The Perversion of Justice in ERASED
Originally published March 2016
Commentary
This video is probably the first video that got me some sort of general acknowledgment in the broader Anitube community. For the most part, videos prior to this one have been met with general positive comments and clarification, but it was really touching upon this aspect of ERASED that really helped me. It did relatively well, and there were some relatively interesting comments, so overall the video had a good showing.
I knew about the mentality behind the Japanese procuracy for a while, but it was kind of surprising that not a lot of people - especially those in Anitube - didn’t. Scenes like the chocolate bar seem kind of strange, but it makes a lot of sense and ultimately does frame a lot of the character’s motivations. I was planning on somewhat covering Tsutomu Miyazaki, but at that stage I didn’t know too much about him so I just left it aside.
Had I made a video of this sort now, I don’t know exactly what I would really do. I think I’d just focus on setting up the basic premise and perhaps lean into the background information a little more smoothly, given that what I have here veers off into that annoying exposition territory.
Stray Notes
I think ERASED is one of those pieces of media that work much better as a manga than a show because of how it structures its sequential information. I may talk about that in the future.
I can understand why a lot of people are cheesy over it, and to be honest, it's not an invalid concern.
Was really hoping some sort of Persona, Butterfly Effect, or Looper reference. Got none of them :c
Come at me, Hyper Anime Reviews
You're gonna see me cite David Johnson a lot, because there's few western academics as learned and prolific as he is on Japanese criminal law
Huge shoutout to Will -FlyingEagle- for providing me with some stats, even though I only used like, one thing from them - credit where credit's due!
Texts
Johnson, David T. "Bureaucratic Corruption in Japan." JPRI Working Paper (76).
Ivkovic, Sanja Kutnjak. "To Serve and Collect: Measuring Police Corruption." The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 93 (2/3, 2003): 593-650.
Johnson, David T. "Justice System Reform in Japan: Where are the Police and Why Does it Matter?" Horitsu Jiho (2004).
Adelstein, Jake. "Abandon Hope All Ye Tried in Japan." The Daily Beast, accessed February 19, 2016, http://www.dailybeast.com/articles/2014/05/29/abandon-hope-all-ye-tried-in-japan.html.
Johnson, David T. "Japan's Prosecution System." Crime and Justice 41 (1, 2012): 35-74.
Bae, Sangmin. "International Norms, Domestic Politics, and the Death Penalty: Comparing Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan." Comparative Politics 44 (1, 2011): 41-58.
"Say no to plea bargaining." The Japan Times, accessed March 03, 2016, http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2014/07/01/editorials/say-plea-bargaining/#.VvXIzUfvZ_C.
Video
Boku Dake ga Inai Machi (ERASED) anime and manga
One Punch Man
Audio
Long Note Two, by Chris Zabriskie
"I have to save her", ERASED soundtrack