On paper, the premise of Terror in Resonance seems like a typical one for a suspense title as elements to its storytelling such as the bombers playing a cat and mouse game with police, the so-called villains not being as evil as you think and government secrets are nothing new within anime. However, the somewhat realistic and dark mood that the series gives off in the exploration of Nine and Twelve's bombings give it something of a chilling feel as the events can hit close to home with American anime viewers of the series, especially in light of the events of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The first four episodes are focused around Nine and Twelve's cat and mouse game with the police trying to figure out the whereabouts of their planted bombs via the video riddles that our two leads supply them. The episodes help to establish the characters of the duo and Shibazaki, as we learn of their backgrounds and what issues they are implied to have with their national government. Not to mention the suspense of seeing if either side will prevail in their goal in each episode is genuinely thrilling. Later episodes introduce us to a past acquaintance of Sphinx in the form of Five, accompanied by American agents, who complicates things for Sphinx as she is just as smart and crafty as the duo when she exploits their modus operandi to her advantage by turning the tables on them by playing her own cat and mouse games with the duo for the second third of the series. The final third of the series reveals everything going on with Sphinx, Five and the government secrets connected to them; as well as what plans Sphinx had with the plutonium they had stolen prior to the start of the series that build up to a rather bittersweet, yet satisfying, ending. For the most part, Terror in Resonance is effective at making use of the story elements it is rehashing by applying a more darker and realistic edge them and creating genuine suspense and intrigue out of what you think is going to happen next in the series.
While I praise the show of its execution of its plot, it does carry some issues that hurt its quality to an extent involving some among its cast. Lisa's character is mostly worthless in the series as she mostly exists as a damsel-in-distress for Twelve to rescue and has no real relevance to the major events that take place throughout the series, which lead me to question why she exists in the first place.
Five's character is a bit of a double-edged sword for her role in the series. While her presence in the series helps to create a solid adversary against Sphinx, the psychotic and childish fits she gives in to at points in the series do usually make it hard to take her as a serious threat and there are clear lapses in logic from the agents accompanying her as they don't try stopping her destructive and life-threatening actions. Unlike Nine and Twelve, Five doesn't get enough dimension and background to her character to make her sympathetic, especially when later episodes attempt to do so despite the earlier acts she shown where she had no regard for the lives she would put at risk in her cat and mouse game.
Presentation-wise, Terror in Resonance is easily one of the best TV titles this year in what it implements for its visuals and soundtrack. The visuals make use of subdued color tones and plenty of detail for designing its lifelike, vast settings and have character designs that don't have the conventional anime style of rainbow-color hair and big eyes, having bodily features drawn as believably as possible. The animation is easily among the best I've seen for the year for a TV anime thus far, with plenty of onscreen fluid movement that shows people and vehicles moving naturally without degradation of animated detail or noticeable animation shortcuts. Highlights to the animation in the series include groups of people moving about in the streets of Tokyo, the collateral damage resulting from bomb attacks and the impressive looking events that take place in the finale of the series.
For the show's music, Yoko Kanno lends her music composure talents to the series creating tense and haunting dramatic pieces that are excellent fits to the dark and chilling mood regularly portrayed throughout Terror in Resonance's run. The opening and closing songs to the series (Trigger and Dare Ka, Umi o) are easily the best lyrical tracks for an anime series that I've heard for the year thus far as they are fitting for the mood of the series and immediately stick out to those viewing it.
Overall, Terror in Resonance makes for a solid 11-episode run of suspense, mystery and intrigue concerning Sphinx's bombings and their origins, making effective use of rehashed story elements through giving them a more darker and realistic edge. It has its shortcomings with some elements to its storytelling and characterization, but it was still a thrilling watch for me to check out throughout its 11-episode run.
