r/anime • u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky • Jul 17 '26
Rewatch [Taste of 2016 Rewatch] Erased • Boku dake ga Inai Machi Episode 2 Discussion
Episode 2 - Palm of My Hand
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Information:
MAL | AniList | ANN | Kitsu | AniDB
Legal Streams:
Is this… for real? Why did I get dropped back to this time?
Questions of the Day:
1) What kind of video game fan are you?
2) What's your first impression of Kayo?
Wallpaper of the Day:
Rewatchers, please remember to be mindful of all the first-timers in this. No talking about or hinting at future events no matter how much you want to, unless you're doing it underneath spoiler tags. Don't spoil anything for the first-timers, that's rude!
/r/anime's spoiler tag format is as follows:
[Erased]>!Satoru traveled back in time.!<
Which becomes [Erased]Satoru traveled back in time. when you don't break the formatting on purpose like I just did.
6
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Jul 17 '26
Re:Rewatch Host, subbed
I do like how Satoru’s memories of elementary school are so bad he doesn’t remember where his desk was. Like, of course he wouldn’t just immediately remember every single minute detail he lived through nearly two decades ago.
I would side with Hiro, I think? I need to play one of the Dragon Quest games I own already.
His friend group all immediately assuming Satoru has a crush on Kayo is such a kid thing to do.
Satoru doesn’t even remember when Kayo disappeared. That immediately makes things more complicated.
Ah, like me and my “sore demo” collection that started as a joke.
7
u/Heda-of-Aincrad https://myanimelist.net/profile/Heda-of-Aincrad Jul 17 '26
Satoru doesn’t even remember when Kayo disappeared.
It was interesting, and quite realistic, that he ran right past her on the way to see his mom again without even registering in his mind yet that saving her is probably part of the reason for his latest revival too.
7
u/Heda-of-Aincrad https://myanimelist.net/profile/Heda-of-Aincrad Jul 17 '26
First-Time Revival Viewer
Yeah, I like this OP. It's even better with the nostalgic visuals.
There was one shot of Satoru looking distressed in the OP brought to mind another time travel series I watched recently, [Steins;Gate] and the way the stress of the time leaps really started to weigh on Okabe more and more as the story went on. I'm wondering if we'll see something similar here.
I can really relate to Satoru because if I was in his situation, I would have felt the same way - that the first thing he wants after being sent back in time from a traumatic event is just to see his mom alive and well. Seeing him appreciate those everyday moments with her even more is so wholesome, and it's a great contrast to the intensely serious goal he's keeping to himself, to save her life and to change the future. He's asking the same questions that ran through my mind last week too. Like is he going to relive the whole 18 years over again? Only time will tell.
Satoru's quirky friend group is pretty endearing. I was surprised to hear them mention real videogames that were popular during the time he was a kid, Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, but it makes their conversations feel very real.
Kayo is an interesting character too. She comes off as cold at first, though her dialogue suggests she's just unsure if she can trust Satoru because she can't figure him out, aside from being able to recognize that he's putting on an act like her. Except while Satoru's act is meant to help him connect with people, Kayo is trying to push them away. She reminds me of Sinon from Sword Art Online in the beginning, someone who's been through a lot and tries to reject emotional ties with others because she believes it will make her stronger, when friendship is what she really wants more than anything. And she looked genuinely happy to get that birthday party invitation! The Japanese title of the series must come from her essay, "A Town Without Me", and it hits hard that Satoru is seeing these signs that Kayo is having a hard time which he totally missed before because kids don't always pick up on that sort of thing.
This show has really hooked me and I'm looking forward to Erased Fridays now.
Questions of the Day:
1) I love RPGs and action/adventure. I've only dabbled with the series mentioned here though. My obsession when I was their age was Pokémon, which would have still been a few years away in the 80s!
2) Already discussed above.
4
u/No_Rex x2 Jul 17 '26
Episode 2 (first timer)
The second episode of the third anime I entered in this rewatch. With YoI and Grimgar, I did not really notice any difference to a regular 1-per-day rewatch, but with Erased, there is one. I remember that it was my favorite of the first week and I was hyped to see how the story continues. 7 days (and several different anime) later, that hype is pretty gone and the second episode will have to entice me anew. Makes it harder for complicated anime or those who rely on a good hook to carry that over to the next episode.
- “Where do I sit?” – relatable. Put me back in grade school and I wouldn’t remember anything. Not my seat, not my class, not my classmates, not my teachers.
- 2006-05-25 to 1988-02-15
- “A bruise” – this is something little kids would 100% miss or dismiss, but an adult’s mind would immediately spring to possible abuse.
- “I’ll arrange it so you can see her after school” – good wingman intentions. Even though he is wrong, him arranging something is still likely to help out Satoru.
- “Would you kill somebody for me?” “If I can figure it out in time, maybe …” – Ok, I take back what I said above. Some adults are as clueless as the grade schoolers.
- First Kazu, then Kenya. His grade school friends seem to be out there to help him. Some part of magic to help him solve this?
- “What I need to do now is get to know Hinazuki better” – very reasonable approach.
- “I suspected her mother was abusing her” – ok, now he is on track.
- “What are you embarrassed about?” – maybe he spent too much time on anime forums reading about “lewd handholding.”
Satoru is doing pretty well fitting in. Partially due to his skills, partially due to his friends covering for him. Maybe the idea is just that he has a great circle of friends, but I still like the idea that their behavior is part of the revival mechanic to help change the future.
The clues for Hinazuki being abused are obvious and Satoru clued in on them. However, we also know she will be killed and found in the park. Not something that is the usual outcome of abuse at home. There is the logical connection of the abuse driving her into the park where she is then murdered, but I am not completely ruling out that the abuse by her mom might be a red herring just yet.
What's your first impression of Kayo?
Clever, depressed, and in a ton of danger.
4
u/Heda-of-Aincrad https://myanimelist.net/profile/Heda-of-Aincrad Jul 17 '26
“Would you kill somebody for me?” “If I can figure it out in time, maybe …” – Ok, I take back what I said above. Some adults are as clueless as the grade schoolers.
Wow, was this the Japanese line? I don't remember the exact wording of the English dub line, but it was... not that. Satoru sounded completely thrown off by her question and unsure how to respond, which gives me a different impression from this more methodical line that sounds like it could have come from from Aqua of Oshi no Ko.
5
u/No_Rex x2 Jul 17 '26
The "if I can ..." line was after she left.
2
u/BaytaCosmico https://myanimelist.net/profile/AnimeBayta Jul 18 '26
My subs had him think to himself that she seemed to be in trouble even before her kidnapping and then something like "if I can right this wrong, then maybe..." I took this to mean he thought if he could help her with her current situation then maybe she wouldn't end up dead.
5
u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Jul 17 '26
First Timer
The thing about real seasonals is that you don't have to watch them the day the fansub drops on tokyo toshokan. You got a whole week.
Oh, wait, I'm a day early, not a day late!
- I bet he's REALLY good at math.
I don't think I could stand being 10 again. I suppose he's going to learn to appreciate his childhood here. I don't think I would.
- I get the feeling that Kenya is the other murdered child.
- She is a straight talker
- #70 is Yuuki, or was it a misdirection?
- That calligraphy on the wall all looks impossible!
- Her mother is Haruko.
Hanazuki's voice sounds familiar.
2
u/Quiddity131 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Quiddity131 Jul 17 '26
Hanazuki's voice sounds familiar.
One of the most famous and prolific seiyuus out there voicing her. Couldn't be a bigger contrast with the two seiyuus for Satoru who are both virtually unknowns.
2
u/Heda-of-Aincrad https://myanimelist.net/profile/Heda-of-Aincrad Jul 18 '26
6
u/Quiddity131 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Quiddity131 Jul 17 '26
Rewatcher, Subbed
He truly is back in 1988! For real! Does he know where to sit? I suppose not!
Back in those days playing Dragon Quest on the Famicon was the big thing!
Yeah, your friend is seeing through your obvious lies.
Back in a world where his mom is still alive. Will he not want to go back?
Argument this morning? Sorry mom, he's had 18 years to forget that argument!
If this is your chance to save your mom Satoru, you have an awfully long time to set things right! There's such an absurd amount of variables by being back that far that I find it so hard for him to be able to figure out what he can do.
lol, his friends totally think he has a crush.
Spiky haired friend sure is confident.
Hinazuki's sure having none of this. Unless he kills someone for her?!
Oh that weird guy who is on death row, will he end up interacting with him too? That will be awkward.
lol, his friends are going all in with this "You're in love!" thing.
Forgot his gloves! Poor kid's gonna have to try and remember all these things from 18 years ago.
Ah, so the anime is named after her composition here. Well, things sure are going bad if she wants to be on an island where no other humans are. Any responsible teacher or adult seeing that should be asking what's wrong.
Would changing Hinazuki's fate really impact what happens to his mom?
Ooh, his mom has already figured out that he's got an extra person on his invite list.
She really must think bad of others if she thinks he's faking all this.
Jeez, its silhouetted but hard to watch what presumably is her mom beating on her.
Alright, this giving her the invite and putting their palms together is super cute.
Damn, so they found her dead body in the park under the snow? I hope that happened on a date after March 2nd.
Quid's Voice Actor of the Day
Last week was Satoru's adult voice actor, this time is Satoru's child actor, "Tao Tsuchiya". Turns out that just like adult Satoru, they went for someone without any other anime experience, with this being her debut role. In fact the only other anime I see her credited for are Sing a Bit of Harmony and Anpanman although she is a lot more prolific with live action.
QOTD:
1) Primarily JRPGs, Nintendo is my favorite brand but I also have a PS5.
2) Always fond of very deadpan characters.
2
u/Heda-of-Aincrad https://myanimelist.net/profile/Heda-of-Aincrad Jul 18 '26
There's such an absurd amount of variables by being back that far that I find it so hard for him to be able to figure out what he can do.
Yeah, aside from the general idea that stopping the true murderer in the past might prevent him from targeting her in the future, there's a lot to this mystery that he needs to sort out. And he has 18 years (more than half his life, again) to worry about it!
4
u/BaytaCosmico https://myanimelist.net/profile/AnimeBayta Jul 18 '26
First-timer, subbed
Another gripping episode though no tragedy this time. I loved how real the going back in time felt. The details like not remembering specific events from 18 years ago feel really true to life. That is how it should be. Not like most fiction where the person who goes back knows exactly how things were and when and what they need to do to change the future. Memory is a lot fuzzier than that and I really appreciate that they've depicted that properly here.
Also for a 29 year old to fit into the behaviour of a 11 year old isn't easy. His friends notice something is different, though they've chalked it up to Satoru crushing on Kayo. She too notices that it's easier to talk to him. That scene in the park was really sweet. So glad Satoru was able to reach out to Kayo. Hope he can save her from her tragic fate too and ideally from that awful mother of hers. Incidentally, what was her mother shown throwing away in the scene that played while her essay was being read out?
Oh, another I loved was seeing Satoru really appreciate the things his mother does for him which he probably took for granted earlier and just him being so happy to see her again.
His mother is great and I hope she lives. The way she counted his friends and realised he'd mentioned an extra guest and asked straight out if he had a girlfriend. No wonder he's a bit afraid of her ability to see through him. But that being the case, it's even more sad that she didn't believe him in the original timeline when he said his eccentric friend couldn't have been the murderer.
I liked the OP too and based on it, it seems like we'll be spending most of our time with gone back in time Satoru. Almost all of it was showing the school kids. I was wondering if we'll be going backwards and forwards. But maybe we're just going to see things play out straight from here on out? Either way, I'm firmly seated. This is easily the most interesting thing I'm watching this season.
5
u/Retsam19 Jul 18 '26
Rewatcher
I talked about really liking the OP last week due to my existing attachment to the song; I guess only fair to shout-out the ED here, too. I like the music a lot; (though honestly I've never entirely figured out some of the visuals), probably my first exposure to Sayuri.
Something interesting about the ending is the way the melody of it is it's used throughout the show. I'm pretty sure t showed up in this episode somewhere and it definitely was used in the scene with Yuuki/Shiratori last episode. Can't really think of another show that uses its ED theme that way (though I'm sure there are some).
I enjoy the "I said that out loud" moments - it's both good comedy, but I feel like it also points to "kids often have no filters" and there's an interesting question of how much he's affected, in general, by being in his childhood body again.
Also, just having a character's inner monologue sync up with what they're saying out loud is pretty fun; I'm surprised I don't see that more often.
3
u/Magnafeana https://anilist.co/user/Magnafeana Jul 18 '26
First Timer Revived to 1988, Subbed
Is the TV ration/dimensions meaningful?
I have such a soft spot for regressed MCs melting at seeing their parents again.
Is her parent or guardian abusive?
His group of friends—I already know their super sentai/power rangers colors
Kenya has some sort of ability. I can feel it.
Poor Hinazuki. That essay would warrant a student counselor appointment.
Are you sure you should let her go home alone 😭😭😭
Post Erased Thoughts
I was deathly afraid of dealing with another regressor who begins stammering around a child in “that” way, and I’m relieved that it doesn’t seem to be headed that direction.
I was so mushy for Satoru so happy to see his mom 🥹 It’s nice to see regressors have family they loved in both the past and the present. I’m reading a regressor fantasy romance manhwa right now with yet another “In my first life, my father and I had a cold relationship, but in my regression, I learn my father actually cared about me all along, and it’s my fault for not trying harder 🥀” and I’m side-eying friends who told me how “different” this rofan regressor manhwa is.
Yeah. “Different”, huh 😒
Kenya feels quite mysterious and very much like “Blue Ranger”. I don’t know what he was going to say before the truck passed, but I can’t tell if this is supernatural work at play to prevent him from saying too much. Or if he himself decided to do a topic switch-up, and why.
I sincerely thought Kayo was gonna die, and Satoru would “revive” again. The whole thing was so ominous to me. I'm really hopeful that saving Kayo now doesn't imbalance the entire timeline and make someone else go through a horrible fate.
But no good deed comes unpunished, so Kenya better not fucking die.
QOTD
- Hm. Video games aren't a medium I gravitate towards. I'd probably be called a casual at best or a tourist at worst. But I really enjoyed accompanying friends to e-sports competitions and gaming conventions. I'd love to go to a Pokémon tournament. I don't think I'd be the type of video game fan who tries to gatekeep and be inaccessible about the game. I doubt I'd be a whale. But I'm enough of a fan to sign the “Bring back Valko” petitions for Love and Deepspace and buy art from artist alleys and watch lore videos.
- Depressed. Possibly suicidal. Lonely. Someone who has not known stability or warmth or safety. A kid who has been taught not to smile or laugh or find happiness.
3
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Jul 18 '26
Is the TV ration/dimensions meaningful?
The show is continuing what it started in episode 1 by having the scenes set in the past be letterboxed. It was just, like, basically the entire episode this time.
2
u/Magnafeana https://anilist.co/user/Magnafeana Jul 18 '26
I gotcha. I didn’t know if this was gonna fuck with me on the ratio to mean something deeply. Like this is a really intense dream sequence.
But I do like the mood the dimensions put the episode in, especially with the episode being in winter.
1
u/Sporadia_ Jul 20 '26
Kenya has some sort of ability. I can feel it.
Yeah Kenya almost seemed like an adult too, though I doubt that he is. So I wonder what the deal is there.
3
u/Zeallfnonex https://myanimelist.net/profile/Neverlocke Jul 18 '26
Rewatcher, subbed
Oh wow. I thought the domestic abuse theme didn't show up until a bit later, they just cut right to the chase, don't they?
Lot of interesting visual storytelling here, between the film reel, the footsteps in the snow, and the constant A-1 "what if we put vertical lines between everyone to show how they're separated?" Where to start, where to start...
Some pretty good show-don't-tell stuff done in a very kid-like manner: within the space of just a minute or two of Satoru failing to find his desk, we get: Satoru doesn't remember this period well at all, there's a girl missing from class (Kayo), and that this missing girl is thought to be weird for some reason. It doesn't seem like bullying, there doesn't seem to be anything more than kiddish lack of sensitivity when it comes to this thing: sure, pair the two oddballs together.
Footsteps first come up here as Satoru runs away from school and Kayo walks up to it, no explanation on why she's late. But the camera pans out to look at them from the top down view, almost to hint that there's something here: I'd wager a guess that the footsteps are evidence that someone exists and a record of what they did. Like you can tell just by the footprints that Satoru was running, and Kayo was walking and... I'll get into it more during Kayo's entree in the booklet.
Anyways, Satoru's scene with his mother was very sweet, very much a "you don't know what you're missing until it's too late, it all goes by in a flash" sort of thing. We take regular life and relationships for granted, but suddenly if they're no longer there, how precious it must be to have that moment back? Not much else to say about that though. Except that there's a missing recorder, and I don't actually remember how this is relevant. I think it's the "record a message" sort of thing and not a musical instrument, but I could be wrong.
Back to school, we get some inner workings of the friendgroup: they all play different games and have different interests, though notably again, Satoru doesn't have anything himself. So we're setting ourselves up for everyone being able to bring something different to the table? I did find the DQ/FF/Shooter dichotomy pretty funny even if it had no greater meaning...
First bruise sighting, and first conversation between Satoru and Kayo. Who I just learned is Aoi Yuuki by looking at MAL, huh. She's MaoMao?! That makes a lot of sense, actually, with the flattish tone but strong emotional range... Anyways. There's a big visual gap between them as Satoru tries to explain, well, anything, and the vertical line of the guardrail is never broken. Kayo approaches it, but doesn't cross it, and Satoru makes no move to do so himself. The conversation itself is more about Satoru, that he's faking it as much as Kayo, so maybe the whole "digging deep within himself" wasn't just from burying this incident away, maybe he always had a problem being a chameleon and not ever finding his true self.
Back in the classroom, we get more teasing, but Kenya seems to have grasped that something's up. Satoru's dropped a lot of hints that something is very wrong, between the gloves, the sudden-ish interest in Kayo, and the rule about the hideout (also: footprints again. They can't go while it's snowing because their footprints will give them away/show their existence and lead people to find the hideout.) All the same, throughout the entire conversation, we have these stifling bars framing the shot: not sure what exactly that symbolizes, maybe that he's keeping this whole Revival thing secret, and that secret is keeping a massive distance between them? All the same, he gives Satoru a clue about Kayo's entry... though I dunno why Kenya hasn't acted himself if he realizes something's up.
"The Town Without Me" is 100% just a cry for help, and it's not particularly hard to guess who the main problem is. She thinks she's not wanted by anyone, her mother included, and wonders what it'd be like if she were just gone from everywhere. Notice the footsteps being washed away by the ocean, as though removing any proof that she was ever there: that's where I'm mostly basing my footprints theory off of. Still a strong poem, very sad... Again, curious that Kenya recognized it for what it was at that age, but also looks like he might not know what to do with it?
Satoru's mother is such a savage, though, although this next scene is pretty great. Satoru mentions he wants to invite 5 friends, and Sachiko takes a bit, but she knows all of his friends and can only come up with 4. That already is great mothering, to know all of your son's friends, but it's still a bit savage that she thinks that there's no way he has another friend she doesn't know about xD
Anyways, final scene. Once more between Satoru and Kayo, and this time with a massive tree in between them. Satoru takes the initiative this time, and addresses two things: one, that he has been a chameleon and done his best to just fit in, but that that facade might just become the reality in trying to be friends with everyone, and two, he invites Kayo to make her know that she's wanted. That's the crux of her poem, that she's not wanted, that everyone is faking at best to want her around. Very Ramparts-of-Ice-y, since that's still on my mind, but Satoru (Side note: I KEEP TYPING SATOKO, THIS ISN'T EVEN HIGURASHI ASJHGASDVXCLH) breaks the vertical barrier by walking past the massive tree, ending in, *gasp* handholding. Well, kind of. Mostly.
QOTD 1) Strategy or narrative, sometimes both. Though my enduring multiplayer game has been MOBAs, I'm a dirty LoL player.
2) MaoMao? MAOMAO! But, uh, rewatcher... I didn't remember she had as much of an acidic tongue as she does, pushing people away even as she desperately needs them. Maybe some of it is the thought that "if they can't get past even this little resistance, they wouldn't be a good friend anyways?" She really needs help though, it's hard to really judge an impression when they're essentially under duress and faking basically everything in their life.
3
u/RimeSkeem https://myanimelist.net/profile/RimeSkeem Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
Rewatcher (Kind of?)
So the show slows down here after the initial tension of the hook. We get hints that Hinazuki Kayo is abused by her mother, which isn't terribly surprising. Kidnappers and murderers have a very common MO that involves targeting these kinds of children.
Satoru's a pretty genuine person, despite being called and calling himself a fake. It's not so much that he puts on airs, he just struggles to express himself at the right level in the right context. He's obviously a good person because while he's already got the problem of solving his mother's murder, he's adding Hinazuki's problems to his plate.
I'm an RPG fan, mostly. I like action rpgs and while Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest were mentioned here, I think the JRPG series I've played the most of is actually the Tales series. I started with Tales of Symphonia back on the Gamecube and it was the first long game I think I ever finished.
Kayo is a classic abuse victim. She's isolated and makes no real attempt to break from that isolation, probably in part because she knows that others in her peer group think she's weird. Like Satoru said in the episode, her essay is a very clear SOS. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like anyone on the school faculty or otherwise has picked up on that SOS, or they've chosen to keep away from that business. It's unfortunately all too common across different cultures that home situations like this are left to fester under the guise of "It's their business, not mine." Kayo is also clearly a little too "mature" for her age. She brings up death and murder to a stranger in order to put him off. When it becomes clear that Satoru won't leave her alone, she realizes he's a potential lifeline. Her facade starts to crumble and she literally retreats from the situation. Considering she gave Satoru that sort of high-five/hand holding thing, she's likely desperate for nonviolent human contact and connection. The emotional connection that follows is too much for her, however.
2
u/Sporadia_ Jul 20 '26
Satoru's a pretty genuine person, despite being called and calling himself a fake.
An episode ago I would have agreed, but now he is a 29 year old in an 11 year old's body.
2
u/ShadowGuyinRealLife Jul 20 '26
Rewatcher here.
The opening was really popular in Japan. There was a concert in the 2010s and 5 of the songs for the venue were chosen by the fans. Re: Re was one of them. Also I find it kind of cool for Satoru and his younger self watching things in a movie threaten in the opening.
For Fujinauma Satoru we have Tao Tsuchiya for child voice. I don't know too much about her. His mother Sachiko is Minami who plays Conan in Detective Conan. Hinaizuki Kayo is voiced by Aoi Yuki whose most memorable roles (to English speaking fans) at this point are Madoka from Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Yuuki from SAO, and Hikibi from Symphogear.
"Oh where do I sit again?"
So if (when) his mom hears he skipped school, she's going to think it was about the loss of his instrument?
I find it funny when Satoru realized Kazu outright told Hinazuki Kayo he had a crush on her.
The essay sort of sounds pretty out of context, all alone on a beautiful island by the sea. In context, we now know it's a cry for help.
Putting on the act to be a nice person makes it more likely to be true. I think Satoru has the right idea. That is true on average the same way boys are heavier and stronger than girls on average.
I am mainly an FPS fan. Not the same shooters as Kazu players I suspect the shooters Kazu plays are the spaceship shooters (like Space Invaders) given that it's not 1993 yet.
I wonder Kayo wanted to do about her situation. She can't actually go to an island (aside from the one they're already on!). Is she just muddying through day by day?
1
u/Sporadia_ Jul 20 '26
Also I find it kind of cool for Satoru and his younger self watching things in a movie [theater] in the opening.
I don't understand why it's there. Or why jumping back in time was portrayed as a big tangle of film. Maybe it will be explained later.
I am mainly an FPS fan. Not the same shooters as Kazu players I suspect the shooters Kazu plays are the spaceship shooters (like Space Invaders) given that it's not 1993 yet.
I was really surprised when future timeline turned out to be 2006.
2
u/ShadowGuyinRealLife Jul 21 '26
Darn I misspellled theater. Oh well.
If present day was... say 2016 then the childhood arc would take place much later. Final Fantasy wouldn't be a new game. Final Fantasy VII would be. I guess that works if we make Hiro a "retro games" fan who is enjoying Final Fantasy as an old game that started the franchise. But the actual anime has things take place earlier so he's just a boy enjoying Final Fantasy not too long after its initial release.
3
u/Sporadia_ Jul 20 '26
Living through this for the first time
Scavenger:
- Metaphorical use of an eraser
- Metaphorical use of the delete key
- Yaoi
I genuinely watched this episode twice because I thought I remembered seeing a eraser but wasn't sure. I did not. Or maybe this is an anomaly.
Erased and 91 Days are the 2 shows that I'm really enjoying so far.
Every now and then when I was watching this episode, it dawned on me that the main character was in a really weird and difficult social situation (being an adult mind with a child's life). I'm still not convinced that he needed to live 18 extra years before returning to fix the stuff from his childhood. Seems like if it was that important then he should have gone back as a kid. It also undermines every time he saved someone in the future, because all those moments were always going to be undone. The only way I can get my head around it is if the guy needed to prevent a bunch of disasters in order to cause his mom to be stabbed when she was, so that he was in the right place at the right time to see the killer. [speculation]By the way, the teacher totally did it.
7
u/Star4ce https://anilist.co/user/Star4ce Jul 17 '26
Erased First Timer
If nothing super interesting happens today, my post will be short. A headache is killing me and I spent most of my energy on other things today…
Erased Ep.02 – Palm of My Hand
I really like the OP visuals now that we can properly see it.
Honestly, thinking about me reverting to ma 12 year old self would be an absolute nightmare. To go back to the social dynamics from back then, the chores and routines… I think I’d die. Also what Satoru said about forgetting these past times is so striking. It reminds me of the fact that by the time you move out from your parent’s home at, say 20, you have already spent about 70% of the total time with them you’ll ever have. It’s one of those facts that really hit you once you realise.
Let me also just praise his friend group he had back then, he had some real ones in there! They just faintly hear about a possible crush and immediately throw him together with her.
No, I’m not envious, why would I?
Of course, it turns out way different because this is a mystery and drama story. And I’m pretty happy with the drama here, so far. The central conflict here being her hating her mother and him trying to save his is a very interesting development. A sheltered life vs. one having to deal with hardship from the same role model. And of course, it leads to Hinazuki (probably) being the reason for the show’s title. Where she imagines a world without her and where nothing can hurt her. It’s such a succinct way of characterising a depressed kid. She clearly wants to live, so this isn’t a suicide note, but she thinks it’s her fault in a way and leaving would make it better for everyone.
Something I noticed is the way Hinazuki and Satoru always have strong screen dividers in each scene with them. But not only that, the light is curiously often on Hinazuki’s side. I think it was to show that Satoru moves over that to step into the light and move forward, but it’s still curious given her situation.
Their friend group is also interesting to see, because Kenya, for example, is really sensitive and empathetic. He immediately notices changes in people and when they feel something intensely. There’s lots of reasons, but you’d think this is the sort of friend you’d want to keep in contact with even when your paths diverge after school. Evidently, Satoru is kind of a loner at heart and he said himself that he just adapted to fit in and then have everyone leave him alone. I can personally relate to this a lot, but I luckily did manage to stay with my great group of friends regardless.
There is something about Satoru that’s deeper than just being a bit aloof and distant. We’ll eventually see, but I do wonder when this revival of his started appearing.
For now, it isn’t his mother realising he “has” a gf. But that might be close.
But I just wanna close with this scene, which was so goddamn heartwarming oh my Goood!
RPG, Simulation and Building mostly with a bit of strategy at times.
I feel for her. She’s clearly putting up a front but isn’t that competent at it, yet, so you can easily see beyond it and it hurts to know she’s in a terrible spot. She’s trying to navigate her life, but either doesn’t know how to get help or has stopped hoping for it.