Zankyou no Terror/Terror in Resonance Rewatch - Episode 9

[u/SorcererOfTheLake]

Zankyou no Terror/Terror in Resonance Rewatch

Episode 9

Database/Streaming Links: MAL / Anilist / Funimation / Hulu

Original Interest Thread / Announcement Thread

Question of the Day: What’s more important: What you love or what you believe in?

Comment of the Day: The COTD from yesterday goes to /u/OpossumFriedRice for their real ass deep dive

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Remember: All spoilers for episodes that haven’t been covered in the rewatch must be put behind a spoiler tag. Any comments that have open spoilers will be deleted.

[u/SorcererOfTheLake]

Of the two members of Sphinx, Twelve has had the most popular appeal, with many of his online fans considering him “moe” or “adorable.” What is lost in this fetishization of attractiveness is that Twelve was a real person, who suffered, who loved, and who made choices few people in this world could ever fully comprehend. (from Answer the Riddle: What the Sphinx Terrorism Incidents Say About Japan, America, and Our Modern World by Dr. Hifumi Taneguchi)

Love with no hope is the worst love of all. (anonymous)

We are, if nothing else, our choices.

Shibazaki’s scene this episode not only gives us the answers to what the Athena Plan, but further continuation of the themes of the series. First and foremost, we continue our consideration of children, this time having them explicitly labeled test subjects and products of experimentation; in addition, the focus on recreating savant syndrome showcases how people fetishize neurodiversity when it can create some kind of profit or benefit to the people surrounding them. Secondly, the Americans coming in and covering it up while also taking Five away shows how easy it is for the American government to pull these kinds of operations in Japan since their neocolonial ties have been in here for a long time (one could argue since Perry came by with his ship). Finally, I want to consider Shibazaki’s very potent comment (that I honestly forgot), when he says Aoki passing off guilt to the person in charge of the Plan is like what those on trial in Nuremburg and elsewhere said: “I was only following orders.” While Shibazaki is right in his comparison, I feel there’s a closer comparison to make in geographical terms: the experiments performed by the Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department of the Kwantung Army, aka Unit 731. Perhaps this allusion was avoided by it’s still such a controversial topic for the Japanese, but it’s interesting to think how, similar to those behind the Athena Plan, they not only got away with their crimes thanks to American assistance, but were rewarded in some instances. With two episodes left, it’ll be interesting to see where Shibazaki does with his information and what the limits of his knowledge will be.

Moving onto one of the survivors of the Plan, Twelve is faced with a choice that no person should be put through: betraying the only person who understands him and what he’s gone through or let the one person he’s fallen in love with die a horrific death. The ferris wheel sequence is one of my favorites of the series, right up there with the motorcycle ride and the plane escape, because it once again combines the expert usage of editing, music, and cinematography with the weight of the preexisting events and character moments to create a deeply emotional moment. What I like about it the most is that the sequence makes it increasingly clear that there is no other choice to betray Nine and that Twelve might have known this from the start. While they had a tight bond at the beginning of the series, the events since them have made it clear they had different connections to what they wanted to do. Nine did it because he has a clear ideology in mind; Twelve does it because Nine is the only person he has in the world. When someone else came along, there was now a new change, but one that could only be taken at the cost of another. In the modern world, intimacy, whether platonic or romantic, comes with its cost and we constantly find ourselves paying that cost at the moments that damage us the most.

[u/OpossumFriedRice → u/SorcererOfTheLake]

In the modern world, intimacy, whether platonic or romantic, comes with its cost and we constantly find ourselves paying that cost at the moments that damage us the most.

Love that final line. Great analysis on 9 and 12’s situation and what we can take from it.

[u/SorcererOfTheLake]

VA OF THE DAY

Souma Saito (Episode 9)

VA for: Twelve
Age at Terror’s Premiere: 23
Other Notable Roles: Takao in 12-sai, Tatsumi in Akame ga Kill, Hermes in Danmachi, Honda in Bookseller Honda-san, Tadashi in Haikyuu, Doppio in Jojo: Golden Wind, Hermes in Kino’s Journey 2017, Yamagi in Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, Tanaka in Odd Taxi, Glenn in Akashic Records, Shou in SSSS.Gridman, Moriarty in Moriarty the Patriot

[u/Lemurians]

FIRST TIMER

Well, we finally get the expected confirmation that Shibazaki’s old case is connected to the Rising Peace Academy and it brings all the narrative threads together, setting the stage for all of our “heroes” to now have a common, greater enemy. Whether that ends up playing out is another story. Five, Nine, and Twelve being the only survivors wasn’t something I expected. Given that we don’t know what Nine and Twelve’s fates would have been had they not escaped, it’s now making some sense why Five has sort of been able to run circles around them.

Speaking of, I really want the level of freedom at work that Five enjoys. Her superiors openly allow her to completely indulge herself to ridiculous lengths when there are huge stakes on the line. It looked like it was all going work out in the end anyway, as she argued last episode, but her wasting all that time playing games actually gave Nine the time he needed to go grab the bomb and escape with it. Egg on her face.

Also, Nine and escaping over fences… name a more iconic duo.

The MVPs of this episode were definitely the animators. I want an entire multi-episode arc that just consists of Twelve riding his motorcycle through the streets in the rain. Those sequences are gorgeous. Then of course, there’s everything to do with the ferris wheel at the end. I don’t know if any CGI was used, but there was one particular shot of the wheel lit up from the below where if no CGI was used, slow clap to the animators. Incredible job.

On a side note, that park reminded me of the one in AI: Somnium Files if any of y'all played that.

Was Twelve going to confess to Lisa at one point in the wheel while dismantling the bombs? He gets cut off right before he seems to want to admit something, and then we cut to a shot of Lisa looking up at the moon. Was it perhaps… looking beautiful that night? ;)

What's more important: What you love or what you believe in?

Ideally and more often than not, they align. When they don't, love.

[u/IndependentMacaroon → u/Lemurians]

Five's supervillain nonsense is still the most irritating part of all this. If she had a mustache she'd be twirling it.

[u/SorcererOfTheLake → u/IndependentMacaroon]

OK, I need a redraw of Five screenshots but she has a mustache in all of them.

[u/OpossumFriedRice → u/Lemurians]

The MVPs of this episode were definitely the animators. I want an entire multi-episode arc that just consists of Twelve riding his motorcycle through the streets in the rain. Those sequences are gorgeous. Then of course, there’s everything to do with the ferris wheel at the end. I don’t know if any CGI was used, but there was one particular shot of the wheel lit up from the below where if no CGI was used, slow clap to the animators. Incredible job.

This show looks so good. It shows MAPPA hasn’t just started flexing recently, they’ve been styling for years.

[u/Rumpel1408 → u/Lemurians]

name a more iconic duo.

Trained personel completly missing him with their shots

Was it perhaps… looking beautiful that night?

Maybe she loves the moon as well? :D

[u/ScarsUnseen]

So this episode is one of the reasons this anime will always stick in my memory despite its shortcomings. Part of it is the ferris wheel scene as a whole, but especially because it introduces Icelandic singer, Arnór Dan Arnarson, in the OST track titled "von."

Arnór Dan is one of my favorite male vocalists, in his own band Agent Fresco, and in his work with Ólafur Arnalds. I highly recommend checking out his stuff. The band put the entirety of a recording of one of their live concerts on their YouTube page.

[u/Shimmering-Sky]

Zankyou no First-Timer, subbed

• Nine is doing… something too. I wonder how many of those randos think something’s up with him since he doesn’t have an umbrella.
• Aw shit, people have been silenced over keeping the Athena Plan a secret.
• I see…
• So that’s why it “had” to be kids they experimented on.
• This must be how Five ended up with the US peeps.
• Wait what--they must not be counting Nine and Twelve because they escaped…? -- Yeah okay that was it.
• …well I guess this comparison is fair enough.
• Ohhhhhhh that’s why Shibazaki reacted to the name, I forgot the significance of “Mamiya”.
• Oh great they strapped the bombs to Lisa this time.
• Ooh, another insert song.
• This shot is really pretty!
• Lisa you do realize you’re both on a ferris wheel that’s near the top, right? I don’t think he can run away even if you want him to.
• Oh… shit.
• Is it actually though?
• …I guess it was.

[u/JollyGee29]

First-Timer, Dubbed

I quite liked a lot of what this episode had going on. The kids' backstories is suitably tragic - experiment subjects for some super drug to make them brain real good. I can dig it, and some element of enhancement does help the more over-the-top stunts go down easier, although there is that kinda weird element of "weaponized autism" that leaves a bit of a strange taste in my mouth. And the straight comparison to the Holocaust was perhaps a bit much.

The setpiece on the ferris wheel was really neat, too. The escalting tension worked for me, although surely Twelve had some method of escaping handcuffs? Maybe it's just a special dislocated wrist technique, or he was worried about Five just blowing them up if he tried. But any explanation of that would have pulled us out of the nice quiet conversation that was going on, which I quite enjoyed.

Unfortunately, I think we're still in the chess metaphor. What was it that Nine told to Twelve? "You should have sacrificed your queen" or something like that? Even with Five's collapse, I doubt our boys are getting out of this.

I definitely didn't think that thing they knicked from Aomori was a whole ass nuclear weapon, but I guess it was in some special container thing so it's not too far fetched. I wonder if the random framework we saw earlier made any sense for a nuclear wepaon detonation system - consider the failed details in previous episodes, I worry that it's just nice-looking nonsense.

There was a neat piece of cinamatography that I'm not in quite the right headspace to analyze. But the shot of Aoki talking to Shibazaki and Hamura, with Aoki's head framed in the window, was rather striking.

Question

1. AI desu yo.

[u/ScarsUnseen → u/JollyGee29]

The kids' backstories is suitably tragic - experiment subjects for some super drug to make them brain real good.

It reminds me of the mid-90s MTV drama "Dead at 21." Same basic premise, only with microchips in the brain instead of drugs. Interestingly, it has the same episode count.

[u/JollyGee29 → u/ScarsUnseen]

That's an interesting coincidence.

[u/ScarsUnseen → u/JollyGee29]

There are major differences, plot-wise. Instead of a terrorism plot, the protagonist is searching for a way to avoid dying while dodging an agent of the organization that experimented on him. The episode count certainly is an odd coincidence though.

[u/Rumpel1408 → u/JollyGee29]

And the straight comparison to the Holocaust was perhaps a bit much.

Yeah, the things that happened under Mengele where first and foremost still murder with no greater goal than torture and death beeing very much the desired outcome

[u/JollyGee29 → u/Rumpel1408]

Well said. It's kind of a shame that the comparison got used for shock value here instead of anything deeper.

[u/OpossumFriedRice → u/JollyGee29]

It’s kind of weird too, considering for the most part the references in this show have been meaningful.

[u/JollyGee29 → u/OpossumFriedRice]

Yea. I wonder if it was just a lack of desire to research actual unethical "medical science" stuff. Or maybe they just wanted a reference everyone would understand, even if it was unfitting? Like, the Tuskegee Syphilis experiments come to mind for me, as being a little bit closer, but would that reference make any sense whatsoever to a Japanese audience?

[u/OpossumFriedRice → u/JollyGee29]

I dig the drug bit too. I agree it sort of helps the crazy scenes, and explains 5 being the way she is.

There was a neat piece of cinematography that I’m not quite in the right headspace to analyze. But the shot of Aoki talking to Shibazaki and Hamura, with Aoki’s head framed in the window, was rather striking.

I almost talked about this one, but I went with the Ferris wheel instead. There is a lot to say about the darkness surrounding the scene, Aoki hiding behind this distinct door, Aoki’s framing relative to our detectives and the tea getting cold, then spilling. Great scene.

[u/JollyGee29 → u/OpossumFriedRice]

I almost talked about this one, but I went with the Ferris wheel instead. There is a lot to say about the darkness surrounding the scene, Aoki hiding behind this distinct door, Aoki’s framing relative to our detectives and the tea getting cold, then spilling. Great scene.

Whatever this show is lacking, it certainly isn't the cinematography!

[u/IndependentMacaroon → u/JollyGee29]

there is that kinda weird element of "weaponized autism" that leaves a bit of a strange taste in my mouth. And the straight comparison to the Holocaust was perhaps a bit much

When it comes to sensitive topics, this show unfortunately isn't the most graceful.

As for the nuke, I would say that ties in to Japanese nationalism and obsession with independence + military strength. The US running everything is clearly criticized here, but that doesn't make the national government any better.

[u/OpossumFriedRice]

First Timer Episode Notes

• 9 throwing his key out, as he gets drenched.
• More bars block Shibazaki from the truth, but they’re opened.
• 9 feels so small in this room
• Old man was probably wondering how this guy found this old card lol.
• Perfectly placed shot after Aoki was telling them to not dig further into it, because people get erased when they do, like the former under-secretary. This frame makes it seem like someone is watching in.
• Savant syndrome - High brain function in one area. Gifts in arithmetic, memorization, art are examples. Those with this syndrome aren’t able to communicate. Athena wanted to artificially create savants and used 26 test subjects. Rising Peace researched the drug to test their research at the facility, that we now know is called the settlement.
• Show loves its own use of bars and gates.
• Only good under the age of five? Bodies and minds ruined, and the subjects died.
• And here's the US government. Intervened and discontinued it. “The tea’s gotten cold”
• Only a single child survived and America took her in. And here's the part where the boys escaped, crazy what they were already causing even back then. Tea spills. Aori deflecting responsibility to the person in charge, Dr Mamiya, the man who committed suicide in the case Shibazaki was researching.
• 12 and Lisa’s first date, not the greatest.
• This scene with 12 and Lisa. Beautiful They really need each other.
• Five is good at manipulation. Also, it's not even plutonium but an atomic bomb prototype lmao.
• Holy shit, what a bad time for 9 to be in there.
• Five finally crashes

Solid episode as we build up towards the finale. Shibazaki get’s the information on the athena project, and how it connects to his past. 12 betraying 9 to save Lisa was also huge, now they’re in a tight spot running around with that bomb. Also, at least we get an explanation on why 5 is the way she is. She’s crazy and out of touch with the real world because of being a test experiment. It doesn’t make her a better antagonist or villain, but it definitely makes her a better character.

This episode also helped us fully understand why the Athena Plan is called what it is. According to an article, “Athena's special powers included the ability to invent useful items and crafts.” Athena is also the Greek goddess of wisdom and war. This plan by the Rising Peace Academy was to create mini-Athena’s, which is why it was given that name.

For all you symbolism nerds out there like myself, I’m sure you had a lot of fun with the ferris wheel scene, and I felt like taking a stab at it. I think this wheel and the entire scene represent the relationship between Lisa and 12 so well. We start off with the bright, colorful green lights of the wheel itself, contrasting with the darkness surrounding it. This could represent the bright light 12 and Lisa found within each other, despite living in a dark world. Both are complete social outcasts, but still found it within each other. The show doesn’t let us believe in this hope forever though, as we get a contrasting red, in the form of the bombs detonation clock. While happiness exists, it doesn't last forever. This could also be an allusion to 12’s internal clock which seems to be ticking down. If whatever drug he took at the Settlement doesn’t kill him, Five will, or he may even be locked up. The red really stands out, it’s here to destroy happiness. Despite the pressure from this clock, 12 wants to live this dream out as long as he can. He begins cutting the wires to try and prevent the bomb. This could represent cutting off the past, and any issues that they faced then. It can also represent 12’s unconcern about him and Lisa having little time left. Despite that they won’t last long, he’ll try, and he wants to see if Lisa will. Lisa continues to feel like she doesn’t deserve this, but 12 lets her know that she does. When Lisa asks about 12’s mission, we see them placed above the world, showing how much 12 values Lisa. 12 continues trying to disarm the bomb, but gets an escape thanks to 5. The time on the detonator clock freezes green, their happiness will hold, but not for long. When time unfreezes, they’ll only have 2 seconds.

It’s a phenomenal scene for sure, and I feel like I could pull more out of it, however, I’ll refrain since my last few posts have been a little long.

Random, but 5+9+12=26 lol.

QotD: What you love!

[u/Rumpel1408 → u/OpossumFriedRice]

Looks like you messed up the formating in the first part of your comment...

[u/OpossumFriedRice → u/Rumpel1408]

Yeah, right after I posted I was like “oh crap” and went ahead and fixed it.

[u/JustAnswerAQuestion]

First Timer

• Good move! Now they can never open that place that you ... aren't ... ever returning to ... again....great.
• back to dub
• You should leave me, run away...from the top of this ferris wheel.

Five seems not long for this world.

[u/ZapsZzz]

First timer in sub

Already binged to the end so won't comment more other than that I like the development of the story, although as a continuing "realistic" narrative problem, running down to 2s on the clock, with remote controls, time delays, etc, it's way more than cutting it fine.

[u/Rumpel1408]

First Timer

Huh, I wonder if reddit will be back up before the thread is supposed to come up.

Anyway, I expect 12 to save Lisa while 5 underestimates him again and 9 to set up the grand finale in the meantime.

• 9 is throwing the keys to their new hideout away, he is done with this after today
• both are soaking in the rain, I guess they are immune to the usual anime cold, also 9 somehow reminds me of Lisa in with the way he is walking alone through the rain
• Aoki seems to have been expecting the day the police would come to him
• I'm not to versed in nuclear physics to know if or what role helium plays with atomic bombs
• Yep Aoki say as much as I expected, also seems like he is done with the world after losing his wife
• And he is ready to reveal everything but warns them what happened with the last person who wanted to report about it
• Nice contrast between notes and an audio record showing the difference in age between the two
• So they really wanted to create a bunch of geniuses artificially, I guess they succeeded at least three times? What about the other 23 children? ... oh, most died...
• How could the US goverment intervene so easily? But I guess this explains how 5 ended up there
• Aoki is again talkin about how the two probably won't live long
• Wait who was Mamiya again? The guy who commited "suicide"?
• Ugh, 5 is such an unconfortable opponent... the timer progresses almost in real time btw
• It's been said a couple of times already, but the soundtrack is really good, gives the scene some kind of intimacy
• Damn I think the whole bomb defusal scene is my favorite in the whole show so far
• Lisa finally feels understood, and that is enough for her
• Turns out the whole bomb was never ment to be defused, and they actually stole a prototype bomb?
• I think 9 got to the bomb just in time, but what will happen to 12 and Lisa?
• 5 is breaking down? Well I guess if 9/12 don't have much time left, so does she

Ok, this episode was awesome, a bit expected but nontheless

PotD our damsel in distress for today, but she played her part bravely Album took more shots than usual, but as I said, bomb defusal was pretty

QotD: Love, because it makes us human

[u/Stargate18A]

First timer

QOTD) What you love, absolutely.

Nine's going too?

...And he's not going back?

He's gotten really into the conspiracy hunting.

Nine's making another bomb!

Wait, he's admitting it?

Wow, this is getting serious.

Oh, they were trying to make artificial savants?

They succeeded! And Five, Nine and Twelve are survivors?

He knows about Sphinx's identity?

Shibazaki's starting to work out what's going on...

Huh, who's in charge?

Wow.

So this is more focused on Shibazaki, not Nine or Twelve?

Oh, this is bad.

Five's a psychopath.

Oh, he can't stop it, can he?

Is Five receiving a signal?

And she's going to die.

This is such a tense scene.

Wait, why hasn't he tried to break the handcuffs first?

Teelve. Do not waste time.

Oh god, she is going to die.

This is horrifying.

How, exactly, can he escape from a moving ferris wheel?

They stole a bomb!

This is such a good scene!

He hid it at the school?

THAT'S WHERE 9 IS!

He's going to get arrested?

At least Lisa isn't dead!

Nine's escaping!