Erased (Boku dake ga Inai Machi) animeTV|OT| If I could turn back time, If I could..

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duckroll said:
There is no denying that at the end of this series, or even before that, many people will be disappointed. It's all about expectations. I feel that ultimately a lot of the pulp elements of the story are just there to create artificial excitement - to generate cliffhangers, make it seem like a whodunit, have hooks that people can casually latch onto and talk about, but the real meat of the story which the author wants to tell is a story about a guy regretting how he didn't maximize his childhood, and getting the change to go back and be a better person. In doing so, maybe in the future he will also be a better person. Everything else is really just fluff.
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i'll be disappointed if the villain reveal ends up being someone really obvious. But it won't mean I didn't enjoy the rest of the show.
 
duckroll said:
There is no denying that at the end of this series, or even before that, many people will be disappointed. It's all about expectations. I feel that ultimately a lot of the pulp elements of the story are just there to create artificial excitement - to generate cliffhangers, make it seem like a whodunit, have hooks that people can casually latch onto and talk about, but the real meat of the story which the author wants to tell is a story about a guy regretting how he didn't maximize his childhood, and getting the change to go back and be a better person. In doing so, maybe in the future he will also be a better person. Everything else is really just fluff.
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Whatever happens, I just hope when Satoru goes back to his present time, he's with Kayo or something, that'd be a good ending imo.
 
duckroll said:
There is no denying that at the end of this series, or even before that, many people will be disappointed. It's all about expectations. I feel that ultimately a lot of the pulp elements of the story are just there to create artificial excitement - to generate cliffhangers, make it seem like a whodunit, have hooks that people can casually latch onto and talk about, but the real meat of the story which the author wants to tell is a story about a guy regretting how he didn't maximize his childhood, and getting the change to go back and be a better person. In doing so, maybe in the future he will also be a better person. Everything else is really just fluff.
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Man you just confirmed it's the teacher didn't you.. :/

As long as the killer doesn't get away with it in the end. Because I don't want to have to post this gif again...

he-cant-keep-getting-away-with-it.gif
 
Dahbomb said:
Man you just confirmed it's the teacher didn't you.. :/
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nah, the community in AnimeGAF as a whole got pretty down on the show during the halfway point of the show, and this discussion came up of expectations for the show. He's just reiterating that the show is what you expect it will be.
 
The teacher imo is the guy that was meeting with the manager in episode 5.

At the end of the day,there is a possibility that it really is the teacher like Dahbomb mentioned, and this is just a "we made it this obvious so you do 2nd guess it".Depending on how they stick the landing if it WAS him the whole time I would still appreciate it. However like I said, they will have to really land this well.


edit: I also came to terms with what Duckroll said, that at it's core, this is pretty much more about Satoru developing as better person with the mystery being the vehicle. That was the main reason why I didn't mind the present day stuff from episode 5 and 6 because we need to see both sides of him.
 
Dahbomb said:
Man you just confirmed it's the teacher didn't you.. :/
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There could be multiple killers, it could be Kenya, there could be another time traveller, it could be Satoru from the future. I think by this point any "reveal" will have some people thinking it was obvious because there were "so many hints" or whatever. The reason why people write off certain suspects is because they think it is stupid. But I'm just saying that the story doesn't seem interested in being an elegant mystery where the reveal will be "OMG!!!" but rather, it seems interested in asking the why. Why does Satoru really want to help Kayo? Is it just because he wants to save his mom? That's what he says, but it's not totally true is it? He regrets not getting to know her when he first had the chance. He regrets it. The time travel mechanic is not elegantly written, but it's an excuse to allow him to reflect on his regret and have a chance to do it over. I feel the killer is the same thing. In the end it will not be about who, but why. What might motivate the killer? That could be more interesting, or at least more grounded, than following clues around wondering what is or isn't a red herring.
 
duckroll said:
There could be multiple killers, it could be Kenya, there could be another time traveller, it could be Satoru from the future. I think by this point any "reveal" will have some people thinking it was obvious because there were "so many hints" or whatever. The reason why people write off certain suspects is because they think it is stupid. But I'm just saying that the story doesn't seem interested in being an elegant mystery where the reveal will be "OMG!!!" but rather, it seems interested in asking the why. Why does Satoru really want to help Kayo? Is it just because he wants to save his mom? That's what he says, but it's not totally true is it? He regrets not getting to know her when he first had the chance. He regrets it. The time travel mechanic is not elegantly written, but it's an excuse to allow him to reflect on his regret and have a chance to do it over. I feel the killer is the same thing. In the end it will not be about who, but why. What might motivate the killer? That could be more interesting, or at least more grounded, than following clues around wondering what is or isn't a red herring.
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Good interpretation.
 
That's from the OP?

I mean it does look like him but it still could be some other guy. Could easily be Satoru in his 30s-40s. The teacher doesn't wear glasses for one.
 
duckroll said:
Why would I be joking? Regardless of whether you think Michael Jackson was actually a pedophile, I think it's clear people like that exist. Not all of them are malicious child molesters/killers, but it's natural for society to finger them first when things go south in a community.
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Sorry, I assumed from Basileus777's comment which was a dumb thing to do lol
 
We could also be looking at a situation here where Sataru changes too much and we never do get to find out the killer because he moves on to another town, with hopefully him having changed enough to prevent his mothers death
 
Geez that grown woman doing open mouthed full-on sobbing like a 2 year old thing has reared it's ugly face. Is this a thing Japanese women do IRL?
 
Episode 9

That was a great episode. A little tense in the beginning with the shovel, glad she was pulled out of the way. Kayo’s mom flashback was tragic but gave reason to why she became so violent. However, like Satoru and Kayo, her tearful breakdown didn’t gain her any sympathy here. The type of person she became is unfortunate but the shit she put Kayo through is inexcusable. Luckily Satoru came through in the end and accomplished his goal, well part of it. I thought their goodbye would be full of tears tbh but good to see her get out of that environment.

Don’t know what to make of the teacher in the car scene lol suspicious still. Anyway though looking forward to see how Satoru’s plans work out from here. And will probably be irritated if this ends with a movie.
 
dimb said:
I don't think people are still supposed to be guessing about this, and if they are hanging their hat on the in story reveal/confession they're probably going to be let down.
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That does kinda look like Satoru but I don't think it is. Satorus mum didn't have a big enough reaction in the first episode for it to be another Satoru or whatever.
 
Dali said:
Geez that grown woman doing open mouthed full-on sobbing like a 2 year old thing has reared it's ugly face. Is this a thing Japanese women do IRL?
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People around the world do this. Especially if there's a death in the family like if a mother loses a child.

When you are crying, then you are crying.
 
The anime dropped the ball, on giving out too many clues.

But when not considering those parts, it's done a very good job, keeping as true to the manga, they could.

Looking forward to the
season
finale.
 
Dahbomb said:
People around the world do this. Especially if there's a death in the family like if a mother loses a child.

When you are crying, then you are crying.
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Nah dude. I've been to my fair share of funerals and seen people lose it but never like an infant. In anime I'll often see women cry and sound straight up like a child wanting a bottle. This episode is just one example.
 
If it's the teacher then the fucking candy scene was unnecessary and honestly kind of an insult as an audience member. Like they weren't trying to shove it in your face the whole time.
 
So, wait did someone just spoil it for us by confirming something in the OP? Although, we have seen the killer's face to some extent in the first episode.
 
Admiral Woofington said:
If it's the teacher then the fucking candy scene was unnecessary and honestly kind of an insult as an audience member. Like they weren't trying to shove it in your face the whole time.
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If it isn't the teacher it's an unnecesary scene as well though.

Btw, people who're coming up with theories as to why it isn't the teacher are joking right?
 
KenjiGlove said:
If it isn't the teacher it's an unnecesary scene as well though.

Btw, people who're coming up with theories as to why it isn't the teacher are joking right?
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If it isn't the teacher it could be seen as the author having fun with the audience because of all the clues towards the teacher given to you.

With the teacher being it is like if someone just went through mystery writing 101 and wasn't around for the subtlety lecture.

Fucking Sherlock Holmes doesn't walk around London and the killer drops the bloody knife with a letter saying "I did it", then looks at him and says 'oh that isn't mine'
 
Admiral Woofington said:
If it isn't the teacher it could be seen as the author having fun with the audience because of all the clues towards the teacher given to you.

With the teacher being it is like if someone just went through mystery writing 101 and wasn't around for the subtlety lecture.

Fucking Sherlock Holmes doesn't walk around London and the killer drops the bloody knife with a letter saying "I did it", then looks at him and says 'oh that isn't mine'
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I guess that's one way to look at it, personally I'd say that's a bit too meta for my taste, I guess time will tell but I'm just going to take it at face value, interesting nonetheless.
 
If I could reach the stars! I'd give them all to you!

Then you'd love me, love me, like you used to do, oh!

If I could turn back time, if could turn back time... Oh yeah!...

------

Hey all, sorry I got carried away by the thread's title.

o/
 
If the author wanted to make a successful whodunnit, he needed to introduce more potential culprits into the setting. As it is, barring crazy theories like "it's Satoru from the future", there just aren't many candidates.
 
hosannainexcelsis said:
If the author wanted to make a successful whodunnit, he needed to introduce more potential culprits into the setting. As it is, barring crazy theories like "it's Satoru from the future", there just aren't many candidates.
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True, but it could always be a character that isn't introduced and relevant to his life outside of murdering the kids. Could be a third party who observed the kids in the park and planned it all out. Satoru was focused on saving the kids not finding the culprit so the show could have the free pass of the killer being introduced later as a murdering psychopath.
 
Seath said:
If I could reach the stars! I'd give them all to you!

Then you'd love me, love me, like you used to do, oh!

If I could turn back time, if could turn back time... Oh yeah!...

------

Hey all, sorry I got carried away by the thread's title.

o/
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Are you high?
 
Caught up. That hole bit with the mother was weak. So I'm supposed to feel sorry for her because she got beat up by her husband and then took it out on a completely innocent kid? How about no.
 
hosannainexcelsis said:
If the author wanted to make a successful whodunnit, he needed to introduce more potential culprits into the setting. As it is, barring crazy theories like "it's Satoru from the future", there just aren't many candidates.
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The author did, in the manga.
There was 1-2 more very convincing suspects
. The only visual clues for the murderer, in the manga, was special sadist like smile and eyes, with the face and body hidden in a dark-like fog, so it could be any one, any gender. And every suspect had that 1-2 moments that gave them a motive, for an evil twin side to themselves.

The anime simply showed too much, too early.
 
The Purple Pill said:
The author did, in the manga.
There was 1-2 more very convincing suspects
. The only visual clues for the murderer, in the manga, was special sadist like smile and eyes, with the face and body hidden in a dark-like fog, so it could be any one, any gender. And every suspect had that 1-2 moments that gave them a motive, for an evil twin side to themselves.

The anime simply showed too much, too early.
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Now I'm kind of interested in reading the manga (though not before the anime ends). Given they only had twelve episodes some cuts were inevitable, but this sounds like something that has a noticeable impact on the storytelling.
 
Guess Who said:
Now I'm kind of interested in reading the manga (though not before the anime ends). Given they only had twelve episodes some cuts were inevitable, but this sounds like something that has a noticeable impact on the storytelling.
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It's quite good, I would recommend rereading from start too as well though, because a few arcs got sped up, or changed, a bit in the anime, while they were flushed out a bit more in the manga, a very important character deserved a lot more screen time.
Airi, whom still is my favourite.
 
Now that we're talking about theories, I think I never shared my totally plausible™ one I posted in the AnimeOT last week here.

Ascheroth said:
The killer is obviously Satorus dad, who is also a time traveller and from whom he inherited his Revival ability.
He set up this elaborate scenario to force Satoru into action, with the goal of stimulating the growth of the Revival ability so that it can awaken its true potential, which is freely travelling to time, back and forth.

Actually it turns out Satorus entire bloodline has this special ability and their goal is to 'awaken' as many Revival users as possible, so that they can all travel to the same point in time and fend of the invasion of alien time travellers (of which Kenya is obviously one and he's acting as a scout) together.
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Now that that's out of the way, I want to mention that I've started to read the manga and am currently at the Airi fire part.

The show does a stellar job at elevating the Kayo-Satoru scenes in the past and the past in general.
On the other hand it drops the ball half of the time when it comes to the killer-thriller stuff. I've noticed that all the things that kinda sour the show for me are anime-original™ :(
Like Satoru being framed and chased by the police actually makes sense in the manga.
E: The manga also doesn't suffer from bad cliffhangeritis.
 
Talents said:
God dammit man I'm so confused. Went back and compared the end of episode 6 where Satoru sees the murderer as he's being arrested, and he has exactly the same looking jaw and hair as the teacher. I'm so confused, he's too obvious.
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I've thought that he was the teacher the whole time. We've seen more than his jawline, his face is in the OP:

QiormQv.jpg
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Not 100% sure that's the teacher, but given the age (wrinkles, etc) and similarities, I'm like 90% sure. Haven't read the manga, pure speculation.
 
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