Support NeoGAF

[Shouta]

I liked the ending, but I'm fairly easy to please. I read the relevant chapters of the manga, but I still don't really get the relationship between Yashiro's victims and the spider thread. That whole rooftop scene just went over my head. I guess I just have trouble seeing the big picture. I felt the same way about Parasyte's conclusion.

I haven't seen the anime ending yet as I'm waiting on watching it with a friend. However, if you're familiar with The Spider Thread's by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Yashiro is Kandata but sees himself as Buddha is the impression I got in the manga.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

I thoroughly enjoyed the show as a whole and I liked that Airi came back at the end. I will say, this thread has a TON of salt. I enjoyed the show very much as a whole, and I don't normally watch these kinds of shows each season.

 

[FluxWaveZ]

I thoroughly enjoyed the show as a whole and I liked that Airi came back at the end. I will say, this thread has a TON of salt. I enjoyed the show very much as a whole, and I don't normally watch these kinds of shows each season.

There's something real lame about referring to general dislike as "people being salty."

 

[Jarmel]

They didn't do anywhere near enough work for that rooftop scene to have any impact whatsoever.

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

There's something real lame about referring to general dislike as "people being salty."

easiest dismissal of criticism there is

 

[Basileus777]

They didn't do anywhere near enough work for that rooftop scene to have any impact whatsoever.

You could say that about the majority of the scenes in the last two episodes.

 

[Silent_Ocarina]

I haven't seen the anime ending yet as I'm waiting on watching it with a friend. However, if you're familiar with The Spider Thread's by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Yashiro is Kandata but sees himself as Buddha is the impression I got in the manga.

I was familiar with the story, but I wasn't sure of the relationship between that story and what was going on in Yashiro's head. That makes a lot of sense, thank you.

 

[King Gilga]

It was okay, last quarter really let it down. 6 or 7/10, will decide after I finish the manga.

 

[Moaradin]

As someone who has no interest in the manga, I thought this ending was solid. Yashiro stuff was meh but the wrap up with satisfying enough.

 

[Rynocirator]

Just rewatched the ending because I was wondering what happened to Jun. I didn't put two and two together until I read the name of the truck. That's really nice that it wrapped all of the characters stories up. I felt bad for the mom though. Granted she isn't murdered in this timeline and got her son back, she still spent a lot of her life taking care of a comatosed Satoru.

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

Just rewatched the ending because I was wondering what happened to Jun. I didn't put two and two together until I read the name of the truck. That's really nice that it wrapped all of the characters stories up. I felt bad for the mom though. Granted she isn't murdered in this timeline and got her son back, she still spent a lot of her life taking care of a comatosed Satoru.

In the manga it explains he went to work in South-East Asia for a while and met his wife there.

 

[Hellwarden]

The biggest problem with ERASED isn't the villain.

It's how they try to relate the villain to Satoru. The rooftop scene has no weight to it because these character don't feel like they're enemies or really anything.

 

[duckroll]

Episode 12

Ending was about as good as they could have made it at this point. I kinda appreciate that it's less overwrought and quasi-dramatic compared to the manga's climax, but at the same time I felt that they could have handled the overall pacing of the series better to give certain things more room to breath. In the end though, what I was impressed with was how they substituted dialogue for visuals, which is a great use of the difference in mediums. While the manga concluded with a long conversation between Satoru and Kenya, it largely served as a bookend to the various themes running through the series. In the anime I felt they achieved a very similar goal by using the visual montage over the credits.

 

[jorgejjvr]

I didn't understand why or how Satoru being alive makes Yoshiro alive??

To then kill him and himself?

Couldn't he do that at any time and not wait 15 years?

I liked it overall tho, it was at its best with Kayo.

And looking back now, Airi should have had more screen time

 

[Admiral Woofington]

This is like the ending to true detective s1 in silly, only it didn't have the solid s1 behind it.

 

[Jotamide]

After such a strong start it ended very underwhelming, 8/10 -> 6/10 for me. I guess this confirms Rakugo is the anime of the season.

 

[Valdfellgar]

honestly the ending was solid enough.

But I was laughing uncontrollably for like 4 minutes at the fact that after all of his inspiration from his life, and the scholarly look he has at the end, and the manga he makes is this generic ass shonen action looking motherfucker lmao. Like why.

Lol my wife and noticed that too, I was pretty disappointed with Satoru when I saw what kind of Manga he was writing at the end. If that's him at his best I'd hate to see what he was writing before hand.

My wife and I just finished it today and wrote a review for it for our new anime review website (won't link I assume that's frowned upon.)

But generally agree with the crowd here that it was a good ending. Not great, definitely flawed, but strong emotionally and it was nice to see that emotional conclusion to a show we were watching more for the drama than the mystery.

 

[Abyssal God]

After such a strong start it ended very underwhelming, 8/10 -> 6/10 for me. I guess this confirms Rakugo is the anime of the season.

We've known this since episode 1, today's episode just reinforced it.

 

[Valdfellgar]

We've known this since episode 1, today's episode just reinforced it.

Yeah Rakugo just is the stronger drama between the two. Least for me and my wife it's really nice to see a rarity in anime like Rakugo.

 

[TrueBlue]

Just watched the second half of the series myself.

Overall, I liked the show quite a bit, but I'm definitely in the crowd that thinks the show peaked with the first four episodes. Nothing since then has really been of the same quality, despite there being some moments of quality.

Characters were likeable enough - Satoru, Kenya, Satoru's mum, Kayo etc were all characters that I rooted for. Satoru's mum is the peak though, absolutely.

On Airi - I liked her too, the problem with her was - and by the same token, the problem with that final scene - is that she pretty much adds nothing to the series past the halfway point. Hell, the timeline that the series ends on literally has nothing to do with her bar that final scene.

Don't get me wrong, I like that she and Satoru will have a chance to renew their friendship/relationship/whatever, but it didn't feel as earned. This is especially apparent after seeing the fates of characters who were actually present during the second half ot the series.

It also doesn't help that the last major bit that involved her character was a pretty silly story about chocolate bars. That's going to colour the perception of her since she didn't have a chance to do much else. Shame really, because I liked the scenes with her and Satoru in the first half. Ah well, I hear things are different in the manga, I guess Airi is just a victim of the distillation.

The whole rooftop conversation with Yahsiro was weird too. "You can't live without me" didn't feel as earned as it probably should have - kind came off as trite in the end.

So yeah, I think it can be safely said that Erased is a good show. Hell, it verges on the excellent for the first third of the series. After that though it stumbles and never really regains the same footing. I recommend it, but I completely understand if people are disappointed with the conclusion when one considers the quality of the opening.

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

I dunno about including the first episode with the shows peak. Episodes 2-4 were where it really shined.

 

[TrueBlue]

I dunno about including the first episode with the shows peak. Episodes 2-4 were where it really shined.

I only started watching the series a few weeks after it had started airing, and had planned to just watch the first episode since it was late at night. I count the first episode simply because it grabbed me so much that I immediately watched the next two episodes, work be damned.

2-4 were the absolute peak though, I don't disagree. I remember thinking that 1 was really good, juust not on the same level.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

Erased making all Anime fans reconsider the 4 episode rule.

 

[Cornbread78]

Erased making all Anime fans reconsider the 4 episode rule.

I know, watching the while thing through was a treat!

 

[striferser]

Crossposting from winteranimethread
Boku dake ga inai machi 12
The conclusion with the killer could've been better, but i guess this'll have to do since they ran out of time. Seeing Satoru growth and bonding with his friend is still the best part about this series. As far as adaptation goes, it is pretty decent despite having to cut several important scenes from the manga and cheapen the thriller part.

Airi part is definitely handled better in the manga, since she's the one that trigger Satoru memory, which make sense since she is his only friend in the previous timeline. At the very least, rather than being lover or anything, i just see Satoru want to become friend again with Airi.

 

[kiunchbb]

This show is finally finished, to be honest I like the anime ending a lot better than the manga ending. The manga drag the boring post-coma part way too long.

 

[MCD]

Episode 12

Ending was about as good as they could have made it at this point. I kinda appreciate that it's less overwrought and quasi-dramatic compared to the manga's climax, but at the same time I felt that they could have handled the overall pacing of the series better to give certain things more room to breath. In the end though, what I was impressed with was how they substituted dialogue for visuals, which is a great use of the difference in mediums. While the manga concluded with a long conversation between Satoru and Kenya, it largely served as a bookend to the various themes running through the series. In the anime I felt they achieved a very similar goal by using the visual montage over the credits.

honestly the ending was solid enough.

But I was laughing uncontrollably for like 4 minutes at the fact that after all of his inspiration from his life, and the scholarly look he has at the end, and the manga he makes is this generic ass shonen action looking motherfucker lmao. Like why.

He loved heroes and hero stuff so it's not out of character.

 

[brickarts295]

Finished it. I'm easy to please when it comes to anime (hell I started watching anime last year so my judgment ain't that legit) but I thought this anime was pretty average and predictable. It started pretty interesting during first few episodes but then it lost all suspense and became your typical time travel romp. I'll admit that the ending was good, specially the part on the roof but with all the initial hype around it, I kind of expected better. Anyways, It's a solid binge for a boring afternoon.

6/10

 

[Instro]

Episode 12

Ending was about as good as they could have made it at this point. I kinda appreciate that it's less overwrought and quasi-dramatic compared to the manga's climax, but at the same time I felt that they could have handled the overall pacing of the series better to give certain things more room to breath. In the end though, what I was impressed with was how they substituted dialogue for visuals, which is a great use of the difference in mediums. While the manga concluded with a long conversation between Satoru and Kenya, it largely served as a bookend to the various themes running through the series. In the anime I felt they achieved a very similar goal by using the visual montage over the credits.

Pretty much agree, frankly this ended up being one of the better episodes of the show. The ending episodes felt a bit crunched, I'm not sure what could have been done to alleviate that. An extra episode obviously would have done the trick, but maybe they needed less time spent on the first return to the future? Otherwise I feel good about how this series turned out. Nothing was really lacking, and it was well directed and well written.

I still don't get who the dude in the hat and glasses was from the first episode though. It's bugging me. I'm surprised they never circled back around to that, because he sure as hell didn't look like Yashiro even though Sachiko supposedly recognized him.

 

[Kickz]

Man this show died with that car going in the lake, just a terrrrrible last 2 eps..

I am guessing this is an anime only ending with how it transpired.

 

[killer rin]

I still don't get who the dude in the hat and glasses was from the first episode though. It's bugging me. I'm surprised they never circled back around to that, because he sure as hell didn't look like Yashiro even though Sachiko supposedly recognized him.

In the Manga it shows that that guy was the Teacher also, just in a different outfit.

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

Pretty much agree, frankly this ended up being one of the better episodes of the show. The ending episodes felt a bit crunched, I'm not sure what could have been done to alleviate that. An extra episode obviously would have done the trick, but maybe they needed less time spent on the first return to the future?

I would have taken that entirely out, reduced Airi to her small appearance in episode 1, combined the two past sequences into one, and further elaborated on the Kayo story while reducing the thriller elements. That would have been an improvement.

 

[Sami+]

Hated it lol... almost everything after ep 4 is just an amalgamation of anime tropes and cliches that drive me crazy. First four episodes were excellent, and had some great direction that I really appreciated seeing, but beyond that I'm immensely disappointed. Don't think any anime has let me down this hard before.

 

[Callibretto]

wow surprised at the dislikes it got in later episode. maybe because I'm watching almost all at once and not waiting weekly like some people here, but I love this anime, a bit disappointed with Kayo not ending as the main pair, and the climax conversation is a bit over dramatic, but other than that, I love the happy ending, everything went pretty well for the main character in the end, and he's such a good guy that he really deserve to be happy at the end.

I wish they could have show more of Airi, I like her character, we just didn't have much scenes with her other than her backstory.

 

[Paltheos]

Erased making all Anime fans reconsider the 4 episode rule.

Nah. If you get that far in a major production without throwing me, you can't be totally incompetent. Yeah the show never recovered but I think that standard has some reliability to it. It doesn't have to be absolute.

I had a fun time reading and talking with everyone too, and the show has some really good material, so I don't consider this time wasted.

 

[-Ryn]

Finally finished the last episode!

This series was wonderful to watch and I thoroughly enjoyed every second with anticipation.

My only criticism being that while I feel they wrapped it up well, the ending didn't feel like there was quite enough build up to it (having 16 - 22 episodes could've definitely benefited it assuming the writing was there). The series highest points were definitely in the beginning and middle for me. After that things began to lose steam. Not that it was bad per se. It just felt less gripping and there wasn't much mystery left.

Despite that it is a very enjoyable anime with great characters, an interesting concept, a wonderful soundtrack, and plenty of charm. I would highly recommend checking this series out. Especially to anyone that enjoys a good bit of suspense and mystery. It's a fantastic experience.

 

[Pau]

I don't really watch anime, but my boyfriend was recommended this and we enjoyed it enough to binge through it in a day.

I didn't want the teacher to be the killer, but it's what made the most sense. I guess some people don't buy his fixation on Satoru but I believed it.

I thought the ending was cute. I don't even think you have to read it as if the whole gang stayed best friends this whole time, but rather they kept in touch and had a reunion for the friend they thought they had lost. Kenya and Hiromi seemed to be the ones the most invested in living their lives in a way that could help Satoru. (Which I thought was incredibly sweet.)

Sounds like there was more to Airi in the manga. Even without her having the same level of importance, I didn't mind that she got the last scene. (I do wonder if he's ever gonna tell her about the other timeline. ) Not gonna lie, I found their relationship in 2006 to be a bit weird, but whatever.

Overall nothing too groundbreaking and they went with the most obvious solution to the mystery, but it was still an entertaining show.

 

[Cornbread78]

Overall nothing too groundbreaking and they went with the most obvious solution to the mystery, but it was still an entertaining show.

This was so lost in translation over the course of the show, but it's very true. It has had such a divisive response everywhere.. For the faults in story telling that I could look past, there are others who felt it destroyed the show completely. I felt this show, even with those faults was Soo much better than the average garbage that airs weekly.

Finally finished the last episode!
This series was wonderful to watch and I thoroughly enjoyed every second with anticipation.

Fair criticism, but excellent write up!

 

[Shouta]

Finally got around to watching the last episode. I actually really like the anime's version of the ending a lot. Perhaps more so than the manga's. I can see where folks would be annoyed at the lack of explanation about certain topics though but I think that works well for the show. It gives you a little bit to chew on. The extended scenes with everyone also were really nice and really hammered in what the show was about.

Sounds like there was more to Airi in the manga. Even without her having the same level of importance, I didn't mind that she got the last scene. (I do wonder if he's ever gonna tell her about the other timeline. ) Not gonna lie, I found their relationship in 2006 to be a bit weird, but whatever.

The anime version of the overall sequence of events works pretty well in regards to her, I think. It's very similar to what they did with Kayo where they left it out of the adaptation to give it more meaning and a bit more of a punch to it.

Spoilers for the manga if you're interested.

Spoiler

In the manga's version of the events, it's Airi that stops the photographers from taking pictures of Satoru and Kumi. His memory starts to well up inside as he sees and approaches her but it causes him to go into a further coma which puts him out for another year or so, as I recall. He then agonizes a bit more after he wakes up but decides to try and meet Airi in the city but decides against it at the last minute. Everything happens in regards to Yashiro after that. In the ending, Satoru goes for a walk to reminisce a little and stops under the bridge when he gets a text message from his mom. That's when Airi runs up. His words are different in that sequence as well. He says in the manga "The future is always a blank slate. Only the will you have to keep moving forward can imprint footsteps on it" (for my quick & dirty translation of it).

I feel like that the changes work really well for Satoru and the flow of the story. It better reflects his change in attitude over the course of the story. His meeting with Airi in the new future has a hint of destiny to it as well because she hadn't shown up before then. Two big changes in the ending sequence that really work towards is that Satoru uses the same framing-gesture that Airi had used. The other is that his final words are changed in the anime, to "I always believed." I feel like these two things really make the moment fantastic because it just says so much in a little sequence.

 

[enanogrande]

The Kayo parts were so strong to me - from the child segments all the way to their meeting at the hospital - that despite everything else this show is still a 9/10 for me. I feel that strongly about the Kayo story and its execution.

Unfortunately most of the other parts were a bit of a letdown - quite good on their own, but on the most part far below the level of the Kayo-focused part of the story.

I'll have to get around to reading the manga now, I can (both from reading this thread and from watching the anime) tell that there's a lot of things they've left out - maybe those will get me to appreciate the non-Kayo parts of the story more. There's obviously something there, maybe the anime just didn't do it justice.

 

[foxuzamaki]

I watched it all at once over the course of several days so I dont really sympathize with it going downhill after only 4 episodes, I liked it quite a bit, kayo's ac def was the strongest part of the show, such immense focus on character development and interaction which I always hold up the most during a story is what i really liked about it.

 

[KimiNewt]

I finally read the manga. I wish the anime had more time because generally the changes made throughout the series were for the better (aside from utterly cutting out things) and I would have liked to see the anime version of the manga ending.

Overall, the manga's ending is better but the initial arc in the anime with Hinazuki was much more powerful. As everyone said, that's definitely the best part of the show, I'm fine with it because it's not like the later parts ruined the earlier ones.

One anime change I think most people disliked but I liked is (manga spoilers I guess)

Spoiler

not bringing back Hinazuki. I think she was kinda pointless after her return in the manga and it weakened her character and also the "sacrifice" Satoru had to make in sending her away / not seeing her anymore in order to save her.

 

[KimiNewt]

Also, a reply to those who said it doesn't make sense that they're all friends so long after elementary school (and that Hiromi married Kayo):

I kinda agreed with you at first, but after reading the manga it strengthened my feelings that it does make sense. In the original timeline, Satoru wasn't in touch with any of them - but he was also just some one-bit friend for them.

In the new timeline, not only was Satoru much more impactful in their lives when he was conscious ("saved" them, both from Kayo's mother and the "murderer", kept them together and strengthened their bonds and was generally a heroic figure) he was also important to them later on and kept them together. The incident was very traumatic for all of them, and they kept on being together and constantly helped raise money for his medical bills.
With the strengthened bonds, the constant reminder of their connection to Satoru and eachother by their commitment to him (fundraising and Kenya/Hiromi pursuing helping him in different ways) it is not very surprising that they are still relatively close (though we don't really see them as THAT close apart from Kayo and Hiromi).

 

[Rokal]

Discovered this series thanks to GAF. Just finished it today. The ending didn't quite live up to the first half of the series, but overall this was the most enjoyable anime I've seen in years.

 

[plentyofmilhouse]

Really enjoyed the series, agree the best stuff was at the start but felt pretty satisfied with the ending despite the conclusion and final act feeling a bit rushed. Gonna be listening to the ending theme for quite some time. So catchy.

 

[Cornbread78]

Discovered this series thanks to GAF. Just finished it today. The ending didn't quite live up to the first half of the series, but overall this was the most enjoyable anime I've seen in years.

Despite it's issues, it's up there on my list as well!

Really enjoyed the series, agree the best stuff was at the start but felt pretty satisfied with the ending despite the conclusion and final act feeling a bit rushed. Gonna be listening to the ending theme for quite some time. So catchy.

Yeah, there was definitely some pacing issues as they tried to adapt as much of the manga into 13 episodes as possible, buy was still great regardless.
Both the OP and ED are excellent and fit the show really well.

 

[Jonnax]

Watched through this in the last week.
Really enjoyed it and would say it's one of the best anime I've seen.
Though I felt that things became rushed at the point where Kayo knocks on her mother's door with everyone.

The modern day part of things was a bit of a let down, I didn't really get Airi.
She didn't really have any reason to be so attached to Satoru.

 

[Jotamide]

English dub announced just now.

 

[Cornbread78]

English dub announced just now.

Oh, very nice.

 

[CreeperBlocks]

English dub announced just now.

Might rewatch the Anime if the Dub is decent