Plot

The plot was engaging from start to end and there was never a time I felt it was too draggy or boring. Instead, I was on the edge of my seat eager to see where the plot could turn. The anime had a “peel the onion” kind of format where in each episode, we learn something new about the terrorists motives for their crimes. Information and flashbacks are dropped at certain parts of the show but are not explained immediately. The attacks were not to incite terror as such, but rather a way to get the police attention on an issue swept under the carpet. Normally in shows where the police are challenged (eg death note) you will expect to have some tension between perpetrators and the police and within the police force itself and Terror in Resonance is no exception. Excitement was created when Shibazaki, the main character from the police side, tried to solve the puzzles given by Sphinx and quickly joined the dots. There was a lot of drama as well due to the pressure that police face when public lives are in their hands. Most importantly, the hierarchy within the police force made saving the day even harder.

As for Sphinx, we can see that there eventually comes some friction between them and they even have to face an enemy that they encounter. The police, ironically, become their ally and they work together to prevent havoc caused by the enemy. Given the serious nature of the show, there were some highly emotional moments that will surely tug your heartstrings. There was also a pinch of doomsday romance which was sweet and innocent and well developed over the course of the story.

Characters

Our terrorists, Nine and Twelve, who call themselves Sphinx are decently written. Although they may not have a rich backstory and their motives are predictable, it is their contrasting personalities which make the show entertaining to watch. Nine is your Kira, the mastermind who is focused on the mission and Twelve is the happy-go-lucky type, who manages to have a positive attitude despite the high risk nature of their crimes. With their enemy, Five, added to the mix, things got more heated. The numbers for their names might also have some meaning: 9 and 12 are multiples of three so they are connected in a way. Whereas 5 is a prime number and only has one factor (apart from 1) suggesting that Five is on her own. Furthermore, the numbers can be assigned in order of increasing suffering. Five suffered the most before. I remember a conversation between Nine and Twelve : “ Is she even sane?” “ there was no sanity to begin with”. Nine and Twelve seem much more rational but between the 2, Nine gets flashbacks of his past but Twelve seems to have moved on. However, this is just my theory.

Lisa is another addition to the main cast. She annoyed me at the start and that impression continued till the end. However, what I did realize was the purpose of her character. Just as she was useless to the duo, I also felt she was useless to the plot. I expected her to be the third member of Sphinx but that never happened. However, moving on in the story her purpose did come into shape. She is your typical shy,clumsy and timid anime girl who tries to be useful but just fails. She does help to bring out the compassionate side of twelve and this causes a rift between nine and twelve, creating conflict in the show. I can't say much without spoiling the show but I eventually cozied up to her in the end.

I would also like to point out the teamwork and camaraderie of the small group of people in the police force who pursued Sphinx, namely Shibazaki and the other policemen. Hamura’s and Shibazaki’s trope was cliche: Hamura, a newbie, was salty that a senior joined his group but eventually gained respect for him when working for him. Shibazaki led the team, fulfilling his duty to protect citizens despite being sent to the archives. We can see the slow progression of his involvement in the case. From casually talking about it to his colleague in archives to standing in the frontlines, trying to evade disaster. There were some eureka moments that happened due to chance which I am not a fan of. However, the clues were mostly grounded on Greek mythology which was interesting. Shibazaki is backed up by a few other policemen, who were on the same mission as him. Rebelling against orders from higher ups, they stood unfazed to expose the truth.

Animation

The animation is great. It was sort of dull but it matched the vibe of the show. Even though it was completely fictional, the expressions and the place managed to make it look realistic. The actions scenes were dramatic (like explosions, buildings collapsing etc). I particularly liked the ferris wheel scene, it was intense but calm the same time. There were many of such scene thoughout the show.

Some major themes [spoilers ahead]:

Terroism

The main debate that arises from this show is: Were Nine and Twelve actions justifiable? Is endangering the lives of citizens worth bringing out their story? Much of their plan was hugely dependent on the police, more specifically, Shibazaki. They needed him to figure out the location in order for their grand scheme to succeed. They needed someone to join the dots between the locations. Sure, they did not want people to die but their plans were risky, placing the public at risk (eg the train incident). Moreover, they did not anticipate Five’s involvement which made their plans even harder. However this made the show more suspenseful.

There was also a common motif of birds. In some scenes, we see Twelve, gazing at the sky at what looks like feathers. At first we don't know their significance but it makes sense once we see Nine's final moments: as he faints he sees birds flying to the sky. The feathers symbolise his hope, pieces of their plan coming together. The fact the Nine saw 2 white birds in his last moments, shows that their mission was a success and he died peacefully. White also represents peace.

Greek mythology

Terror in resonance was structured to be Greek play. Our villains called themselves the Sphinx and Shibazaki was Oedipus, who solved the riddles to get rid of the Sphinx and save the town of Thebes, or in this case Tokyo, as he did in the actual mythology. The audience of this play were none other than the citizens of Tokyo who would watch the broadcasts and see the police scramble to stop the attack. Although Shibazaki did not face the same fate as Oedipus, he fulfilled his own prophecy that he'd be the one to save Nine and Twelve and expose the real Sphinx. the ministers who carried out the inhuman experiments. As mentioned in the previous section, Nine and Twelve relied on Shibazaki to solve the riddles in order ot make their plan a success and Shibazaki did not let them down.

P.S: one of the location of the bomb was in a building next to a shrine in Akihabara. Does the name of the place ring a bell? The mood and tone of the show resembled Steins; Gate.

Overall, the show is meaningful and the message comes across clearly, but in an artistic manner. The show was all-rounded with thriller, action, drama and romance. I feel this is a show everyone can enjoy.