ERASED is back in action. After a couple of outsourced episodes that saw the show falling into “solid but unremarkable thriller” territory, this one brought the show home both in terms of staff and quality. Satoru’s childhood material is just inherently more compelling in its mood and genre space than his adult stuff, but on top of that, this episode was also full of great individual shots and a wide variety of clever cuts. ERASED’s best episodes capture a sense of nostalgia that feels far more true-to-life than the adolescent nostalgia that is anime’s usual stock-in-trade. You can really feel the crisp February air in this show, or smell the melting snow. Its aesthetic strengths are what raise it above genre territory, and I really hope they hold strong to the end.

You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my episode notes below!

Satoru recognizes the man from his mother’s death

“It can’t end here. There’s something I still have to do.”

“Go back. Just once more.” Nice shots using the police car’s siren as a sort of beat between shots of his face, leading into a medley of the tragedies so far

Great use of silence to open the second journey back. And he’s back at the museum

This episode already feels more purposefully directed than the last couple

“Doesn’t have to be graceful, but I can’t have any regrets. Because if I fail, I’m not getting another chance.”

“Did you read that book I lent you? Poe’s ‘The Switched Man.’” Jeez, Satoru’s friend is too sharp

And the camera avoids showing his tears as he gets home, and simply shows his mom’s reaction. Another great trick

“I’m throwing caution to the wind this time”

Satoru lost the book. Kenya: “Don’t worry about the book. It never existed.”

Kenya has diagnosed Satoru’s prior and current personalities – how he didn’t care about people before, how he’s committed now

“Satoru, who are you? It’s like you’ve become another person.”

Kenya says he’d noticed Hinazuki’s bruises long ago, but had never been able to do anything

Kenya felt shamed by Satoru’s new proactive nature

“I’m a superhero. Or, I want to be.”

“Satoru, you don’t become a superhero after achieving results. You already are one.” Kenya seems more mature than even adult Satoru

Kenya wants to help

“I want Yuuki to have an alibi”

This Yuuki scene is tense – claustrophobic dutch angle shots of both of them, and then a shot where the box cutter is pressed directly against the camera frame, before the tension is released

“If I don’t avoid drastic changes like this, I won’t be able to make predictions through March 2nd”

Satoru sets it up so Yuuki’s dad is guaranteed to call the police

Nice use of the car as a clean wipe transition

Satoru himself gains the red eyes as he almost pushes Hinazuki’s mother down the stairs

“Let’s get the police to stop that mother’s abuse.” “It could cause quite a stir.”

“Can I abduct you right now?”

Lovely backgrounds and nice pacing this episode

Satoru’s being incredibly suspicious around his mom, and she of course figures something’s up

Small physical gestures, like Hinazuki putting her toes together

“What happens after this is uncharted territory”

Wow, a match cut where the teacher’s eyes become the streetlights beaming down on them. A great trick visually and a strong metaphor

“What happens in the end?” “Don’t worry. I’ll take full responsibility”

Hinazuki decides to take responsibility for her own escape. Satoru finally seeing other characters as possessing agency