Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: ERASED [2016-01-15]
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sharkjack
Posts: 43 |
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You know, this is one of the few cases where having read the source material enhanced my experience of both the source material and the adaptation.
Like the fantastic initial episodes got me way more invested than I'd been reading the manga initially and I then went through the manga super fast. The more deliberate pace of the manga really gives the series a different atmosphere spoiler[ Especially from the moment we get back to the childhood the third time. The time spent on getting the kids a happy ending, how Satoru relies on his frieds, especially Hanazuki, who gets a cool comeback, to achieve his goals sort of make you forget the mystery, which comes to bite Satoru in the ass. It wasn't so much a mystery anymore at that point, but more a kids foiling adult evil kind of series. With no clear time limit, Yashiro's reveal felt less forced, because the series would have had time to set up something else if it wanted another killer (so Yashiro didn't feel as much as the only choice like in the anime)] That helped soften the blow of the killer reveal and gave it a different context. spoiler[ We also spend far more time With hospitalized Satoru and the final confrontation with Yashiro makes more sense there, even though I felt it was thematically weaker than the anime version.] In the end, I agree with Nick that having the plot be constrained to following the manga as closely as it did hampered the narrative's ability to live up to the other aspects of he series. The direction, use of colour and sound and the specific focus it gave the very real themes that the manga touches upon from time to time would have contributed to a greater whole if they had rooted out the killer narrative like they did. Not much else needed to change. Satoru's mom could still trigger the revival by dying, as her regret over not believing Satoru was enough to get things going even with an unrelated murder/death incident. Then the parents could've killed Hanazuki, one of the others could be an unrelated incident and a final kid might've jus run away from home and gotten hit by a car or something. Bad things happen sometimes, but when multiple events happen at a closely related time, people get panicky and want a clear answer. I could see them jumping on Yuuki as the killer. Maybe the person who killed Satoru's mom did so because they managed to sweep their child abuse/murder under the rug by blaiming Yuuki, but Satoru's mom was about to reveal that Yuuki was innocent and their reputation was at stake. Now that might not be the most graceful explanation, but that was just something I came up with on the spot. I'm sure the committee could've come up with something at least equally as good. The point is that without a cookie cutter villain like Yashiro, the other themes of Erased would've resonated much better. Anyone upset that they didn't manage to pull that off has every right to be so, and everyone who enjoyed the series for what it was is free to do that too. Different people enjoy different things and there is nothing wrong with that. |
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Spike Terra
 Subscriber Posts: 361 Location: Maryland |
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At the start of the season, I was thinking of not picking up Erased as I had gotten sick of underwhelming/pretentious mystery shows from the prior season. A friend of mine convinced me to pick up the show after episode 2. After the first episode, I was hooked and it quickly rose to being my favorite show for this season. Honestly, I have zero complaints about the show. Erased exceeded all of my expectations for it and I was on the edge of my seat for most of the series.
Satoru was my favorite protagonist for the season as he was a well rounded character in my opinion. While the supporting cast for the show was excellent as well with special props going to Sachiko (Satoru's mom). Overall, I was glad I had picked up this series and I hope that it leaves a positive impact on the anime community as a whole. That being said, I see that it didn't meet many individual's expectations. So my question is what did you want from this series and how did it fall short of your expectations? |
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GlassesMan
Posts: 217 |
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My question is- what happened to the other timeline? Does he go to jail in that timeline and Yashiro goes free? Or was that timeline overwritten?
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sharkjack
Posts: 43 |
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It addressed certain themes about society and the way we deal with abuse in an intelligent and visually very powerful way and people were expecting that to be the focus of the show after the first few stellar episodes, where instead we got a focus on a mystery with only one suspect. |
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Angel M Cazares
 Posts: 5499 Location: Iscandar |
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I would have loved it if the anime had been about how society deals with abuse, but the first episodes also showed that the producers were interested in the fantasy of time travel and of course thriller/mystery elements. And I would not assume that the audience at large expected ERASED to be about society dealing with abuse. |
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Ambimunch
 Posts: 2012 |
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You nailed it! This show had great potential and an amazing start, but somewhere mid-show it began to become crap. I am extremely disappointed with the changed ending, but even after reading the manga, there are definitely flaws within the conclusion of this story. I appreciate the show for how it set itself up, and for the tension it built, but I have to fault it for a very poor execution of the finale. A very solid 7.5/10 - which is a bit sad, because for more than half of the show it was a strong 9. |
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CrowLia
 Posts: 5528 Location: Mexico |
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I basically agree with the sentiment that it was a pretty good show, but it could've been fantastic. The Kayo storyline was by far the strongest part of the series and everything outside of that felt inferior. I wasn't as outraged as Nick by the reveal of the culprit -I kind of saw it coming even if I'd hoped it wouldn't be the case-, but the final confrontation between Yashiro and Satoru was terrible. Like Nick said, the whole "Yashiro can't live without Satoru" came pretty much out of nowhere and felt completely unearned. I'm also pretty miffed by the fact that Satoru's success as a mangaka came from writing shitty-looking generic teenage fantasy stories. It's a very minor thing, but it really bothered me tbh.
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Angel M Cazares
Posts: 5499 Location: Iscandar |
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It seems plausible. Just look at Reki Kawahara; he is a crappy writer, but Sword Art Online became a huge hit. |
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CrowLia
Posts: 5528 Location: Mexico |
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I'm not saying it's implausible, not at all. What bothered me was that at the beginning we get this idea of a subdued artist who can't tap into his true potential to tell a unique and great story because of some reason. But then the artist's magnum opus is a generic shonen fantasy/potentially magic high school blob? I feel like... that's it? That's the great story, the potential that was locked in his heart and was finally released now that he's free of his burden and regrets? That poster made me think Satoru was more good to the world delivering pizza and saving little kids from getting run over by trucks than he is as a mangaka
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RestLessone
 Posts: 1426 Location: New York |
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Looking at the poster, you can easily imagine what sort of series it is. In fact, we probably get a handful like it each year! I guess Satoru realized that's the only surefire way to make bank...
So my take on the ending... It was all right I guess? I want to chime in and say the plot outside of the Kayo or youth storyline (minus the villain reveal) was the weakest stuff. To such an extent that you could ditch Airi and her plot points and not lose much. I also don't like how Yashiro was caught. How did Satoru and co. ever figure out that all that would occur? Did they just have a million contingency plans? But I think my biggest gripe is that the ending sequence felt undeserved. It leaves you with this image of everyone being happy and leading fuller lives, but I don't feel like I *knew* most of them to start with. It's the sort of ending you'd expect after an emotionally draining, exciting show that Erased showed hints of at the start. After the Kayo story ended, it felt like it stumbled along to the finish line. All in all, I think Erased was a good-ish show. If you go into it knowing it's not really about the mystery or society or human relationships and is attempting to be a thriller instead, maybe it's more enjoyable. After the first return to present, I sort of figured it was going to be a bit more clunky than the human drama I had hoped for, so it didn't bother me too much. It's something worth checking out I'd say. Last edited by RestLessone on Fri Mar 25, 2016 7:45 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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CoreSignal
 Posts: 727 Location: California, USA |
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I felt like the staff (or more the mangaka), couldn't decide what they wanted ERASED to be. Did they want to do a character drama? a time travel thriller? or a story with social commentary on child abuse? At least for the anime, it seemed like they tried to do all three and while it was lacking in each indiviudual area,put together we got something decent but not great.
Yep, @CrowLia, this happens to mangaka all the time, it's nothing new 
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zrnzle500
 Posts: 3768 |
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There. Fixed it for you. 
If his masterwork looks like that, I can only imagine what the stuff he was writing before was like. Is that the same as in the manga or are we seeing what the anime writer thinks greatness looks like? |
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MidoriUma
Posts: 130 |
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Let's see...
Stops the killer? Check. Saves all his friends? Check. Succeeds as a manga writer? Check. Ends up with his soulmate? Check. Looks like a good ending to me, not sure what everyone's whining about. |
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HelloBucket
 Posts: 477 Location: Upstate New York |
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^
Not everyone requires or even desires a show to fulfill all their wishes. Personally, I tend to prefer bittersweet endings. Purely happy endings can work in more inherently upbeat shows but when a show builds up so many ways to go wrong I find it cheapens the impact if none of them come to pass. It makes the threat look like a paper tiger.
Going into the series initially, my hopes were pinned on direction, mystery and, something I always hope for, a strong core thematic or message. The mystery quickly proved to be a really minor element (and not even really a mystery at all). That wouldn't have killed my opinion of the show in and of itself and the other elements warrant a little more explanation. The direction was kind of interesting throughout the series. It wasn't that it was bad exactly, but that it was too heavy handed. Any one idea was OK, but they all got piled on top of each other. It was like someone went down a checklist for every single scene and checked the box next to as many directorial tricks as humanly possible. The only way it could have been more in-your-face is if the director had shown up in person and handed the viewer a card that said "THIS SCENE IS SAD". It was kind of exhausting. As others have mentioned, the thematic element of the show was just the typical shounen/MLP "friendship is magic". I was hoping for something less typical, or with more meat or depth. Sadly, the one thing the show did really excel at, massive dramatic impact, is exactly the sort of thing I'm mostly immune to. Grand emotional plays always seem to pass me by. |
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Top Gun
 Posts: 4778 |
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Come to think of it, that's the other main thing I'll take away from this series as far as fan reactions are concerned: I don't think I'll ever for the life of me understand why the reveal of Yashiro was a letdown to any extent, much less a massive one. I mean if the argument was that the scene itself was a little bit hammy, then sure, I can see where you're coming from...but at the simple fact that the killer wound up being the only person it could logically be? I'm still staggered by just how many people I saw complaining, "Why wasn't it someone we'd never even heard about?" Yes, let's make the reveal a complete ass-pull, a.k.a. the very definition of bad writing. Just don't get it at all. |
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