(spoilers)
Watching Zankyou no Terror now in 2022 made me feel the same thrill of watching anime as back in 2020 when all i did was watch anime. I'm sure it's really biased of me to say this but i believe that the anime is a 10/10 and one of the few in my list that actually deserve a score this high. It achieved everything it aimed to achieve; the OST was very fitting and well done, the atmosphere was always on point and most importantly it captivated all the emotions it did in such a nice way; the first scenes with Lisa had me pitying her a lot and the antithesis of 12's intervention in them every time was really creepy considering what he is capable of doing to her. Then the sphinxes' videos were HYPE AS FUCK, especially the ones after the first one where you started to get what was happening. They always prepare you for what was about to happen in such a cool way where they both announce a new threat to Shinjuku and to the police force. The terrorist act preparations and executions were insanely exciting and the explosions were more so. The government building collapsing like a failed match of Jenga, the police building going KABOOM, the train exploding like it was a bomb vessel itself; all of those were captured and depicted in a fantastic way. The police's attempts to resolve every crisis were just as fun to watch as the POV of 12 and 9 but that was all thanks to Shibazaki, who was a very outstanding character in the series. Even though he is supposed to be with the ''bad guys'' he still becomes one of the most likable in the anime. His efforts, knowledge and conviction all make for a character with a personality beyond interesting. As the anime progresses, 12's growing bond with Lisa Mishima is unlike any anime i have ever watched. Bonds between characters of the opposite gender forming and developing are usually exciting to watch. Their development caused me nothing but pain however. 9 warns 12 to cut ties with her again and again and again but even still, these minor things that 12 uses to justify an interaction with her become larger and larger issues and before you know it she becomes a burden to both. After she moves with them, the entire anime becomes painful to watch in a beautiful way, but still depressing. Lisa is fully aware of how she is holding the two back but can still do nothing about it which made me feel shittier and shittier and shittier as the story progressed. After the airport incident their plan starts to deteriorate so much as a result of 12's sympathy towards Lisa but it only made me feel worse. Even though i could never blame Lisa or 12, the fact that 12 put so much on the line for Lisa made me feel awful for 9, who had his eyes set on their initial goal until the end. After 5 captured Lisa i just could not decide if i preferred 12 to stay or go - both seemed worse than the other somehow. the Ferris wheel scene however was what broke me completely. Lisa not being able to stop apologizing and crying non stop, 12 trying to concentrate and keep calm in order to remove all of the explosives, the timer beeping down agonizingly slow - it was all horrible, and 12 revealing the two's secret to 5 was the cherry on top. It felt like falling in the mud and getting shit all over your face. Meanwhile Shibazaki's conviction kept becoming more evident as he pursued the ''bastards'' behind the scenes in search for the truth behind 9 and 12 and although it was sad to see his downfall yet again and watch him lose his badge and risk his life on top of that in search of the truth is also agonizing to watch but the Ferris wheel incident completely overshadowed the sadness of it for me. Then, when i thought it couldn't get worse, 9 turns himself in and upon learning that, 12 gets torn apart which is completely evident, no matter how well he tries to hide it. He is completely aware of what he did and the guilt he feels could not be hidden. Surprisingly, the one who set him straight was Lisa, who convinced him to keep going for the sake of 9. Thanks to that, 9 is rescued by 12 and has the chance to set the final bomb. The endgame was simply just beautiful. The final message of the sphinxes, now only depicting one of the two sent chills down my spine when he mentioned that the final one was an atomic bomb. In these final moments, 12 gets to meet once again with Lisa and 9 gets to a high point to watch the final boom. The explosion is admittedly amazing, as one would expect and the results were just as Shibazaki and the others had expected. Japan had now entered an age without electricity. Then there was the ending. I cluelessly thought that the ending would be a happy one, with the three meeting once again and 9 forgiving 12, everyone having fun in the place everything began, Shibazaki finally meeting the sphinxes; it was truly heartwarming. And then this soothing scene turned into hell so fast, i could not believe my eyes at all. Every desperate attempt that was made to get out of
that situation was futile, as everything fell apart all over. Just when you think everything is over, it's not. Just when you let your guard down, you get backstabbed by the last 5 minutes the show has to offer, something that left me traumatized till now. The anime ends in a similar fashion to the film ''
kimi no shizou tabetai'' with Shibazaki and Lisa saying goodbye to each other before your heart is healed from the sorrows brought to life minutes before, as the shot of the bridge they pass each other on turns to the sky and everything concludes. At that moment i was just thoughtlessly staring at my monitor thinking ''oh great god i am not your strongest soldier why are you doing this to me''. Everything happened so fast i could not properly react to anything before i cried myself to sleep.
All in all, this 11 episode masterpiece is in my opinion a great pick for just about every taste there is. I do not really think you have to be into something to enjoy Terror In Resonance, it's an anime that i suspect anyone would love watching. Even though it has forever scarred my heart it, it is forever carved to it at the same time and i will most likely never forget such an experience. I would suggest it to literally everyone who does not mind getting scared just like i did.