This week’s episode of ERASED changes things up a bit by showing Kayo’s perspective in a few scenes. What did that add, and what do other details indicate about the murderer? Let’s go over what went down in ERASED Episode 8!
Jul 31, 2016 Episode 8 starts off right where the previous one ends: someone is entering the bus that acts as Kayo’s hideout. While I thought it was possible that this intruder might not be the suspect, this episode quite clearly proves otherwise: Kayo tells the boys about what happened, and they discover a backpack full of the items used in the the report of the case Sawada told Satoru before he went. VRV is the home of your favorite channels, events, and communities celebrating anime, animation, video games, comics, science fiction, fantasy, and tech. The show lasted one season and had 12 episodes. Erased is a series that is currently running and has 1 seasons (12 episodes). The series first aired on January 8, 2016. Erased is available for streaming on the website, both individual episodes and full seasons. You can also watch Erased on demand atHBO Max, Netflix, Hulu online.
Note: The following review contains spoilers of the eighth episode of ERASED. If you do not wish to be spoiled, please watch the episode before you continue reading. If you haven’t seen the series, be sure to check out our first impression here (Spoiler-Free).
Episode 8 starts off right where the previous one ends: someone is entering the bus that acts as Kayo’s hideout. While I thought it was possible that this intruder might not be the suspect, this episode quite clearly proves otherwise: Kayo tells the boys about what happened, and they discover a backpack full of the items used in the the report of the case Sawada told Satoru before he went through this second Revival. This scene acted like proof for me: from it, I gathered Jun “Yuuki” Shiratori was truly innocent. It wouldn’t make sense for him to include his own boots in a backpack full of items intended for murdering a child. He could have just kept those at home. To me, their inclusion indicates that they were stolen and placed in the backpack. We are given both the shoes and the footprint of the actual perpetrator, as well. An item not mentioned in the case report is a briquette that Satoru finds in the box with the footprint. Satoru believes this would have been used to suffocate Kayo, enabling the murderer to use the freeze in the spray bottle and carry out the rest of his plans.
My question is: was the box kicked on purpose? This individual came in from the snow, so he would certainly have wet shoes. A marking from the shoe is guaranteed to appear on the box, and I would think the killer would want to be as careful as possible. This leads me to wonder whether the shoes the killer is wearing are actually his shoes. He did steal Yuuki’s boots, so who’s to say he didn’t steal Yuuki’s, or even someone else’s, shoes? Kayo thought he kicked the box because he was mad, but I can’t think of why the killer would be, and even so, why would he kick the box that contains the briquette he’s putting in the bus? Leave it to ERASED to give us a potential hint while also tossing in a few questions.
As mentioned in my review for the previous episode, I am leaning towards Yashiro being the culprit. However, this episode complicates that belief. Let’s begin with the scene in which he goes to Kayo’s house with the social workers: he mentions knowing where Kayo is to them. Interestingly enough, we are shown that Satoru is watching them enter the house and look for the mother. While he’s listening to their conversation after Yashiro leaves the house, we see he’s gone by the end of the conversation. Did he leave right before the teacher mentions knowing where Kayo is? I believe so, since Satoru didn’t mention it to anyone when they were at the hideout. Since he indicates he knows her location, he certainly could have been the person who entered the bus the previous night.
We also discover that Sachiko has been in touch with Yashiro, and from their conversation we can assume they have been corresponding for most of the time Kayo has been in hiding. Was it her that he called in the previous episode? I believe this to be the case. Their correspondence with one another is interesting: the episode’s ending suggests that their plan is to confront Kayo’s mother. But, their correspondence also has me thinking about events in the future: Sachiko’s involvement at this stage would certainly put her in jeopardy of being killed if Yashiro is, in fact, the perpetrator. Is she a forced ally, since he suggests that he knows Satoru is involved with Kayo going missing? She does work in journalism, and she’s a rather perceptive person, so keeping her close could be both a good and bad strategy. I also looked to see if his shoes make an appearance, but the only shot of his feet in the episode is when he’s walking through Kayo’s house without his shoes on.
This leads to the big question of why he would want Kayo dead. The murderer is going to great lengths to kill her. If he knew that Kayo was in the bus, why have the briquette there? Why not just use the spray while she was asleep? Is there something going on that we haven’t been made aware of yet, or is there some sort of odd (and perhaps faulty) quirk to the murderer’s plan? One thing I’ve wondered about is whether Kayo is Yashiro’s daughter. Kayo doesn’t look like her mother or her boyfriend, and while Yashiro and her share the same hair color, their eyes are also a similar slant to them. That just complicates the matter of him being the killer: why kill his daughter? Wouldn’t the rest of the town know of their relation? Maybe, but it’s possible that Kayo is an illegitimate child and the mother doesn’t know who the father is, or even that they are related to one another in a different way. There are many possibilities and not enough hard evidence for any strong conclusions, including whether or not these “hints” are leading us in the right direction.
Leaving theories aside, this episode had some interesting scenes with Kayo while she stayed at the Fujinuma house. One scene that got me thinking was the bath scene between Sachiko and Kayo. While it’s a nice moment for Kayo, experiencing a fun bath time with a kind-hearted mother figure, Satoru’s reaction is the one that interested me more. “Get a grip, you’re 29!” thinks Satoru, after hearing the giggles from the two. Is it odd for Satoru to feel an attraction towards Kayo, since he has the consciousness of a 29-year-old man? From what we’ve been shown throughout the series, I would argue that it isn’t. While his body is decidedly that of a 10/11-year-old, his mind isn’t decidedly that of a 29-year-old. There are moments when he says things or behaves as a child would. One moment that comes to mind is his first trip to the science center with Kayo: he jumps behind a statue and pretends to hide. It shows a playfulness that 29-year-old Satoru lacks. Instead, it seems almost as if his 29-year-old self shares his body’s brain with his 10/11-year-old self. His reminders to himself about being 29 make more sense with that interpretation. If he was decidedly 29, he likely wouldn’t feel embarrassed at times or think more romantically-inclined thoughts towards Kayo.
The breakfast scene that occurs the next day is not only another interesting scene, but one that I was (and still am) impressed by. Sachiko makes the kids eggs, bacon, and a few side dishes. Kayo’s past breakfasts are shown in the place of her current meal through her blinking: one blink turns it into a cup of instant ramen; then next blink, a slice of bread; and the final blink, money to buy breakfast herself. By moving the camera to a first-person perspective, it creates a sense of being inside her mind.
Beyond that, it characterizes the dissatisfaction she has with her home life: the basic role of a parent is to provide for their child, with the most basic provision being food. Each blink shows less and less effort. I also really like how, when she’s shown eating in the park, the cloud from her breath travels up the screen, and when the scene cuts back to the present, the steam from her food is in the same vicinity. It’s a very powerful scene, and when I saw her sobbing, I was quite moved. This stands out as one of my favorite scenes from the show thus far: it goes beyond trying to create suspicion related to the case and instead opts for artfully conveying a character’s memories of the past alongside the reality of the present.
While I’m still unsure about the killer’s logic and motive for wanting Kayo, in particular, as the first victim in a series of murders, I still enjoyed the episode. There are so many small details to get lost in with analysis, but that’s what makes watching this show so rewarding. Is Yashiro just trying to do what’s right, or does he want to make sure others perceive him that way? Is the show purposely leading us to believe he’s the culprit, or are there other details I’m missing that leads elsewhere? With the confrontation coming up in the next episode, I’m excited to see what else ERASED has in store.
ERASED's articulation of Hinazuki's broken home has not generally been its most graceful feature. Stories about childhood abuse need an even more sensitive touch than most stories, and considering ERASED occasionally likes to lean on the drama horn a little hard, scenes featuring Hinazuki's mother have often tended towards melodrama. But here, when an intruder in Hinazuki's hideaway prompts Satoru to find her a new shelter, the show absolutely nails its articulation of her trauma. By revealing the harshness of Hinazuki's life through its consequences more than its reality, this sad and gentle episode shined.
The show quickly defused last week's cliffhanger, as the figure invading Hinazuki's bus ended up just being there to store their own contraband. The opening sequence here emphasized Hinazuki's fear through shots framed in distant corners, a trick that the episode would later apply to Mr. Yashiro's investigation of Hinazuki's empty home. When Satoru and his friends investigated the supplies left behind by the mystery man, they discovered the paraphernalia of the killer himself - ropes, masks, tape, and all the rest of it. And so, deciding it was time to lean on the one other person he could trust, Satoru brought Hinazuki back to his own house.
The second half of this episode was equal parts touching and heartbreaking, as Satoru's mother did everything she could to make Hinazuki feel safe and comfortable. Just like in the present-day narrative, the key here was trust; even from the start of this episode, it was clear that Satoru's mother knew what was going on, but she trusted her son. His equal trust of her was reflected in his choice to bring Hinazuki to his home, but when Satoru's mother reached out to her, she flinched. Hinazuki has been taught not to trust anyone; taught that an extended hand generally means violence, and that adults are never truly looking out for you. That is not a lesson that is easily unlearned.
Over a warm dinner and long bath, Satoru's mother slowly tried to unknit the emotional violence that had been done to Hinazuki. Like in the birthday episode, these scenes were full of quiet warmth, a much-needed emotional reward for the many trials these characters have undergone. Abuse didn't have to be articulated in outright violence; it was clear in the small degrees of shock Hinazuki kept expressing at every kind gesture, or the way she initially tensed when Satoru's mother lightly punched her son, before realizing the two of them were just playing. And this revelation of kindness reached its climax in the morning, when the sight of a real breakfast from a loving parent made her recall all her own lonely mornings, and brought her to tears. A light piano track rose as if to muffle the sounds of her sobbing as she thought back on all she had suffered, and suddenly realized everything she had missed.
This was a genuinely touching episode of ERASED, and close to the most consistently effective episode of the show so far. By expressing Hinazuki's pain through her near inability to parse a loving home, the show brought her tragedy to life far more effectively than if it were to simply catalog more overt violence. While the actual plot only moved forward a few brief steps, this episode did critical work in solidifying the emotional realities of these characters, and even offered a new perspective on the show's themes regarding the importance of trust and a support network without directly spelling anything out. This episode was graceful and emotionally rich, a highlight in a consistently excellent show.
Overall: A
ERASED is currently streaming onCrunchyroll.
Nick writes about anime, storytelling, and the meaning of life at Wrong Every Time.
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