The first scrobble for this title is still propagating, but a community review is already indexed below.
Reviews
Longform community posts about this title
🎭 Zankyou no Terror – Loneliness, Revenge, and Echoes Across Tokyo@zeruxanime64d
Some anime rely on action to create tension. Zankyou no Terror creates tension through silence, atmosphere, and the feeling that something deeply tragic is unfolding beneath the surface.
Released in 2014 and directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, this psychological thriller combines mystery, social commentary, and emotional storytelling into a haunting experience that stays with you long after the ending.
When I first watched Zankyou no Terror, I expected a suspense story about terrorism. What I found was something far more human—an anime about pain, isolation, and the desperate desire to be heard.
🧩 Two Boys Against the World
The story begins when two mysterious teenagers, known only as Nine and Twelve, carry out a terrorist attack in Tokyo. But instead of spreading chaos blindly, they leave cryptic riddles for the police and communicate with the world through strange online videos.
Their actions shock society, but behind their calm expressions lies something much deeper than simple destruction.
Who are they really? And why are they doing this?
🌆 Tokyo as a Stage of Isolation
The anime captures a version of Tokyo that feels cold, distant, and emotionally disconnected. Crowded streets somehow feel empty, reinforcing the loneliness surrounding the characters.
Every scene carries tension—not only because of the mystery, but because of the emotional weight hidden beneath each conversation and decision.
🎼 Music and Atmosphere That Haunt You
The soundtrack by Yoko Kanno is unforgettable. Soft piano melodies, atmospheric vocals, and haunting compositions give the series a dreamlike sadness that perfectly matches its themes.
Combined with beautiful cinematography and deliberate pacing, the anime creates an atmosphere that feels both intimate and unsettling.
💫 A Story About Pain and Connection
Zankyou no Terror is not just about crime or suspense—it’s about people searching for meaning in a world that ignored them. It explores trauma, memory, and the emotional consequences of being treated as disposable.
It’s emotional without being melodramatic, intelligent without feeling cold, and tragic without losing its humanity.
If you enjoy psychological anime with strong atmosphere, emotional depth, and unforgettable music, Zankyou no Terror is absolutely worth experiencing.
Maybe the first thing that unsettled me about Terror in Resonance was not the bombs or the countdowns or the deliberate choreography of fear. It was the calm. The way everything moved with an almost ceremonial slowness, as if destruction itself were tired. Watching it, I felt less like a spectator and more like an accomplice who had arrived late to a crime scene where the real damage had already been done. This is not a story about terrorism in the loud Western sense of the word. It is about abandonment dressed as intelligence, about a society that prides itself on order while quietly misplacing its children. As a woman watching from the outside, with distance but not detachment, I kept thinking that the anime was less interested in shocking me than in asking whether I was paying attention at all. Violence here is not spectacle. It is language. And it is spoken fluently by those who were never given another one.
Rarely does an anime trust silence the way Terror in Resonance does. Silence between notes. Silence between words that are never said because no one taught these characters how to say them. Nine and Twelve are not romanticized rebels, no matter how aesthetically pleasing the animation insists on being. They are the logical outcome of a system that values efficiency over care, results over people. Their intelligence is treated as a resource, extracted and then discarded when it becomes inconvenient. What unsettles me is how familiar that logic feels, even outside Japan. The series refuses to hand the viewer a moral map. There is no comfortable place to stand where everyone else is clearly wrong and you are safely right. Instead, it exposes a kind of bureaucratic cruelty that does not scream. It signs documents. It closes doors. It calls it necessity. Watching this, I did not feel manipulated into sympathy. I felt confronted by how easily societies justify damage when it happens quietly enough.
At some point, the thriller element becomes almost secondary, which is a risky move and a deliberate one. The suspense is not really about whether the next bomb will explode, but about whether anyone will truly see these boys before they disappear. Lisa, often dismissed as weak by viewers who want stronger female archetypes, struck me as painfully real. She is not there to save anyone or to be saved. She exists in the margins, surviving rather than living, mirroring a different but related form of erasure. Her presence grounds the story in something deeply human and uncomfortable. She is not exceptional. She is ordinary. And that is precisely the point. Terror in Resonance understands that systemic harm does not only create monsters. It creates silence, compliance, invisibility. That, to me, is far more disturbing than any act of terror depicted on screen.
There is something distinctly Japanese in how the series handles guilt and responsibility, though it never turns that into an exotic talking point. The weight of collective failure hangs over every institution portrayed, yet no one seems able or willing to name it directly. Instead, blame dissolves into procedures and hierarchies. This is where the anime becomes quietly radical. It does not accuse with slogans. It observes. It lets patterns repeat until denial becomes impossible. I found myself thinking about how modern societies prefer clean narratives, heroes and villains neatly separated, while Terror in Resonance insists on moral contamination. Everyone is compromised. Some by action, others by passivity. The show does not ask for forgiveness or redemption. It asks for awareness, which is far more demanding and far less comforting.
Long after finishing the series, what stayed with me was not the plot but the aftertaste. A sense that youth, when ignored and instrumentalized, becomes dangerous not because it is evil, but because it has nowhere else to go. Terror in Resonance is not a manifesto and it is not a warning in bold letters. It is a quiet autopsy of a social failure, carried out with precision and restraint. As a viewer, and as a woman who has learned to read between lines out of necessity, I did not feel entertained so much as implicated. This anime does not want admiration. It wants discomfort. And it earns it, not through excess, but through its refusal to soften what happens when intelligence is valued more than humanity, and order more than care. That refusal is what makes it linger, unresolved, long after the screen goes dark.
›Zankyou no Terror 「残響のテロル」 Terror in resonance (2014, 11 episodes)@onlyjob517d
Lacks substance. Protagonists' motives unexplained (or make no sense). Two brothers stage series of explosions in Tokyo (even taking down the entire building) but ensure that nobody dies. They have stolen a nuclear device and they plan an ultimate act of terror with a nuclear explosion. What for? What do they want? Could it be that they are "good guys"? The show intrigues viewer with those questions but provides no satisfactory answers. In the end, was it worth doing all what they've done?
Dynamic story with a lot of action and good suspense, but ultimately disappointing due to weak conclusion.
This time I took a break from movies to give way to an anime that I had on the list for a while and taking advantage of the fact that it is not so long, I decided to sit down and watch it. Terror in Tokyo would be the translation of this story directed by Shin'ichirō Watanabe, the same of Cowboy Bebop and under the animation of none other than MAPPA studio. This came out exactly 10 years ago and to this day it is one of the best told stories for how it touches on extremely important social issues. It is a detective plot full of suspense and drama which takes us to know the story of two young people marginalized by society.
En esta oportunidad tomé un descanso de las películas para darle paso a un anime que tenía en la lista desde hace un tiempo y aprovechando que no es tan largo pues me decidí sentarme a verlo. Terror en Tokio sería la traducción de esta historia dirigida por Shin'ichirō Watanabe, el mismo de Cowboy Bebop y bajo la animación de nada más y nada menos que del estudio MAPPA. Esto salió hace exactamente 10 años y hasta hoy es una de las historias mejor contadas por como toca temas sociales sumamente importantes. Es una trama detectivesca llena de suspenso y drama la cual nos lleva a conocer la historia de dos jóvenes marginados por la sociedad.
We are in Tokyo on an ordinary day of a hot summer, everything seems to be quiet until out of nowhere a terrorist attack shakes the city causing commotion in the population. This sets off the alarm bells for the authorities, but they are not sure who is behind it all. It is then when a strange video appears on the internet starring two young people claiming responsibility for the attack. Being anonymous, the police can do little more than wait for new clues to be discovered, so the people's anxiety is increasing.
Nos ubicamos en Tokio en un día común y corriente de un caluroso verano, todo parece estar tranquilo hasta que de la nada un ataque terrorista sacude la ciudad causando conmoción en la población. Esto enciende las alarmas de las autoridades pero sin tener muy claro quien o quienes están detrás de todo. Es entonces cuando en el internet aparece un extraño video protagonizado por dos jóvenes acreditándose la autoria de dicho ataque. Al estar en el anonimato la policía poco puede hacer más allá de esperar a que se descubran nuevas pistas por lo que zozobra en la gente cada vez va más en aumento.
The plot begins to move forward as the pair begin to give riddles to the police in order to find the next bomb; they do this before each bombing. For the authorities it seems like a game but the reality is that it is not, these young men have their reasons why they are in search of attention. In the end it's all a race against the clock which is filled with a lot of tension, suspense and as I said a very cool detective role. It is impossible to get tired of watching this anime, there is no room for boredom, the same plot as it is immersed more pushes us to want to know about these people and what they are hiding or looking for.
La trama empieza a avanzar en el momento en que este par les comienzan a dar acertijos a los policía con la finalidad de encontrar la próxima bomba; esto lo hacen antes de cada atentado. Para las autoridades parece un juego pero la realidad es que no lo es, estos jóvenes tienen sus motivos por los cuales están en la busqueda de la atención. Al final todo es una carrera contrarreloj la cual está llena de mucha tensión, suspenso y como dije de un rol detectivesco muy cool. Es imposible que se cansen de ver este anime, no hay cabida para el aburrimiento, la misma trama conforme se va sumergiendo más nos empuja a querer saber sobre estas personas y que es lo que esconden o buscan.
The story itself is very good because at first glance it seems that everything is very superficial but in reality it is not, the life of these young people has been anything but easy and it is not that we are justifying what they do but we can empathize with them, in fact they are going to do it a lot. This tells us that the construction of the characters is very well done, they have the necessary background so that we understand little by little what is happening and so that their actions within the story have coherence. And with this I am talking about all the characters, the two of them, the detective Shibazaki who by the way is a very good character and the sensitive part of the anime Lisa Mishima, a young girl with insecurities and many traumas.
La historia en si es muy buena porque de buenas a primeras pareciera que es muy superficial todo pero en realidad no lo es, la vida de esos jóvenes ha sido de todo menos fácil y no es que estemos justificando lo que hacen pero si que podemos llegar a empatizar con ellos, de hecho lo van a hacer bastante. Esto nos habla de que la construcción de los personajes está muy bien hecha, tienen el trasfondo necesario para que nosotros entendamos poco a poco que es lo que pasa y para que sus acciones dentro de la historia tengan coherencia. Y con esto hablo de todos los personajes, de ellos dos, del detective Shibazaki que por cierto es un muy buen personaje y la parte sensible del anime Lisa Mishima, una joven con inseguridades y muchos traumas.
I really liked the detective part because of the nature of the riddles, they are based on the tragedy of Oedipus Rex. Seeing how they are connecting things, tying things together, studying the story as such, is something very cool to see. Shibazaki is a man with a very sharp mind, he seems to be two steps ahead of his peers, so watching him solve all these riddles is very interesting. And all this within an environment full of paranoia and terror both within the police and in the population itself. We also see a lot of bureaucracy, many power games, politics, etc, that make everything a little deeper. These details make the plot go up a lot, it's a subplot within a subplot and so on.
Me gustó mucho la parte detectivesca por la naturaleza de los acertijos, están basados en la tragedia de Edipo Rey. Ver como van conectando cosas, atando cabos, estudiando la historia como tal, es algo muy top de ver. Shibazaki es un hombre con una mente muy perspicaz, pareciera que va dos pasos por delante en relación con sus compañeros por lo que verlo resolver todos estos enigmas es muy interesante. Y todo esto dentro de un ambiente lleno de paranoia y terror tanto dentro de la policía como en la misma población. También vemos mucha burocracia, muchos juegos de poder, política, etc, que hacen que todo sea un poco más profundo. Estos detalles hacen que la trama suba mucho de nivel, es una subtrama dentro de otra y así sucesivamente.
Finally, themes such as loneliness, solidarity, mutual support, trust, the search for justice, affection and attachment are very well developed. Each character has an internal struggle, without exception, so that when we see them act many times these shortcomings come to light at the same time that they seek to solve them again, with their actions. It's not just any story, I think it's a gem of a good one. The ending is very good, it may have fallen short for some but for me it was ideal, you will not cry but depending on the degree of empathy you will live it in one way or another. It's all very touching sincerely.
Finalmente decir que temas como la soledad, la solidaridad, el apoyo mutuo, la confianza, la busqueda de la justicia, el cariño y apego son cosas que se desarrollan muy bien. Cada personaje tiene una lucha interna, sin excepción, por lo que al verlos actuar muchas veces salen a relucir esas carencias al mismo tiempo que buscan resolverlas de nuevo, con sus acciones. No es una historia cualquiera, creo que es una joya de las buenas. El final es muy bueno, puede que para algunos se haya quedado corto pero para mi fue el ideal, no vas a llorar pero dependiendo del grado de empatía lo vas a vivir de una manera u otra. Es muy conmovedor todo sinceramente.
An animation of ten, fluid and with many details, it clearly has the MAPPA seal wherever you look at it, it is very pleasant to watch. We are facing an anime of high quality both for the story, for the way it was told, very well structured characters and for its animation. Highly recommended to everyone, I'm sure you will enjoy it. It has only 11 chapters, so you will watch it pretty fast. I leave the trailer here.
Una animación de diez, fluida y con muchos detalles, claramente tiene el sello MAPPA por donde la mires, es muy agradable de ver. Estamos ante un anime de mucha calidad tanto por historia, por la forma en como la contaron, personajes muy bien estructurados y por su animación. Muy recomendado a todos, estoy seguro que lo van a disfrutar. Tiene 11 capítulos apenas por lo que lo verán bastante rápido. Les dejo el tráiler por acá.
***
Well my people that's all for today, I hope you liked it.
¡A hug to everyone, see you next time!
***
Bueno mi gente por hoy es todo, espero que les haya gustado.
¡Un abrazo a todos, nos vemos en la próxima!
›Terror in Resonance / Netflix [ESP/ENG]@hectorsanchez181201d
Introduction/ Introducción:
"Terror in Resonance" is an anime series directed by Shinichiro Watanabe and produced by the studio MAPPA. The series explores themes of terrorism, technology, and the human condition through the eyes of two teenage protagonists. The show has been praised for its unique storyline, character development, and animation style.
"Terror in Resonance" es una serie de anime dirigida por Shinichiro Watanabe y producida por el estudio MAPPA. La serie explora temas de terrorismo, tecnología y la condición humana a través de los ojos de dos protagonistas adolescentes. El programa ha sido elogiado por su historia única, desarrollo de personajes y estilo de animación.
"Terror in Resonance" follows the story of Nine and Twelve, two teenage boys who were once part of a government experiment. They escape and become terrorists, seeking revenge against the government for the atrocities they witnessed. The two use their knowledge of technology and explosives to create chaos and bring attention to their cause. Along the way, they encounter a detective named Shibazaki, who becomes obsessed with catching them and uncovering the truth behind their actions.
"Terror en Resonance" sigue la historia de Nine y Twelve, dos adolescentes que una vez fueron parte de un experimento gubernamental. Escapan y se convierten en terroristas, buscando venganza contra el gobierno por las atrocidades que presenciaron. Los dos utilizan su conocimiento de la tecnología y los explosivos para crear caos y llamar la atención sobre su causa. En el camino, se encuentran con un detective llamado Shibazaki, quien se obsesiona con capturarlos y descubrir la verdad detrás de sus acciones.
Development/ Desarrollo:
The series explores complex themes that are relevant in today's society. One of the main themes is the use of technology and how it can be used for both good and evil. Nine and Twelve use technology to create bombs and cause destruction, but they also use it to communicate and send messages to the public. In today's world, technology plays a significant role in our lives, and "Terror in Resonance" serves as a warning about the dangers of technology when it falls into the wrong hands.
La serie explora temas complejos que son relevantes en la sociedad actual. Uno de los temas principales es el uso de la tecnología y cómo puede ser utilizada para el bien y el mal. Nine y Twelve utilizan la tecnología para crear bombas y causar destrucción, pero también la utilizan para comunicarse y enviar mensajes al público. En el mundo actual, la tecnología juega un papel significativo en nuestras vidas y "Terror en Resonancia" sirve como una advertencia sobre los peligros de la tecnología cuando cae en las manos equivocadas.
Another important theme in the series is the human condition. Nine and Twelve are not traditional villains, and the show does an excellent job of exploring their motivations and the events that led them to become terrorists. It also raises questions about the morality of their actions and whether their cause justifies the harm they are causing. This is particularly relevant in today's political climate, where terrorism is often used to advance political agendas.
Otro tema importante en la serie es la condición humana. Nine y Twelve no son villanos tradicionales, y el programa hace un excelente trabajo al explorar sus motivaciones y los eventos que los llevaron a convertirse en terroristas. También plantea preguntas sobre la moralidad de sus acciones y si su causa justifica el daño que están causando. Esto es particularmente relevante en el clima político actual, donde el terrorismo a menudo se utiliza para avanzar en agendas políticas.
The show's animation style is also noteworthy. The studio MAPPA does an excellent job of creating a visually stunning world that is both gritty and realistic. The use of lighting and color adds depth to the scenes and gives the show a unique atmosphere.
El estilo de animación del programa también es notable. El estudio MAPPA hace un excelente trabajo al crear un mundo visualmente impresionante que es a la vez crudo y realista. El uso de la iluminación y el color agrega profundidad a las escenas y le da al programa una atmósfera única.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, "Terror in Resonance" is a thought-provoking anime series that explores complex themes such as terrorism, technology, and the human condition. The show does an excellent job of developing its characters and exploring their motivations, making them more than just one-dimensional villains. The animation style is visually stunning and adds to the show's overall atmosphere. "Terror in Resonance" is a must-watch for anyone interested in thought-provoking anime.
En conclusión, "Terror en Resonancia" es una serie de anime que provoca el pensamiento y explora temas complejos como el terrorismo, la tecnología y la condición humana. El programa hace un excelente trabajo al desarrollar a sus personajes y explorar sus motivaciones, lo que los convierte en algo más que simples villanos unidimensionales. El estilo de animación es visualmente impresionante y agrega a la atmósfera general del programa. "Terror en Resonancia" es una serie imprescindible para cualquiera interesado en anime provocativo y profundo.
Me parece excelente ver animes que duren lo justo y te cuenten una historia completa. Este es el caso de Zankyo no Terror que con 11 capítulos logra crear una trama interesante de unos terroristas ingeniosos. La serie se estrenó en el 2014, siendo su director Shinichiro Watanabe.
I think it's great to see anime that last just long enough to tell a complete story. This is the case of Zankyo no Terror that with 11 chapters manages to create an interesting plot of ingenious terrorists. The series premiered in 2014, being its director Shinichiro Watanabe.
Sinopsis: Sphinx es un grupo terrorista que ha tomado por sorpresa a Tokio, luego de la explosión de un edificio, la policía japonesa intenta atraparlos, mientras estos dejan pistas de lo más particulares. También conocemos a Nueve y Doce, quienes mediante estos actos, tratan de dejar un mensaje sobre su pasado.
Synopsis: Sphinx is a terrorist group that has taken Tokyo by surprise, after the explosion of a building, the Japanese police tries to catch them, while they leave clues of the most particular. We also meet Nine and Twelve, who through these acts, try to leave a message about their past.
En los primeros capítulos la serie se enfocará en crear una confrontación ingeniosa entre terroristas y la policía japonesa, mientras conocemos a los diversos personajes. Ya avanzados los capítulos, iremos conociendo las verdaderas intenciones de Nueve y Doce; a su vez, ingresará una tercera fuerza que cambiará las reglas. Un thriller con toques de drama y misterio.
In the first chapters, the series will focus on creating an ingenious confrontation between terrorists and the Japanese police, while we get to know the different characters. As the chapters progress, we will learn the true intentions of Nine and Twelve, while a third force will enter and change the rules. A thriller with touches of drama and mystery.
Lo mejor a mi parecer son los primeros capítulos, en donde vemos un enfrentamiento que recuerda un tanto al enfrentamiento de Kira vs L de Death Note. Sin embargo, eso no duró mucho y cambió a algo menos interesante y un tanto más aleatorio. Aun así, creo que se llega a un buen final.
The best in my opinion are the first chapters, where we see a confrontation somewhat reminiscent of the confrontation of Kira vs L from Death Note. However, that didn't last long and changed to something less interesting and a bit more random. Still, I think it comes to a good ending.
El personaje de Lisa Mishima no me acaba convenciendo, acaba siendo pesado e insufrible en muchos tramos. La animación es aceptable y al menos por el momento, no se notan los años pasados. La música es regular, incluyendo el opening y ending.
Lisa Mishima's character doesn't end up convincing me, it ends up being tiresome and insufferable in many stretches. The animation is acceptable and at least for the moment, the past years are not noticeable. The music is regular, including the opening and ending.
En general me parece un anime interesante, con ciertos fallos, pero que te acaba intrigando al descubrir los secretos que guarda. Recomendable si te gustan los thriller y el misterio.
In general I find it an interesting anime, with certain flaws, but that ends up intriguing you to discover the secrets it keeps. Recommended if you like thrillers and mystery.
›Anime Review: Terror in Resonance@thatanimesnob3025d
Pretty Colors
What do you get when you have an anime with fine directing, great animation, and completely garbage writing? You get the best anime of all times, since anime fans don’t care about the script, as they do about pretty colors. You can give them complete shit and they will ask for more, as long as it looks nice. Ιf it doesn’t, that is the only thing they will find to bitch about it. Terror in Resonance is an example of this, since it was hailed by most as the anime of the century when it was still airing, for those exact reasons. I was never fooled of course, since I care about the script and no amount of pretty colors could hide the dozens of problems it had since the very beginning.
Hell, I knew before it even began airing that it would be bad. The Noitamina timeslot never produced good sci-fi, or mystery, or supernatural anime. They are good only at romances for middle aged women. Plus, the trailers showed a couple of snotty looking teenagers blowing up buildings while talking to cell phones. How hard was it to smell the failure? Did everybody forget Eden of the East already?
Selling on Name
I was openly stating the problems it had throughout its airing period, and I was one of the very few who dared to do so, since everybody was ready to hate and mock those who didn’t like it. The reason of their denial towards these obvious problems, was the director. There is no way Watanabe can mess up, Watanabe is God. Well, damn, he did, what a shock. Can we please stop losing our shit every time his name pops up? The guy made one super successful show (Cowboy Bebop) followed by a so-so show (Samurai Champloo) followed by a run of the mill romance (Kids on the Slope) followed by random fan service episodes (Space Dandy). And now he made this unfortunate piece of work, but very few wanted to admit it because Watanabe is God and those who disagree are trolls. The theme of terrorism in this show may be bullshit, but the pillow hugging anime community sure is terrified to admit obvious problems, and sure is quick to scare away critical thinkers.
Pretentious Themes
Speaking of themes, the show keeps trying to fool you it is about terrorism, because it’s right there in the title, and the two main characters’ nicknames are an allusion to 9/11; and that is supposed to be all it takes to say there is terrorism in the show. Let’s disregard how there was no political statement behind the bombings until the final episode. If they had a statement to make, they could have revealed it right away; something which of course they didn’t because that way the show would end in 2 episodes. So instead of that, they hide it until the finale, and made it seem like it was all nonsense. The very fact that these so-called terrorists made sure nobody would be killed in the explosions and only target buildings, makes them hooligans. What they are doing are acts of vandalism. Since the only demands they had up until then, was expecting from the police to solve riddles, the whole thing felt like children fooling around with peoples’ lives. Here is a game, follow the rules, have fun as the adults chase you around.
And even if we assume terrorism doesn’t need a political statement to exist and that simply scaring people is enough, not even that happens, because nobody is scared of the bombings.
The police are not worried about them; they are more like annoyed that some punks are making them look bad. Even when the whole police department blows up and all their secret files are hacked, they are still simply angry, not scared.
The population is not terrified; everybody is out in the streets having fun. When looking at the bombing videos and the riddles of the terrorists, they are laughing and treat them as entertainment. Even in the final episode where they know the whole city might blow up and they will all die, they look surprised, not scared.
Not even in the epilogue, when the city recovers from a devastating disaster, and one of the most hideous experiments in recent history becomes public, which completely ruins their image to the world, they are just looking at the screen puzzled, not worried.
Cartoony setting
As if the character reactions weren’t enough, not even the setting manages to absorb you, despite the pretty amazing animation. Yeah, it looks like the real world, but only on a very superficial way. As soon as science gets in the way, nothing makes sense.
Thermite doesn’t work as they explain it
Secret agencies don’t stop explosions by blowing up civilian areas
Americans don’t speak in terrible engrish
People don’t stare at nuclear explosions without getting blinded
EMP pulses are enough to kill anyone who has a pacer in his heart or is in life support in hospitals, thus contradicting the attempt to not kill anyone
Even if nobody gets killed in the bombings, thousands of lives are ruined because they lost their jobs and stores, but of course the show doesn’t address that
Also, besides one smart cop, everybody else in this show is unable to do basic research. We live the age of information where you can google something and find any answer to any riddle in seconds. Better yet, you can have tens of millions of people world-wide looking into it. One of them can solve it for you. The riddles are also not super smart; they are based on existing myths. Everybody can solve them by a simple visit at Wikipedia. And yet nobody in the whole world, besides one cop, is able to do such a simple thing.
And holy crap, how can anyone take a show seriously, if it makes the police to act like complete idiots? And I don’t simply mean being unable to solve the riddles with a simple visit at Wikipedia. They can’t even make the most basic profiling with the evidence they have so far.
If you have videos of the criminals, with their voices and a clear room in the background it is more than enough to make a hell of a detailed profile of them. You don’t sit on your ass waiting for the next video riddle to appear.
They are not even increasing patrols or security measures, something which is the first thing any sane department would do, even if the threat were a bunch of pick pocket urchins.
They are looking for hard copies of a case the terrorists hacked into digitally. They could have simply found it on their computer instead of looking for hours in the archives.
In the very few cases where they do try to do something right by having briefing meetings to find the terrorist base, even that is used to make them look stupid since the (not really) terrorists make them fall for traps they deliberately placed for them to fall in.
I understand that this is done purely for making the main characters seem super smart when in reality they are just average people amongst retards, but damn, this is insulting your intelligence when they keep saying the show is realistic and mature.
Stupid Eureka Moments
Even the single cop who has brains is unable to do the obvious. Despite knowing early on that all he needs to do is look into a myth to find the answer to a riddle, he doesn’t do so until out of nowhere he looks at a guy playing a videogame and saying completely irrelevant things. He then magically finds the solution. This is not how actual detectives do their work; they do not look at something irrelevant and all of a sudden light bulbs appear on their heads. They use facts and information they have in front of them in order to logically solve a mystery with simple deduction procedures.
Lazy Exposition
The way things are revealed in this show are not limited to lame eureka moments but also to lazy exposition methods. They constantly do that annoying thing, where they have to state the obvious or point at things and ask “What is that?” for more infodump to take place by talking instead of just showing stuff. They do the same thing with the background stories of all major characters. We never get a clear flashback to what happened in their lives, only glimpses of past events, and even those appear at random intervals. We only get someone monologuing about them for 10 minutes and that’s it. Although this method serves its purpose, it is very slapped on. It lacks talent and effort and passes as very amateurish for a story that is supposed to be a mystery that is slowly revealing itself. It feels like it’s not about connecting the dots and examining clues, but more like revealing stuff the characters know all along and don’t tell us about it because we have a dozen episodes that need to be filled somehow. Instead of stating the obvious, let’s waste entire episodes in briefings, where we talk about scientifically incorrect mambo jumbo that mean nothing in the longrun.
No Character Appeal
All that lead to characters that not remotely interesting. None of them had something special for you to care about them. It was the mystery of the riddles surrounding the characters that felt intriguing, not them. Since most of the show was wasted on silly riddle solving, and stuff blowing up, there was never much time invested in the cast. Most of what we know about them comes from boring monologues, and most of the motives are revealed too late in the story to mean anything by then.
Nine and Twelve feel like they were fooling around and rendering most of what happens in this show pointless. They could simply hack into the police archives and give them all the information they need to investigate the place they wanted them to go to. They could threaten to blow up the city with the nuclear device they stole in the beginning of the series in case they were not taken seriously. Hell, they could have simply detonated the device and hacked into the archives afterwards, thus making their point and still not killing anyone. But instead of doing something so simple, they spend the whole show blowing up buildings and throwing around riddles. They try to excuse it as if they wanted to gather the attention of the world before actually revealing the truth but that is bullshit. A nuclear bomb is more than enough to attract everybody’s attention. I mean what would the media around the world do if they had a huge explosion over Japan? Ignore it because some punks weren’t blowing buildings before that?
Lisa did absolutely nothing in the plot besides causing trouble. She was there only to be kidnapped or assaulted every 10 minutes, so the (not really) terrorists had to constantly endanger their plans to save her, just so she can take up space in their apartment and poison them with her awful cooking. She was a hindrance, existing to simply waste episodes by being in them. Many tasteless casuals kept yelling about how she represents the average teenager who is bullied and wants to see the world burn, and how she is the eyes of the viewer, and how the drama with her mother was very touching, and how she was supposed to be the human factor to keep 9 and 12 sane, and to have a cute romance going on with them, and lots of other bullshit that mean nothing in the longrun since she was just a lobotomized askman, as well as a damsel in distress. Awful tropes can only result to awful characters.
Five was presented right away as a one dimensional psychotic bitch we are supposed to hate. She was somehow allowed by the American secret agencies to go around doing hideous things, which somehow would help them capture the other two. Well guess what, not only they failed to do so, but the stupid bitch was causing more trouble than helping them in their work. She completely shattered whatever plausibility the show had by basically making the police place bombs, blow up civilian areas, and making the (not really) terrorists to run around for hours while playing chess with completely broken rules instead of just… capturing them. She knows who they are and where they are but doesn’t just send the police to capture them, she bombs the place, thus erasing all tracks of them while still failing to stop them. And of course she never gets arrested for causing more damage than the actual threat because we need to stretch the story even more. And when finally shit hits the fan, she just says it was all a game, shoots her colleague, and kills herself. Well, that was pointless. By the time she was out of the picture, there was more damage than good accomplished. Also, half the show was wasted because of her, since she was doing nothing but constantly derailing the plot from its main objective, thus constantly taking away time from character fleshing out and world building. The tasteless casuals will keep yelling how she is representing the evil version of the two good terrorists, and what they would have become if they hadn’t escaped. Meaning, she was there only to make the cartoony evil organization to seem even more cartoonishly evil.
Shibazaki is a cool fellow and the most promising of the bunch, but he too eventually becomes nothing but a plot device to keep the story going. Because somebody needs to solve the riddles, and somebody needs to be the smart counterpart that will be opposing the terrorists. The tasteless casuals keep saying that he was vital in exposing the plans of the evil organization by solving the riddles, but come on, that’s bullshit. The riddles were pointless, and as soon as the secret agency with the stupid bitch Five popped into the story, he became just a passive observer. Once the nuclear explosion happened and everybody was looking into what happened, his investigation was meaningless, since there was no way the truth could be hidden anymore.
There are also lots of side characters, each one serving an interesting side story to further flesh out the cast, but are left as nothing but decorations. This includes people like Lisa’s crazy mother, or Shibazaki’s daughter, or the politician who orchestrated the experiments on children. We could have more focus on them, but didn’t because the show went for dumb riddles and big explosions.
8 ) Rule of Cool
So it all comes back to what I said in the beginning. The show is ruined because it is trying to be taken seriously when it is made to be flashy and entertaining. It is not good at being about terrorism, or grey morality, or some metaphor for what is going on in Japanese politics right now. It’s a rule of cool show about two brats making adults look bad while the population doesn’t care if they are blowing up buildings. It’s about them laughing while escaping the authorities on their cool bikes. It’s about them outsmarting the police because they are good at playing chess; even if the animators don’t even know the rules of the game. It’s about their nemesis being a shallow psychotic narcissistic schoolgirl that the audience is meant to hate right away. It’s about the Japanese politicians thinking that the best way for Japan to get over its losing mentality from WW2 is to return back into thinking they are the masters of Asia, and threatening the world with their hidden nuclear arsenal. All that are not deeper or smarter than watching an average fighting shonen where a bunch of stupid boys solve their problems by punching things.
Plotless Plot
Do you know how much actual plot this show has if you take out all the flashy extras? If you remove Five, it doesn’t need more than a movie’s worth of duration to tell the whole thing. If you remove the pointless riddles, it doesn’t take more than a couple of episodes. The characters were literally overcomplicating everything with pointless riddles and bombings and running in airports, and saving useless schoolgirls. Instead of offering character fleshing out and world building, we got 90% filler, a plot that makes no sense, and doesn’t delve into its themes. All you will be remembering from Terror in Resonance are explosions, some weird riddles, and cool camera angles. If that is all that matters for you, in order to call a show good, then you have a really shit taste. It is a better show to your average harem, but calling it a good detective story about terrorism? Not even close to that! Before it even a semi guilty pleasure like V for Vendetta is a masterpiece of storytelling.
Let's end this with a joke I wrote about episode 8:
Nine: Dammit Lisa, stop cooking, you made the apartment explode!
Lisa: No it was a bomb that was mailed to me!
Twelve: And what did you do to save our base?
Lisa: I ran out while holding the ladle.
FBI guy: Five, stop blowing up places. Not even my connections can protect you from bombing civilian areas. Blowing up huge airplanes in public airports is ok, but not small apartments.
Five: Dammit, I was sure the bomb would take them out.
FBI guy: You mean the bomb you sent to the place you saw that girl go in, which you spotted by chance while looking at cameras?
Five: Yes, that one. For some reason I never spotted by chance the other two.
FBI agent: So why didn't you just tell us to surround the place and arrest them?
Five: I was busy polishing my nails. But it's ok, we can still use that girl Lisa as a bait.
FBI agent: How original. It's not like we didn't do the exact same thing last episode. And how do you know where she is?
Five: By spotting her of course. Something I can't do with the other two. Now go bring her to me, I want to polish her nails too.
Nine: Oh no, Lisa is in trouble for the 10th time in this short series. We got to endanger our plans once again to save this completely worthless girl.
Twelve: Indeed. She is vital to take up space and poison us with her cooking.
Watanabe: I created another masterpiece.
Tasteless casuals: Anime of the century! Better than even Momokyun Sword!
›Anime recommendation #4: Zankyou no terror (español/english)@joseda323054d
ESPAÑOL:
Zankyou no terror, es un anime psicológico, drama y misterio, va entorno a dos curiosos chicos que lanzan un ataque terrorista en Tokio, tapándose el rostro y usando un alias “sphinx” dando comienzo a un juego en gran escala para que descubran su identidad.
Arata Kokonoe y Toji Hisami son los nombres de estos personajes, aunque se llamen asi mismos nine y twelve, en uno de sus ataques se consiguen con Lisa mishima, viendo como actuaban ellos, ellos no les queda otra opción que hacerla su rehén y complice en varios de sus actos.
Su objetivo es ser reconocidos, pero ¿Por qué? Miren el anime y lo sabran, consta de 11 capitulos, la verdad es un anime que vale la pena ver. Sin mas que decir, espero lo disfruten, nos leemos en otro post.
Zankyou no terror, is a psychological, drama and mystery anime, goes around two curious boys who launch a terrorist attack in Tokyo, covering their face and using an alias "sphinx" starting a large-scale game to discover their identity.
Arata Kokonoe and Toji Hisami are the names of these characters, although they call themselves nine and twelve, in one of their attacks they get with Lisa mishima, seeing how they acted, they have no choice to make her their hostage and complice in several of their acts.
Their goal is to be recognized, but why? Watch the anime and you will know it, it consists of 11 chapters, the truth is an anime that is worth seeing.
