Erased, known in Japan as Boku dake ga Inai Machi, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kei Sanbe. It was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Young Ace magazine from June 4, 2012 to March 4, 2016, and is licensed in English by Yen Press. An anime adaptation by A-1 Pictures aired on Fuji TV's Noitaminaprogramming block from January 8, 2016 to March 25, 2016, and a live action film was released on March 19, 2016. A live-action drama series was released by Netflix on December 15, 2017. A spin-off manga series following the lives of Satoru's friends was published from June 4, 2016 to November 4, 2016. A spin-off novel series by Hajime Ninomae was released in Kadokawa's Bungei Kadokawa magazine from November 2015 to March 2016.
Plot
The story follows Satoru Fujinuma, a young man living in Chiba who somehow possesses an ability known as "Revival", which sends him back in time moments before a life-threatening incident, enabling him to prevent it from happening again. When his mother is murdered by an unknown assailant in his own home, Satoru's ability suddenly sends him back eighteen years into the past. Now an elementary schooler in Hokkaido again, this gives him the opportunity to not only save his mother but also prevent a kidnapping incident that took the lives of three of his childhood friends; two classmates and one young girl studying at a different school nearby.
The original manga, written by Kei Sanbe, was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Young Ace magazine from the July 2012 issue through the April 2016 issue. The first tankōbon volume was released in Japan on January 26, 2013, with eight volumes published as of April 27, 2016. The series is licensed by Yen Press, who released the first volume in February 2017. The Yen Press hardcover editions combine two of the original volumes per book, while their ebook editions match the original volume numbering. The series is licensed in France by Ki-oon. Sanbe wrote a spin-off manga titled Boku dake ga Inai Machi: Re, which was serialized in Young Ace from June 4, 2016 to November 4, 2016.
A live-action film adaptation of Boku Dake ga Inai Machi featuring Tatsuya Fujiwara as Satoru Fujinuma debuted in cinemas throughout Japan on March 19, 2016. The theme song is "Hear ~Shinjiaeta Akashi~" by Chise Kanna. In March 2017, Netflix announced a live-action adaptation of the manga series, co-created with Kansai TV. The Netflix Original series was released worldwide on December 15, 2017. The live-action web drama covers the manga fully, and does not deviate from the source material, like the anime and live-action film. The drama stars Yuki Furukawa as 29-year-old Satoru Fujinuma, Reo Uchikawa as Satoru as a child, and Mio Yūki as Airi.
Novel
A spin-off novel titled Boku Dake ga Inai Machi: Another Record, written by Hajime Ninomae, was serialized in Kadokawa's monthly digital novel magazine Bungei Kadokawa from November 2015 to March 2016. A volume collecting the chapters was released on March 30, 2016.
Reception
Volume 4 reached the 12th place on the weekly Oricon manga chart and, as of June 15, 2014, has sold 73,983 copies. The manga was number sixteen on the 2014 Kono Manga ga Sugoi! Top 20 Manga for Male Readers survey. It was nominated for the 18th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Reader Award. It was also nominated for the 7th Manga Taishō, receiving 82 points and placing 2nd among the ten nominees. It is nominated for the 8th Manga Taishō. The staff at manga-news.com gave the French edition a grade of 17.33 out of 20. On Manga Sanctuary one of the staff members gave it an 8 out of 10.
