Epimondas

So far this show feels alot like "The Barber" (2002), which was directed by Michael Bafaro.  The sense of perspective is a little different.  There is also a slight blend sensation from Groundhog's Day, or Sliding Doors, or the Family Man (with Nicholas Cage), or Retroactive (1997), or perhaps even Frequency.  Either way the sense of do over and time reshuffling is similar in all cases.  It is presented in a similar style to a handful of other animes like Another or Ghost Hound.  The style is similar to Ghost Hound to and both have a element of temporal loops or jumps.  In another way, there are times where it is like a riveting thriller with hurried pacing pushing the characters or pursuers upon a character.  The Thriller pursuit element is a bit like Ain.  The description is a bit misleading, deceptive, and incomplete compared to the actual experience.  The title is also a bit misleading and might remind one of the manga version of Re:Zero regarding the more recent chapters and just about the time the witch cultists appear.  This story might actually be very similar to the Dead Zone, but more in the way I suspect it all started than the actual flow of the story.  It is not revealed yet but I get the sense some trauma might have been the source of his phenomal supernatural experiences.  In many respects, it is very closely similar to the story, Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut.

Erased does some of the best work of all anime at creating a sense of depth of it's story and by extension perhaps, the nature of the story compels it's author(s) to lean on forshadowing much more than the average anime.  This is one of the reasons it has much greather depth than most other anime.  The flashback like experiences does an excellent job of providing plenty of background.  Some characters seem to fade too much into the background or just do not appear dimensional enough but the characters that are most central and focused on do get a fair amount of attention and fleshing out.  We learn alot about his childhood and a handful of friends especially those he is trying to save the most.  Two coworkers appear pretty heavily but the fellow delivery worker gets much more than the other.  His mother is such a strong factor in the story at both sides of where it starts and ends up that we learn quite abit about her.  Most of the students we only catch action from when he is interacting with them so in one sense we know as much as he but in another we only really know them well from his time in school so information about them comes out limited.  That approach is like a double edged blade though because in one way, we are not learning much about them beyond that they are students and friendly to him or tease him sometimes about his interests and their own, but on the other we only learn as much as he does or fails to do as a so called friend who only knows them so much.  Such a thing can both hurt and help a story, though it improves a little as the series progresses. Yet still some 'friends' we only know about superficially.  For a time, the series played out like Detective Conan, including the gimmick that makes Detective Conan the character he is.  ***Potential Spoiler** That is, he is an adult in a child's body*** Spoiler close**.  Even without that though, like Conan, he gets friends to help him or rather they jump into help him even when he urges them clear for their own safety but always end up helping him out.  And like Conan, he goes about trying to solve a serious crime, though in this case before it happens.

The ending is rather heartwarming and yet tragic at the same time given what he lost.  It makes me wonder though if he could work around that with all the knowledge he has given his trips.  The animation is slightly better than Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Bladeworks, but not as good as Knights of Sidonia.  It is high quality and near realistic, though the oddball puffy lips on some characters detract from that a bit and does not really feel like it quite fits the realistic style the rest of the anime projects.  Like Knights of Sidonia though, it blends kind of a anime style art work with the oversized eyes and such with enough realism to virtually circumvent the sensation that it is an anime in typical style.  The large eyes are just undersized enough from typical anime styles to work well with the realistic shading, shadows, light, and skin textures featured apart from the anime eyes.  Personally, I think the smaller more realistic eyes are better than standard artwork especially for more adult like and serious stories like this one was.   For the most part, voices seemed to fit the characters pretty well, which sad to say, is a bit unusual since more often then not I find they do not fit the characters as well as the English voices.  That isn't meant to be a biased thing just the truth.  More often then not, I have found voices that sounded way too old, or young for the intended character, or too high or too rough or other wise just a bad fit.  This show does not have that problem.  The music is ok but not outstanding and sound effects do not stand out but then there is not alot other than typical life background sounds and voices.

The series features kids and does not really show much in the way of graphic nature or obscenities but, given the seriousness of the story, I would not recommend it for anyone under 13 and even then you may still want to offer guidance.  Think of the movie 'M' with Peter Lorre, and ask yourself if that subject manner would be ok to watch.  It is a pretty good impressive and statisfying story with more or less a gratifying ending, but I would have prefered one a bit less severe.  One last note, it makes me wonder does murder really have a statute of limitations in Japan? Scary thought.