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Terror in Resonance |OT| Bebop/Champloo director takes on 24 and Sherlock

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Soma

Member
The music in this show is so damn good. Not just on its own but it's used so effectively in creating a very specific atmosphere in a lot of scenes. I'm in love with the song used in the ending credits too.

Very impressive second episode. Loved how the second half built up towards a really satisfying climax. I'm very interested to see where this goes next. Undoubtedly the show of the season so far.
 

Pooya

Member
2

the other cops looked waaay too dumb,
changing a puzzle to solve it? huh, the rest didn't even know the 'man' answer....
If their intension was to imitate Joker's face with the creepy face boy, then good job.
I like how accurate they tried to be with pc os and other hardware too.
 

Dynedom

Member
Terror in Resonance - 02

The music. The direction. The build-up. Yeah, you kinda knew what was going to happen but the way it played out was still stellar.

I really hope we see a slow, deliberate unveiling of the protags' personalities and motivations. These little teases are just so well done. I'm impatient enough to watch the next episode but not enough to be annoyed.

Did I mention the music?
 

sonicmj1

Member
Episode 2

I'm liking this direction.

Could you argue that the police are perhaps a little too stupid here? Sure. It'd be nice if Shibasaki were distinguished by more than the ability to actually listen to what the suspects said instead of jumping to conclusions. But in terms of execution, they're nailing everything. The portrayal of the aftermath of the bombing, that police briefing scene, the beats with the noodle delivery, the synchronization of events leading up to the episode's end; it's all tremendously satisfying.

That kind of top-notch direction, the strong execution for most of the writing, and the really, really, really good soundtrack have me excited for more. It seems like it'll be a genre cat-and-mouse game and I'm going to enjoy it.
 

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
Episode 2

I'm liking this direction.

Could you argue that the police are perhaps a little too stupid here? Sure. It'd be nice if Shibasaki were distinguished by more than the ability to actually listen to what the suspects said instead of jumping to conclusions. But in terms of execution, they're nailing everything. The portrayal of the aftermath of the bombing, that police briefing scene, the beats with the noodle delivery, the synchronization of events leading up to the episode's end; it's all tremendously satisfying.

That kind of top-notch direction, the strong execution for most of the writing, and the really, really, really good soundtrack have me excited for more. It seems like it'll be a genre cat-and-mouse game and I'm going to enjoy it.

Honestly, it isn't the lack of competency that is getting me, it is the lack of security.
Okay, maybe I give them a pass for the building since the terrorists were not seen a serious threat. The fact that that one kid could smuggle that huge ass Bento box with that huge ass conventional plastic bomb past a checkpoint so readily shows a fundamental lack of understanding of what it means to live in a post-terrorist world. I will concede that a statement may be being made here, but I could not say what that is right now.
 

sonicmj1

Member
Honestly, it isn't the lack of competency that is getting me, it is the lack of security.
Okay, maybe I give them a pass for the building since the terrorists were not seen a serious threat. The fact that that one kid could smuggle that huge ass Bento box with that huge ass conventional plastic bomb past a checkpoint so readily shows a fundamental lack of understanding of what it means to live in a post-terrorist world. I will concede that a statement may be being made here, but I could not say what that is right now.

Japan isn't like post-9/11 America. I can't recall a single instance over two years in that country (airports excepted) where my bags were searched. The population is trusted to obey the rules, and report cases where people step out of line. Stricter measures would demonstrate that the government doesn't have control of the situation, which would reflect poorly on those in charge.

At some point they may not have a choice, but they haven't reached that stage yet.
 

Despera

Banned
So the consensus is that episode 2 was actually good.

Guess I'll give this show another shot, at least the sound direction and music is superb if nothing else.
 

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
Japan isn't like post-9/11 America. I can't recall a single instance over two years in that country (airports excepted) where my bags were searched. The population is trusted to obey the rules, and report cases where people step out of line. Stricter measures would demonstrate that the government doesn't have control of the situation, which would reflect poorly on those in charge.

At some point they may not have a choice, but they haven't reached that stage yet.

Indeed, I agree that Japan has not reached the levels of the USA or the UK, which is why I am taken out of the show. call it a cultural barrier if you must, but having actually seen the effects what large scale terrorism can do to collective society the antics of Terror in Resonance are sadly coming across as ametur hour in the fine details. Still, clearly the full scope of this program needs to be unveiled before a more accurate assessment can be made.
 

Totakeke

Member
Episode 2

This show feels like a genre exercise. A brilliantly executed genre exercise.

There's nothing wrong with that, of course.

Agreed on this so far. The characters with mysterious intentions trope feels trite because of its overuse. I hope they don't continue with this for too long.
 

EdmondD

Member
I am quite pleased with the current trend of excellent anime. Space Dandy, Ping Pong, and Mushishi I have really enjoyed these anime. I only watch ten minutes of the first episode but I already like this. Watanabe and Kanno? You can't go wrong with that. I look forward to future episodes. Watanabe has never let me down.
 

sonicmj1

Member
Indeed, I agree that Japan has not reached the levels of the USA or the UK, which is why I am taken out of the show. call it a cultural barrier if you must, but having actually seen the effects what large scale terrorism can do to collective society the antics of Terror in Resonance are sadly coming across as ametur hour in the fine details. Still, clearly the full scope of this program needs to be unveiled before a more accurate assessment can be made.

I'm not sure what you're expecting. You do realize that Japan has been the victim of terrorist attacks before, right? What's "amateur hour" about reflecting a society as it is?
 

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
I'm not sure what you're expecting. You do realize that Japan has been the victim of terrorist attacks before, right? What's "amateur hour" about reflecting a society as it is?

I am aware of the sarin gas attacks and not to diminish what happened there but this series seems to be invoking the memory of September 11. I suppose to get down to the core question, it all feeds into one of my biggest problems with this series, I am not feeling the terror in the actions or in the responses, especially since the perps are still at large.
 

Mokoi

Banned
Terror in Tokes 2

Just listening to the ost is great, but hearing it play with the events happening in motion provides a great experience. My first impression of 9 was more solidified with this episode. He comes of as cold, yet remains the more sentimental one to me. Twelve seems more harsh, and is not adamant about taking the girls life if need be. Of course 9 would also do the same thing; however I feel that it would weigh heavily on 9s mind. Espically after seeing episode 1 were
the nightmare of what happend to him, and twelve seems to have a more profound effect on his psyche .
I'm still am worried about the role the girl is going to play within the show, and hope she doesn't break up the trust that 9&12 have built up due to the events they faced. More back story is still necessary in order to give me a better understanding of their motives. Which I'm sure will come. The build up was really good providing a sense of suspense for me even though I knew what was going to happen. Animation wise this show still remains the best of this season.

I'm not really knowledgeable on the techniques used or what it is called, but I love how this shot can be mistaken as a real picture. I love seeing these type of shots in shows were I'm pretty sure they just recreated/traced over scenery from some location.

14658035636_6dba625a16_b.jpg

Now onto the little attack they pulled off. I have mixed feelings about how it went down.
I really want to call bullshit on how 9 was able to just enter the cops HQ and plant a bomb. However, I've known people including me who been able to get into places they shouldn't be by simply blending in or acting like they belong there. Perhaps I shoudl fly to japan and see if bringing that sweet ramen is going to let me sneak in.
Shibasaki is definitely the more interesting character to me, and it really seems like the show is going to focus on him being the only one who going to get close to catching them terrorists. Overall I can't wait to see how this show pans out, and hope it doesn't end in disappointment with bringing the terror because I'm not really feeling it just yet.
 

Despera

Banned
Watched the 2nd episode and still no dice. It just won't click with me.

Sure, the production values are great n' all and the music is cool and refreshing, but the writing and characterization weren't as impressive.

Shibasaki will probably join the investigation team after that phone call
so things might get interesting in the next episode. At least I hope so.
 

DominoKid

Member
I like the first 2 eps but I'd love them if people were actually dying. As it is theyre just playing around with the police which makes it less interesting to me.
 

duckroll

Member
I am aware of the sarin gas attacks and not to diminish what happened there but this series seems to be invoking the memory of September 11. I suppose to get down to the core question, it all feeds into one of my biggest problems with this series, I am not feeling the terror in the actions or in the responses, especially since the perps are still at large.

But that seems incredibly Japanese to me. It is either a realistic portrayal of how Japanese society reacts (or more accurately choosing not to react) to unexpected and unwelcome developments, or is it a direct critique of it which will feed to the "why". I think an even better comparison would be the Fukishima disaster. That's arguably more of a national crisis than 9/11. It's also an incident where we can clearly point out who is to blame, and steps which should have been taken immediately to prevent it from getting worse. Instead, I feel that there was more outrage and concern outside of Japan than inside Japan itself.

Furthermore, it is well known how the government and authorities dragged their feet on the investigation and allowed TEPCO to do anything they needed to attempt to salvage their reputation just so things could remain as normal as possible for everyone. Why? Because change is troublesome. That's how the culture is. While America is incredibly reactive and often too eager to make sweeping changes at the inconvenience of the general populace just to show that they're doing something, Japan is a much more apathetic nation when it comes to drawing attention to itself and breaking from tradition.

Japan is a very interesting society to actually experience. They're cutting edge when it comes to functionality and availability, so it's not a matter of lacking the tools, but at the same time there's a very traditional mindset that is deep in society. Some of these result in really good traits - they're very polite, children are taught to clean up after themselves, many people tend to be hardworking and honest despite their grievances, etc. But at the same time there are some strange things about how the society works too - it's rather withdrawn and non-confrontational even when it should matter, many merchants still prefer to deal with cash rather than plastic, they take privacy very seriously even in public, etc.

I don't think it's fair at all to compare something happening in Japan with something similar that happened in America and expect something similar. Watanabe mentioned in an interview that the original concept he came up with years ago for this was a question of what would happen if a 9/11 style terrorist attack happened in Japan itself. So he was clearly thinking about the difference in actions and reactions from the start. Otherwise there would be no reason not to just set it in America instead. He also mentioned that since he came up with the idea before the Fukushima disaster happened, the current show is a result of the evolution of that idea with additional context since there is a more recent example of Japan facing a national crisis to draw from.

This isn't a case of people pulling shit out of their ass and making something that seems unrealistic and improbable. It's actually a fairly accurate "what if" depiction.

I like the first 2 eps but I'd love them if people were actually dying. As it is theyre just playing around with the police which makes it less interesting to me.

"I would love if people actually died in terrorists attacks!" - DominoKid, 2014
 

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
That is an interesting perspective and right now it is a minor issue compared to some of the larger ones I mentioned. Perhaps this is even a commentary about how rigid Japanese society can be even in the face of large scale terrorism. It is hard to say with some much clouded at this point.
Also, the lack of casualties is very clearly intentional on the part of 9 and 12, to what end though is once again uncertain.
 

LordCanti

Member
E2

Great episode. I don't know how
no one died despite all that debris coming down on top of their heads
but I'm filing it away under "of course they didn't". I really love the overall art style and direction that the show has thus far and the music is fantastic as others have pointed out.

I saw a lot of "these two episodes were great and they left me wanting more" after they were shown at a convention, and now I share that sentiment.
 

Dynedom

Member
When I was in Japan in December, the only time our lady friend's bag was searched in Tokyo was when we went to the Emperor's birthday event. Security in Japan really is that "loose".
 
Terror in Resonance 2

I really like the opening and endings of this series.

Now.
Thermite
doesn't work that way! First I feel they would have needed 7-10 times the amount used to destroy a pillar, and second it would have melted the floor, like the blood in Alien, not destroyed the column from the side.
But don't worry people, I'm practically joking at this point :p, not really complaining. It's just a Hollywood level explanation (or even above Hollywood, which had hacking alien ships with a Mac), so whatever.

Where I can't say "whatever" is in the part where they announce they had 0 deaths and 0 heavy injured, after shown images like these, that seems taken from 9/11


I lol'ed in real life. Are they doing it because they still want to represent the MC as somewhat good guys? I dunno.

We also see how the poor girl not only have problems at school but also at home. Mom is kind of crazy.
And the not-serious guy (9? 12? can't remember) is potentially more a psychopath than the other one that seemed more cold and serious, a bit typical twist.

It's very VERY a genre work, like Jexhius said. That said, I'm less happy with it than him.
And usually, I am not like that type of critic that says the word "genre" like an insult, I find that silly. Genre is just a classification for fictional works, it doesn't say anything about quality. But this seem to be veering to second definition of the word, that represent something really derivative and clichéd of that genre.
In this case, we have the mastermind criminals challenging the security forces with internet videos and enigmas containing clues to their next hit, and the already semi-retired (or maybe exiled to an unimportant department because he botched a case or had problems with a superior) super detective returning back to his old department to stop them and save the day. And that leap of logic, lol. "they mentioned the police in the sentence, the bomb is clearly in a police station!".



It's still watchable, the direction, the character design and the animation are nice and elevates the work slightly, but I doubt it's going to be in my top 5 at the end of the year. Hell I would say not even in my top 10 but the level is so low in anime so who knows!
 

LordCanti

Member
When I was in Japan in December, the only time our lady friend's bag was searched in Tokyo was when we went to the Emperor's birthday event. Security in Japan really is that "loose".

Even though it was somewhat Lupin-esque, that was one part that I bought; Of course no one is going to suspect the Ramen boy. Not in Japan anyway. Reality may be different at a PD, but I bought it.

This show is going to require quite a bit of suspension of disbelief, but I'm willing to go along up to a point.

No one in her class notices that two of the people that were on the fieldtrip with them are missing, or that they kind of match the two dudes in the video, or that.....nope, suspending disbelief. You will not ruin this for me, Brain.
 

Dresden

Member
Watched episode one. Wonderfully executed - good animation, well directed, lovely soundtrack, etc - but the innate silliness of the premise clashes quite a bit with how dour and grimly serious the tone is, and that's rather worrying. I think there's plenty they could work with going down the line in the inevitable battle of wills/clashing dynamics between the protagonists, but if it focuses instead on the some weird conspiracy plot as opposed to the characters, dunno. Both the heist and the bombing in the first episode depends on implausibilities that will never be satisfyingly answered, and as the stakes - and the targets - become grander, I'm worried that it'll just fall flat on its face.
 

Branduil

Member
Terror in Resonance 2

ieVWAfH0pILnB.jpg


Zero deaths is pretty unbelievable even if they did evacuate the building.

LOL at the police chief's "I need you here" moment with Shibasaki. So cliched but so good. The music was outstanding again in this episode. Top-tier editing too. Looking forward to the cat-and-mouse game starting next episode.
 

jediyoshi

Member
Ep 2

It's funny how much
explicitly knowing no one was kiled in episode 1 adjusts the moral compass of the characters.
Definitely going to make watching the rest of the season less unnerving.
 

Pooya

Member
3

a lot better this time, actually a good puzzle you get to follow with the cops and it was good. music continues to be good too.

I think funi's stream is screwed though, the blacks look crushed and details kinda gone, that can't be right and it's not my ips monitor for sure.
 

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
Zankyou no Terror Episode 3:

Wanatabe is very clearly a fan of Law and Order and House MD as Shibasaki feels like he just stepped out of an American prime time drama. He presence has certainly made this a better episode, indeed this was all around a better episode with a better riddle and the first real hinting at the motives of Nine and Twelve. I do appreciate that they are trying hard to get me to care about Lisa, the direction and the sound design are top notch, but I still don't know why she is a character in this anime.
 

laoni

Member
I'm not sure if you guys in the US would be able to access it, but, we in Australia have a site called Animelab, owned by Madman Australia, where Terror in Resonance is being simulcast.

http://www.animelab.com/beta

It's free at the moment (and in beta) but I don't know if its accessable by US viewers
 

duckroll

Member
Episode 3

Watched this last night but was too tired to post anything about it. It's a pretty good continuation of the series, and it's nice to see the focus on Shibazaki. He has a really distinctive design, and detectives are always cool, so it's an effective direction for the genre. He looks really sexy whenever the camera has close ups on his face too. Must be that beard.

Can't say I'm really a fan of the "riddles" or at least how it's done in the show though. It's not really exciting in the sense that there aren't clues being chased (at least not yet), and each one is just an excuse for the show to provide edutainment monologues about the mythology the riddle draw from. It's obvious by now that the riddles are structured to eventually make a point by drawing parallels between the characterization in the myths and whatever Nine and Twelve are protesting against, but it just feels soooo on-the-nose.

The flashback also felt really on-the-nose, so I guess it's just a matter of this being a really typical genre vehicle. When they showed a whole bunch of nondescript kids in the facility and included a girl in the mix whose main distinctive features are her hair color and her hair style - which clearly identify her as the "Five" character on the website, it just felt so awkward. There has to be a better way to tell the audience "the next female character we introduce in the plot is in fact the girl Nine and Twelve left behind in the facility when they escaped" without rubbing it in our faces like this. Lol.

I'm glad the production values are still holding up though. There weren't any explosions this week, but the scene with the special forces entering the building and the final scene at the end where Shibazaki is smoking had pretty nice character animation. I really like how smooth the show feels when characters are moving or just talking. There's a really nice realistic nuance to it that adds to the western TV drama style the show is going for in the direction.
 

LordCanti

Member
Ep 3

They've definitely been a little bit too revealing about the facility at this point, as if they're worried that you couldn't possibly make the connection between them and the girl without having been hit over the head with it multiple times.

The fun of a J-Drama police procedural is the puzzle solving for me and the thirty minute format doesn't really lend itself to that very well. They had to lean on the "useless guy gives the hint that blows the whole thing open" trope as if they were an episode of Detective Conan, instead of it being solved more naturally. Hopefully they'll let it happen a bit more fluidly in upcoming episodes.

The next thing I'm looking forward to is seeing how Lisa finds her way back into their company. She doesn't have a way to contact them and it doesn't seem like they were planning to seek her out any more than they already have. At best she could provide a description of them and the police already have that, so she isn't that much of a threat anyway. It should be interesting to see how that unfolds.

Episode 3
The flashback also felt really on-the-nose, so I guess it's just a matter of this being a really typical genre vehicle. When they showed a whole bunch of nondescript kids in the facility and included a girl in the mix whose main distinctive features are her hair color and her hair style - which clearly identify her as the "Five" character on the website, it just felt so awkward. There has to be a better way to tell the audience "the next female character we introduce in the plot is in fact the girl Nine and Twelve left behind in the facility when they escaped" without rubbing it in our faces like this. Lol.

It would have been better if she showed up in the present and wasn't instantly recognizable as the girl from the facility :/ Oh well.
 

sonicmj1

Member
Episode 3

After the explosions and suspense of the last two episodes, this one is a bit of a breather. The production values are still all there, and its introspective moments and cross-cutting montages are as thrilling as ever.

The question going forward is how they intend to fit all the series' elements together. Lisa's side of the story in particular feels pointless at this stage. I've been impressed so far at how effectively the show has presented her isolation and social pressure, but it remains unclear what relationship her story has, if any, with the cat-and-mouse game being played between the police and the terrorists. Surely she's going to play a role in the investigation at some point, but when?

i4Qu71umD0cm7.jpg

The mirror reflects Lisa's social status at school.
This episode spends a bunch of time on its riddle, but the core is about exploring Shibasaki as a character. He's the first person in the show whose inner life has really been shown, and it's really about time. Particularly in the final few scenes, the showrunners do a good job breathing some real urgency into a fairly familiar type of character. He's someone I want to watch, though I hope he spends less time solving riddles in the future.

ib0ozd3tqmhYaa.jpg

I liked this moment a lot. The immediate contradiction between his reason for requesting the chair and his actions says a lot about his character.

It seems like everyone has a different little peeve that bothers them in this episode, and for me it was the flashback reminiscence Shibasaki has about summertime. It was a really boilerplate way to tie him to current events, with the head of the department underlining the point at the end for anyone who couldn't make the connection. If I'm going to get hit over the head with something, I'd rather that happen visually.

This is only an 11 episode series. As much as I enjoy it so far, I hope they have enough time to properly develop the main actors by the end. Every second counts, and they've spent a lot of time on pretty fluffy police work so far.

Ep 3

The next thing I'm looking forward to is seeing how Lisa finds her way back into their company. She doesn't have a way to contact them and it doesn't seem like they were planning to seek her out any more than they already have. At best she could provide a description of them and the police already have that, so she isn't that much of a threat anyway. It should be interesting to see how that unfolds.

She has a phone number they used to contact her. She tried calling them in this episode.

She could certainly make the police's life a lot easier by telling them that they're particular students at her school.
 

Jex

Member
[Terror in Tokyo] - 3

A distinctly weaker episodes than the previous two, thanks mostly to the efforts of shoten yato. His sceenplay was pretty weak this episode because he once again utterly failed to flesh out the characters. In particular Lisa and her mother are basically cyphers. This is pretty problematic because she's supposed to be one of the more 'normal' people in the series who I imagined we'd be relating to, but perhaps not? Literally all her mother has done is shake her daughter violently and shout "LISA! LISA" like a complete crazy person; you think they could do a little more to give her some semblance of a character.

A 20 second flashback doesn't count as character development either. This series isn't long enough to waste time with lots of pointless chitter-chatter between police when we could be developing our protagonists and the first half of this episode felt exclusively devoted to this. Sure, we got some minor development of Mr.I'm-to-old-for-this but I still feel like a fair amount was completely misused.

Outside these gripes I don't have any major problems with the show or the direction, but the writing is really doing it's best to keep me distanced from the characters and their struggles.
 

LordCanti

Member
Episode 3
She has a phone number they used to contact her. She tried calling them in this episode.

She could certainly make the police's life a lot easier by telling them that they're particular students at her school.

I meant no way of contacting them in the sense that they either aren't answering or are ignoring her completely. Assuming that she will get back with them, I'm interested to know how she'll make it happen.

I guess they could get a slightly better description of them by talking to their classmates and such and maybe even a cellphone photo, but their plans are already so risky (walking into Roppongi HQ for instance) that she poses only a little bit of additional risk. The risk is clearly in them getting too attached, though I'm hoping for more of a (Jin-Roh spoilers)
case where they use her for their plans and then basically discard her.
That's the part of me that hopes this show isn't going to somehow paint them as anti-heroes in a weird roundabout way.
 

sonicmj1

Member
[Terror in Tokyo] - 3

A distinctly weaker episodes than the previous two, thanks mostly to the efforts of shoten yato. His sceenplay was pretty weak this episode because he once again utterly failed to flesh out the characters. In particular Lisa and her mother are basically cyphers. This is pretty problematic because she's supposed to be one of the more 'normal' people in the series who I imagined we'd be relating to, but perhaps not? Literally all her mother has done is shake her daughter violently and shout "LISA! LISA" like a complete crazy person; you think they could do a little more to give her some semblance of a character.

A 20 second flashback doesn't count as character development either. This series isn't long enough to waste time with lots of pointless chitter-chatter between police when we could be developing our protagonists and the first half of this episode felt exclusively devoted to this. Sure, we got some minor development of Mr.I'm-to-old-for-this but I still feel like a fair amount was completely misused.

Outside these gripes I don't have any major problems with the show or the direction, but the writing is really doing it's best to keep me distanced from the characters and their struggles.

Lisa's really overdue for more development. At this point we really know nothing about her besides how shitty her life is at home and at school. Nine and Twelve at least have personalities, and a defined difference between the facade they're comfortable projecting and whatever inner turmoil they have.

I get the feeling that we're not going to learn too much more about them specifically until the police get closer on their trails. But it's about time we got something about who Lisa is as a person. If it doesn't happen next episode, I have no idea what they're waiting for.

I wonder if the marketing around the main trio is intentionally (for the sake of getting the show greenlit) misleading, and it's primarily a cop show.
 

duckroll

Member
Lisa's really overdue for more development. At this point we really know nothing about her besides how shitty her life is at home and at school. Nine and Twelve at least have personalities, and a defined difference between the facade they're comfortable projecting and whatever inner turmoil they have.

I think the next episode will focus more on Lisa and Twelve. Maybe it'll be a bit of a cooldown period for Sphinx, since they know the cops are on to them, and instead of another riddle, there'll be more character development while the cops follow up on other clues and close in on them. Shibazaki seems pretty sharp, so surely the link to the school will be discovered pretty soon. I wonder if Lisa's mother making a missing persons report will draw their attention.
 

sonicmj1

Member
I think the next episode will focus more on Lisa and Twelve. Maybe it'll be a bit of a cooldown period for Sphinx, since they know the cops are on to them, and instead of another riddle, there'll be more character development while the cops follow up on other clues and close in on them. Shibazaki seems pretty sharp, so surely the link to the school will be discovered pretty soon. I wonder if Lisa's mother making a missing persons report will draw their attention.
Sounds plausible, especially since they
recovered an intact bomb
this time.

I think/hope that if Lisa mother is going to get any development, it'll be in some sort of police interview.
 

Mokoi

Banned
Terror in Tokes 3

Pretty calm episode, and this really is going to turn into a cat & mouse game. I liked the focus on Shibazaki this episode. However, it would of been nice to get more character development on the others. The little flashback about the facility 9&12 stayed as kids really isn't going to cut it. I'm looking forward to learn about what their endgame is because right now it really just seems like a cry for attention. Shibazaki's back story on summer bothered me a bit. It helped flesh out why he seems to really care about this case now, but those cheesy lines about hating summer just bothered me. I just don't like those " I hate ____" lines since it seems like something a kid would say in order to sound deep.

The riddles are a mixed bag for me. I love the interactions between 9&12 during the video. Its just that I wish they just carried out their plan without dropping hints, and the show focused on the police/master detective Shibazaki desperately trying to catch them. The whole focus on using Greek mythology is not really interesting. It feels thrown in just to add some symbolism into the story. I kind of hope the riddles are dropped further into the show, and it really becomes a race of time trying to catch them.

Lisa is really a forgettable character right now. Although I'm sure she going to defintely get development next episode after her little departure from home. I'm calling it right now that 9 is going to be the one who grows really attached to her, and possibly do something to jeopardize Vons original plans because of her. At least that is a direction I see the show going.

Overall it was still a pretty good episode which was not as exciting as the first two, but those production values are still holding strong. If ping pong can give Wenge that much character development in such a short time then hopefully this show can do the same for the two protags and Lisa.

Sounds plausible, especially since they this time.

I think/hope that if Lisa mother is going to get any development, it'll be in some sort of police interview.

That would actually be pretty cool seeing how cray her mom can really get. The police reactions would be funny.
 

Jex

Member
I think the next episode will focus more on Lisa and Twelve. Maybe it'll be a bit of a cooldown period for Sphinx, since they know the cops are on to them, and instead of another riddle, there'll be more character development while the cops follow up on other clues and close in on them. Shibazaki seems pretty sharp, so surely the link to the school will be discovered pretty soon. I wonder if Lisa's mother making a missing persons report will draw their attention.

I hope this is the case, because focus on another police/Sphinx battle would be a waste of time.
 

Finalow

Member
they surely could have done better to develop the character of Lisa or her mother instead of showing those scenes. overall I enjoyed the episode, not a fan of the last riddle either (they could have changed the formula of the myth and all the details about it that no one knows besides the super detective) but I didn't have as much problems with the writing as I did with the other 2 episodes, where some scenes were rather dumb.
I also liked that we did learn something about Shibazaki and his past.

(had no idea that there was this OT to begin with, very well buried boys)
 

Branduil

Member
Terror in Resonance 3

isstPPW9jHnbZ.jpg


This flashback scene was certainly reminiscent of Monster, especially with the emphasis on names.

This episode was nearly all Shibazaki, and he's everything you'd expect from the ex-detective with a grudge character. Watanabe is in his element with genre stories like this.

The music is still awesome.
 

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
Zankyou no Terror Episode 4:

I will be blunt Shibuzaki and the police procedural side of this show has downright saved things. I am really enjoying the cat and mouse game he and Nine are playing and in turn I feel much more investing in what is driving Nine to commit these acts of terror. On the other side of the coin, Twelve really does comes across as just some little shit who is along for the ride and is thus less interesting to me. Still better then Lisa who is he worst part of this show hands down. There is nothing about here I find compelling and her endless moping has gone beyond mere tedium. Moreover, her story is so far removed from the other proceedings
that the show even calls itself out on it and has to resort to crow-baring her in as Twleve's love interest. I have nothing but contempt for the budding romance here, so much so, that I actively fast forwarded through the motorcycle sequence.
Overall, this has been a good show that can't escape some of its own shackles to become a great show in the four episodes watched.
 
Zankyou no Terror Episode 4

A perfunctory showing in this episode. As expected.

It's so derivative.
From the detective that goes to the place of origin of the case to "feel it" and put himself in the position of the criminals, to him somehow trusting the criminal's words and "rules" of their game (no cheating!) over the traditional police work, to the straightforward young policeman that don't understand his senpai and don't really value the criminal's talent, to the leaps of logic (stairs of letters... it's obviously this link on the youtube's comment), to again the dumb fat guy giving him the key clue by mistake (is he secretly the mastermind? that would be a real twist!!.

The images of chess playing as metaphor is also pretty tired, as the normal policemen (not our Detective-kun, he is smart!) following a false lead as noobs.
Also, I find Nine a bit silly saying he doesn't want the girl because she isn't to be trusted. Uhh... if you don't trust her, why would you leave her alone in the first place? She knows their faces and identities as culprits!

I get they are doing a "genre" work, with all ideas pieced together from police series and movies. Except, you know, I would have preferred them copying the Sopranos, The Wire, True Detective or Breaking Bad more than some mediocre cop drama serial put in the tv after lunch.

Right now Space Dandy > ZnT
 
Zankyou no Terror Episode 4:

I will be blunt Shibuzaki and the police procedural side of this show has downright saved things. I am really enjoying the cat and mouse game he and Nine are playing and in turn I feel much more investing in what is driving Nine to commit these acts of terror.

I understand the general ideal of why is good: seeing a conflict from both sides, seeing them compete and guess and outplay each other, and Shibuzaki's side is a more empathic one from the viewer, but being also blunt, I think the police procedural side execution is downright bad. I feel like the main writer of the series just isn't capable of more.

Direction wise, I think It could have been interesting to make 40 minutes episode, following the format of the normal police dramas, the 20 minute mark is restricting a lot how the episodes flow. Some character building and plot hints at the start of the episode, enigma at the start of the second part of the episode, a few minutes with each side, and then resolution.
 

LordCanti

Member
E4

The short nature of a standard episode and the format of a police procedural don't necessarily mesh that well but I still enjoyed the episode. They've now leaned on the "fat guy says a thing, makes smart guy figure puzzle out" trope two times more than they ought to have, so hopefully that gets retired going forward.

We've seen Twelves true nature I think so I wonder if him taking in Risa really isn't just risk management at this point. Letting her get questioned was too dangerous and where other people might interpret it as romance blooming, I saw it more as him laying the groundwork to making her loyal and keeping her from being an issue. Either way, I agree with others about her barely being a character at this point. We know that she was being bullied and that she may have had issues at home with her mother, but beyond that and the couple seconds of dialogue we got this episode, she's still kind of unknown.

I look forward to seeing what the embarrassment from this most recent incident will bring to the story.
I assume this is how the girl from the facility gets involved, since tropes dictate that she's working for a spy agency or the government or whatever.
 

Soma

Member
Man that was a really satisfying conclusion in this week's episode. Loved the two-fold call-out with
Shibazaki's name as the password and the complete informational leakage
. I really get the feeling that this has been constantly building up towards something big. Nine's short dialogue of "We're running out of time" towards the end of the episode helps reflect that.

And man that motorcycle scene. Fantastic. An absolute highlight of the show so far.

Beautifully animated, wonderful usage of the OST, however I think it would've made it a much more cathartic scene if I were attached to Lisa more. It most definitely captures the feeling of her being freed from her old life but it would've had much more impact if her character had more of a presence up until now. Though I can sympathize with her and her almost naive motive for wanting to join them. That seems like it'll change from now on though since 12's actions are most likely going to have some ramifications. I'm not quite seeing her as a romantic interest but more of a liability at this point. I'm really interested to see how the narrative will handle her from now on.
 

Branduil

Member
Terror in Resonance 4


Shibazaki and the police continue to be at least one step behind Sphinx. Essentially everything so far has gone according to whatever master plan they're working towards, so it'll be interesting to see what happens once that changes. It's nice to see Lisa finally interacting with the other characters again.

The storyboarding, editing, art direction, and sound design of the show continues to be nearly perfect. The last five minutes were sublimely executed.
 

Dynedom

Member
Terror in Resonance - 04

This may have the best music direction I've seen in years. The end sequence of this episode is almost too good for a TV show.

I have to admit that I got done in by the "swerve". I was honestly expecting
a real bomb instead of an infobomb
. Didn't help that the
music at that scene was incredible
.

Now I'm intrigued to see how the dynamics change with
Lisa "joining" the Numbers
. I also wonder if part of Shibazaki's role in this will be to become less detached/distant and become more aggressive.

The storyboarding, editing, art direction, and sound design of the show continues to be nearly perfect.

Seriously.
 
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