Erased Season 1 Episode 7 Recap

Satoru and his friends check the footprints near the bus. “During the time between last night and this morning after it stopped snowing, an adult male came by and left,” Kenya says. When they get inside, they see that the backpack, the coal box, and the stove are gone. Satoru admits he’s afraid someone he knows will be killed or framed for a crime. He tells them the real killer got away and will commit a crime in their town. Hiromi and Kenya choose to believe Satoru and help him. Satoru visits Yuuki and finds out he also talked to Aya Nakanishi. He talked to her because she was alone, as he did with Satoru and Kayo. It’s why Yuuki became the suspect when Kayo and Aya died in the previous timeline.

Satoru realizes the killer targets children who are often alone. He thinks he needs to ensure Aya is not alone, but it won’t be easy because they go to different schools. They follow Aya and create a schedule. Satoru is about to follow her from cram school to know where she lives, but Sachiko sees Satoru and asks for help carrying the grocery bags. Mr. Yashiro calls them over and asks if they want a ride.

Satoru and his friends approach Aya to try to talk to her. Aya recognizes they are the boys who would sneak into a building they call their’ secret base.’ She calls them childish, then walks away. Kayo goes back to school. She stays with her grandmother and goes to school by bus. Satoru’s friends ask them to go to the secret base. He remembers it was where Hiromi’s body was found in the first timeline’s 1988. They all go to their secret base that day after school. While they play board games and cards, Aya comes in to check their secret base. They all welcome her.

Satoru feels relieved Aya will no longer be alone during that time of the day. Satoru and Kayo go to the mountains and visit their ‘Christmas Tree.’ Kayo tells him Misato, their classmate, has been alone lately after the lunch money incident. Satoru tells her they will talk to Misato on Monday. When Satoru gets home, he sees Sawada, the reporter, inside. Sawada says he thinks the culprit who targets grade school children is in Satoru’s town. “There’s been one case in Chitose, and two cases in Sapporo of young girls being murdered,” Sawada says. He thinks if the killer is in town, it won’t be long until an incident also happens there.

It’s March 14th, and Satoru thinks the killer is looking for a new target to replace the ones he’s saved. He looks at Misato who is sitting beside him. Later, Kayo asks Misato if they can be friends. She refuses to shake Kayo’s hand and just walks away. Kayo says Misato will go and cheer for the hockey team, so Satoru leaves Kayo to go to Misato. In the middle of the game, Satoru follows Misato out. He sees a truck named ‘Shiratori,’ Yuuki’s family name. Satoru gets worried again, so he asks Mr. Yashiro to help him.

Our Thoughts

What if no matter what Satoru does, Kayo will still die? Or if it’s not Kayo, what if Yuuki will still be framed for the murders? If he’s correct that the killer will find new victims to replace the ones he’s saved, then the only way to stop all this is to catch the killer. Even if Satoru tries his best to save the kids, we don’t think he can save all of them. If he’s busy saving one, then one student from another town will probably be the target. It’s not like he can tell his mother he came from the future. If the crimes were committed in different towns, and the suspects all claimed they were innocent, then how long before a kid can catch the real killer?

It seems like no matter what Satoru does, Yuuki will still be framed for the crimes. The truck he saw belonged to Yuuki’s family, so if Misato goes missing that day, Yuuki might still be framed for the crime. Satoru looks up to his teacher a lot. He values his advice and listens to what he says, but Mr. Yashiro might still be a big part of the story. Because if he weren’t, he wouldn’t be shown spending much time with Satoru. The question is, what is his role in this story? Is Mr. Yashiro Satoru’s father? Or does Mr. Yashiro have something to do with any of the crimes?