Summary

• The Erased anime and manga had similar conclusions but differed in significant ways, leading to controversy among fans of the source material.
• The anime ending rushed the storyline compared to the manga, resulting in less focus on character development and a shorter confrontation between Satoru and Yashiro.
• The anime took liberties with the source material due to the manga still being in publication, creating its own conclusion that didn't satisfy some fans and leading to comparisons with the live-action adaptation.

Created by Kei Sanbe, Erased is a beloved manga that received an anime adaptation while it was still in publication. Like a lot of anime that air simultaneously to the source material, the endings don't match, because the studio couldn't predict what Sanbe had in mind for the conclusion. That made Erased's conclusion controversial.

Erased can be binged in a single weekend, which is more than enough time for fans of the manga to question the anime's plot. In the manga, Satoru can travel back in time to fix a tragedy. Prior to the main conflict of Erased, he mainly goes back a few minutes in time. However, that changes after his mother's death, and the 29-year-old is thrown back to his elementary-school days to prevent the murder of a classmate. The manga and the anime both follow those main beats until Satoru returns to the present. That's when the two versions diverge in significant ways.

Updated by Timothy Blake Donohoo on January 25, 2024: The Erased anime and manga were both fairly popular, with the franchise spinning off into multiple iterations. The anime is perhaps the most well-known of these, but it's also incredibly controversial due to its ending. While the Erased manga and anime had fairly similar conclusions in some ways, the pointed changes to the story soured fans of the source material. Sadly, the issue that caused this isn't exclusive to just Erased.

Erased Manga Ending, Explained

Waking up from a 15-year coma, Satoru goes through physical therapy, where he meets a young cancer patient, Kumi. His memories about Yashiro -- the killer -- and his life before the manga's main events are also locked away until he reunites with Airi. It's around then that Yashiro comes back into the picture with a plot to "kill" Kumi and frame Satoru.

Thankfully, Satoru, Kenya, Sawada and Sachiko devise a plan to keep Kumi safe while they are on a camping trip. For several chapters, Yashiro and Satoru set each other up until their final confrontation on a bridge, and it's revealed Yashiro had no plans to murder Kumi, simply wanting to draw out Satoru to kill him. After Satoru tells Yashiro how he's been ahead of him, his former teacher lights the bridge on fire. He intends to die with Satoru, but Satoru jumps off the bridge with him, sending them plummeting into the lake, where Kenya, Sawada, Sachiko and Kumi await in the Erased anime ending.

How the Erased Anime Adaptation Ends

In the Erased anime, Yashiro and Satoru's confrontation is restricted to the hospital. After progressing with his physical therapy, some paparazzi try to take photos of Satoru, but Yashiro destroys the footage. He also directly addresses Satoru, as opposed to watching from afar. Later, Yashiro takes Satoru up to the roof, and Satoru reveals he remembers everything. The audience also learns he told Kenya and Hiromi the killer is Yashiro.

Yashiro demands to know how Satoru knew his future, and he tells Satoru that he sabotaged Kumi's operation, so it'd look like Satoru killed her. He also plans to push Satoru off the roof so people think he killed himself ; however, Satoru pieces together that Yashiro has yet to kill him because he needs him in his life, which Yashiro confirms before letting him fall. Prepared to kill himself as well, Yashiro discovers Satoru organized this whole thing. Satoru survives, Yashiro's arrested, and Kumi is rescued, thus ending Yashiro's game in the Erased anime.

Why the Erased Anime Ending Is Controversial

While the beats are the same in both versions of the Erased ending, with Yashiro being brought to justice before he can kill anyone, the key deaths being prevented and Satoru living a more fulfilled life, the anime rushed its ending. The adaptation has only 12 episodes, and dedicates two to Satoru's return and his final confrontation with Yashiro. Meanwhile, the manga is 44 chapters, and Saturo's return to the present starts in Chapter 33, with Yashiro not coming back until Chapter 37.

That allows the Erased manga to focus more on Satoru's rehabilitation, to make the return of his memories more organic and to set up some of the key variables for the final confrontation. It also extends the confrontation, giving audiences one more cat-and-mouse game between Satoru and Yashiro. In short, the Erased manga ending shows how clever these two are, while the Erased anime ending does more telling.

Plus, how Yashiro uses Kumi differs greatly. In the Erased manga, Satoru believes for several chapters that Kumi's life is at stake, and he works hard to prevent that. The Erased anime, on the other hand, reveals that Kumi's life is actually in danger in the midst of the final confrontation. The manga's approach highlights the heroic side of Satoru and the scheming side of Yashiro more so than in the anime.

The Erased anime ending takes a lot of liberties, but that was actually necessary at the time. Like with the anime for Soul Eater and Fullmetal Alchemist, Erased's anime was happening while the manga was still in publication, so by the time the anime needed to end, the manga's conclusion was still unknown. The anime had to create its own conclusion, which can work well for those who haven't already read the manga, especially since it still gives Satoru a happy ending and addresses the complex relationship he has with Yashiro in a short amount of time.

However, for some fans of the original source material, seeing this murder mystery condescended so much didn't do Erased's plot justice. Additionally, a live-action Netflix TV series adaptation was created in 2017 that a lot of readers felt was more faithful to the manga than the anime. Not only did it provide more development for some of the characters and scenes, it improved the overall pacing a great deal because the episodes were longer and there was more time for certain plot elements to evolve.

Another reason fans weren't fond of the Erased anime revolved around the romantic partner Satoru ended up with, or rather didn't end up with. The anime does little more than imply that Satoru and Airi have a future together, but he was also several years older than Airi. Other fans kept holding out hope that Satoru and Kayo would end up together after everything he did to protect and save her, but she didn't wait for him while he was in a coma, and with good reason. When it comes to fan ships, there is little the fandom will forgive, and the Erased anime did not provide the ending everyone was hoping for.

The Erased Anime Isn't the Only One With a Different Ending from the Manga

The Erased manga had a fairly different ending from what was seen in the anime series, but it wasn't unique in this respect. As mentioned, several prominent anime franchises have made notable changes to the source material, especially when it comes to shonen manga. In most cases, the anime and manga diverge due to the development speed of the former. With anime produced by the studio Bones, fidelity will usually be maintained until the conclusion, resulting in the "Bones anime ending" term. That studio isn't the only one in the industry that's forced to make these sorts of changes, however.

For instance, the 2001 anime adaptation of the Shaman King manga was produced while the manga was still fairly early in its run. This meant that by the middle of the anime series, it was necessary to go in a completely unexpected direction, as the show had already caught up with the manga. Said manga ended years later and had a much different conclusion. It also stemmed from the creator being somewhat dissatisfied with how the manga's production went, and the later sequels have had seemingly more laid back production periods.

Similar situations have occurred with franchises such as Fruits Basket, Fullmetal Alchemist, Tokyo Ghoul and, of course, the Erased anime. The anime adaptation of Tokyo Ghoul was actually controversial as a whole, and it's even tainted the perception of the manga. With many of these properties, their initial anime came out several years ago, with the passage of time allowing for more accurate remakes. Such was the case with the remake, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, which more closely followed the manga's story, and more recent remakes such as Fruits Basket and Shaman King (2021).

In most cases, these new shows are considered the superior adaptations due to their fidelity, and the hindsight of knowing how to handle the pacing in a balanced manner. Unfortunately, some of these anime remakes are a bit too rushed, which almost defeats the purpose of their existence. The original Erased anime is definitely in need of a remake due to its ending, and with even the series' live-action incarnation now almost a decade old, it's the perfect time to do so.