How to Lose the Audience - Zankyou no Terror Critical Analysis
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- Опубліковано 25 вер 2014
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I don't understand people saying there wasn't any reasoning behind what Nine and Twelve did plus the motivations of the characters, I watched it and understood what each character wanted and why they did it. I guess people were expecting a more grandiose motive for Nine and Twelve but the truth is that life is really that simple and I think this anime excels at showing that. The corruption of the government for hiding and doing those experiments was a pretty good reason for them to do it. Nine and Twelve while they had conversations were showing how they were scarred from the experience and the struggles with Lisa in their lives now. Also, Lisa may have been useless but she added heart and compassion to the group and made them tune in to reality a bit more. Shibazaki did have a forced motivation but was a pretty solid character and enjoyable to watch(all of the characters were actually, also, that scene in episode 9 with the head guy of the organisation was executed perfectly to the point where it seemed like we had gone to talk to someone else) Five I think is the one that could've been developed better but I believe we just didn't get enough because of the amount of episodes. The anime was simple but at the same time complicated and didn't spoon feed you the information and told you who was right or wrong, it was meant for you to take your own conclusions.I think people should watch it one more time all together because it talked about so much stuff I kinda did start to forget certain points that had been stated in previous episodes. I will always love this anime despite it's development flaws.
I really, really wanted to like this show. Like you said it starts off insanely strong and the technical prowess never really goes away throughout the entire series. It's like, a beautifully crafted ball of fluff. I was underwhelmed by the meat of the show but I kept trying to convince myself it was building to something. And even with the finale yesterday I was still trying to tell myself that yeah, that was good.
But after some reflection I couldn't really buy into that anymore, and this video sealed the deal. It just wasn't. All flash, no substance, even though it continually put on airs that it did, and for awhile, that had me fooled.
Real shame.
+Tommy Oliver I was introduced to this anime through the soundtrack and I'm just going to pretend that's still all I know about it. But in reality, I kind of just went through the same experience you did.
As I pointed out on another review, I think the reason why we didn't get an in-depth character development in this series is because the show, over all, was not solely about the characters. It was about Japan, socially and politically. The characters were given enough personality and mystery to make us like them and feel for them so they could be used to "carry the story" if you will, that is bigger then them.
Lisa represents the innocence or perhaps the ignorance of Japan, who is stressed on her over protective mother (who you could relate to the government). She also maybe represents the glimpse of hope for the country depending on what she decides what to do with the knowledge she gained from her experience.
9 and 5 represent the revolution of truth from a forgotten and shady past of Japan. They also represent the consequence of that past.
Shibazaki represents justice and the seeker of truth caused by the "revolution" no matter the cost.
5 (despite everyone hating her so called "pointless character") represents the glimpse of what could have been potentially very dangerous and out of control due to Japan's shady past. AKA Japan's mistake and consequence.
The US and Japan's governments involved in this series pretty much speak for themselves which really makes you think about what is going on today really.
This show is a giant piece of art in animation form. It's not suppose to "please" anyone. It is created for us to observe like any artwork and make our own sense of it. This will make many seasoned Anime lovers angry or indifferent because most Anime watcher are focused on characters and the story about those characters. However, artist will LOVE this because they will like to see beyond the Anime and even the Animation "box" and find it wonderful, or at least interesting no matter if they like the characters or not. This to me is one of the best shows of the year because it's not really "entertaining" it's cultural, in it's own way, and very relevant today.
Ouch! That was one harsh critic. Which is strange considering you gave the show such glowing praise near the beginning. A complete 180. Not entirely unjustified however. I am not gonna deny that show wasn't perfect. It definitely has it fair share of missteps. However with all that said, I didn't come out despising it like you did. I don't think the show is entirely without merit as you say it is.
I thought the Zankyo no Terror laid a good foundation in its few episodes and have some nice ideas. The execution of this ideas may have not always stellar but I think it got its point across. Then again this is just my opinion.
All it all, I thought it was good not perfect but I certainly enjoyed the time I spent with it. I would say more but I just wanted to give my immediate response.
I'm curious as to what point you felt the series got across, cause I found it all pretty pointless.
***** I thought was point,was hope. A hope Now that may not be much of a point or just me grasping at straws. However I think that was what it all meant.
***** Kinda seems like you may have come to this conclusion because, in the last episode, they said that VON means "hope." However, I don't think that the show had ever explored or commented on the theme of "hope" except maybe in that Twelve had hopes for Lisa or something. Or that they hoped their plan would work. I would never have come away from the series with any sensation of hope at all though had it not been literally spelled out in the final episode as something that was meant to be relevant.
***** heck, I think amazing spiderman 2 got that theme better... and that's a huge problem.
***** Well, yes they did outright say it in the end but I don't think they had to. I think it was all up in the series. That was the idea here and maybe the execution of that idea was flawed but I disagree with you in that it was all worthless.
110% agree. I can't believe people are able to call this a masterpiece. It was a decent time waster but nothing more.
Wow. So this is probably the first time I really don't agree with you.
I thought the execution of this series was flawed, but not worthless.
This show was never really about some 'mystery'. It was about the characters's motivations, and what made them who they were in the show. The bulk of the story had already played out when the anime began, we just had to watch it and retrace the steps it took in order to understand it all. Then we could watch the consequences it all had, and reflect on the various messages the show had.
I'd suggest that you check this out for more elaboration:
moesucks.com/2014/09/25/terror-in-resonance-ep-11-finale-your-hand-in-mine/#more-23281
What messages? What was there the reflect on? The motivations of the characters we don't learn until the very end of the show, and the motivations, it turns out, are to teach the world the exact things that we had learned about the characters. We'd learned those things in episode one, and the rest of the show did nothing to flesh them out. What made them who they were was, itself, what they were, and nothing else.
***** They showed human experimentation through Sphinx and Five, they were artificial savants. The fact that their health deteriorated over time shows that human experimentation is dangerous, and should be handled carefully.
Another message is how the police and the media are blind to the truth, they don't question the motives of the terrorist, they don't try to understand them, Shibazaki is different. He's the saving grace of the police force.
The story revolves around Nine and Twelve, and how their terrorist attacks on Japan will change the complacent nation forever. Lisa, our heroine, is unluckily pulled into their world by being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Nine and Twelve take notice of the girl mostly because of her eyes: “…Lisa Mishima has eyes like those kids at the institution.” Lisa is nothing special, after all, she’s the character we’re meant to identify with. Whereas the boys are enigmatic, super-intelligent terrorists with a dark past, Lisa is an often bullied but otherwise normal high school girl. Yes, she eventually becomes an accomplice in their schemes, but she gets pulled into their world because of a series of unfortunate circumstances. Terror in Resonance is thus making a statement that this could’ve been any one of us. If we had been through what she’s been through, we, too, could find ourselves on the wrong side of tracks.
The problem is that there’s no one to help kids like Lisa. No one notices the torment that she goes through every single day. No one but the boys, that is. But why only the boys? Seeing as how they’re escapees from some mysterious institute, that should tell you right there that the boys have undergone their own personal trials as well. So perhaps it takes one tormented soul to notice another one, but that shouldn’t be the case. It is the case only because the rest of the world have turned a blind eye to them. And it isn’t a stretch at all to say that victims of abuse will eventually lash out against the people and the world around them. We’ve seen this over and over in other first world nations. The United States itself has constantly had to deal with school shootings and murderous rampages committed by perpetrators who, in hindsight, desperately needed society’s help. Yes, these crimes are far less likely to occur in Japan, but even so, that’s no reason to be complacent.
As far as Five goes, I do have something to say about that as well.
Betrayal & Obsession
Five grew up at a special institution, and was subjected to special training.
She was taught that she had no identity, no one loved her, and on top of that, she was a savant. Someone who has a rather unique mind, that is very capable at doing certain things, like Math or crime investigation. But is socially disconnected, and has hard time understanding emotions, especially love.
But being a savant wasn't enough, she was an artificial savant, and that came with dire consequences. Her health deteriorated over time, and she needed to find something to live for in order to move on.
Thus enters Nine her life.
We know from Twelve and Nine's descriptions of the institution that it was a place where everything they did felt like chore. Eating was a chore, learning was a chore, heck, even living was a chore. But Five started playing games with Nine.
Something new happened, something stimulating, something exciting!
Five quickly became obsessed with Nine, he was her Raison d'être.
But then, Nine and Twelve escaped the institution, leaving her behind.
This was a betrayal, her only reason to live had gone away, leaving her to rot there while she saw all the other children perish, one after the other.
Eventually, the institution closed down, America had stopped the plan, and they wanted something in return of keeping it from the masses. They got Five.
She went to America, most likely relived intense training, but for what?
Five now had the opportunity to meet Nine again.
She could now live for a reason, to relive those exciting games she once had played with him.
And that's exactly what happened, but it wasn't enough. Nine had something she always wanted, a friend, someone to be with, talk to, someone who could understand them.
This was not allowed to be! She must get Twelve to betray Nine, just like he had betrayed her.
In the end she succeeded, but only partially.
Twelve still had someone who could (kinda) understand him, Lisa.
In that sense, Five was defeated, her health deteriorated again.
But she couldn't give up yet, she hadn't defeated Nine after all.
Though Lisa truly was the wildcard in this game, she managed to get Twelve to return to Nine's side and thus his betrayal was redeemed.
Five had lost the mental game, she now had nothing left to live for~
Yami Ai This whole "Betrayal & Obsession" seems bit manufactured on your part to be honest Five never infers that she was lonely or jealous even in her last moments. Five forces Twelve to betray Nine that's all and in the end that amounted to nothing because Nine got away safely and so did Twelve and Lisa some how. so there is no impact to said betrayal. Same goes for Fives obsession with Nine nothing came of it she played more high stakes games with them and then she died.
Do mind explaining where or when the gravity/payoff of this "Betrayal & Obsession" takes place? The events just happens and in the end there is no consequences for any of these actions.
Elijah Lawson Manufactured you say? Well, that is exactly was it is. The show never directly told us what I wrote, I merely analyzed a character from the story from my perspective and tried to look at it in a non-superficial way. The 'payoff' lies in the psychology of the characters. How does Five affect Sphinx? How do they affect her? How does Lisa affect them? That's where the centre of the series lies, imo. The consequences are that Five gives up on her life in the end, Lisa grows closer to Sphinx, and Nine goes through a lot more turmoil to get to his original goal.
The end is never the high point for me, the journey is what makes it worth watching.
Yami Ai
I mean Manufactured as in made up what you wrote is more in line with your desires, not what actually happened. Five doesn't die as a consequence to her actions, she just dose (most likely cause the story didn't need her anymore) also she had no Effect on Sphinx she was just another road block. Lisa was the only character to effect change in a bad way Nine and Twelve where constantly reacting to her in the second half.
The center of the series lies in your imagination. You're actually not analyzing characters your spinning or projecting them to suit your compelling view of the series.
I'm gonna have to politely disagree here, Digi. It’s definitely not a perfect show, not even close, but I thought that it concisely said all that it wanted to say, and pretty ardently at that. I guess I admittedly am somewhat predisposed to message-driven detective thrillers, but I didn’t really have any significant problems with ZnT outside of Five’s somewhat mishandled character arc. Even that I don’t think “ruined” the show. The fact that it was was able to tie its big messages back to its individual threads was pretty impressive. Echoing the Oedipus mythos by way of youthful rebellion against the state, personifying Japan’s post-WWII nationalism as an aging old authoritarian parental figure, paralleling the cycle of abuse with Japan’s resentment of mean ol’ Grandpa America, the way both Lisa’s parents and Shibazaki’s dead-end career parallel Nine and Twelve’s backstory. I thought that stuff worked really well! I never once felt like the show was repeating itself or going off-message. It articulated itself quite well in how all its individual moving parts reflected off each other in smart, and effective ways. The problem I think people have with ZnT is that it's not really interested in plot or characters, so much as it's interested in saying what it has to say. And yeah, if you're not parsing the show on those terms, it's going to fall apart. But I don't think that's the show's fault. That's like saying the Godfather is a bad movie because it's not funny.
To me Terror in Resonance is about the disenfranchised and the abandoned reclaiming their voice from an innately predatory system that marginalizes them, and terrorism is just the specific device the story chooses to utilize in expressing that voice. Nine and Twelve could just as easily have been jewel thieves or kidnappers and the story would have pretty much the exact same thematic core. I think even calling this show a thriller is a bit inaccurate. It's certainly structured like a thriller, but unlike something like Death Note, that's just used as a rhetorical device to articulate the show's larger ideas. And Zankyou no Terror is a show all about ideas.
This is the best defense of the show I've seen so far. Indeed, I always ultimately chalk up my dislike of a show to an inability to engage it personally (see my buttons video and my tastes video recently to sort of get what I mean), and I always think it's cool if someone engages with the show in a way I can understand and appreciate even if it didn't reach me that way.
***** Don't worry, you're hardly the only critic I've seen with a negative reaction to ZanTero. It's definitely a divisive show.
I did hear that this was a show Watanabe wanted to do for some time now..so the show was pretty much a political statement..
Redcrimson Well said.
***** but you don't seem to be aware of what it's trying to say, it's fine if you say I know this is about article 9, but I don't give a fuck about article 9 and the rise of militant nationalism, this is not my button. But you come across as totally missing the point of the show.
Wow its all about personal taste. I found this one of the best anime I've seen. You have to imply what happens, or somewhat infer what is going on.
Then thats bad writing
Persona Simon Its seems that viewers these days want everything to shown and explained some of the greatest stories have left things unanswered.
Persona Simon spelling out everything is good writing? o.O
Cellar Door let me clarify something. Spelling out everything is NOT good writing, but neither is leaving everything vague so the audience doesn't know anything is not good writing either, its just a trick to lure in audiences like J. J. Abrams Star Trek movies.
Persona Simon that depends on the audience, I don't find it vague, it's not in your face, but what's being implied and expected to be inferred on the audience's part is pretty clear to me.
My main reason for watching the show was my attachment to the characters and to see how they would get through the situations they were in. And by the time the finale came, I was an emotional wreck over what happened. Yes, there were things that really annoyed me (like the over-involvement of the US government), but overall, I really enjoyed the show.
I believe you missed a lot of mature themes + hidden messages within the show. That's a shame. Some of the critique you gave I found well explained in the anime. It seems like a lot of things flew over your head. It might be because you don't know Japanese, but I think most of your critique are very shakey and very oh so very biased(by the lack of another word) to the point where some of it didn't make sense to me anymore.
I often think that people who over analyze entertainment often end up missing a lot of simple details. This is not to say that they are wrong to do so cause it is something they likely enjoy being able to do. As for Zankyou no Terror at least from my opinion, it was a masterful anime. The mystery was played up initially to be important and Digi is correct that the whole mystery aspect does fall flat. However, the events that lead up to the finale were necessary in order to have a complete story. The story of the lengths Japan went to in order to gain world recognition in power by using young children to advance Japan's technological capabilities including creation of the atomic bomb. The main characters/protagonists are clear in being Nine, Twelve, and Kenshiro Shibazaki to make the information of Japan's dark past open to the world. Kenshiro would be the sole person to uncover this information as Nine and Twelve use their intellectual capability to obtain the world's attention without causing harm to others. Essentially Nine and Twelve made the past project a success by being able to get the world to recognize Japan for what they had done though not in the way the government would have wanted it to.
As for the characters of Five and Lisa, they did have a purpose in the series. Where Shibazaki was meant to play the part of the person to uncover the truth, Five was the true antagonist within the series in that she would intend on beating Nine by keeping the information covered up. Though this may seem petty, it still was a strong enough motive from Five's point of view to prevent Nine and Twelve's goal from being achieved. Shibazaki, as one of the three protagonists, would also oppose Five as her methods to prevent the information being public would also mean putting the public at risk to make Five and Twelve injustified in their actions. Put simply, shifting blame towards them for innocent lives lost and making their plight fall on deaf ears. When Five had a chance to kill Nine, she figured that she already lost without having to say anything knowing that Nine would have had a contingency plan changing nothing if he had died. Lisa's role is very easy to overlook. She literally does do nothing to progress the events and many already say she was a pointless character. She is a supporting character in that her purpose is not to progress the events, but to play a different role towards Nine and Twelve. Both of them felt they were alone and that nobody would care if they were present in the world. All actions they perform are calculated with the intention in the end they would have no further purpose after revealing Japan's secret. Lisa was meant to make them feel as if they were human no matter how bad her blunders may be. Twelve literally chose to save her in the ferris wheel incident proving not only did Lisa matter to him, but that he was also human even if it meant the bomb would be lost.
So in summary, though the characters may not come off as interesting. They played meaningful roles to the plot which was meant to be the focus of the series. The audience is not meant to relate or cheer on specific characters, but to come to understand how events play out within the plot. Comparing the characters to something like Death Note's characters has a huge difference in how the entertainment is meant to be relayed. While Death Note has interesting characters with motives that people will polarize to, these characters themselves are not realistic. Zankyou no Terror fully intended on the characters having realistic traits to that of humans in real life. Since the characters would not have "interesting" traits, the art and music would greatly help to represent the emotional tones.
That is what I got out of the series. Feel free to share your opinions on Zankyou no Terror as well as if you agree or disagree with my opinion. I give the series a 9 out of 10.
I don't quite see the issue with the show not having that much of a mystery. I completely disagree that the show was written with the mystery box mentality -- it was clearly not. From the fact that it is pretty much made obvious from the start that the two were experiments, not only through 9's dream but the fact that their names are numbers. Even when planting the bombs, we usually knew where they were. Even the whole fact that they had a nuclear explosive was shown from the start, making their plans obvious once we understand they do not wish to kill. So I don't understand how you can claim that the show is made with such a mentality.
So... wait. What's the issue with their whole point being quite simple? I really never understood that complaint. Why can't, for once, the characters have a basic motive which is close to their hearts? It doesn't always have to be a complex plot line.
Right. The whole plan was asanine why? The people behind the experiments (at least one) were willing to kill to keep it quiet. And who would listen to two teenagers on this story? Doesn't it sound like it makes more sense to try and get the eyes and ears of the world population, so they could more easily get the story out without the interference of people involved in the project? I really expected you to go deeper into why the plan was bad, not just say it was and then leave it there.
When did the show paint them as moral? They're not heroes, and the show never made them out to be. Remember when they threatened a depressed, anti-social teenager? When they blew up a bunch of buildings? Destroyed the entire electrical infrastructure of Japan? Just because they don't wish to kill doesn't make them moral. They're clearly anti-heroes. They did a bunch of damage so they could, in their minds, bring out a story about some that were close to them. That's it, it was mainly for their gain. So no, the show clearly didn't pain them as moral.
I can agree that the show didn't have the best dialogue, but it wasn't a constant repeat of their dialogues in episode 1 and 2. There was a lot of mention of that point, but it wasn't the only thing they talked about. And really, what did you expect them to talk about?
A simple reason doesn't make sense? Why not? People have killed for less? Hell, a lot of terrorist attacks that happen in the world are for simple reasons, for once again I fail at understanding the complaint.
So because a character isn't useful when you expected her to be means she should be removed because...? By not killing her, did that not give us a little insight that 9 and 12 weren't cold blooded killers? That even for their cause they weren't able to kill? Sure, we know that they didn't kill innocents, but Lisa demonstrated that not even when they were in the way of success, that they simply would not kill. Lisa also functioned as a sort of balancing character. She was a plain, simple human. She wasn't very interesting, she didn't have a particularly great skill set, and she constantly failed at help two proficient guerilla fighters. I noticed that most of the character development was done through small touches here and there, and not outright said like in many shows. And I praise it for that. I didn't understand the characters perfectly, but since I actually paid attention to the show, I actually understood where the characters were slowly changing. They didn't change a lot or show a lot, but this did all happen over a small time frame. So once again, unless you completely ignored the parts that you complained about, I think you should be able to understand the characters.
5 I didn't quite enjoy as a character, so I can agree. She's the character that probably got the less explanation and development, and was more of a wrench in the gears since the police certainly weren't going to do anything. And the reason was explained, back at the institute, she never won against 9 in the mental games meant to test their aptitude and progression. Her plans were complex because they were never meant to be plans, or even help the FBI in anyway. She wanted to win against 9 in a /game/ key word here is game. That's why the plans many times were so needlessly complex. It was all a game. You can see in the end that out of desperation and in her weakned state, she just throws this aside and just wants a single victory before death.
Her sub plot doesn't change anything in the end? Huh. I was quite sure that because of her, they died in the end. I mean, they killed them to conceal the whole atrocities done by the FBI, and she was leading. The bomb also wouldn't have gone off if not for her. Shibazaki's obsession over the case? Also her to blame as well. Not to mention that the journey is just as important as the ending, saying "They add to the journey, but not the ending" while in this case being false, would also mean that a lot of shows need to be stripped of various parts, some of which are interesting.
Yeah. Shibazaki was obviously in equal footing. Not like everything he solved was what 9 and 12 wanted him to solve. So no, he clearly wasn't on equal footing at all.
I don't think comparing this to Death Note is fair, because it clearly isn't meant to be like Death Note at all. Here you simply had a few characters each with their own agenda. Shibazaki wanted to stop the terrorists, but was constantly played by them. five wanted to beat 9 and wasn't as much as a rival as a wrench. She didn't care about their plan, she just wanted to show that she could be as good as 9.
Uh. Maybe because five was indeed an obsessed psychopath and maybe because 9 was indeed a stoic individual which only saw her as a nuissance? I mean, why should he had regarded her as more? That's all she truly was until the end. She never demonstrated any actual care in catching them, as she could've done so efficiently several times. And 9 noticing this should've thought of her... as an efficient rival? You criticize five for having ridiculously complex but inefficient plans before criticizing 9 for not taking her more as a nuisance.
"Shibazaki is the closest thing to a real character, he is motivated by his past mistakes and his hate for nuclear terrorism. And there is weight to his actions, as he actually puts himself at risk to get the job done."
-9 and 12 were motivated by the fact that they and their comrades were used as nothing more than lab rats, to be isolated, used, and never noticed by the world. The wanted to make the world notice them and their fallen "siblings". They wanted the men who did it all to pay.
-Clearly, 9 and 12 never put themselves at risk to get the job done.
I honestly still don't understand the need for people to have characters be so liminal and obvious about their whole story and personality. I've seen people complain how a show may just think of a viewer as an idiot, and goes on to explain every little thing, some of which people would've obviously noticed. A show that leaves some things to deduction, even if not that difficult, and gets criticized for it.
Shibazaki solving the riddles got him interested in the case, which lead him to investigate other sources, which lead him to understanding who 9 and 12 were, which lead him to encounter them in the end, which lead to their objective being completed. He was never supposed to rival them, he was clearly not even close to their level. People really need to stop using Death Note as the godly frame in which any detective rivlarly should go in an anime. They never saw Shibazaki as a threat. So the whole point on how he got subverted by five is moot. He was never suppose to rival them. And he wasn't able as much as he wanted.
Saying that it felt like he didn't accomplish anything is completely subjective. And honestly, I pose a question, did he? I mean, sure he did release the whole information, and the men were brought to justice. But several buildings were destroyed, the terrorists were killed, and the whole thing was to bring light on something that would affect no one. They were trying to bring justice to people that were long gone. So did Shibazaki accomplish anything? I felt like 9 and 12 certainly did. But I felt that Shibazaki mostly failed. And why is that bad? Why is the thought that he failed bad? Isn't that life? Such things as what 9 and 12 did maybe would've made them feel accomplished for some time (if they had survived), but then never learned to enjoy the freedom they had? In GoT, for example, I won't leave specifics, but one character killed another over revenge. It didn't feel satisfying at all. Why should it? The reasons that they killed the other for had happened, and killing them changed it in no way. But it felt right, because that made sense. Just like in this situation.
I find that the show did have impact, the show did tell you what you needed to know, and in this review I felt more like you were pointing out things that weren't so much flaws, as choices you disliked. A show does not need to explain liminally every single thing about a character nor their story. Every character does not have to have huge impact or be an ultimate badass to be interesting. Shibazaki was played the entire time, I enjoyed watching him even if it were so. 5 played a game for old reasons, an obsession mainly. And it didn't feel rewarding because it wasn't. Same with the ending, depending on how you looked at it.
I found myself interested, immersed, and greatly enjoying it all. I feel that it succeeded at what it was doing. The characters all wanted different things and commited actions towards that direction. Some affected the main plot more than others, but ultimately none of them should be forced to affect it more, because none of them had the same objective as 9 and 12.
I don't find that the fault was of the show, but it simply not being your style. Which is fine, but a lot of the complaints just seemed vague and moot.
@@cokedupcat he made some good points
... i read it
That was brutal in the most epic way possible. Well done, Digi. Well done. \m/
Sorry Digi, I will have to disagree with you. While Terror in Resonance had its problems , it was still a good time with a very powerful ending. Honestly, almost every message board I've been on has been praising the ending. Yeah Lisa and 5 really had no point but I really enjoyed the two boys and Shibazaki. I wish the story could have kept to them, but I'm pretty happy with how it ended.
Never actually got around to watching this anime, but after seeing your first two videos on it, seeing this in my feed was an absolute heartbreak.
Haha, well for what it's worth, it was actually exciting for me as the weeks went by and I was hearing about how the show was going downhill, because I thought how interesting it would be if, in the end, I ended up writing about how this show started out doing everything right, and ended up doing everything wrong. That excitement did not however make it easier to sit through the rest of the show =_=
***** I can only imagine your disappointment. You must be pretty strong to have persevered through so much letting you down. I would have dropped the show as soon as I realized it wasn't as good as I thought, but then again I don't have an audience. And I suppose there is always the morbid curiosity of "How much worse can it get?" Still, I'll be crossing this anime off my list of stuff to watch. Thanks for saving me some time.
It was a great show you can go watch it!I respect digibro's opinion but this anime did not disappoint me;)
I wouldn't give the show an "A" either, but this review is too whiny. The only thing i would agree with here is the unimportance of Lisa; apart from that, this whole review sounds like the kind of exaggeration you would see in some click-bait editorial.
Its called a "critical analysis" for a reason
Yeah, and I'm giving it my own analysis.
^
I don't understand why this is unlisted, it was a very good argument and i feel that more people who watched the show can view this.
Great video and I agree completely. I know you were pretty hyped for this show after the first episode but I always kind of felt this is how the series would turn out. I've been burned way too many times when "show don't tell" ends up becoming "we actually just don't have anything to tell (or show)".
I kept telling myself that the show was great, but...
...I never _ever_ suggested it to anyone.
...I never rewatched a single episode.
...I was almost instantly put off by the ridiculousness that was Five.
...I basically only ever came back for the soundtrack. Love Yoko Kanno.
lol you keep saying "viewers" when that's just your own opinion. I enjoyed watching throughout the whole series. It was well written and I don't see why you people are complaining.
Nine used taint glass to watch the nuclear bomb which is possible, as for other people they only looked after the flash which is the only way that could cause blindness.
They gave riddles to the police because they were trying to find someone like Shibazaki, the only key that could help them get their message to the media.
You said you only learned what 9 and 12 were after at the very end, which contradicts what you said first about knowing everything from the start of the Anime.
Also the reason they did all of this is not only to expose the existence of the atomic bomb but to make the country know about the project they've been forced on them.
Who said they were noble/heroic characters? they are people who are made to suffer since their childhood. You can clearly see that all they wanted was to have a peaceful life when they were playing football/hanging around together.
That's all I'm gonna address, it's gonna take an age and I can't even take watching this video anymore, too much misunderstandings going on.
I had really high hopes for this show as well... It was what I expected to be my favorite this season, but after Five's introduction, Hamatora exceeded it by a longshot (it faintly of reminds me of Gintama, if that interests you)
I'm 4 eps into season 1 of Hamatora so far, and have been enjoying it.
***** the season 1 of hamatora is OK ... but then they did THAT ending and THAT second season and all goes to shit, also they "killed" the better character of the anime
I didn't hate season 2 as much as most people did. I did at first, but as it went on, I saw that it needed to exist, despite its many flaws.
Zee Snake i thought season 2 got worse towards the end tbh. I liked season 1 of it a fair bit. Idk I've never looked at the show critically i just enjoyed aspects of it and disliked other aapects. Though i thought the stupidest thing about the entire show was season 2's ending. Particularly a certain scene in a fairis wheel that made me think what the fuck more then anything.
I thought it got better and worse at the same time. Better, it cleverly tied up a few loose ends (in my opinion at least, I can see why people would think otherwise). Worse, a spoiler, but someone was supposed to die but someone didn't and all was forgiven. And yeah, that Ferris Wheel =/ Did flower lady just like dragging around dead bodies to ride the ride with or what? That whole scene (heck, that whole character) was annoying and pointless.
I liked the series but I can't help but share the exact same frustrations with it. It was so refreshing to hear someone else say Lisa was the most fucking useless character in existence. If I were writing her she would have become a badass villain seeing how easily they dropped their guard around her. That would've been a much better 'twist'.
genial el video
gracias por todo DigiBro
espero con ansias ver mas, tienes mucho talento, sigue asi
:3
THANK YOU SO MUCH. WHAT AN EXCELLENT REVIEW.
so.. you scored Zankyou no Terror with a 3 and K-on with a 10.
suugoii
What's wrong with K-on? Other than its moe I mean. Its pretty well done for a slice of life show so its not hard to see why it has its fans.
ReadingsteinerZ
Well, my english is not the yellow from the egg, but i will try to explain:
K-on is nonesense in my opinion. the protagonists are just eating and they won't get fat. I don't think K-on is the worst, but I personally don't like it, and i can't understand how someone can score an anime with thoughts, plot and interesting characters with a 3 and a moe anime with a daily eating-talking-singing routine with a 10. Thats what i think. tell me what you think.
***** ah im so not into anime anymore so i honestly dont care anymore xd everyone has its own kind of score-methodes and in the end there is not a thing like objective-scoring. so if someone didnt like znakyou no terror and scores it with a 3 i wont be able to understand it yet i will respect it.
***** No its completly fine dw :) Its good that u commented cuz now i can see how stupid i was to coplain others opinions and scorings xd
The show had its problems, but my reaction to the whole was definitely positive. The ending was kinda hard to swallow at first, but after a while it all started to make sense. Nine's and Twelve's desperate cry for attention, an atomic bomb exploding in Japan once again and the people involved in the human experiments getting caught in the aftermath of the explosion.
The atom bombs in the 40's were devastating and destroyed Japan morally and financially, but they also shook the country, allowing them to relfect on their past mistakes and rebuild the country a better place. The same happens in Terror, the country loses its electricity and everything is in shambles, allowing people quiet time to actually see these kids behind the terrorist attacks. That's all they needed to do. Someone had to see them, not so that they could sympathise with them, but so that people who ran the experiments could be brought to justice and the government wouldn't produce any more children like Nine and Twelve in the future.
America couldn't be bothered with a bomb threat in Japan if it meant catching these two, but a threat in US would've likely been a different matter. America has always been looking for its own profit and the benefit of its own people on international missions, so they're not assessing the situation like they would on american soil, with american citizens. America wouldn't necessarily react like this in this particular situation, but it's there to show that a country single handedly solving another country's problems isn't all it's cracked up to be.
There's a lot to talk about in Terror. It's not perfect, but "I can't say Zankyou no Terror is even slightly worth watching" is something I can disagree with confidence.
Thank you man. You captured my very thoughts on the show as a whole. It is an absolute waste of time. Hell, even going back and rewatching it knowing their motives wouldn't make me care because as you said, their dialogues are always the same and amount to nothing.
I tried to give it a chance do to the first two episodes being really well animated, and directed; so, I lasted few episodes before I stopped giving a shit. The soundtrack is quite amazing though.
Wow, scathing criticism borne out of severe disappointment. That's what I like :3
After episode 2 you could imagine what the intention of planting bombs was. There were only two options : 1. Revenge 2. Showing the world what happend in Japan. So you didn't need any patience.
And I'm sure their actions were explained by shibazaki in the last episode, they were not out to kill many, they wanted the world to be aware of what happened when they were growing up, how they felt alone, how the others just like them died. I guessed they 'Hoped' they would succeed at it, they hoped for change. 9 left Shibazaki to make sure it happened, so their actions were not in vain. P.s and with Lisa there, though she had less of a development as a character she played huge role in their lives, especially in Twelve's :)
You have earned my respect Digibro. Keep it up!
My interpretation of their "purpose" was drastically different than yours and I think this was a large part of why I was able to feel a deep emotional connection to 9 and 12 at the end in particular: Their mission was not to expose the government, it was to expose themselves--to prove to a world that had shut them away and unnamed them that these two people existed, for however short a time. It seems so stereotypically the goal of every young person, to leave some sort of mark on the world, and it's one that I empathize with and find worthwhile. Most people have a family and a longer life in which they can make an impression, but in the absence of these, every action 9 and 12 have done previous to their acts of terrorism have been a shout into the void, completely unnoticed. That's why they needed Shibasaki, so that he could carry on the task of exposing the existence of the children after their deaths. They wanted the world to know that they and the other forgotten children had an existence, and with this goal in mind, yes, I did think their actions were in a way noble. It also made me think about the ephemeral nature of a single life and how there is beauty and tragedy in that fact. So...yeah, very different interpretation!
***** Yeah they definitely played out the "mystery box" gimmick to the extreme, I just found that there was something at least a little unexpected inside the box rather than nothing at all
Probably if you knit together the first few episodes and a bit of the last (and took out five entirely) you'd have a great standalone story
*****
If you think it was 80% filler, you didn't understand the point of the arcs at all...
just saw this finale and I kinda agree. Soundtrack and animation direction was top notch but its character writing really let it down. at least it was only 10 episodes, a different animation studio team would've padded the thing for 26.
Sam Weth It's kinda rare for an original anime to get 26 eps these days, especially in this genre, but the stuff that Bee Train made in the early 2000s is basically like what this would be if they padded it out to that length (only with none of the high production values).
Yes, the things the show did do right were the music and animation. The other stuff should have been left out, like Five's involvement in the story.
is it just me or do you think there were production problems? Usually when a project like this is all over the map in quality, there's usually some behind the scenes trouble. same thing happened to the walking dead. that's gone through 4 different show runners.
The fact that the show had 4 writers, all of whom seem pretty inexperienced (two only have this show credited to their name) probably has something to do with it.
***** You think with proper writing, and given a twenty two episode slot with consistent animation and maybe more music from Kanno at this level, would it have been better?
I still go at a critical standpoint by saying this is a 8.0 on average from everything it portrays and what it had to compete in.
BUT!
I say minus two or even three BECAUSE of the writing and character development. It can be vastly distracting and if you rip this a new one like you have, you see there are flaws. So, 5.0-8.0. Without Enjoyment involved. And this show isn't perfect. I only rate it high as an individual and analyzing the smallest moments to make sense bu if you really don't care about the show, would you care about the characters or what's going on?
All in all, great, memorable anime of 2014 but obviously own flaws despite great directing and musical component by Kanno. Will it be remembered? Eh, time will tell. This is a B average anime but again, subjectivity changes from one mind to another and you have every right to express yourself.
Really excellent review. I am curious which anime series you did enjoy this season? To be honest anime tends to have weak writing. Very few shows have excellent writing, while hundreds have writing that is barely above American Cartoons. The main difference I notice between most bad writing shows (Fairy Tail, No Game No Life, ZnT, Guilty Crown etc.)....Well boobs and/or extreme violence.
There are plenty of well-written shows with boobs (Ghost in the Shell, etc.) and extreme violence (Psycho-Pass, etc.). In any case, my favorites of the season were Space Dandy Season 2, Barakamon, and Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun.
***** Already watched Psycho-Pass, but I'll check out Ghost in the Shell, and Nozaki-kun. I dropped Space Dandy just because I couldn't get into it.
Edward Lopez
A word of warning; Ghost in the Shell is not a very engagingly written show unless you already have an interest in futuristic dystopia with solid believable scifi logic. It is, however, similar to Cowboy Bebop in that if you have the attention and patience to let yourself become absorbed into the world it becomes very fulfilling and the attention not put into making the show gripping in the way most shows and games are designed to do in the first 5min only serve to make the whole thing more meaningful in the end and a story/world you feel better for having known.
Kassidar
Really? I always saw Bebop as easy viewing, at some points to enhance the viewing you had to pay attention to every word, but on the whole was enjoyable fun that anyone can get into.
CornishCreamtea07
That's how i found it but some people seemed very bored to get into it after the first 2 episodes.
Hey, my MAL review is in this.
Great analysis, you got a new subscriber.
Yeah I agree with pretty much everything you've said, though I did enjoy the show and it did pretty much every else right I was watching this show thinking it would be psychologically in depth and thinking the reason it was holding out on the info was because they were going to mind fuck us over at the end like usual is these types of shows, but really it was simple logic. To be fair, this is not an easy genre to do well in, but considering the people behind it this should of gone a lot better.
I just don't understand how this team and this budget got thrown at this script.
Agreed. When I think about it...the show is ridiculous. The part with Five ended abruptly, and the terrorist plot was flawed. I mean, we already knew what was going on from the first boring episodes, so the Athena plan was never truly a mystery.
Also, Lisa is more of a device for Twelve. I mean, really.
I completely agree here. I really liked the first episodes, and got just was waiting for reveals to come, but when they were finally there, I felt like it didn't actually matter.
YES. Yes to all of this. Thank you.
100% with you, Digi. I though the setpiece on the ferris wheel was cool, and the first two episodes had me really excited, but other than that, "A show without a soul" is a pretty apt description. The pedigree of its creators got me to watch it, but this ain't no cowboy bebop.
The ferris wheel scene was cool, but I'm pretty sure it was entirely the music that made it work. That was legit one of the best pieces of BGM I've heard in anime this year.
100% agree, thank you based Digi. I finished watching this morning and I've been carrying this anger + disappointment around in my gut that this video helped release. I've never before seen such a fantastic first episode give way to such a fuck-up of a show.
I really enjoyed the show, but hit that like button because I like getting that unfiltered opinion, baby!
This review from 9 years ago was so useful i watched the show and felt empty at the end it was so disappointing
Woah. This was like the complete reverse from your other vids about this.
I think I'll wait for the season to complete then.
Last time I got to ep 2 and stopped there.
I would say that Zankyou no Terror is a typical popcorn anime but one that is done right (at least in terms of directing). It averts many of the generic anime cliches and presents its action sequences in a well animated light.
Despite this I was pretty disappointed. We don't seem to get any of the motivations for any of the characters and the mindgames were just really badly handled. It relied way too much on the rule of cool that it lost its sense of direction in terms of its plot. I still give it a 6.5/10 because I enjoyed it XD. Aldnoah Zero was a much bigger disappointment.
I would recommend this though just to show people how much of a great director Watanabe is. And Yoko Kanno was phenomenal in this.
Also this, Samurai Flamenco? Guilty Crown? Gailei Donna? Final episode of Ano Hana? Are trainwrecks becoming a trend in Noitamina now? Only Psycho Pass so far has won me over but even that was inconsistent.
Zankyou failed in terms of story and characters (not enough development) but succeeded in terms of portraying a very well directed thriller.
Noitamina's trainwrecks come from the experimental nature of it. That said, there have been a LOT of great noitamina shows, I can give a list if you want.
Oh gosh, Anohana's last episode felt so...odd, looking back on it from years ago.
But yeah, I understand why you were disappointed with this show. One thing I would have enjoyed is the characters being more developed, especially Nine. Five felt added in to make the characters go on crazy ass chases and to add suspense. Lisa, while having a background that could have been expanded much more, never did and was used more as shipping and characterization for Twelve. Hell, Twelve was my favorite, but even his character wasn't written well.
true, just because shows air on noitamina doesn't mean they'll be good due to how it's shows shortly cut episode length and the at times lack of execution of the original ideas that most of these shows try to present. However, they shows usually feel at the very least original and there are actually quite a few good shows that aired on that block such as:
The Tatami Galaxy
Shiki
Bunny Drop
Honey and Clover
Nodame Cantabile
Silver Spoon
Katanagatari
Kids on the Slope
Tsuritama
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
Ping Pong
Very informative video. Thank you.
Curious, what other anime messageboards are there aside from /a/ and myanimelist? Those formats were the only ones I recognized.
100% agree. Great animation and atmosphere and music, but it's all wasted on flat protagonists, absurd riddles, ridiculous antagonists and a predictable plot... but I can't say I was ever bored or angry, just disappointed. I imagine it could have been amazing if it was more focused as a 6 episode OVA, especially without the whole Five subplot. I'm tempted to rate it 5/10 as exceedingly average, but the technical achievements bump it up to a barely 6/10 for me.
Thank god someone who fucking gets it. Every time i mention this problems everyone tells me i'm nit picking, or that i should stop watching it blah blah etc. (the usual shit). People seem to overlook the flaws just because they enjoyed it a lot. Thank you for making this video.
Seriously on point review. You very eloquently put to words all the frustrations I've with the series but I couldn't quite articulate. I think we can all agree that Zankyou no Terror could've been a masterpiece, but it wasn't nearly as self-conscious as it should've been and it tried way too hard to be what it didn't have the storywriting capacity for. That said, the soundtrack and animation were enough to keep me ploughing through those episodes, and I'd say they keep me from completely regretting investing time in the series. I'd give it a 6/10.
*applauds because this hits my feelings on the head* By the end of the series I felt like not only did they not give us one solid message to understand the motivations of the protagonists (was it to expose the testing center they were in or was it to "wake up" japan and change how society view itself and the world) but by the end nothing had changed between pre and post 12 and 9. The show literally had no point because it didn't thoroughly explore any of the points it showed throughout the series and nothing was different as a result of the events that had happened.
This show has flaws, as you pointed out, especially in the story department. A few unexplained things, lots of people complaining about 5 (I personally didn't mind her), but I don't think it's as bad as you make it be.
Even with its flaws though, this is on my top 5 favorite anime. Even knowing the flaws it has, it was one of the best experiences I've had, and that's what a work of fiction needs to create. An amazing experience.
Thank you, Watanabe, for this work of art.
The animation and music kept me going with this show. Now that I really think about it, I wonder what it'd be like if those factors weren't as amazing. I can imagine how unengaged I would be....
Watching it was more of a treat for my eyes, not so much thought.
I agree with most of what you said.
I didn't give a shit about any of the character's especially 9 & 12.their relationship with Liza(who apparently likes to befriend terrorists) was very forced. and the romance between her and 12 came out of nowhere and didn't make any sense.
I wasn't interested in the story as you can guess most of it since the first episode, I mean the Orphanage/human experiment/revenge thing.
5 was there just to fill in the one dimensional villain character,she didn't even have a purpose.and what's up with the airport episodes?!she causally tried to drive an airplane filled with bombs into the airport.and the show went on like nothing happened.
My thoughts exactly. Bravo.
While Zankyou no Terror fails at being psychological because none of the mindset of the characters where truly challenged apart from 12 with the love interest. I thought it was a nicely paced thriller. It explores the concept of morality than the characters itself. The biggest issue I had with the series was 5 cause she was kinda confusing.
Apart from that - 8/10. I let my engagement to a series help with rating it than some technichal mumbo jumbo talk.
Man what a missed opportunity this show was. So much potential squandered. It started off so good that only a complete nosedive could have killed my enthusiasm for it, and going by the talent involved I didn't think it would have been even remotely possible for anything close to that to happen. But sadly a nosedive is what we got. A great example of how technical excellence (music, direction, animation ect) means nothing when it isn't in service of a good story or good characters. If this show proved anything it's that Shinichiro Watanabe isn't the infallible anime genius many of us thought he was (or maybe he just put all his effort into Space Dandy instead of this. If that's his excuse I'll allow it).
I love Zankyou no Terror (till now, because of the great directing, exposition and, yes, because of the mystery box) B U T, I do agree with with this analyzation. The show obviously had a great and somewhat unique beginning but the rest says that it never left the starting line. Factors for variety like new characters and new situations were simply used to disguise the repetitive, and thus tiring, flow. Bits of information where given, but they were already easy to work together that the conclusion didn't pack much of a punch. More like an "'Oh... okay... ' Moment".
Fun fact: It didn't lose the audiance and never failed.
Bruh this shit bomb as fuck
Your picture doesn't fit with your comment at all.
Common cats got no shit on the spice herbs foo
Daniel Quach LMAO, WTF are you talking about? I'm dying here.
There will be no end to the troubles of states, or of humanity itself, till philosophers become kings in this world, or till those we now call kings and rulers really and truly become philosophers, and political power and philosophy thus come into the same hands.
Daniel Quach Endless comedy. I give you a thumbs up.
I just have one thing to say. I agree that there was really nothing much going on in the show. But it is precisely this emptiness that captivated me. Somehow, simple decisions like choosing to save Lisa over exposing the location of their (was it a bomb? I forgot) was realistic and enough to move me. And the ending whereby we see the characters die for no reason was also enough to tug at heart strings. Somehow, I feel attached to the two characters even though they were not as 'well-developed' as you expected them to be.
This anime is beautiful and artistic because of its simplicity. After all, we all lead simple lives too. So it makes this anime really realistic and relatable. Things don't always have to be flashy and complicated to be worthy of attention.
If so, then are you to say that people who lead normal simple lives find no value and meaning in it?
Humans are simple beings who act on our own emotions. So I think there is nothing wrong with trying to portray us handling the raw emotions that frame our everyday lives.
Any chance you could do a analysis on the Monster manga (or anime)?
I'm so glad you made this. I could tell it was hollow by ep 2. It's so hard to care about the players on the field.
It's sort of funny that I decided to watch this show after stumbling upon your first analysis of it. You made it sound great and quite refreshing. As I was watching it, I found some comments on other videos mentioning your "3/10 score" for Terror in Resonance and was... intrigued. At the time I really couldn't fathom a score that low, and in some aspects I still don't. This video did however articulate some of my feelings on the show, despite evidently enjoying it more than you. I agree with basically everything you said, I just wasn't bothered with it as much. Anyway, I watched the show, was reasonably enjoying it, but I kept kind of... forgetting about it? I don't really think the show is boring per say, it just didn't grab me. And I think it's because other than looking good and handling well certain things anime typically sucks at there's not a lot really going on. I can't shake the feeling that with some changes in focus, the core concepts and story in this show could have been great, along with it's already excellent presentation.
I totally agree about wasted character interactions. Honestly, Shibizaki and his carb friend had more diverse conversations than Nine and Twelve. But I think it was partially up to us as the viewers to fill in the blanks; we were given enough foundation to be able to understand what kind of friendship existed between the two boys and their connection with Lisa. Still kinda annoyed Lisa went from being a likable character to a typical female anime trope but I didn't feel as let down as you over this series - the overall theme and story is too poignant for me to hate.
Was trying to decide between picking this up really quick or continuing to watch gintama. Thanks for this review, im off to go watch episode 21 with the odd jobs crew.
Gold Rush Gintama is perfect, I wish I'd made the same decision.
***** You walked the path that we might not have to. Thanks Digibro :D
I definitely agree with the review but I still found the series enjoyable to some extent in the sense that I still wanted to know what would happen in the end (Yeah, I got caught by the Mystery Box). And while the ending was totally unsatisfying for me, seeing how it all unfold was something that made me invested in the series. Curiously, I had made the Deathnote comparison on your episode 3 video and saying that it was most probable that the show would go that route and it totally reminded me of the the 2nd half of it where it went totally overboard.
Now, I don't think the series problem relies on the characters and the plot development itself, I think it's more of a length problem. I think you kinda addressed it in the video but I think that was ZnT biggest flaw. It would've worked better as a movie or even a short OVA, but dunno what made the studio and director make it 11 episodes.
In the end, was ZnT a disappointment? Yes.
Was it entirely bad? Maybe, but that's on the eye on the beholder. But it did some things right and hopefully we can see another studio try this idea and probably make it better.
As for the soundtrack, OMG IT'S GODLY.
Wow, I actually loved the ending, it seemed tragic, and nine and twelve were tragic hero's, almost reminds me of guilty crown, the ending was very sad, and that's why I enjoyed it, I thought keeping a shot of the bridge and then it starting to show feathers was really powerful,
It wasnt all about the fuckin mystery, the thing that was likeable was the cleverness of the anime, and I like how nine and twelve actually risked their lives to make sure people werent killed by them. a lot of the story revolved around the outsmarting of each other. and it isnt like its the first anime which lets you wait long to know the reasons, heck some animes are being kept up by that, for instance Ergo Proxy leaves you waiting for a long time as well, but its still good. you just gotta have patience
Watching this and hearing how you mentioned that the soundtrack was one thing that saved the anime, it reminded me of Guilty Crown. I'm curious, what's your take on it?
Totally agree with you Digi. I don't quite get why some people are still defending this series although I'll admit that the art direction and the OST were absolutely stellar. Really thought this was going to be something outstanding, but, boy, was I wrong and it really saddens me. Watanabe definitely needs to work with better writers.
***** The show that was the biggest let down for me was Samurai Flamenco. The first six episodes were 5/5 awesome, then it became pure crap (each episode from then one I give less than 0 to). After episode 15 I've given up on it ever recovering.
I have a video on Flamenco on this channel. I overall didn't hate the show, but my opinion on it kinda changed just as often as the show did.
Totally agree. I was desperately hoping that they'd take that new angle and play it off the initial themes, but it never really happened.
I believe your wrong yes maybe you need patience but it's a short series and at the end everything is reviled and yes the ending did make sense they did those bombings so they get attention and no one could ignore them and how they did it was so perfectly done no one died
no but they set it up so you kind of got to know them and did it in a manner so that when he got arrested they would listen to him.
Hey Digi, sorry if you already answered this but what did you think of the opening? Are you a fanboy or do you think it's overhyped (or were underwhelmed?) (Personally I was underwhelmed but it grew on me.) Nice review, I always enjoy hearing your comments. (:
I thought the opening was alright. Not my favorite Kanno OP by any stretch though.
I can imagine. The Sakamichi no Apollon opening is nice. Thanks for responding, by the way!! We really appreciate our senpais who take the time to talk to their lowly fans. *^*
Man, I was really rooting for this anime as I was watching it. I thought Shinichiro Watanabe could do no wrong, and with the setup that it had, it looked fantastic.
But as it went on I started feeling that something was off. I wasn't really enjoying it a lot at all and didn't know what the point or end-game of any of it was. The characters started off well but went nowhere. Five is such an unbelievably ridiculous character that I started hating every moment dedicated to her and her plot.
And when the ending came around I felt a huge void and absolute dissatisfaction within me. I didn't want to believe it, but I truly felt like I didn't enjoy it.
I wanted to believe that I had watched a masterpiece, because surely all that potential couldn't have miserably went out the window as I felt it did, right? Well, it did. This anime was just a whole lot of nothing.
You've pretty much encapsuled my feelings on the anime as I was watching it. I've never felt this conflicted watching an anime before; I wanted it to be great, a masterpiece of our time! But it wasn't, it was just not good. FUCK. ;_;
I commented as well on Watanabe. I believe he can do no wrong, but only if he is patient. The anime seemed rushed and as if he attempted to fit his vision into a small picture frame.
Digibro. After watching your "Art Is All About Pressing Your Buttons" video, I think this might be one of those cases where you just overreact and start picking a show apart for everything negative you can possibly find to try to confirm the initial disappointment you had with it.
In doing that you present your "Critical Analysis" way out of proportion and don't give enough credit to all the positive aspects the show had. I'm not suggesting that your criticisms with this show aren't legit; a lot of them are indeed objectively correct in such a way as to go beyond mere opinion.
I'm just saying that you might have exaggerated quite a bit. Maybe in a few weeks, a little bit of emotional distance from it, you'll look at it differently.
Because IMO - despite its obvious flaws - ZnT still deserves to be mentioned among the best crafted anime seasons this year.
I completely and totally disagree. I did not enjoy a single episode or scene in the show from episodes four through eleven, so I can't say that I felt it had any redeeming qualities other than the music and visuals which, as I said, couldn't dress up what amounted to an atrocious script. I don't really see anything out of proportion about this video.
*****
Maybe it comes down to expectation. Lets be honest, Watanabe-san was never really a "story-guy". The storytelling qualities of his shows often depended on the writing staff that he worked with. I knew that beforehand and didn't really expect ZnT to excel in the story department because of it. I mean, from your videos about the first episodes it becomes quite clear that you put big hopes on this show. Maybe that's why I wasn't as disappointed with the later episodes as you were, despite noticing the flaws you mentioned. I just watched it as every other regular show and was quite pleased with it.
Of course it's all opinion. At the end of the day, objective flaws have only so much to do with whether or not you personally like a show or not.
T. Miir It's true that his shows aren't usually narrative-driven. They're usually driven by themes, symbolism, or aesthetic. This show had no themes or symbolism, and the aesthetic isn't as interesting as his direct homages to different styles have been in the past. It has none of the things that make a Watanabe show good, nor any qualities of a good show to replace them.
*****
Yup. But I knew that already. I guess I just have to count myself fortunate to belong to the group of people whose buttons were pushed enough of the time to actually enjoy it.
***** I couldn't agree more on the existence of the social and political symbolism, but I just don't think that fits with the way that ***** viewed this show. I think it just comes down to how the first few episodes set up your expectations. If you felt set up for a deep critical commentary on the nature of terrorism and expected super fleshed out characters with compelling writing, you were probably disappointed like him. If you just looked forward to an emotional experience, awesome artistic merit, and riveting moments, then you were fulfilled beyond belief. You can also look into the political, social, and moral symbolism more if that is the case. Clearly here as seen in this video and the previous "This show had no themes or symbolism" comment, the perspective ***** had was probably the former.
This whole series was like one long episode of Cowboy Bebop ...minus any likable characters to carry it. Basically is was filled with the one note side characters just right for the episodic storytelling of Bebop. But for a whole series not so much.
I getcha. In fact, it's like if you took the Cowboy Bebop movie and removed the Bebop characters, so it's just a movie about Vincent and that one lady, and there's no awesome fight at the end. Just an empty feeling that you've just wasted a few hours.
Shit...he's right. Goddamit, he's right...FAAACK! Oh well, guess I'll just listen to this OST as usual and rewatch Deathnote, now that you mentioned it :)
Gotta love those pointless crowbarred-in love interests.
whoa. You really laid into it, Digi.
Was it because this series had such a strong start that the disappointment was so bitter?
I really liked Shibazaki as a character, I pretty much can safely say that I watched the show entirely because of him. You're right, as I was watching this, the anime just really didn't have a soul, it was just a series of events that happened and gimmicks. It could of been SO MUCH MORE. It had pretty great visuals, but again, in the end, nothing really added up to much, and it felt like a waste, almost.
I agree entirely to this critique, though I would say it's worth watching, albeit only for the kickass soundtrack and visuals.
Spur of the moment decided to rewatch Death Note earlier this week, after watching this I feel like it was fate telling me not to waste time with ZNT
I mean i'm still going to give it a shot but atleast fate was telling me something
This was definitely a harsh critic. But I think it kinda opened my eyes a little. Even if I really liked the show in the beginning and had high hopes for it, I somehow got the feeling I've been let down midway. Mainly after Five appeared. I don't think it was as bad as you described it, though.
There is an anime I thought that felt similar, but I forgot which one it was. But it's like, I'm watching the show not to "find out" the "ultimate truth" or something, but just to observe. Without an actual reason why I do so.
This obviously results in me not waiting every second what's gonna happen in the next episode (Actually stopped watching a few episodes in, and finished it when it was fully aired.), but let's me take my time in watching it. My sometimes weird tastes may be the reason for it, too.
No, I'm not saying this is an actual "great" anime. But at least for me, I found it more worthwhile to watch than some other ones I've seen recently (or actually even dropped, which happens rarely).
Though the plot turned out to be shitty, I think the things you liked about this show- the exposition, soundtrack, and cinematography, are things the show excels at above most other series. I think the show is worth a watch for those things.
Honestly, I liked the show completely. It was... in a really weird way, sweet.
Yah... Sweet. What I took out of this is that even the most complicated actions, plans and settings can have a level of innocence behind them. Right from the beginning, you got that feeling of genuine kindness from a group of terrorists.
I think you should stop looking at this from a 'thriller/mystery' kind of light. It's not. It's something I've never really seen before.
Its sweet. :)
My opinion to your review is totally opposite , tbh . I really liked the beginning and the ending was totally perfect and touching . That's all i needed . To have a lot of questions and answers at the end .
My fav anime from this season , even though I expected Tokyo Ghoul to be first on my list from this season of anime .
Also Five was absolutely amazing, actually . Psychos always make everything in anime/movies/tvshows/games better .
Also for me , main characters were really interesting . Anyway, your opinion is your opinion . Mine is mine . Not gonna judge . Honestly i think you're not right and that's it .
That sucks, I think i'll give this show a look at to see what you mean. It certainly looks pretty, and if the music is as good as you say it is than I'm up for it.
I think that when the end showed up, It completed the series.
Ow. Just ow, Digi. I admit I stopped watching after episode 4, when I realized all of the episodes were the same fucking thing, but I still appreciate what good the show brought to the table. Maybe next summer will have something better.
FWIW there were great shows this summer. Space Dandy Season 2 (from the same director!), Barakamon, and Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun just to name a few.
***** Have you had a chance to watch Blue Blazes yet?
Yup, I've got a video on it coming out soon!
***** Yep, those are the best shows of the season by far. Overall, this wasn't a great season in my opinion, but at least we got a few good shows.
Will you do a video on Aldnoah.Zero? I don't quite understand why so many people like the show even though overall it was very underwhelming and unexciting other than one little scene at the very end. It had an extremely heavy handed way of delivering its "messages" as well. Are people just still blinded by the hype?
I dropped it after 2 episodes. Thought it was atrociously written, and everything I've heard about it as it's gone alone seems to reaffirm that.
Completely disagree with this. I enjoyed this series and i liked the ending.It wasn't some super amazing blockbuster sensation of a series but i liked the way it was presented.Yeah it's a simple mystery , so what ? The way you talk sounds like you had expectations for a Huge and Awesome secret that will bring about great change and will be nothing anyone ever expected ... I enjoyed every episode and it really bothers me how you completely turn and bash it with things like "horrific trainwreck" , why do you have go to that extent ? Just say what sides you liked and what you didn't there is no reason to start hating on it just because YOU don't like it.I enjoyed some of your videos but you go too far when you are being negative about a series.
I didn't expect it to be life-changingly awesome, I just expected it to be not shit. I expected it to make sense, to actually tell a story and have characters who weren't completely one-note. To maybe have some kind of theme or communicate anything of worth at all. It did none of that. Why go to such an extent? Because that's how I feel. The logic that I shouldn't say what I feel because it's me who feels that way is completely nonsensical.
I don't get this type of comment. His job is to watch something, and then tell us why that thing caused certain emotions in him. If this show disappointed him to the point of anger, I want to hear him rationalize the disappointment, which he did.
And yes, generally a mystery show is expected to have a good twist at the end. Hence the "mystery" part of the word "mystery". Deathnote wasn't even really a mystery show, and it threw in plot twists left and right.
Yo Digibro you plan on doing a critical analysis on fate zero?
Ouch, that hurt mine and watanabae's feelings
And lots of hate and condescension for Digi in the comments.
Terrific.
Sounds like Lost; 4 episodes and I was upset at the waste of time it was; how it had just kept piling up mysteries while the characters acted dumb. knowing about how the end didn't satisfy anyone, I could still project that the show would just keep leading people on. Falling skies does the same thing.
Well I disagree,and the majority of those who have watched the anime are saying good things about it! I don't know about the picture you showed but on myanimelist the majority of the reviews are 8-10/10,and other reviewers consider this anime of the season, I agree that it had some flaws but this video was pointless,this anime series did not disappoint the viewers!!!
It obviously disappointed me, and a number of those commenting on this video. It's been getting dumped on by /a/ pretty consistently ever since the intro of Five, and especially so after the ending. I think there's definitely a pretty big number of people disappointed by the show, even if it isn't everyone.
From what I see this series was not a disappointment, as I said I see more people telling good things for it(again myanimelist:p), of course it was not perfect and I respect your opinion,but you are judging it way too hard.
I don't feel I'm judging it too hard. I feel others are judging it too softly. But of course it's all a matter of opinion, hence the entire point of writing reviews.
Whatever bro,I just wanted to tell that there is not a lot of people disappointed from this anime as you think!well keep up the good job
Gian gerd I thought that there were a lot of people who were disappointed? Most not quite to the extent that Digi was but very disappointed nonetheless.
you are so rrright ! :D
you pointed out exactly the thibgs wrong with the series ^-^
The point of the terrorist attacks being non-fatal is defined by Detective Shibazaki at the end, when nine is holding a detonator threatening the U.S. Should they kill people, their message and their suffering in the Athena Project/facility will be washed away and shoved under the rug because they will be branded murderers, and that's all people will see them as. Their riddles were elaborately planned so that Shibazaki could pinpoint their motive, it was because of their precise bomb targeting that Shibazaki was able to determine a common denominator between Nine and Twelve's actions, and the individuals who were directors/contributors in this mysterious 'Athena Project'. Nothing about their terrorists attacks were random despite being non-fatal.
The point of nine and twelve's characters was to show society what the government had robbed from them personally, and what they were doing underneath the public's nose. The drugs they were given drastically shortened their life-span as five indicated, they would live to be as old as nineteen/twenty if they were lucky. They were taken from orphanages and experimented on, in which 90%+ of them died without anyone knowing anything, or caring much about it; and for that they wanted retribution. Nothing gets people's serious attention like 'acts' of terrorism.
Naturally, it seems like a solid choice,gaining attention, while simultaneously putting Japan in the spotlight for their nuclear activities that were unknown to the rest of the global community. The series is not flawless by any means, and I too did find the majority of the characters static,one-dimension, or completely questionable as far as relevance, but their actions are straight-forward. I think the last episode was the most dynamic one, showing multiple sides of the characters that were concealed through-out the series; breaking that flat, monotone treadmill.. That in a different light, they could be normal and even happy.
I enjoyed the series but it's not my absolute favorite. Sorry for the long post, it's just an opinion and could be wrong from start to finish.
I'm kind of surprised by this, I haven't followed discussions on the show, but from what I'm heard people any about it was that they really liked it. I don't think the show was a mystery show, it was about the journey, a common trait amongst Watanabes works. Samurai Champloo for instance mostly forgo the main plot for 1 off stories, and while this didn't it liked to add sidestories.
Some of the questions you asked were answered in the show. 5 saw the chess game she started with 9 as the only worthwhile thing in her entire live, I put down most of her actions to her being mentally unstable. Their purpose was to expose the illegal research, which did happen at the end.
I find it interesting that you episode 1 is the only episode worth watching. I agree with your overall analysis of the show and don't personally find the series as a whole to be that enjoyable. But I find episode 4 to be the best episode in the show. The motorcycle scene was phenomenal and in my opinion the best scene in the series. I've shown just episode 4 (nothing prior) to several friends and they found it to be very impressive. What didn't you like about episode 4 and particularly the motorcycle scene?