The 2016 winter anime season has many promising shows. One of these shows is Eraser produced by A-1 Picture and directed by Tomohiko It?, who’s works can be found here, directed Sword Art Online, Silver Spoon and Occult Academy. The anime is a hybrid show that combines elements of crime, crime solving, and science fiction. Due to the anime’s plot, art, and animation it captures your curiosity and maintains your attention as you watch the story unfold.
Summary:
Satoru Fujinuma is a struggling manga artist who has a special gift. His gift, called Revival, allows him to turn back time between a minute and five minutes. Typically when he has used Revival he has saved or prevented people from dying, such as kids from being hit by a car or truck. When using Revival there are minimal consequences except for a few scratches and bruises. On one of the occasions he saves a boy from being killed by a truck and Satoru admitted into a hospital. He leaves the hospital but discovers that his mom has come to oversee him at home. While Satoru is recovering she brings up a memory of what happened 18 years ago as 2 classmates went missing and were murdered by an older guy by the name of Shiratori. Satoru’s mom had doubt about Shiratori’s involvement in the killings and thinks she found the right killer. Right as she found the real killer, the very same man kills her. Satoru comes home finds his mom dead, the police are called and it looks as if he had done it. As he runs from the police his Revival activates and brings him back to the 5th grade right before one of his classmates Hinazuki disappears putting him in a position to solve and save his classmate.
Analysis:
The concept of this anime is a driving point as a struggling manga artist has the ability to play with time. Yet this ability is treated very seriously as he has the opportunity to correct a wrong in his life and to prove Shiratori’s innocence as he is transported back to when the event happened. Furthermore, as the rules of time travel state if he solves this mystery he will change his future and prevent his mother’s death. Thus the anime creates a level of curiosity of how Satoru is going to solve the mystery, which keeps the viewer in engaged. Outside of the plot the animation style depicts a modern Japanese city thus down playing the background and allowing the viewer to focus on the plot and concept of the anime.
The anime combines different elements such as time travel, crime and science fiction to generate a unique story. These elements can take many different paths yet the anime choose to be serious as many people’s lives are at stake. Eraser looks to be a promising anime of 2016 as it provides a new concept into the anime world of solving a mystery by utilizing time.
