After watching the last episode of Zankyou no Terror two days ago, I think I can finally come to a suitable conclusion for my mixed-up thoughts. Let's see if I can organize them into a coherent review, ahah.
Story: 5/10
I enjoyed the first couple of episodes, I really did. The story seemed interesting enough, and everything was so cleverly done (seriously, I felt like a dumbass pretty much the entire time T_T) that it was hard to NOT get hooked. I mean, terrorists! In Tokyo! With explosions!
I think I got my hopes up too high, though.
After episode 8, with still little to no explanations, I was beginning to wonder how everything would end up because there were only three more episodes left to reveal Nine's and Twelve's pasts, as well as their reasons for wanting to leave bombs that didn't actually hurt anyone all over the city. And my fears were right. I felt that their reasons, while touching (my heart is already in a fragile state thanks to Tokyo Ghoul), were a little bit too petty for my liking, and I found it hard to believe that the two of them would go through SO MUCH trouble just because of THAT. (< being purposely vague because spoilers suck.)
In the end, ZnT had a pretty mediocre story that didn't live up to the suspense it had built up from the beginning.
Characters: 6/10
So maybe I was a little unrealistic in my expectations for character development. Nine and Twelve were interesting for me in the beginning, but they quickly became boring after Ep. 8. I don't know, I wanted more from Nine (I have a soft spot for him... he's kind of hot, okay), though I did sort of like his smart-silence personality. And Twelve... WHAT HAPPENED TO MY CREEPY BABY? He had SO much potential in being a crazy but lovable psycho, but nope, after meeting Lisa he became Mr. Sweetie Hero.
Which brings me to Lisa. Frankly, Lisa was a disappointment. I wanted more character development in her, because she remained pretty much the same throughout the entire anime: dull, one-dimensional, and weak. Look, I *don't* have a thing against weak characters -- but I want them to be properly done so that I can sympathize with them. For Lisa, apart from giving us a brief background of her family, that was pretty much it. I don't see what was so charming about her, or why Twelve risked his long-standing friendship with Nine for her in the first place.
It's not to say that I hate the Twelve + Lisa ship, because I don't. I just feel that Lisa could have been crafted into a much more interesting character, even if she was weak, and maybe then it might have better justified Twelve's actions in Ep. 8.
As for Five... talk about a drama queen. She was another character I found super badass when she first appeared (that hairdo, though), but after what she did in Ep. 10? I'm just-- I can't understand it. I can't understand why a girl with such a brilliant mind would choose to do that because it doesn't fit in with her character at all.
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I seem to be the black sheep here, though, so maybe I'm being a little too picky with an anime that's only 11 episodes long. Still, I do think that Zankyou no Terror could have been a lot better done if some things hadn't happened. *cough* Anyway, I still did enjoy myself while watching this, so my overall score is 7/10. I'm just crying for the lost potential.
But, uh, on the bright side, at least the music is beautiful? YOKO KANNO, EVERYONE. Go search up "Walt" and prepare to have your mind blown.
