ERASED

Episode Count	12
Season	Winter 2016
Genres	Drama, Seinen, Supernatural, Thriller
Source Material	Manga
Rating	TV-14
Streaming	TBD

Several years ago I made a YouTube video going over ERASED. Not bad for my first real video. I made it because of how fascinated I was in how highly praised the series was while it was airing. To this day it remains one of the most popular non-action anime of all time, possibly even the most popular mystery/drama anime.

Here's the plot: A 29 year old man named Satoru Fujinuma goes home one day to find his mother murdered. Afterwards, he is sent back in time to when he was 11. The reason is because the murders of three children from his childhood are directly connected to the murder of his mother. If he can save these kids, he can save his mom, and find the real killer.

If you're sold, stop reading and go watch it. For everyone else, here's why ERASED is on the More list rather than the Essentials list.

Any other description on the Internet that is longer than a sentence tells you a major detail that I intentionally left out. Not because I consider it a spoiler, but because after episode 1 it doesn't matter. A bunch of people were sold on this show thanks to a plot device that is only here to get our hero to the main story. And that is just one of many structural problems ERASED has throughout its run. No spoilers but the actual murder mystery sent anime fans into a frenzy that can only be summarized as "denial".

Nevertheless, I still recommend ERASED. The first 4 or 5 episodes are incredible to the point that you forget about everything I just said. When this show is GOOD, you begin to understand why it's considered an all-timer. Tomohiko Itou goes all out on the directing. It's weak as a murder mystery but as a series about trying to save the lives of people who are otherwise going to die, either mentally or physically? It's spectacular. Not a masterpiece, should probably be less popular, but there's a reason it took the community by storm.

- 0215MADman