even though his has this "power", until he finds his mom murdered in his apartment one day. Shocked by the whole scenario, he desperately wishes he could be sent back in time to prevent his mom's death, but when he got his wish, he finds himself 18 years in the past. What could be the reason that fate sent him so far back to prevent a murder 18 years in the future?
So interesting isn't it? This is the poster for the series:
Bet you didn't expect it to be so lackluster, right? Well, because it suits the darn series alright. This whole series was so disappointing that I demand my time back. Thank goodness it was only 12 episodes long! I don't know if it was disappointing because it was precisely 12 episodes long and therefore they had to rush the plot, or it was disappointing thus they only scheduled 12 episodes. But either way, it doesn't matter because this anime is totally overrated. It's not even entertaining. It makes you want to hurl things at the screen because of the main character (MC).
Spoilers after the break:
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There are too many reasons this series gets on my nerves. The top reason being, how dare they ruin something potentially interesting?! But anyway, I'll list a few more "concrete" ones:
First of all, 90% of the characters are kids, even though this is a seinen manga (targeted to older males/adults). Am I missing something here? The show starts out with a 29-year-old man, but after the first episode, every episode thereafter is about these 10-year-old kids. Yeah, yeah, so what if he retained his adult mind even while in his kid body? What is this, Detective Conan? As if it wasn't bad enough, NONE of the kids acted or behaved like kids! I thought he was the only one who travelled back in time, so why are all his friends super mature and boring? Yeah, I am looking at you Kenya. Hella sketch.
Also, not one of the characters had any depth to their personalities. All of them had this deadpan look and attitude. I thought kids were supposed to be more active and innocent and fun. The only exception is Hinazuki, who suffers from child abuse, so I can somewhat understand her bleak outlook on life. But what about Satoru, the MC himself? It is implied that he had a very deadpan and ungrateful attitude as a kid, WHICH I FAIL TO UNDERSTAND, because his mom is probably the MOST AMAZING MOM IN THE WORLD! She has freaking 6th sense, is super bright, takes care of the house, makes delicious food, works hard, and is a gentle soul. How can someone like her so soi give birth to such an ungrateful and dull kid! Makes me feel terribly sad for her.
Despite the lackluster and unrealistic characters, I decided to give the story a chance to redeem itself. After all, if the plot has a good mystery and twist to it, the characters don't matter as much if they're just there to move the story along. Except, there really isn't any twist, mystery, or plot, because only an idiot would (which is, of course, MC himself) take 8 episodes to see that the teacher is the killer!
That's another thing, too! The MC was so incredibly dense that I couldn't stand it. He was sent back in time to prevent his mom's death, but for some reason he becomes so fixated on saving this one girl (whom he failed to save in the original past) from being kidnapped and killed. I get there is a connection between this girl's death and his mom, BUT LIKE HELLO. PRETTY SURE THE KILLER OF THIS GIRL IS YOUR MOM'S KILLER. MAYBE YOU SHOULD FOCUS ON FIGURING OUT WHO IT IS RATHER THAN TRYING TO KEEP HIDING THE GIRL FROM BEING KIDNAPPED?! Think bigger picture a little, can? You were sent back in time so you can trace the killer and save your mom in the present, not some girl who ALREADY died in the past!
For real, how damn unlucky can this mom get? Her son is literally the death of her. Also, pretty sure you can save the girl by tracing and luring the murderer, collecting evidence, and weeding out potential suspects through process of elimination...NOT by thinking up ways to throw the murderer off so he can go and murder someone else. So what if you save this girl but fail to figure out the killer's identity, he can always kill another target! How can so near-sighted and selfish one?! And don't even get me started how he's all blushy blushy with this girl. You're 29! I don't care if you're in a kid's body. How can you like a 10 year old girl?! Talk about pedophilia. Is this the reason why the series was categorized seinen?
And ah, the plot. He finally finds the killer, and so what could the killer's motive possibly be? How was he able to elude all of his crimes for the past 18 years? No particular reason apparently. Just that he is some psycho due to having been abused himself, and now he sets out to kill people because it makes him feel alive and powerful. So he puts himself in positions of power and trust i.e. very public positions like teacher, councilman, etc. to cast suspicion off himself, while getting excuses to get close to children.
I get that childhood abuse has psychological effects on people, but this anime fails to discuss any theme beyond the fact he became a murderer just because he was victim. I was hoping that maybe his motive could be slightly more interesting, like logical but twisted because of the abuse, which can leave viewers with a sense of empathy or maybe even challenge societal norms. But nope, the only twist you get is that apparently the teacher has an obsession with MC (to the point it's almost uncomfortable) and then proceeds to commit suicide along with MC when MC decided to jump off a building. No real explanation as to why he even has the obsession, or how the MC even figured it out (despite being so dense the entire time. What is this, some maturity growth spurt?). Sounds like a lot of bull to me.
I'm sure some psychology major can argue with me saying that victims of abuse don't really need a solid reason to become messed up in the head. Sometimes the effect is just so bad that they snap, hence, the label "victims". But still, this is a story. Couldn't mangaka research a more interesting psycho or make up one to write about? Also, he didn't seem to be making any real points or consideration about human psychology other than he just needs to have a reason for a psycho killer.
There are slews of other reviewers who has more thought out points and comments than I do (probably also a lot less bias), but the general ideas (among those who are disappointed in the series) regarding the plot holes and content's substance are the same.
My rating: 4/10. Interesting plot idea with terrible execution, but the series is short enough that you don't go murdering kittens from the rage and disappointment. Animation-wise I thought it was not bad. The art is somewhat unique, and there isn't a lot of still panes or cheap zoomed-out shots. Seiyuu's are very mediocre though. Watch at your own risk.
The premise of the story is about a 29-year-old man named Satoru, who has a somewhat dead-end job (and life) as a part-time manga artist and part-time pizza delivery man. However, he has a unique ability, though outside of his will, that allows him to travel back in time whenever a crisis happens, so that he can prevent the crisis from happening. He basically has this whole "life sucks, who cares?" kinda attitude even though his has this "power", until he finds his mom murdered in his apartment one day. Shocked by the whole scenario, he desperately wishes he could be sent back in time to prevent his mom's death, but when he got his wish, he finds himself 18 years in the past. What could be the reason that fate sent him so far back to prevent a murder 18 years in the future?
So interesting isn't it? This is the poster for the series:
Bet you didn't expect it to be so lackluster, right? Well, because it suits the darn series alright. This whole series was so disappointing that I demand my time back. Thank goodness it was only 12 episodes long! I don't know if it was disappointing because it was precisely 12 episodes long and therefore they had to rush the plot, or it was disappointing thus they only scheduled 12 episodes. But either way, it doesn't matter because this anime is totally overrated. It's not even entertaining. It makes you want to hurl things at the screen because of the main character (MC).
Spoilers after the break:
*
*
*
*
*
There are too many reasons this series gets on my nerves. The top reason being, how dare they ruin something potentially interesting?! But anyway, I'll list a few more "concrete" ones:
First of all, 90% of the characters are kids, even though this is a seinen manga (targeted to older males/adults). Am I missing something here? The show starts out with a 29-year-old man, but after the first episode, every episode thereafter is about these 10-year-old kids. Yeah, yeah, so what if he retained his adult mind even while in his kid body? What is this, Detective Conan? As if it wasn't bad enough, NONE of the kids acted or behaved like kids! I thought he was the only one who travelled back in time, so why are all his friends super mature and boring? Yeah, I am looking at you Kenya. Hella sketch.
Also, not one of the characters had any depth to their personalities. All of them had this deadpan look and attitude. I thought kids were supposed to be more active and innocent and fun. The only exception is Hinazuki, who suffers from child abuse, so I can somewhat understand her bleak outlook on life. But what about Satoru, the MC himself? It is implied that he had a very deadpan and ungrateful attitude as a kid, WHICH I FAIL TO UNDERSTAND, because his mom is probably the MOST AMAZING MOM IN THE WORLD! She has freaking 6th sense, is super bright, takes care of the house, makes delicious food, works hard, and is a gentle soul. How can someone like her so soi give birth to such an ungrateful and dull kid! Makes me feel terribly sad for her.
Despite the lackluster and unrealistic characters, I decided to give the story a chance to redeem itself. After all, if the plot has a good mystery and twist to it, the characters don't matter as much if they're just there to move the story along. Except, there really isn't any twist, mystery, or plot, because only an idiot would (which is, of course, MC himself) take 8 episodes to see that the teacher is the killer!
That's another thing, too! The MC was so incredibly dense that I couldn't stand it. He was sent back in time to prevent his mom's death, but for some reason he becomes so fixated on saving this one girl (whom he failed to save in the original past) from being kidnapped and killed. I get there is a connection between this girl's death and his mom, BUT LIKE HELLO. PRETTY SURE THE KILLER OF THIS GIRL IS YOUR MOM'S KILLER. MAYBE YOU SHOULD FOCUS ON FIGURING OUT WHO IT IS RATHER THAN TRYING TO KEEP HIDING THE GIRL FROM BEING KIDNAPPED?! Think bigger picture a little, can? You were sent back in time so you can trace the killer and save your mom in the present, not some girl who ALREADY died in the past!
For real, how damn unlucky can this mom get? Her son is literally the death of her. Also, pretty sure you can save the girl by tracing and luring the murderer, collecting evidence, and weeding out potential suspects through process of elimination...NOT by thinking up ways to throw the murderer off so he can go and murder someone else. So what if you save this girl but fail to figure out the killer's identity, he can always kill another target! How can so near-sighted and selfish one?! And don't even get me started how he's all blushy blushy with this girl. You're 29! I don't care if you're in a kid's body. How can you like a 10 year old girl?! Talk about pedophilia. Is this the reason why the series was categorized seinen?
And ah, the plot. He finally finds the killer, and so what could the killer's motive possibly be? How was he able to elude all of his crimes for the past 18 years? No particular reason apparently. Just that he is some psycho due to having been abused himself, and now he sets out to kill people because it makes him feel alive and powerful. So he puts himself in positions of power and trust i.e. very public positions like teacher, councilman, etc. to cast suspicion off himself, while getting excuses to get close to children.
I get that childhood abuse has psychological effects on people, but this anime fails to discuss any theme beyond the fact he became a murderer just because he was victim. I was hoping that maybe his motive could be slightly more interesting, like logical but twisted because of the abuse, which can leave viewers with a sense of empathy or maybe even challenge societal norms. But nope, the only twist you get is that apparently the teacher has an obsession with MC (to the point it's almost uncomfortable) and then proceeds to commit suicide along with MC when MC decided to jump off a building. No real explanation as to why he even has the obsession, or how the MC even figured it out (despite being so dense the entire time. What is this, some maturity growth spurt?). Sounds like a lot of bull to me.
I'm sure some psychology major can argue with me saying that victims of abuse don't really need a solid reason to become messed up in the head. Sometimes the effect is just so bad that they snap, hence, the label "victims". But still, this is a story. Couldn't mangaka research a more interesting psycho or make up one to write about? Also, he didn't seem to be making any real points or consideration about human psychology other than he just needs to have a reason for a psycho killer.
There are slews of other reviewers who has more thought out points and comments than I do (probably also a lot less bias), but the general ideas (among those who are disappointed in the series) regarding the plot holes and content's substance are the same.
My rating: 4/10. Interesting plot idea with terrible execution, but the series is short enough that you don't go murdering kittens from the rage and disappointment. Animation-wise I thought it was not bad. The art is somewhat unique, and there isn't a lot of still panes or cheap zoomed-out shots. Seiyuu's are very mediocre though. Watch at your own risk.
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