This is my first review on here, so please forgive any mistakes and such I might make.
I'll do my best to keep this as spoiler free as possible, but be wary of some minor ones before reading this review.
I originally started watching Zankyou no Terror because I saw it in the recommended section for a few other series that I like and after reading the synopsis and seeing a few images from the show, I thought it looked pretty promising. It also seemed to get good reviews, not just from anime fans, but on mainstream film and tv sites too. While I don't think Zankyou
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no Terror is particularly bad, I also don't think it deserves the amount of praise it seems to have gotten. This is due to the fact that despite an interesting premise, intriguing plot set up, and a really beautiful soundtrack, I feel it ultimately fails to deliver any lasting emotional impact for reasons I will now go into.
Story:
As mentioned above, the premise of Zankyou no Terror seems to be quite an original one. I haven't seen any other anime series that are explicitely about terrorism and while I am sure that there are others out there, I can see why this premise would attract people to it. A story centred contemporary domestic terrorism has the potential to make for controversial and challenging viewing. The opening episodes also suggest that this is going to be the case, and that this is a show that will touch on a number of social issues (such as child abuse, mental illness, social exclusion, goverment corruption, etc). However, after the series concluded, the viewer is left with no clear messages or arguments concerning these issues, which is disappointing to say the least. The story seems more concerned with setting up the mystery behind the two main characters' (9 and 12's) motives and having the detective character (Shibazaki) solve it. While this has the potential to be exciting, and for the first few episodes, it does deliver in terms of tension and does the whole cat-and-mouse pursuit quite well, I feel the story ultimately could have been more ambitious in trying to give the viewer something to think about. 4/10
Art:
The art and animation for this show is overall very good. In particular, there is a beautiful scene in the final episode that takes place on a ferris wheel, with Tokyo lit up at night in the background. Watching only this scene, with the pretty animation and emotional music choice, it would be easy to see why this anime seems to be considered so highly.
The character designs of the mains are also quite good, and while 5 looks a bit out of place amongst the others (who dress themselves in a more mainstream fashion), this fits her personality and makes her seem suitably eccentric and different from the other characters.
However, while the animation is well done, it didn't strike me as being particularly creative. Apart from the scene I mentioned previously, there aren't many that stand out visually. 8/10
Sound:
For me, the strongest point of Zankyou no Terror was unquestionably the soundtrack. In particular the end theme ('Dare ka, Umi wo') and 'Von' stood out and I found myself listening to them outside of watching the show.
While I felt the occasional use of English dialogue in the show didn't really work, overall I liked the choice of voice actors and I thought their performances were well suited to their characters. 9/10
Character:
As an anime with only 11 episodes, it makes sense that the series has a relatively small cast of main characters. I didn't feel overly attached to these characters, however, I also don't think they were particularly badly conceived. My main issue with them is that out of their respective storylines, the narrative only puts a large amount of focus on 9 and 12's, and to a lesser extent, Shibazaki's. While this would be okay in some stories, as these two are the main characters, it makes other character storylines seems undervalued and a bit pointless. For example, Lisa has a storyline and issues of her own that is opened up to the viewer over the course of the first few episodes. However, these are neglected in favour of the two cat-and-mouse chases that feature in the series. Perhaps, in a longer series, more attention and closure could be given to the other characters, but I feel this series puts to much emphasis on its two leads, at the cost of properly seeing through the narratives of Lisa and 5.
While most attention is given to 9 and 12, in terms of character building anyway, aspects of their personalities are left hanging as well. To give an example that isn't particularly spoiler-y, 12 mentions to Lisa early in the series that he has synesthesia and that this is one of the reasons as to why he finds her interesting to be around, since her voice is a very pleasant colour to him. This is (to my recollection) the last and only direct mention of this aspect of him, which feels rather like a lost opportunity considering the medium Zankyou no Terror takes place in and that characters with synesthesia seem to be very rare in popular culture. 6/10
Enjoyment:
As I said in my opening, I didn't actively dislike this series. At only 11 episodes, it was fairly watchable and it's not a series I regret seeing. If nothing else, it introduced me to some nice music and it did have a strong opening and an interesting premise.
However, I wouldn't recommend it to others because of the flaws I have mentioned in my review. I also don't see myself rewatching it. I feel like for a show that had a lot of potential, it fails to deliver and this can be disappointing when watching the plot draw to a close. The ending was underwhelming and I didn't find it particularly emotionally effective, due to weaknesses in the story and pacing up to that point, and a lack of any strong message throughout. 6/10
Overall:
If you like anime that have modern and aesthetically polished animation, cat-and-mouse type storylines, and memorable music, then you may like Zankyou no Terror. On the other hand, if you are looking for an anime that is emotionally deep and politically relevant and intellectually challenging, then Zankyou no Terror is probably not for you. 6/10
May 10, 2015
Zankyou no Terror
(Anime)
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This is my first review on here, so please forgive any mistakes and such I might make.
I'll do my best to keep this as spoiler free as possible, but be wary of some minor ones before reading this review. I originally started watching Zankyou no Terror because I saw it in the recommended section for a few other series that I like and after reading the synopsis and seeing a few images from the show, I thought it looked pretty promising. It also seemed to get good reviews, not just from anime fans, but on mainstream film and tv sites too. While I don't think Zankyou ... |
