Still, there’s nothing wrong with failure…As long as you don’t let it go to waste.
Satoru Fujinuma’s time traveling adventures continue in this extra installment of ERASED, Volume 5 by Kei Sanbe.
After witnessing the murder of his mother by an unknown attacker in the first volume, “revival”—Satoru’s unique ability to travel back a few moments in time—sends him back further than it ever has before, from 2006 all the way to 1988, to when Satoru is 10 years old. The serial deaths of a number of his classmates in 1989 appear to be somehow related to his mother’s death, and revival sends him back to stop them.
BOKU DAKE GA INAI MACHI ⓒ Kei SANBE 2017 / KADOKAWA CORPORATION
When I finished the fourth volume of ERASED, I had figured that it was the last volume in the series, that it was the last time I’d be reading about Satoru and his friends. Then I found out that there was another volume being released on September 18, 2018, an extra volume of short stories, and at first, I was a little reluctant to return.
But I’m glad that I did now; I ate this extra last volume up fast, reading it the minute I got home after finding it in my mailbox!
Volume 5 was surprisingly engaging, even though it only contains four short stories, each of which takes place during Satoru’s journey. Each story is told from other characters’ perspectives, including Kayo Hinazuki, the first girl Satoru tried to save, Kenya Kobayashi, Satoru’s friend, Sachiko Fujinuma, Satoru’s mother, and Airi Katagiri, Satoru’s coworker and friend from before Satoru’s mother was murdered.
Typically, I’m not very interested in additional short stories or novellas for books or manga series I’ve enjoyed, but this one was different. The stories, even as short as they were, added something to the series that we couldn’t have gotten from Satoru’s perspective.
For example, and without giving too much away, in Sachiko’s story, we find out that Satoru’s father and mother divorced when Satoru was very young, a piece of information never revealed to us (if I recall correctly) by Satoru. While this piece of information may not be important to the main story, it was something I did wonder about as I read the series. Was Sachiko a single mother? Or did something happen to Satoru’s father? And what is it like being a single mother in Japanese society? Sachiko always seemed to do a very good job at it; she’s impressive, and seeing pieces of her diary in this short story made her feel even more like a real person. Her story, along with Kenya’s, were the most interesting to me.
I have a feeling…this is gonna be a good day.
ERASED was originally serialized in Young Ace magazine in Japan from 2012 through 2016. Volume 5 is now available in English from Yen Press.
Story: 5 out of 5 stars
Art: 4 out of 5 stars
Overall: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads | Indiebound | RightStuf
This review contains affiliate links. While Girls in Capes does make revenue from purchases made at affiliate links, reviews are not paid, and all reviews contain the staff writers’ honest opinions of the work.
[coffee]
