(L+CR) Boku Dake ga Inai Machi - ERASED [Manga comparisons forbidden]

[Harbinger]

Originally Posted by BWTraveller

In any case, it seems like Kayo's finally getting her happy ending, even if she'll have a little more distance from Satoru. Also, looks like recent events have wound up creating a new loner, judging from the last scene.

I can picture my happy ending:

-Our MC solves the problem and identify the kidnapper/murderer but can't prevent the murderer from killing at least 1 kid.
-After getting the murderer arrested, he jumps back into "present" time.
-During summer, our MC goes to where he and Kayo had a promise. Kayo had never forgotten it and always went there during the summer in hopes of seeing him again.
-The two of them meet again in the "promised" place.

---The end---

Whether they end up a couple or not is left to our imagination.

[Reckoner]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Well, I'll just proudly say I'm one such person. I don't really care much about the mystery aspect of this story. I think it pales in comparison to the human drama involving Kayo, Satoru, and Sachiko. That's why I rarely commented in this thread when it seemed like identifying the murderer was first and foremost in everyone's mind. You may see that as a failure of the narrative, but I think the emotional and dramatic aspects of the story are far more compelling than the "whodunit."

I don't disagree with that notion because that's what it feels like the story is devoting a lot of its energy to. I liked it too, at first, but not when it overwhelmed the rest of the story, which is my only point.

[Kakurin]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Well, I'll just proudly say I'm one such person. I don't really care much about the mystery aspect of this story. I think it pales in comparison to the human drama involving Kayo, Satoru, and Sachiko.

I don't even think you can categorise it as mystery. Doesn't mystery entail a group of suspects? Here we have gotten nobody introduced in 1988 but the teacher and it runs late to introduce one. It's more like a mixture between human drama, thriller and a slight bit of mystery. People miss the point of the series when they complain that the mystery came up too short until now. It was never the focus of the series in the first point.

[Mister Twit]

Well, I think I can already see where this is going. This episode gave away way too much and didn't even bother to introduce any more suspicious characters.

Although I think it's fairly obvious, I'll keep quiet. It should suffice to say that either this is some genius misdirection or Satoru is unusually slow for a 29-year-old kid.

[karice67]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Well, I'll just proudly say I'm one such person. I don't really care much about the mystery aspect of this story. I think it pales in comparison to the human drama involving Kayo, Satoru, and Sachiko. That's why I rarely commented in this thread when it seemed like identifying the murderer was first and foremost in everyone's mind. You may see that as a failure of the narrative, but I think the emotional and dramatic aspects of the story are far more compelling than the "whodunit."

I do as well. However, I suspect that there are several different foci that even those of us who value this can find in this show. I should probably admit that I find it difficult to forget that Satoru in the 'past' storyline is a 29 year old in a kid's body--after all, he keeps reminding us about it himself. So even though those scenes with Kayo are pretty cute, I find myself thinking more of the relationship Satoru has with his mother, and how that might be connected to the themes of the show.

Personally, I see two major themes: first, that idea of "if only I had done something," which for Satoru is now "I just need to do something." At least one major blogger has linked it to a 'childish' desire on his part to become a hero, which you can say is supported by the references to his own childhood hero, Wonder Guy. But I wonder if looking at it from the opposite stance might be more fruitful: I'm reminded of something a few creators have said about what makes a hero--they don't try to be one, they just do what they believe is right. They do what they have to do, what they can do. Is Satoru thinking of his childhood hero because he wants to be a hero? Or is he thinking of him because the lesson he picked up is "to do what is right"?

The second theme I see is one that the one about trust: you believe people because you want to be believed. And if your trust has been betrayed once, then you might find it difficult to believe in people again, you might find it difficult to let them really know who you are. This is probably more important, even if most people don't think about it until they've had a negative experience associated with this theme. Come to think of it, that may actually be one of the reasons it resonates with me.

Do the rest of you see different themes here? Alternatively, can you specify in more detail what you personally find compelling about what we've seen? I'm just curious, because it seems like there are a lot of different views, but the ones I remember most strongly go along the lines of "they're so cute together"...which I personally find a little disconcerting for the reason stated above...

[Reckoner]

Originally Posted by karice67

I do as well. However, I suspect that there are several different foci that even those of us who value this can find in this show. I should probably admit that I find it difficult to forget that Satoru in the 'past' storyline is a 29 year old in a kid's body--after all, he keeps reminding us about it himself. So even though those scenes with Kayo are pretty cute, I find myself thinking more of the relationship Satoru has with his mother, and how that might be connected to the themes of the show.

That's been one of my biggest frustrations with the series. There's been very little of this exploited beyond some earlier scenes in the show. One that stuck out to me was when he did the ice skate race in an earlier episode and realized he had made the same mistake in the past. I would have liked more things like that scene to be honest because it gives us more insight into Satoru as a person. What kinds of things he did to end up in the situation he is in at 29? Sure, he had a messed up childhood event apparently but his 29 year old self is a total loser without a life seemingly. I thought we would go more into why he is like that in the first place. At the moment Satoru is just a dude trying to save everyone, and we don't really know much else about him beyond the first few episodes. Exploring his past failures beyond Kayo would have been great.

[SeijiSensei]

Another possible happy ending is that Sensei ends up marrying Sachiko and so changes the time line that she survives in the present. It's pretty obvious Satoru would like them to get together.

[Benigmatica]

Episode 9:
Wow, I'm certain that Ms. Hinazuki will take out both Satoru and Sachiko Fujinuma. Good thing the Child Welfare Agency and Gaku Yashiro came at the right time to rescue Kayo Hinazuki, but her fate is still uncertain afterwards.

Meanwhile, I feel suspicious about Gaku Yashiro as he's hiding something inside his car compartment box. Sure that it's full of lollipops but there's something hidden beneath a pile of candies.

By the way, will A-1 Pictures cover the last manga chapter of BokuMachi?

[thundrakkon]

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Originally Posted by karice67

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What compels me most about this series are the emotions and atmosphere. The scenes with the "Christmas Tree" and the museum felt surreal and nostalgic. The story draws us in with the characters, and it makes us feel close to the characters. The mystery and thrills are just added bonuses.

Considering Satoru's lack of intelligence, or maybe lack of awareness, for a 29 year old in a 10 year old body, I'm not sure what to make of any themes concerning him. His powers of revival might have came about because of his desires to become a hero; hence, his revival allows him to save people.

So far, the show feels like a nice ride instead of a mystery to solve. Actually, Satoru has not been trying to solve any mysteries at all. His actions have always been to try and save people. He has made no attempts to identify who the killer is or to capture him.

So what has made this series so special so far is the emotions it brings to the audience.

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Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

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My concern with this point is that, if he is truly the killer, Yashiro has been hinted to have already killed a girl in a nearby town, which was reported by Sachiko's reporter friend. He has already headed down the wrong path. Also, being a politician in the future with a different name, that suggests that he had already married but still continued to abduct girls and murdered them. I don't think having Sachiko mixed in will fix any of that.

[karice67]

^
Please stop referring to the manga in this thread!!

Here's the manga thread. Can you all please take it there?!

[aohige]

Originally Posted by Harbinger

I'm a bit sad with the lack of "exchanging information". She going far away, but it would have been really sweet to see a scene where Kayo and our MC exchanged phone numbers.

Whoa, wait a sec.
You're not by chance under the impression that we had cellphones in 1988?

The landline phone # for the Fujinuma household is already known, and all Satoru would need is Kayo's grandma's # later on.

Pagers (known in Japan as Poke-bells) were around, but I've never had one growing up in the late 80s in Japan, nor do I remember any other kids having one. At least not until highschool.
And I was a city slicker in a MUCH higher populated Osaka, unlike the remote wherever nowhereland in Hokkaido this is taking place in.

Heck it was even before internet was a thing, we didn't even have e-mails to exchange!

[Kakurin]

I wonder if it would've been a better decision to make it like 15 episodes with the last three being an ONA or something like that.

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

I disagree. I don't think you're giving her enough credit here. Kayo took an active role in preventing her own victimization. It takes a lot of guts for a young kid to run away from home, even for a few days. Basically living out of that abandoned bus for two or there days probably wasn't the most pleasant of experiences, especially when she was completely by herself for much of the time. Nonetheless, she saw it through, and she wasn't the least bit whiny about it.

Again, I really don't think you're giving Kayo enough credit here. I think you're horribly understating how important Kayo was to Satoru, based on what the anime showed, anyway. Haak is right - Kayo received mountains of buildup here. There were loads of scenes focusing on her and Satoru, often just the two of them together.

No, I think you're forgetting that Satoru is a time traveling adult who had to pull off two miraculous Revivals to get to this point. It also wasn't until Kenya's active involvement after Satoru's last Revival that they thought of running and hiding away from Kayo's mother.

Remember that during the time Satoru was originally from - before his first Revival - Kayo was a classmate he never got involved with, because she was an loner outside of his circle of friends. He only thought how Yuuki was framed for it, but adopted a "don't ask" policy because that's how he lived, and what his mother wanted to protect him. But when his mother was murdered and he was framed for it, that's when he realized the way he was living his life was wrong.

After his first Revival back to 1988 happened, he decided to get involved with Kayo. But when his friends teased him and started shipping him together with Kayo, he got embarrassed and started backing off. As a result, Kayo went missing again, and Satoru ended up back where he left off as an adult, running as a fugitive after being framed for his mother's murder.

It wasn't until after Satoru returned, got Kayo involved and got himself framed again, then had a Revival back to 1988 again that he, in his own words, decided to "throw caution to the wind" to save Kayo.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

I disagree. Kayo seemed to inspire Satoru's actions no less than any other character did. Heck, Satoru seemed just as concerned over saving her as he did his own mom.

He wasn't as concerned about Kayo as he was with his own mother until his second Revival. Remember that he started backing off when his friends started teasing him about it, which gave Kayo enough alone time for the killer to kidnap her.

The other problem with your point is that you also have to prove that Satoru cares less for the other two child victims he knows of during 1988 than he does for Kayo, which in turn contradicts Satoru's character development. I think the story is about Satoru's growing sense of justice as much as, if not more than his growing compassion for Kayo.
A narrative focusing on Satoru's character can go hand in hand with a growing compassion for others.
A narrative focusing on Satoru's compassion for primarily Kayo , however, cannot go hand in hand with Satoru's growing sense of justice because it implies that he prioritizes Kayo's life over all other victims, and would leave others to die if need be to make that happen.

[Arya]

I have to admit that despite the closure this episode has been a bit of a step down, very little step down but still. Starting from the shovel. I mean, really?

Originally Posted by karice67

I do as well. However, I suspect that there are several different foci that even those of us who value this can find in this show. I should probably admit that I find it difficult to forget that Satoru in the 'past' storyline is a 29 year old in a kid's body--after all, he keeps reminding us about it himself. So even though those scenes with Kayo are pretty cute, I find myself thinking more of the relationship Satoru has with his mother, and how that might be connected to the themes of the show.

Yep, personally Sachiko is the strength of Satoru and so the strength of the story (and so of the series), everything happens thanks to her, almost everything. For how cute the interactions between kayo and Satoru are, every interaction Sachiko has with Satoru or with Kayo are on another level.

Originally Posted by karice67

Personally, I see two major themes: first, that idea of "if only I had done something," which for Satoru is now "I just need to do something." At least one major blogger has linked it to a 'childish' desire on his part to become a hero, which you can say is supported by the references to his own childhood hero, Wonder Guy. But I wonder if looking at it from the opposite stance might be more fruitful: I'm reminded of something a few creators have said about what makes a hero--they don't try to be one, they just do what they believe is right. They do what they have to do, what they can do. Is Satoru thinking of his childhood hero because he wants to be a hero? Or is he thinking of him because the lesson he picked up is "to do what is right"?

I remember that quote, but I don't know if it should be applied here.
On the other hand is interesting to note how nobody were doing what they had to do apart from Satoru (with "some Revival help" of course). Not Yashiro, not Kenya and in the end not Sachiko. Satoru had to leap back there to make it happens, and it took a lot of effort to save Kayo, Yashiro had to involve a lot of people.

In the end I don't think that "being a Hero" is a key of the story, but more a way to differentiate the kid layer from the adult layer.
One of the things I find compelling is how the show was able to portray two different levels, the one of the kids and the one of the adults, in a realistic way. So for how much Satoru may have thought about his plans the adults (her mother) was always one step ahead. (To note that it is realistic even because Sachiko is a caring mother, not because she is just an adult).
On the other hand it took a child and his dream to be a hero to make it happens.

Kenya is an odd ball here, since he seems an adult, but is a kid. So what's the point about him? He's mature enough to note everything about Kayo, but is also adult enough to let it be?

Originally Posted by karice67

Do the rest of you see different themes here? Alternatively, can you specify in more detail what you personally find compelling about what we've seen? I'm just curious, because it seems like there are a lot of different views, but the ones I remember most strongly go along the lines of "they're so cute together"...which I personally find a little disconcerting for the reason stated above...

Personally what I find compelling about the show is the idea of reviving childhood. I think that this show is working so well because it's more or less subtly pulling the strings of the nostalgia. The concept of reviving your childhood, with your actual mind, is a strong feeling that permeate all the episodes in the eighties that touches you in a way or another, be you aware or not. (That's one of the reasons I found them awesome and the others not on par). You can feel it each time Satoru and Sachiko interact. Then you have Kayo's story of course that makes their interactions strong, particularly Sachiko's.

Also the realism of the interactions are also to be praised. That's somehow the reason I'm liking equally this show and Grimgar, for the ability to portray things, people and interactions realistically. I don't remember (in the eighties) not a moment in which I thought something was out of place, whatever it may have been.

In a way the mystery is really getting in the way ....

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Another possible happy ending is that Sensei ends up marrying Sachiko and so changes the time line that she survives in the present. It's pretty obvious Satoru would like them to get together.

Yeah, this would be my happy handing for this series. After all the effort Sensei put into save Kayo and the words he said to Satoru aftermath I was almost ready to buy the candies excuse, and Sachiko asked for one too I mean what a great pair we had there.

I'll be sad when we will be confirmed discover who the culprit is.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Shadow5YA

No, I think you're forgetting that Satoru is a time traveling adult who had to pull off two miraculous Revivals to get to this point.

What an absolutely ridiculous insult to my intelligence. Of course I'm not forgetting this.

After his first Revival back to 1988 happened, he decided to get involved with Kayo. But when his friends teased him and started shipping him together with Kayo, he got embarrassed and started backing off.

Satoru didn't back off out of embarrassment. He backed off because he thought he had already succeeded. He initially underestimated what he was up against here.

He wasn't as concerned about Kayo as he was with his own mother until his second Revival.

Even during his first revival, Satoru's focus was primarily on saving Kayo. He was certainly pleased to see his mom alive again, but it didn't take him long to focus almost exclusively on saving Kayo. Frankly, the other two potential victims were treated almost as after-thoughts.

Look, the amount of time and focus specific elements of a narrative receive does matter. It leaves a definite impression of what is most important and central to the story. If Kayo's story gets most of the anime runtime, and the other two potential victims get relatively very little time, then what does that say? Like it or not, it does say something.

I think the story is about Satoru's growing sense of justice as much as, if not more than his growing compassion for Kayo.

I disagree. If Satoru was more focused on justice than compassion then his primary focus should be on trying to determine the killer's identity and taking the fight directly to the killer. Satoru seems to care much more about protecting the innocent than he does catching the guilty. That speaks to him prioritizing compassion over justice.

[Harbinger]

Originally Posted by aohige

Whoa, wait a sec.
You're not by chance under the impression that we had cellphones in 1988?

The landline phone # for the Fujinuma household is already known, and all Satoru would need is Kayo's grandma's # later on.

Pagers (known in Japan as Poke-bells) were around, but I've never had one growing up in the late 80s in Japan, nor do I remember any other kids having one. At least not until highschool.
And I was a city slicker in a MUCH higher populated Osaka, unlike the remote wherever nowhereland in Hokkaido this is taking place in.

Heck it was even before internet was a thing, we didn't even have e-mails to exchange!

I'm well aware that cell phone was... well, not a thing in 1988. In the 90s, land-phone was pretty much what we used.

When I said exchange information, I did include phone number in it, but I also wanted them to promise to meet again.

[ReddyRedWolf]

While Satoru has saved Kayo and is in the process of protecting other victims he is not mindful of the consequences of changing the timeline. Now the bully girl could become one.

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Satoru didn't back off out of embarrassment. He backed off because he thought he had already succeeded. He initially underestimated what he was up against here.

He started backing off long before he thought he had won. He clammed up when his friends were teasing him about Kayo in ep 2. Later, Kenya backs him up and says Satoru should be able to talk to them about anything, but of course he didn't until his second Revival.

At the beginning of episode 3, he races Hamada and holds back out of "consideration" for Hamada, which of course only makes it worse. That was when Hinazuki also distanced himself from Satoru, since he was being disingeniune.

The entire point behind episode 3 was that Satoru unintentionally made the same mistakes because he went with the flow again.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Even during his first revival, Satoru's focus was primarily on saving Kayo. He was certainly pleased to see his mom alive again, but it didn't take him long to focus almost exclusively on saving Kayo. Frankly, the other two potential victims were treated almost as after-thoughts.

At the moment, of course they were. Kayo was not only the first victim, but the youngest as well. Are you suggesting he focus on the others despite Kayo being in the most danger at that point in time?

Correlating Satoru's high priority for Kayo to his level of compassion for her is also a faulty line of logic. Are you saying that Sachiko is also an afterthought along with the other two victims then? Of course not - she just wasn't in any danger at the time for him to worry.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Look, the amount of time and focus specific elements of a narrative receive does matter. It leaves a definite impression of what is most important and central to the story. If Kayo's story gets most of the anime runtime, and the other two potential victims get relatively very little time, then what does that say? Like it or not, it does say something.

There are more constraints than just narrative intent. I'm fairly sure you're aware that this anime is an adaptation, so I don't know why you're speaking as if the studio isn't making any sacrifices when that is common practice in adaptations.

Who are you to say that they would have given the other two victims just as little time, especially when one of them was already his friend long before Kayo, had they more timeslots?

Originally Posted by Triple_R

I disagree. If Satoru was more focused on justice than compassion then his primary focus should be on trying to determine the killer's identity and taking the fight directly to the killer. Satoru seems to care much more about protecting the innocent than he does catching the guilty. That speaks to him prioritizing compassion over justice.

I'm not denying that he wants to protect the innocent over catching the guilty. What I'm challenging is the notion that Satoru would protect one innocent over the others. Are you saying that the primary focus is that Satoru is romantically interested in Kayo? Because that not only implies that the other two victims are afterthoughts, but also that he wouldn't put in the same amount of effort needed to save them, meaning they would be doomed from the start.

And why tell Kenya that he wanted to be a hero of justice then, instead of something like "Hinazuki's knight"? And why stay in 1988 despite having already saved Kayo and Yuuki?

[ookamigirl]

Kayo's mom finally got confronted.
Things didn't look well.
With a twist of fate things suddenly changed.
Kayo was saved.
Time to save the rest.. a bit ambitious of him.
Would be interesting to see Sensei hook up with Satoru's mom ^^
Kenya was as perceptive as always about Satoru's intentions.
I slightly suspect Sensei.. right after Satoru told him about the trailer, the stuff was gone.
Great episode!

[larethian]

Haven't been consistently following the thread. But it sounds like we might get an original ending? Wasn't planning to read the manga initially as I thought it would be faithful, but it looks like I'm going to read it after all if it goes original end. Anyway, that candy discovery was preluded by some really suspicious friend making technique.

edit:
Is Airi even important? (not a question that needs answers or hints from source readers) I originally had the feel that she's 'true route' but it seems like there are too few episodes for that to happen.