Episode 12 Production Details

Episode Director: Toshimasa Ishii ( Episode Director on Nanatsu no Taizai episodes 6, 14 and 24 / Episode Director and Storyboard on Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso episode 18)

Storyboards: Toshimasa Ishii

Script: Taku Kishimoto ( Series Script Writer on  Gin no Saji / Series Script Writer on Haikyuu!!)

Originally, Tomohiko Ito had been wanting to do an anime for Boku Dake ga Inai Machi ever since he started reading the manga.  As for Kei Sanbe, Boku Machi‘s original creator, he grew up reading Ranpo Edogawa’s Boy Detectives Club Series which make sense as to why Kenya’s surname is Kobayashi.  Referring to Yoshio Kobayashi, the leader of the Boy Detectives Club and lives with who we know of from last year’s Game of Laplace Kogoro Akechi.  Love seeing how influential series can be for other artists and mangaka to add in small tributes to other works!  Speaking of other works, I wonder if anyone caught the Guilty Crown reference on the poster of Satoru’s anime poster in the epilogue.  Plus there’s a poster of Senkō no Night Raid and Seikimatsu Okaruto Gakuin both are A-1 Pictures titles with Seikimatsu directed by Tomohiko Ito!

As for this episode I believe this is a prime example of how an ending can completely change one’s perception of a series.  Either you really like this series or you don’t.

Honestly, I didn’t really have many problems with how this episode turned out.  If you think about it they did the best job they could with only 12 episodes to work with.

The fact that there can’t be much of a confrontation if you consider the state Satoru is in from his coma allows for the mystery aspect of this series to work in a solid manner.  All in all, I like how realistic it is.   There were a lot of assumptions made on Satoru’s part from what would guarantee that Gaku would push him off the roof, saving Kumi, how did Kenya and the others even know that they needed to save her from the poison?  But when push comes to shove illustrates how much of a coward Gaku is.  Relying on Satoru’s survival because it’s the game of chase that gave him a thrill of a lifetime.

Going into this series I started reading the manga alongside to find differences.  These past two episodes were vastly different in general setting and content especially with how Satoru’s confrontation is with Gaku Yashiro.  The manga builds the scene up by moving forward a few years later–giving Satoru a chance to recover and for the author Sanbe to further develop the ill Kumi into a deeper role.  The anime barely touches on her friendship with Satoru but I felt that this was much better because it sticks with what director Tomohiko Ito originally wanted–a human drama between school children.  And that’s exactly what we received! Kids that have turned into adults catching up on lost time so to speak!

Overall though I’d say that the presentation of this was nicely done.  Satoru beats Gaku because he’s held on to his connection with others.  At the start of this series, Satoru was very much a loner, his revival ability has changed that for him as Boku Machi progresses through its narrative.  It’s an ultimate test to what they shared over the course of this series as teacher and student trying to resolve a classmate’s home life. A satisfying ending. The later half of this episode is very much where Boku Dake ga Inai Machi shines.  It’s genuinely affectionate moments in framing the best times of childhood that deliver solid dramatic scenes that feel painfully sincere even when you become an adult.

While many people may be upset by this ending due to its quick pacing or how little detail there had been throughout this series on Satoru’s revivals. Why do they occur?  What caused them in the first place?  That’s not what Boku Machi is about.  It’s about how he’s fixed his future for the better and not just his.  The epilogue is a nice view of how everyone has been living out their lives without Satoru around and what an ending it was!  Glad to see that the kids, now as adults, get together at a restaurant and catch up on old times!

OVERALL IMPRESSION: 9/10

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Episode 11 Production Details

Episode Director: Makoto Hoshino ( Episode Director on Sword Art Online episodes 7 and 20 / Episode Director on Sword Art Online II episode 10 / Storyboard on Rail Wars! episodes 2 and 4)

Storyboards: Shinpei Ezaki ( Director on Sengoku Basara Ni‘s Opening Sequence / Storyboard, Director and Producer on Guilty Crown OVA Lost Christmas / Episode Director on Kimi no Todoke episodes 8, 18 and 24 (alongside Norhihiro Naganuma) / Storyboard alongside Tsuyoshi Yoshioka and Tomoki Kyoda on Eureka Seven AO episode 13)

Script: Taku Kishimoto ( Series Script Writer on  Gin no Saji / Series Script Writer on Haikyuu!!)

I was very shocked that Gaku Yashiro’s backstory would be the part they would cut out. His interest or ‘spice’ as he calls it and referring to Satoru as his new ‘spice’ makes sense in giving anime-viewers an understanding of his spider’s string that he sees from his victims and his appreciate for Satoru’s deduction.

Very creative to omit Satoru from every scene of the opening sequence! Love how this brings mystery to those that don’t know what happens to him.

We are in a new timeline, 2003 with a large change in character dynamics and narrative. This episode focuses on Satoru regaining his now scrambled up memory rather than having a long set of intense moments building up to an ending cliffhanger.  I really like how the creators decided on using his child’s voice as his inner monologue. A small detail that illustrates how he hasn’t truly grown up in his mind yet. Satoru saved the lives of Hiromi Sugita, Aya Nakanishi and Kayo Hinazuki at the cost of losing 15 years of his life.

When I read that the director would be following the manga’s ending I was ecstatic to finally see how they would animate all this content in 12 episodes.  I guess I was wrong.  As there were a ton of instances this episode diverged from the manga.

The opening is nice because we get to see how determined Sachiko is at reuniting with her son.  She truly is the best mom ever!  Reuniting with Kenya and Hiromi but most importantly the scene that will probably upset a lot of anime fans of this show.  Kayo Hinazuki is married to Hiromi and has a baby.  Boku Machi built up relentless attempts to ensure the audience believes that Satoru’s relationship with Kayo would become much more than just friends.  Airi was the initial love interest of this series and I feel that this series including the manga is trying to come full circle to that.  It’s a nice way to establish closure between Satoru and Kayo as they’re older.  Catching up on lost time so to speak. The last time we saw Hinazuki she was staying with a relative and hadn’t been at Satoru’s school since her mother’s situation had been taken over by Social Services.  This was a huge change from the manga as she’s in just about every scene during the Aya Nakanishi arc in the manga.  The impact is what makes this episode strong.  Seeing Kayo after so long reminds him that he saved her and was able to give her a life that makes her happy.  The tears he has during that scene visually intensifies this.

There are issues I have with this episode however.  While the Satoru and Kayo segment is neatly wrapped up.  The story goes back into the mystery of this show at full force. Perhaps too fast actually.  At the end of this we’re seeing a final confrontation between Yashiro and Satoru on the rooftop of the hospital.  I felt this was somewhat anti-climatic because he is sticking around the hospital waiting for the right time to catch his spice, Satoru.  All the pieces of the puzzle regarding the killer fall into place so conveniently this time around.

It was nice to see Sachiko remember the train to Ueno that Satoru had mentioned back around episode 2.

An ending can make or break a series I just hope this one doesn’t disappoint considering how much they’ve cut out and altered.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: 7/10

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Episode 10 Production Details

Episode Director: Takahiro Shikama ( Key Animator on STAR DRIVER: Kagayaki no Takuto episodes 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 12, 23 and 25 / Layout Animation Supervisor on STAR DRIVER: Kagayaki no Takuto Opening Sequence’s 1 and 2 / Key Animator on Garo: Honoo no Kokuin episode 18 / Action Animation Supervisor and Storyboard on Sword Art Online episode 2 / Episode Director on Sword Art Online episode 20 / Key Animator on Zankyou no Terror episodes 1, 3, 7 and 11)

Storyboards: Takahiro Shikama

Script: Taku Kishimoto ( Series Script Writer on  Gin no Saji / Series Script Writer on Haikyuu!!)

Contrary to a lot of what manga readers felt about this huge episode, I didn’t hate this.  I really enjoyed it. Up until now I’ve gotten used to the visual appeal this show runs with–the color red means imminent danger (we see a lot of in the car segment), sound effects and Kajiura’s music score raise the bar in building dramatic tension.  Now I can see why Tomohiko Ito didn’t want to direct the big reveal episode.  I feel that his focus was somewhat different than Kei Sanbe’s.  Boku Machi has been leading us on this trail in trying to discover whom the killer might be from his 2006 timeline and the three missing children’s abductor.  It was a bold move for this show to cut out a lot but every episode I’ve enjoyed immensely.  Tomohiko Ito’s intentions were to get across the relationship between Satoru and Kayo–mostly that their relationship as adorable as it has been would wind up being the framework for this series rather than a full-fledged mystery anime.  It works in many ways as an solid drama piece focused on children.  IF they wanted to faithfully adapt this manga this show seriously needed another cour or at least another 4 episodes.  This is what happens when you try to adapt a 45-chapter manga into 12 episodes.  Previously there have been scenes trimmed down for the sake of time and with it comes episodes that will by the end of this series result in rushed pacing.  The problem was fixed quickly (with small changes along the way like replacing Kayo with Hiromi talking to Gaku) and the only major difference here is that Kayo doesn’t come back to school—she stays with her aunt. This makes a huge impact and bears importance of the previous episode’s main story– getting Protective Child Services to act on Kayo’s mother finally freeing her from all the torment she has caused in her life.

Satoru is aware that taking away the targets doesn’t solve the issue he has to pick up all the pieces he has done in previous timelines to understand that there’s a brand new target for the killer.  One thing is certain though.  He hasn’t lost his resolve.  After saving Kayo, ensuring Hiromi Sugita is safe with Kenya and now gets Aya Nakanishi, whose story was a few chapters long in the manga is saved by joining their hideout in under a few minutes. Trimming of the manga was necessary for the 2nd half of this episode to come off smoothly.

Satoru notices Misato, the girl who caused all the ruckus in an earlier episode about Kayo stealing is the girl left alone and the perfect target.  The setup is nicely woven in to this because there is lots of foreshadow with two particularly big scenes—Satoru saying goodbye to his mother as he leaves for school.  The long wide-panning shot of him leaving and waving goodbye represents this.  They could’ve left it out because it’s making Satoru’s situation more obvious he won’t make it out alive.  “See you” has been a catchphrase of the series throughout—but now it’s too obvious and perhaps a little to late to show the relevance in it.  That scene with Kenya and the others mentioning how they’d see him tomorrow pushes the fact that he definitely won’t make it to the next day with a revival or not.

In order to save Misato he enlists the help of Gaku Yashiro, his homeroom teacher.  It’s obvious if you’ve paid attention that Gaku is in fact the killer.  The big reveal.  This big moment in the series where Gaku tells Satoru that he’s always had his plans set in motion may have been the ultimate villain trope. It’s overused in anime but I really like how simplistic it is.  Most of what the manga had portrayed for this scene, even with the cliche villain lines it ransitions nicely into animated format.  I just hope his backstory is shown.

Satoru realizing he’s been fooled and trusted Gaku too much just goes to show how much he has lost himself in his 10-year old body.  In the first few episodes of Boku Machi when Satoru revivals back to 1988 you’ll notice how much narration he does as an adult but once the story progresses you’ll see little by little he loses that narration.  Nice effect to illustrate his naivety and his childlike view of Gaku.  A father-like figure that when he saw Gaku take action on Kayo’s mother embellishes the car scene in this episode perfectly.

As ominous as it felt through the entire car ride between Gaku’s nervous tapping on the steering wheel and his increasingly worrisome statements getting more extreme the reveal was only a matter of time. The use of red was amazing this time around.  Between the shots of the red bag in the backseat and the red car ahead of them pointing to Gaku this reveal was monumentally built up nicely.

As much as this show likes to “reward” and “take away” precious moments this episode was no different.  Satoru having gained the identity that Gaku is the killer and having saved his friends from being abducted he ends up drowning in a river not before he tells Gaku that he knows his future!  As cliche as it might have been this episode’s sole purpose was to leave the audience from the eyes of 10-year old Satoru and venture into reality.  And that reality is that the man Satoru looked up to all this time, asked for advice about Kayo and her situation completely breaks down!

OVERALL IMPRESSION: 9/10

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Episode 9 Production Details

Episode Director: Tomohiko Ito ( Assistant Director on Summer Wars film / Storyboard on Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin Opening Sequence / Storyboard on Noragami Aragoto episode 8 / Episode Director and Storyboard on Michiko e Hatchin episodes 4 and 12 / Storyboard alongside Yasuji on Michiko e Hatchin episode 19)

Storyboards: Tomohiko Ito

Script: Taku Kishimoto ( Series Script Writer on  Gin no Saji / Series Script Writer on Haikyuu!!)

Just as the title of this episode suggests this closes Kayo’s arc and just in time because we finally get to see what’s coming to Kayo’s mother.  She’s an abusive parent whose abusive because she is.  Someone like this is unaware that their actions are wrong and I’m glad the show’s creators didn’t make her into a difficult person to understand.  She’s far away from being sympathetic as she doesn’t even understand the kindness she’s being shown from Satoru and Sachiko in earlier episodes.  This show delivers in strides—the mystery game that Satoru and his friends are playing is very much in line with Satoru’s reality.  That there is an actual killer out there.

Boku Machi’s efforts shine when the human drama that has been wonderfully woven together puts on multiple facades from the aesthetic mystery and supernatural time travel elements to deliver a simple story.  Kayo’s mother is abusive because she couldn’t handle being a single parent and that Kayo is a reminder of her abusive relationship with her husband.  It’s great that their is another side to this—Sachiko.  They at both ends of the spectrum when it comes to parenting.  We see that when Sachiko stands in front of her son as Kayo’s mother grabs a shovel and swings it at her head!  This is an apathetic ending for Kayo’s mother seeing her own mom distraught at the sight of how her daughter has turned out to be a parent.

After episode 7 this series is trying everything it can in removing suspicions from the teacher being the killer and it makes us question his motives.  It’s a smart gamble to make him questionable that he is coming off as a red herring.  The biggest part of this is how he’s revealed to have tons of candy stashed in his car not to mention the obvious quick cuts between his initial impression on his eyes that Satoru has discovered his secret stash, the finger tapping on the steering wheel and covering the top portion of his face.

While this series killer is still on the loose, providing a few clues along the way, visually, this episode firmly establishes that this show will be focusing on the thriller narrative of Boku Machi for the rest.  Keeping that in mind where this series true commitment lies is in the bond between Kayo and Satoru—it’s been a strong realistic emotional core of the show that makes me question whether or not that the story can stand on its own without it.  I say this because it looks like the Aya Nakanishi arc will get rushed.  Curious how the creators decide to adapt the rest of the manga in just three episodes.

Want to point out how incredible Akemi Okamura is.  She’s so versatile!  I can see that she was a good fit for Kayo’s abusive mother–Akemi Hinazuki.   She can be cool-headed but at times terrifyingly ferocious!  Reminds me of the antics she delivered with her role of Mayaya from Kuragehime!

OVERALL IMPRESSION: 9/10

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Episode 8 Production Details

Episode Director: Kosaya ( Episode Director and Storyboard on Sword Art Online II episode 18 / Episode Director alongside Tomotaka Shibayama and Tsuyoshi Tobita on Hai to Gensou no Grimgar episode 11 / Episode Director and Key Animator on Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso episode 19)

Storyboards: Kosaya

Script: Yutaka Yasunaga ( Script Writer on  Prince of Stride: Alternative episodes 4 and 9)

Whoa!  That pre-opening segment was intense!  While Boku Machi might layer on the melodrama a little too much it at times creates incredible well-edited scenes like the mysterious person entering the bus while Kayo is inside.  I got chills!

This was probably one of the strongest episodes of Boku Machi yet!  I mentioned previously how this series focus should be on Kayo Hinazuki’s homelife and this episode nails it!  Giving a more sensitive side to this series that is both touching and heartbreaking.  This episode really knows how to balance the mystery aspect of this show and it’s tender moments.  The pre-opening sequence is terrifying because it isn’t Sachiko’s mother inside the bus but the killer and it’s chilling even later in this episode when the kids find out that the killer has been hiding his tools there including ropes, masks and tape!  So Satoru the only one that knows his mystery game is real decides to lean on the one person I thought he should have trusted in the previous episode.  His mother.

Keeping in line with this anime’s central theme of trust.  After Satoru reveals to her mother that they’ve been hiding Kayo in hopes of getting the Child Services to act against Kayo’s mother, Sachiko does everything she can to make Kayo feel comfortable and most importantly safe.  When she is brought to Satoru’s home and upon seeing her mother’s initial reaction she flinches from her extended hand—a small yet effective scene that outright says Kayo doesn’t trust anyone except that she’s slowly warming up to the idea of being friends with Satoru.

I enjoyed the pacing of this episode because it’s gradually closing Kayo’s relationship with her mother it introduces the next possible arc and the killer’s next target: Aya Nakanishi in one single close shot of her face and her backpack.  This episode points strongly that the killer might be the teacher Gaku Yashiro.  Kenya mentions how the bus was being used by the school and insinuates that the killer knew it was abandoned and uses it simply because it is related to the school.  Yashiro jumps on the decision to call social services on Kayo’s mother possibly proving that he’s keeping his true appearance hidden from everyone.  His knowledge that Satoru had hidden Kayo is extremely suspicious.  He sounds certain when he tells social services he knows where Kayo is hidden.

While the story’s plot moved at a snails pace this was an episode that was much needed because without telling us in a film reel narrative (the film reel in this episode really worked because it helps explain how Satoru is trying to solve remove Jun Shiratori’s involvement in the case) it helped solidify the emotional realities children go through giving us a rich and graceful perspective of this series most important segment: childhood and making friends.

Want to point out that closeup shot of the bento box featuring Wonderguy on it.  The hero Satoru idolizes.  Sachiko gave the meal to Kayo representing that she has friends that care about her. Seeing Kayo cry broke my heart because you catch a glimpse of what the mother that she’s always wanted to have in her life never gave her.  When she’s finally treated with kindness she doesn’t know what to do but cry.  This blew me away!  Incredible scene!

The dinner along with the bath scene is adorable because you see a mother trying to undo the violence that had put a huge impact on Kayo’s emotional and physical state.  Especially during her big scene this episode—a bittersweet scene that show’s the rewards of her efforts from living a harsh life!

OVERALL IMPRESSION: 11/10

(Nope. Not a typo)

Episode 7 Production Details

Episode Director: Toshimasa Ishii ( Episode Director on Nanatsu no Taizai episodes 6, 14 and 24 / Episode Director and Storyboard on Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso episode 18)

Storyboards: Shinpei Ezaki ( Episode Director on Kimi ni Todoke episodes 8, 18 and 24 / Episode Director on Ao No Exorcist episodes 17 and 22 / Director, Production and Storyboard on Guilty Crown OVA: Lost Christmas / Director on Sengoku Basara Ni Opening Sequence)

Script: Yutaka Yasunaga ( Script Writer on  Prince of Stride: Alternative episodes 4 and 9)

The abandoned bus from the second key visual of Boku Machi finally shows up in this episode.  I really enjoyed this episode.

Satoru arrives back in 1988, his third time at the science center and four days before Hinazuki is supposed to disappear. Taking Hinazuki away from her mother is a smart move but choosing an abandoned location makes Kayo a bigger target in the eyes of the killers.  Satoru wouldn’t be in the best position if she ends up getting killed right in the spot that the kids decide on hiding her.  This took me two viewings to notice how expressive Satoru is.  The surprise birthday party that we’ve seen about three times now—his reaction to it is more forced than the first time around.

For the longest time now I’ve been thinking that Kenya might be working together with the killer in luring his victims considering his rather unusual level of maturity.  Trusting Kenya this episode, was clearly a mistake on Satoru’s part because as we’ve seen before he’s got some strange relationship to their homeroom teacher Gaku Yashiro.

If there was anyone Satoru needs to put faith in and ask for help it’s his mom—Sachiko.  She’s trusted him before when they’ve faced off against Kayo’s mother so I think that she would be right behind him in his decision to abduct Kayo for safety reasons.  It’s interesting to see how the dynamic of their relationship has changed since episode 1.

Sachiko wants to be involved in her son’s life and before he was embarrassed by her even mention Airi as potential marriage material.  Now that we’ve seen more heart through Satoru having seen the loss of his mother in the 2006 timeline he’s grown to understand that she’s always been there for him.  This episode points this out when she sees him leaving in the middle of the night.  It makes me wonder if that person at the end of this episode showing up at the abandoned bus is her instead of the killer.  I hope it’s the former as it would be heartbreaking to see the death of Kayo again.  It would be rough to go through that again under different circumstances and also see Satoru realizing he hadn’t changed much of anything.

From story to visuals this episode shined.  Especially with all of the aesthetic tricks up its sleeve!  The past few episodes embellished Yuki Kajiura’s soundtrack to establish the drama and more often than not melodrama.  But this episode was different.  Every scene was for purpose, the dialogue was graceful and the visuals were stunning.  Since Satoru was in a timeline that didn’t have his mother in it, seeing her once again from the eyes of his child-self reveals his joy to see her rather than display the tears he had the first time he had his revival back to 1988.  The music didn’t hammer out suspense after suspense (except for the cliffhanger) rather we get a collection of very tight close angle shots between Kenya and Satoru’s conversation on the stairs,  the atmospheric paranoia Jun Shiratori has, the walk home to the bus with Kayo and Yashiro’s phone call was certainly an interesting creative choice visually.  Most importantly is right after the phone call sequence that pans from his eyes straight to a pair of street lights reflects that he’s keeping a watchful eye on his students.  This worked effectively.  It wouldn’t mean much but considering how this series has been covering his face as he’s entering the classroom and now this, Yashiro might indeed be the killer or one of them.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: 10/10

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Episode 6 Production Details

Episode Director: Daiki Mori ( Episode Director on Haikyuu!! Second Season episode 6)

Storyboards: Daiki Mori

Script: Taku Kishimoto ( Series Script Writer on Gin no Saji seasons 1 and 2 / Script Writer on Joker Game episode 1)

Since Satoru began his time traveling he’s been able to put his trust into his friends— especially Kenya.  This has been a revolving theme that’s been rearing its head throughout Boku Machi and hasn’t been more important until now.  I like how this episode touches on Airi’s ridiculous story about her parents.  It shapes up this episode’s overall theme about trust.  Picking right up from last time after the opening credits Satoru rushed in to save Airi further proving that she wasn’t wrong in believing that he didn’t kill Sachiko.  This further translates nicely into the manager even redeeming himself and giving Satoru the chance to evade the police.  Not to mention that Airi’s mother chooses to believe her daughter by protecting her so that she can see Satoru again.  The scrap of paper Satoru found back in episode one ends up turning up this time and it had the name of Sachiko’s co-worker and freelance investigator.

Before I dive into the “red eye” motif, something I’ve noticed is how important two colors are in this series.  Blue and red. While red represents a foreshadows this sense of danger or ominous situation that may be occurring in this episode or the next.  Blue is shown as a signal of hope most importantly in using the idea of the butterfly effect.  One of the first scenes that we see is Satoru wondering if Airi is alright.  The long overhead shot of him against the butterflies flying around the blue streetlight represents joy and love and its a great use of it because these past two episodes have been heavily framed towards Satoru’s ability to trust people especially Airi. This very same scene is used to symbolize that he’s going to have another revival somewhere in this episode.  As blue butterflies also represent a sign of rebirth.  Shifting over to other end is the color red.  Sawada is viewed as a possible villain and could be the killer in this series considering his relationship with Sachiko.  There’s a part in this episode that uses the red eyes trick.  Overselling the idea that there is a level of distrust among these possible villains in Boku Machi.  Satoru’s investigation with him works nicely here because he is finally trying to pick up the missing pieces of Kayo’s disappearance and how that relates to his mother’s death.  The red eye motif and the film reel sequence pays a nod that the investigator was the last person to speak to Sachiko before she died.  A man that’s personally investing his time into the case without much of an alibi.  I like how they build this up to being able to connect that Sachiko’s killer and Kayo’s killer are one in the same.  It’s been hinted at a few times in previous episode but now it’s in plain view and it doesn’t help the killer any that he tried to kill Airi.  The list the investigator provides to Sachiko is pretty telling of what’s happened to Jun Shiratori and how he’s been framed.  While Jun hasn’t had a main role in this series he’s been an integral part in keep the children disappearances as a focus of this show.

As Satoru is headed to see Airi he stops at a park and helps some boys with a paper plane.  As untrustworthy the 2006 timeline has shown us so far visually, this was probably one of my favorite scenes because it puts Satoru in the role of Jun Shiratori.  The mothers whispering about how strange for an adult to be there at this time of day emphasizes this wonderfully.  It builds the framework that there is a lot more outside of this show’s reach—there are villains out there like Sachiko and Kayo’s killer.  Good way to gradually build on this with Airi’s final meeting and Satoru’s arrest!

The imagery in this episode was fantastic—the paper plane drifting down the river bank illustrates his manga story about the Grim Reaper nicely.  Losing faith in himself because he hasn’t found out much about finding the truth behind his mother’s killer.

The blue butterfly without a doubt is a clear indication he’s having another revival and it’s nice he received some reward in this episode—seeing the killer again.

Come to think of it it’s rewarding to us that we finally get to hear what Sachiko had to say to Sawada on the phone back from episode 1.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: 8/10

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Episode 5 Production Details

Episode Director: Makoto Hoshino ( Episode Director on Sword Art Online episodes 7, alongside Takahiro Shikama on episode 20 / Storyboard on Rail Wars! episode 4 / Episode Director on Sword Art Online II episode 10)

Storyboards: Tetsuo Hirakawa (Key Animator on Naruto episodes 88 and 94 / Storyboard and Episode Director on Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin episode 10 / Storyboard on Rolling Girls episodes 8, 10 and 11 / Key Animator on Rolling Girls episode 12 / Key Animator on Sakamichi no Apollon episode 7 / Storyboard alongside Rie Matsumoto on Kekkai Sensen episode 3 / Key Animator on Colorful film / Key Animator on Noragami Opening Sequence / Key Animator on Denno Coil episodes 19 and 24 / Storyboard on Sword Art Online II episode 7)

Script: Yutaka Yasunaga ( Script Writer on Prince of Stride: Alternative episode 4)

This show doesn’t hold back one bit!  With Hinazuki presumably gone there are a few hints at what possibly could have happened to her and Satoru had no way of changing it from this timeline.  Given how Kayo’s mom had thrown away her gloves this series is pointing the finger at her but another idea is that the parents could have stumbled upon her body in the shed seeing as how the guy is panicking on what they should do with the body that’s seen lying on the floor of their house.

Once again, Boku Machi‘s composer Yuki Kaijura nails the soundtrack!  I absolutely love the scene where Satoru discovers the mittens in the trashbag that Kayo’s mom had thrown out.  Satoru having lost hope that he could even save Kayo has erased his mind completely and this is when his revival ability gives him a chance to go back to 2006.  I’m glad the creators didn’t choose to cliffhanger that moment.  Most of this episode establishes the fact that Satoru could save her again if he can go back again.  We also get a good idea of how much influence the killer has in society.  He’s a business man of sorts and it’s interesting to see how close how far he’s willing to go to rid himself of Satoru let alone anyone that has contact with him.  The painting of the last supper emphasizes this fact–by removing Airi from the situation.  The string shows back up again this episode to clarify two points–the killer is in fact the man speaking with manager Takahashi and secondly, that she’s the next target.  Her strength to protect Satoru is reminiscent of how Satoru was protecting Kayo from bullying.  Being that this is the long awaited return to his present timeline of 2006 I really like how the direction of this is similar to the first episode.  Presently, Satoru is on the run from police and is being kept hidden by his friends while he investigates.

Really neat how some of the camera shots followed the same technique that the first episode did. Sachiko’s investigation into Jun Shiratori (Yuuki) and now Satoru discovering more abduction cases.  They even used the same music!

As this episode progresses it’s cool to see the switch from letterbox format to full frame scenes.  Illustrating this idea that there’s a much bigger world out there when we are older and when we’re young we have a smaller perspective of the world and the people around us.

While the direction of this episode was strong there was Airi’s backstory that make this the weakest episode of the series so far.  Her parents breakup due to a misunderstanding with the police.  This felt a bit far fetched. Her father could have handled the situation better than just sacrificing his pride.  It’s a pity this backstory was thrown in even in the original manga because it feels so trivial compared to the main narrative Boku Machi should be focusing on.  Kayo Hinazuki’s home life.  The time traveling aspect and the killer are just a guise to develop a solid characterization.  As bizarre as Airi’s story was it was nice to see that she has backbone and can hold her own when she chooses to believe Satoru.  The manager certainly has a thing for her and it doesn’t help that the man in the suit has a working relationship with him.  The cinematography and soundtrack worked together nicely to build up the ending of this.  While it’s a little bit different from the manga it does use visual aesthetics to create melodrama–a style this series is really good at focusing on (sometimes a little too often).

OVERALL IMPRESSION: 7/10

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