Forum - View topicREVIEW: ERASED Blu-Ray 1
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Jayhosh
 Posts: 972 Location: Millmont, Pennsylvania |
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I don't buy it, sorry. The way that they slowly "revealed" his true identity made it pretty obvious to me that that was their intention. The fact that there weren't sufficient red-herrings was more the fault of the writing, doubtfully that we as the viewers just "didn't understand the true purpose" or something. And even disregarding that, the fact that the main character was so oblivious and bone-headed to the obviousness of the killer, and the laughable justification for his motivations made it painful to watch. I guess my point is, even if the mystery wasn't the main intended aspect as you say, even what's left in and of itself doesn't hit it's mark all that successfully either.
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 23843 |
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Considering there was a fairly strong (albeit blink and you'd miss it) hint right in the OP as to who the killer is, I'm not sure where this "slow reveal" stuff comes from. There were indications from pretty early on so again I don't know where this idea that the writers were hoping to spring this as a huge surprise come from. As for Satou being "oblivious and boneheaded" - I think that is an unnecessarily uncharitable interpretation. Satou liked and trusted the person. It is highly realistic that he would not have wanted to confront the truth. There are none so blind as those who do not wish to see, etc, etc. One of the themes of the show was the nature of trust. How difficult it is to distinguish when it is right to trust and when it was dangerous to do so. Satou got it wrong in one case and right with his friends. A mixed record, but hardly something that makes him boneheaded. Just human.
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Jayhosh
Posts: 972 Location: Millmont, Pennsylvania |
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He, a grown ass man, came face to face with the "child predator uses candy to lure in his victims" trope and bought it with little to no questioning. I don't think you could convince me that he was just not willing to face the truth. He was just genuinely gullible and dense (and not just in regards to the identity of the killer). Had there been more internal monologuing regarding this from Satoru's POV, your point about trust being the theme may have lent itself more credence in my eyes. It would have been somewhat lazy storytelling, but serviceable. Again, the execution of this hypothetical theme, if that's was what they were actually going for, just wasn't solid enough for me to buy it, even if I did go along with the "it was never a whodunnit" angle. |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23843 |
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Gee, I guess it's too bad the show wasn't more on the nose and more willing to spell things out for you. I guess obvious exposition in the form of "internal monologuing" would have helped, eh?
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Jayhosh
Posts: 972 Location: Millmont, Pennsylvania |
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I don't need everything spelled out for me. Hell, just look at my avatar. Neon Genesis Evangelion is my favorite anime. It's just nice to have reasonable proof in the narrative that certain themes are actually present or well done. And recall that I did say that resorting to internal monologuing would still be lazy writing. As it is, Erased felt way too wishy-washy in that respect, for me. Clearly you feel passionately otherwise, which is great. I still enjoyed the show overall. |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23843 |
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Well, geez, if you're going to end on a polite and civilized note like that, you leave me nowhere to go.
*puts away "Golden Treasury of Sick Burns to Use on Internet Strangers"* 
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ScruffyKiwi
 Posts: 681 Location: New Zealand |
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I think you're overstating the case there. All he found was that the killer had a glove box full of sweets. That didn't mean he was a pedophile luring children! My dad after giving up smoking became addicted to chocolate so you would always find in the glove box of the car piles of chocolate (often half melted!!!). Him having chocolate in the glove box didn't make him a child predator! I think the thing we have to be aware of as an audience is that what we see is very different to what a character like Satoru sees. For him there was a whole raft of potential adult killers, both male and female. But for us as an audience increasingly the number of potential adults who could have done the deed get's narrowed down fairly quickly, simply because few adults are shown interacting with the kids. |
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4096 |
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Hey! I never finished watching this show and the one I figured was the killer... was. Did Satoru, an adult mind in the body of a child, ever figure out why he wasn't trying to solve the murders back in the past by using future knowledge and why, instead, he was trying to prevent one murder through sheer passive resistance? How did he think that would help his present situation? You all can say "the mystery's not the show was about at all" but the first episode literally ended on a "who done it" murder and If the mystery wasn't the point then why use it as a hook... Ah. Oh. Oh! Yeah, why not have Satoru and the audience see who murdered his mother? That would solve so many plot problems from "No one would believe me." and "I have no evidence" to "I know who it will be but all I can do is my best to protect her because of the first two points puts me firmly alone in this." Man, now I really don't like this series. |
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer
 Posts: 2616 Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City |
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Just a thought, but maybe we could save discussing the end of the series until the review of the second half?
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