Erased, which was produced by A-1 Pictures, is based on Boku dake ga Inai Machi by manga artist Kei Sanbe. The story is about a man who has the ability to go back in short periods of time to prevent harmful incidents from happening. However, a life-altering occurrence happens and sends him 18 years into the past where he must solve a crime.
Tokyo Revengers is an ongoing anime series by Liden Films and a completed manga series by Ken Wakui. Wakui’s story follows Takemichi Hanagaki, a man in his 20s whose life is turned upside down when he falls onto the train tracks and wakes up exactly 12 years prior. After becoming familiarized with his time travel capabilities, Takemichi takes this opportunity to try and prevent the future murder of his middle school girlfriend. Erased and Tokyo Revengers follow a similar theme but handle it in completely different ways, making both of them stand out.
The Unforgettable Mystery of Erased
Satoru Fujinuma experiences a phenomenon he has coined "revival." Whenever he sees an apparition of a blue butterfly, he is made aware that a fatal accident near him has occurred and that he will be sent back a small amount of time before the incident happens. With this ability, Satoru is able to save many lives, all while keeping a low profile as a pizza delivery boy and aspiring manga artist. It isn’t until Satoru discovers the dead body of his mother that things begin to change. Satoru attempts to flee from the police who suspect him but is whisked away once he spots the butterfly. Instead of a few minutes, like every other time before, Satoru is sent back 18 years and wakes up inside his 11-year-old body. Soon, Satoru remembers that it was that school year that three kids were abducted and murdered. He uses this knowledge to prevent the deaths of his peers and find the killer.
Erased tells the tale of an unsettling mystery while also highlighting childhood innocence and friendship. There are many twists and turns in this story that leaves viewers hooked and unable to stop watching. This 12-episode anime has received high praise from most anime fans who have had the chance to watch it. Along with its anime adaptation, this story has been made into a live-action film, a live-action Netflix series and a novel. All adaptations are slightly different, with the Netflix series deviating the least from the manga’s original telling. Despite all versions of the story being quite short and slightly different from the source material, they’re all able to wrap up its complexity in a way that leaves fans satisfied.
Tokyo Time Travel in Tokyo Revengers
The Tokyo Revengers manga and anime has hit the world by storm with its fantastic storytelling and intriguing characters. While watching the news, Takemichi Hanagaki learns that his middle school girlfriend, Hinata Tachibana, has become a casualty of gang violence in Japan. This event leads Takemichi to acknowledge how disappointing his current life is. However, that soon changes after he is pushed onto the train tracks. While his life was meant to come to an end, Takemichi instead wakes up inside his 14-year-old body, fully intact and with his middle school friends. He discovers that he is able to jump exactly 12 years into the past or future after he shakes the hand of Hinata’s younger brother, Naoto Tachibana. In the future, Naoto becomes a detective and works with Takemichi to stop the incident that caused Hinata’s death. However, the only way they can do this is if Takemichi goes back in time and joins the gang that ended up costing Hinata her life.
As one of the best-selling manga series of all time and a popular anime, Tokyo Revengers is recognized as a great time travel-themed story. Along with the anime adaptation, Tokyo Revengers has one live-action film and another on the way. An original net animation titled ChibiReve tells stories of the characters in a chibi-style animation and was released in 2021. Two spinoff manga have come out of this popular story too. To say that the story has been received well is quite an understatement. With completed content, such as ChibiReve and the original manga, fans are more than satisfied. However, happily, there is still more to come, such as the second season of the anime and the ongoing manga spinoff Tokyo Revengers: Baji Keisuke Kara no Tegami.
A Tale of Two Time Travel Mystery Anime
Both Erased and Tokyo Revengers follow the same exact theme of main characters who have the capability to travel back in time in order to save someone’s life. Erased heavily focuses on the mystery of the crime and the weaknesses that Satoru has as a child. Tokyo Revengers’ Takemichi is only 14 years old, but he has the help of his strong friends and the gang that he ends up becoming part of. The two stories lean heavily on select elements within their themes that show just how different series that share the same theme can be. The realistic crime and situation that Satoru witnesses feel a lot different from the organized crime that Takemichi becomes involved with at such a young age. Erased uses the fear factor of its story as the leading factor, whereas Tokyo Revengers uses its entertaining, heartfelt relationships as its driving source.
What's so wonderful about these two stories is that their similarities also come with great differences. The terror of the disappearance of young children and the fear of losing a loved one because of organized crime are both realistic scenarios in Erased and Tokyo Revengers respectively, with the fantasy of time travel to stop these occurrences sprinkled in. By adding this element, these stories are turned around, leaving viewers on the edges of their seats. After fans finish watching these anime for the first or 100th time, they can watch or engage with the many adaptations and spinoffs of both Erased and Tokyo Revengers.