Despite being a mini series, Erased managed to have 5 great episodes that stood out among the rest.
If someone were to ask me to recommend a short anime to watch, I’d probably throw in Erased in the list. The 12-episode mini series wastes no-time at all and every episode keeps you constantly on the edge of your seat. The story follows a 29-year-old struggling manga artist who gets the opportunity to save his mom from getting murdered by correcting an incident in the past. The problem? He has to solve the case as his 10-year-old self in the past. Just how will a grade schooler deal with a serial killer?
Despite the series being only 12 episodes and easily bingeable (I finished it in a day), some episodes still stood out more than the others. Here’s my take on what are the Top 5 episodes for the series.
5. Episode 03: Birthmark
Kayo Abused Scene
After an ice-skating race against a classmate where Satoru purposely lost in an attempt to change the future, things seem to have moved a step back for Satoru since Kayo pins him as a liar after saying he’ll try his best to win but instead, throwing the match away. A little later in the episode, Satoru finds Kayo beaten up and left in a shed by her mother. Now aware of Kayo’s situation at home he speaks to Gaku Yashiro, who he believes is an ally to help Kayo out of the abusive household. During class Kayo is accused of stealing the class’ lunch money however, Satoru manages to stand up for her prompting Kayo to slowly start trusting him again as a friend.
First of all, for a short episode a lot of things happened. Basically, this episode’s goal was first to destroy the already budding relationship between Kayo and Satoru and then reestablish it before the episode ends. And you can bet, a lot of things happened in-between. A-1 pictures did an awesome job in all of the compelling scenes for this episode especially when Satoru stumbled upon an injured Kayo and when he brought Kayo to the “Christmas” tree. In 3 episodes the anime has already shown great pacing and I believe if episode 1 did not hook you to the series, then this episode will do that job.
4. Episode 08: Spiral
Kayo's Breakfast Scene
While Kayo was sleeping, an intruder managed to stumble upon the hideout and started snooping around. Luckily, Kayo managed to keep away from his line of sight. She later decides to tell Satoru. While the kids were looking around for clues regarding the intruder they happened to come across a footprint and a bunch of tools that Satoru recognizes as the same ones used to kill Kayo in the previous timeline. Deciding that the hideout is no longer safe, Satoru takes Kayo back to his place where Kayo experiences the warmth of a mother after a long time.
If you haven’t found out who the killer is by this episode, it’s probably the one you’ve been suspecting since episode 2. But instead of focusing on who the intruder and killer is, the problem at hand right now is where they are going to hide Kayo. They ultimately decide to ask help from the team’s mom Sachiko who welcomes Kayo into hers and Satoru’s small apartment. We are then given a touching scene of what some mother-daughter bonding should look like that would lead up to a scene that had me bawling alongside Kayo. I honestly did not expect to cry in this anime till that very moment. The episode also ends with the trio deciding to confront Kayo’s mother, Akemi.
3. Episode 09: Closure
Akemi Taken Into Custody Scene
Continuing from the previous episode; Kayo, Satoru and Sachiko confront Akemi regarding Kayo’s abuse in the household. Akemi is caught red-handed by Yashiro and some social workers. Akemi prepares to fight for Kayo’s custody only to be stopped by her own mother who apologizes for not being with Akemi when she needed her the most. Akemi is then taken into custody and Kayo is sent to live with her grandmother, finally ending her arc in the story. With Kayo no longer a potential victim, Satoru shifts his focus to the other two remaining victims: Aya and Hiromi.
And we have reached the conclusion of Kayo’s story arc with only a few episodes left till the finale, meaning the real killer will soon be revealed. I think the writers have definitely ended the arc pretty strong and among the 3 victims it was correct to give a lot of attention to Kayo’s story arc, as it’s far more dramatic than the other two victims. Here we see not only Kayo’s path to recovery but her entire family moving closer to a better life. Kayo’s grandmother has finally asked for forgiveness from her daughter. Meanwhile, we see Kayo’s mother being taken in to finally get the mental health care she needs. Kayo is also taking her first few steps to a new life without the abuse. While she closes the door to her sad life, she also looks back at all the good things that happened to her before she faces forward.
I also felt the show was teasing the audience a lot. I think they made the killer painfully obvious that we begin to question if the show made Yashiro too obvious to throw us off and start believing that it can’t be him because it’s too easy of a guess.
2. Episode 04: Accomplishment
Satoru and Kayo Birthday Scene
Satoru manages to bring out Kayo on a small outing, during their trip he starts to worry that he still hasn’t changed the past. March 1, the day of Kayo’s supposed disappearance passes without any incident allowing Satoru and Kayo to enjoy their birthday surrounded by Friends and Satoru’s mother without worry. While Satoru feels confident due to the turn of events successfully preventing Kayo’s murder, she still disappears the morning after.
There’s a lot of key points in this episode that makes the anime stand out really early. First, the previous episode served as the anime’s “hook”. This one carries the torch from episode 3. While we already know that Kayo is a victim of abuse, we get a better view of her mother when Sachiko and her finally meet in this episode. Sachiko makes a remark that they come from similar households and as two single mothers they should chat sometimes—shedding light to not only Kayo’s situation, but Satoru’s as well.
Next up, Satoru remembers he met Kayo in the science museum when they were kids which brings him to worry that even though he’s making small differences, he is still leading her to the same fate of being killed. He gets reassured due to the fact his friends show up later and the two are able to spend their birthdays alongside them. At this point maybe a few of us got the feeling of dread since it seems a bit too easy to finish Kayo’s story arc…and we are proven right the next day when Kayo does in fact disappear. Her disappearance however might be caused by an entirely different person apart from the killer.
1. Episode 12: Treasure
Rooftop Scene
After his talk with Kayo in the previous episode, Satoru regains his memory and tells Kenya and Hiromi about the identity of the serial killer and his plan on confronting him. During the confrontation Yashiro reveals his plan on framing Satoru for the death of Kumi, if he hadn’t been found out. Satoru calls his bluff as Satoru has become the reason for Yashiro to live. The team eventually pulls off a “stunt” that allows them to catch Yahshiro without anyone getting hurt. The scene then moves forward to a now recovered and successful Satoru who meets Airi once again by some miracle.
When everyone in his life moved on with their life but Yashiro did not. While a lot of people have complaints about the show’s ending, I found it pretty well put together and the finale episode felt like a proper ending for the show. Everyone is saved and moving forward. Also, for once, “Revival'' worked to his favor by giving him a future where he not only saves everyone, but ends up successful. It is also teased in the ending that he may attempt to pursue Airi in the future as the two of them, by some miracle, end up encountering each other again in an old meeting spot.
While people were rooting for Kayo, we have to understand that Satoru would have wanted her to move forward too. Although, I felt Kenya would have been a better fit for her over Hiromi, but I guess the creators made it that way since both Hiromi and Kayo did die in the original timeline. I think my only complaint with the series is how downplayed Yashiro is. I feel a manga reader would appreciate him as a villain much more over people who have just watched the anime.
