ERASED Episode 01 Review

It's not uncommon to find a supernatural murder mystery lying around. Indeed, these anime are a dime a dozen and usually a hit or miss. Series like Ghost Hound and Higurashi spectacularly blend the two genres, whilst others like UN-GO and Another are hindered by bad writing and a messy combination of its tropes. So upon hearing of the latest new anime to attempt a supernatural mystery narrative, I was...curious, to say the least. 

Little did I know that the very first episode had the makings to become one of the best anime of the 2016 Winter season.

ERASED

Episode 01 Review

The main story of ERASED is simple; a twenty-nine year old failing manga artist has the strange supernatural ability to prevent catastrophes occurring by winding back time. And it was after reading this short and sweet synopsis that I immediately thought this would be simple anime fare. Anime is constantly buzzing with supernatural powers and quirky premises, so it certainly didn't seem very original upon first look. It was after watching the pilot episode however that the full depth of the potential began to sink in. Without giving away too much, my first impressions of ERASED were that if Detective Conan and Steins;Gate had a baby, that concoction would be that anime.

And if you know me, I'm all for the murder mystery genre. It gives me a thrill to work alongside the show, tracking clues and putting the bits and pieces together like a jumbled puzzle. Good murder mysteries however are hard to come by, with some refusing to allow you in on the problem-solving, and others that pull answers out of their asses without presenting the clues to the viewer. I can't say that ERASED won't do something along these lines, as it's only the first episode of course, but I can say that it does something right with the mystery - and that's its setup.

You'll notice at once that ERASED has the perfect amount of cryptic foreshadowing and building potential. Although it of course gives nothing away, it immediately manages to snag you with its mystery and pull you along for the ride. The intensity of which this is done is startling; coupled with a rather unorthodox ending and a quiet, almost serene atmosphere renders this one of the 'must-watch' of the Winter 2016 Season.

The animation is beautiful with a distinct lack of CGI (though it does rear its head in certain parts of the episode.) There's a nice maturity to the design of the characters, and woe behold I'm praising Japan for at least suppressing the urge to throw some moe in there. (Though I wonder how long they can keep that up for?)  

The introduction of the main character's 'trademark ability' didn't bother me as much as I thought it would also, though I do hope there's some explanation behind why he has it, and that it's not treated as just a mere plot device. Whether it is or isn't honestly is not a major concern, so long as that it excels with its hinting philosophical element and - of course - the main mystery at hand here, though I can't help but feel irked at the thought of yet another main character in anime having an unexplained plot device for a power.

Wrapping it up, should you give ERASED a watch this season? Absolutely. Time will tell if it can live up to the high promise of its first episode, but if it manages to, then it can certainly be on its way to becoming the best anime of 2016. I'm trying not to get too hyped, as hype in itself can kill an anime too early into its season, but I do hold hope that it can be the unusual, thoughtful, mature anime of this Winter.

I give ERASED a...

4.5/5

And the recommendation of...

Watch It

There's still a ton of ways it can go wrong, but so far it delivers on the promise of an intriguing mystery and an interesting setup. Give it a try, and hopefully it will continue to live up to the already colossal hype the community has placed on its shoulders.