Terror in Resonance
Terror in Resonance or Zankyou no Terror is an anime falling under Mystery, Psychological, and Thriller genres. It also goes by the titles Terror in Tokyo and Terror of Resonance. Fans of these genres expect deep, mysterious, mentally challenging, emotionally jarring, and thrilling stories to stir their psyche. How well each anime pulls this off is mainly viewed from the eyes of the beholder.
Terror in Resonance is an eleven-episode TV anime series that stands entirely on its own as an original series. It aired in Summer 2014 from July 11th to September 26th. Producers Aniplex, Dentsu, Fuji TV, Tohokushinsha Film Corporation, and Kyoraku Industrial Holdings, along with the infamous Studio MAPPA, brought this series to life, with the licensing done by Funimation. From the genres, it should be apparent that the Rating is R for audiences 17 years of age and above for its portrayal of violence & profanity.
Episodes 1 and 2 were screened as a preview at Los Angeles during the Anime Expo held on the 5th of July 2014. Following this, the official broadcasting was initiated on the 11th of July 2014. Director Shinichirou Watanabe had stated at an interview with Otaku USA Magazine that the music tracks of the Icelandic band “Sigur Rós” stirred visual images in his head that inspired Terror in Resonance as well as its soundtrack. He further stated that the team took a big step by going to Iceland to record the music required.
The plot of Terror in Resonance looks at a particular nuclear facility situated in Japan after a terrorist attack. The word “VON” is all that is remaining at the site, painted in grueling red. With no clues leading to the perpetrators, the government is broken by their inability to act, and the police are left frantically scampering around with no progress.
The nation is left utterly clueless until six months are past when an ominous video crawls its way into the internet. The video features two peculiar teenage boys who identify themselves only as the "Sphinx,” who then directly challenge the police, threatening to spread mass destruction and mayhem all across Tokyo. The mass public panic following this is inevitable, as all had witnessed the destructive capacity of "Sphinx" only half a year ago.
The police cannot calm down the hectic masses, spreading like wildfire, and are desperate for any leads on this investigation. Regardless, they are proven utterly ineffective against this new terrorist group, with Detective Kenjirou Shibazaki caught up in the middle of all the chaos.
Thus this series tells the tale of the two boys hiding behind the masked figures of the Sphinx, named Nine and Twelve. They are beings who should not exist, but this will not make them falter. They stand sturdily in a world of deception and secrets while making the city crumble down around them. Their objective is simple: to bury their tragic truth beneath all the rubble.
If someone starts watching Terror in Resonance without any prior knowledge about the writers and the premise, not knowing what to expect, they are in for a great show.
The series will come across as a very mature and compelling story, very thrilling and entertaining throughout all the episodes. It is a short series, but how much the creators pulled off within it is impressive. It can even be called an anime that defined the entire anime season of Summer 2014.
The series even stands on par with infamous shows like Gekkan shoujo, Tokyo Ghoul, RE: Hamatora, and Aldnoah Zero.
The story of Terror in Resonance is absolutely brilliant under its genres. There are many anime that address anti-heroes and terrorism, but none pulled it off as well as this anime, with a profound level of maturity.
It succeeded in aspects many anime of the genre usually tend to fail in; there are no edgy character developments and no overused shonen tropes. Even non-anime fans can enjoy this without issue. No anime fan has anything to worry about when recommending this to their friends. They won’t leave mid-way after losing interest, and there aren’t any unnecessary fanservice that throws off some viewers or let them develop stereotypical views.
The premise is interesting, and the pacing is solid, the complexity is neither over the top or underwhelming, the possibility is very low as it is very unrealistic. Finally, it is very well presented, despite seeming a little overblown.
The characters of Terror in Resonance are also very well done. The two main leads, Nine and Twelve, have highly contrasting personalities; Nine is very blunt and mature while Twelve is just childish and playful.
The girl introduced to the scene, caught up in the middle of all the chaos, high schooler Lisa Mishima describes the two as one having eyes like ice and the other having a smile like the sun. But this is just the surface. In reality, both characters are much deeper than that. Beneath Nine’s calm exterior lies indescribable grief, and under Twelve's radiant smile lies a form of severity to match Nine’s. Compared to them, Lisa seems to be very bland, serving as nothing more than a plot device at first. But the show just won’t work without her; she is crucial to it.
She is an entirely different character from the other two, contrasting them both, with her own fair share of troubles and her mother being against Nine and Twelve’s orphan statuses. She shows significant character development throughout the series and keeps things flowing.
As for the other characters, the most pivotal are the Police Force. The anime captures them as legit adults and portrays them appropriately. These are no typical useless anime police officers, not mindless soldiers, nor un-organized oafs.
The central duo plays along with them, but the police themselves are not antagonized. The antagonist’s role truly goes to a character introduced much later, in the form of Five; she works against Sphinx and subjugates the Japanese law enforcement agencies in the process.
The artwork and animation of Terror in Resonance fit the anime’s themes perfectly. They display a multitude of still-life scenes that capture the essence of buzzing Tokyo perfectly. Compared to the Tokyo portrayed in other anime like Tokyo Ghoul, the images of Terror in Resonance are both realistic and calming; added to this is the fact that it is a new approach.
Character designs also work well with the artwork of the anime. They are realistic and artistic. This gives the characters a sense of seriousness and severity, beneath which are very creative artistic elements. Background characters tend to lack details overall, but this is a minor fault that can be easily ignored. The remainder of the show can easily distract viewers from these.
The Soundtracks and Music of Terror in Resonance do not fall far behind the rest. The opening theme is "Trigger" by Yuuki Ozaki (from Galileo Galilei), and the Ending themes constitute "Dare ka, Umi wo" by Aimer from episodes 1 to 10 and "Von" by Arnor Dan for Episode 11 alone. These songs will be the type that fans can come back to a few weeks after finishing the anime and still enjoy in their prime.
These songs strongly resemble 'songs from the cold country,’ which is an iconic phrase that will eventually become evident as the story progresses. In the simplest terms, the music is beautiful, elegant, and melancholy, all very fitting.
So how good is Terror in Resonance overall? At the end of the day, we just want a thrilling story that entertains us to the core. The series succeeds in keeping viewers hooked from the very onset, from episode 1 itself.
This show is ideal for capturing a person's interest pretty fast, and it is a given that it feels fulfilling and solid once it ends. Here is definitely something to be gained from it. The most appealing factors are the high levels of maturity and elegance it exudes, the kind viewers rarely find in anime. All series of this genre have something vital to learn and implement into their own from Terror in Resonance. This is not an anime about terrorism, regardless of what it may seem on the surface.
Possible letdowns in the show are shaky narratives, which are compensated for by good presentation and relevant themes, all of which conclude neatly in an emotional ending that most do not expect. Some questions never get legit answers. They do not fully delve deep enough into some of the themes and leave some cliffhangers.
But it articulates its reflections on society so well, and the best scenes from it prove to be quite memorable and stir the mind. Terror in Resonance is an ambitious and passionate work with plenty of solid substance to appreciate within it.
