Shoutout to @cola_addiction (on letterboxd) for the recommendation, go give them a follow. Erased is something you dont get often, a short 12 episode mini series that could have been something more basic and audience appealing, but opted to make a more personal, heartwarming and intense tale that I loved damn near every minute of. The storyline is engaging with many twists and turns that left me on the edge of my seat, and shouting at the TV at times, with moments that warmed my heart aswell as filled it with fear. This is a dark show and the tonal shifts from nice to dark never once felt off, in fact I think they pulled them off flawlessly. But this story would be nothing without loveable or engaging characters, and thankfully its filled with them, Satoru is a character who as an adult feels an emptyness inside, but when he goes back to his younger years to save his classmates, he finds drive and meaning, and is overall alot more expressive, which is shown in the intro, as when the older Satoru sits down in his chair hes quite expressionless, wheras the younger Satoru is alot more expressive, just something I noticed but the point is he was a fantastic protagonist. Others like his mother and friends are also great, and really have a great bond with Satoru, alongside Airi, a friend in the future who I wish I saw more of. But the other character that makes this show is Hinazuki, who is one of the victims that Satoru is trying to save, and seeing her journey from the second episode to the last was such an emotional journey, theres one scene involving breakfast that made me tear up and another scene (no spoilers) where I cried, and let me tell you not many movies or shows do that to me. So all the characters are fantastic, infact they dobt feel like characters at all, they feel like people. And that is very hard to do. And all this is backed up by beautiful animation, some shots here are honestly gorgeous, especially one involving a tree and the sky. Its great stuff and I honestly loved it. Now the ending seems to be abit controversial, im not entirely sure why but all i can say is that i personally liked it, I thought it concluded well and all the character journeys ended the right way, buy i will admit, i think the last episode is probably the weakest, but its still a good episode and honestly, the fact that its the worst one is just a testament to how fantastic the show is. But i do have a complaint of my own (albeit a small one and its my only issue with the show), and its that it was way to obvious who the killer was, I had it pegged from episode 2 and i was 100% right, but the show is more about saving the victims than it is about catching the killer, and its doesnt make that reveal scene any less chilling. But still it couldve been better done. But Erased is honestly one of the best animes ive ever scene, infact its one of the best pieces of art I think ive ever experienced. Makes me want to use Revival and erase my memories just to experience it again. HIGHLY RECOMMEND. Oh and to the person who had the idea for the intro to episode 11.....fuck you.