9 Years Later, This 100%-Rated Sci-Fi Anime Is Still the Best Butterfly Effect Title Ever Made
This anime title blends so many different genres, from detective to sci-fi, and it manages to explore the time-travel trope in a way that does stand out.
Japanese and Korean TV series often feature plots involving time travel and the ability to prevent something in the past in order to influence the present.
Unlike similar Western projects like Butterfly Effect, which focus on the study of the paradox itself and its consequences, a similar plot device in Japanese projects allows us to trace the connection between generations.
And undoubtedly the best representative of this genre is Erased, which got a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes – an anime in which the main character gets a chance to fix the past, or rather to find the person who destroyed his adult future in childhood.
What Is Erased About?
Satoru is not a very successful manga artist. But he has the ability to rewind time: when something bad happens, he is thrown back a few minutes into the past, where he fixes the situation.
But when someone kills Satoru's mother, he goes back much further – to his childhood. Having retained the mind of an adult, he tries to investigate the kidnapping of a classmate, which is connected to the future murder of his mother.
Erased Is an Impressive Mix of Genres, From Detective to Sci-Fi
Such a plot may seem like a pure detective story, but only at first glance. Erased is a rare representative of psychological science fiction, where time travel remains a background for revealing the feelings of the characters. Be it loneliness, mutual aid, selfless support, or first childhood love.
Almost all the main characters of the series are children, but the problems and moral issues they solve are more terrible and painful than the synopsis might suggest.
Erased is a piercing, vivid, subtle work that is sometimes impossible to watch without tears. It is a tragic, exciting, and philosophical story that can capture the attention of even those who have never watched an anime series before.
Erased Is Made to Be Binge-Watched
The show picks up the pace from the very first episodes – Erased has only 12 episodes and one season, so the writers didn't have much time to speed up the narrative.
The whole series can be watched in one evening, which is another advantage of Erased – after the finale of one episode you will definitely want to watch the next one.
Where to Watch Erased?
Erased is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
