ERASED (Bokudake ga inai machi) (2016)

Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Director: Yuichiro Hirakawa　
Cast: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Kasumi Arimura, Tsubasa Nakagawa, Rio Suzuki, Yuriko Ishida, Yuriko Ishida, Mitsuhiro Oikawa
Runtime: 2 hrs
Rating: PG
Released By: Encore Films  
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 4 August 2016

Synopsis: Satoru Fujinuma (Tatsuya Fujiwara), a struggling manga artist and part-time pizza delivery man, experiences a strange phenomenon called “revival”. When something is amiss in his surroundings, he finds himself sent back several minutes in time just before a significant incident occurs. He must seek the source of the incident, so he can move forward in time. After experiencing “revival”, Satoru manages to stop a kid from crossing the road and prevent an accident, but he gets hit by the same speeding truck minutes after. The whole scene was witnessed by his colleague Airi Katagiri (Kasumi Arimura), who becomes intrigued. A few days later, Satoru's mother Sachiko (Yuriko Ishida), who had witnessed an attempted abduction, is murdered. The police suspects Satoru, but he experiences “revival” again when he is about to get arrested. This time, he is brought back to his childhood 18 years ago—days before the abduction-murder case of his classmate Kayo Hinazuki (Rio Suzuki). A 29-year-old trapped in a 10-year-old’s body, Satoru (younger self played by Tsubasa Nakagawa) is convinced that the two murders are linked to the same perpetrator, and begins his investigation. With his inexplicable ability, he travels back and forth between present and past, gathering clues each time. Will Satoru be able to stop the murders and save the people he loves?

Movie Review:

Since appearing as Light Yagami in the wildly popular Death Note franchise, Tatsuya Fujiwara has been a constant presence in the Japanese cinema circuit and on the small screen. Locally of course we have seen him in Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler, The Incite Mill and Ruroni Kenshin over the years. In 2016, Fujiwara is back once again in a live-action movie based on an acclaimed manga, Bokudake Ga Inai Machi.

The ever-youthful looking Fujiwara plays Satoru Fujinuma, a struggling manga artist and part-time pizza deliveryman who possessed the ability to go back in time whenever a significant incident is about to happen for instance saving a kid from being knocked down by a truck. There’s no explanation why and how Satoru acquired this special power, which he termed as ‘revival’ and that’s one reason, why you are effortlessly hooked into the premise.

Anyway before long, Satoru’s mother who is visiting from Hokkaido is found murdered. Perhaps it is linked to a kidnap-murder case which happened 18 years ago. Instead of going back time for a few seconds, Satoru finds himself going back to when he was just an elementary school student. He is now an adult trapped in his 11-year-old body (Tsubasa Nakagawa) and the only way to save his mum is to solve the kidnap-murder case starting with his loner classmate, Hinazuki (Rio Suzuki).

Time travelling can be a tricky concept to utilize in a story. If done well, it can be both witty and intriguing in the cases of Back to the Future and Source Code else it will be just a plain gimmick to get the narrative going. Erased however sits somewhere inbetween. One of the biggest downfall of Erased is there are no apparent logic and consequences in Satoru’s time-travelling power. It seems that he can easily drift in and out, past and present without altering any future events. And basically no one suspects anything except Satoru’s fellow colleague, Airi (Kasumi Arimura). 

Don’t get me wrong though. Erased remains very much a taut, tense mystery thriller except the flimsy time-concept thingy of course. The performances of the child actors played by Tsubasa Nakagawa and Rio Suzuki are simply awesome because it’s crucial for audiences to believe Satoru’s confrontation of the past is important. We root for the young Satoru to uncover the truth and we really feel for Hinazuki’s plight in the end. As for their adult counterparts, Tatsuya Fujiwara is serviceable as yet again in a role of an underdog. Up-and-coming young actress Kasumi Arimura provides the eye candy factor while veteran Yuriko Ishida impresses as Satoru’s affectionate mom.

Erased would have been a highly recommended movie if not for a lackluster ending that defeat whatever is established earlier on. Stop reading now if you are not into spoilers.

Let’s just say it doesn’t make much sense for a person possessed with special powers and who have already deduced the killer’s identity to sacrifice himself. Isn’t it far better for him to live on to make the world a better place? 

Movie Rating:

(A botched ending to an otherwise arresting flick)

Review by Linus Tee