"Zankyou no Terror"
Beginning in present-day Japan, the city of Tokyo becomes the victim of a terrorist attack in Zankyo No Terror. The attack shuts down power to the city and destroys the top of one of the city's many skyscrapers, but this isn’t your usual terrorist strike. First, unlike what you would expect, there are no fatalities caused by it as the buildings fire alarm was activated before the bombs. This allowed any potential victims inside time to evacuate. Second is that we as the viewers witnessed the attack through the perspective of the two boys who conducted it. Referring to themselves as Sphinx, the two elude capture from the authorities who are desperately trying to identify the two and bring them in before anybody gets hurt or killed. Sphinx reveals the locations for the bombs to the detectives. However, unlike the traditional terrorist, Sphinx gives them complicated riddles in order to find where at those locations the bombs are placed. So the police have riddles to figure out, Sphinx has bombs to set, and a young girl stumbles into becoming an accomplice to the youngest terrorists in Japan.
Zankyou No Terror was an extremely cerebral and engaging thriller that kept me on edge throughout the season. Every second keeps you at the edge of your seat, and the majority of the scenes are beautifully animated. The main attraction to Zankyou No Terror is in how it engages its audience and draws them into the world. Besides the sheer entertainment aspect, there isn't much to take from the show. This is one of the reasons why I have mixed feelings about it. Another big point of interest for me was the story. The plot of the anime was eccentric but overall the underlying theme of revenge against a system of oppression is admirable and you find yourself rooting for the two boys. The story starts off simple but starts to get more and more complex as time progresses. This isn't a bad thing at all since the ending of Zankyou no Terror is pretty compelling. However, this is only because the story works in unison with the action.
The plot overall in Zankyou no Terror would be rated an 8/10, because it intrigued me and got me into the anime while keeping me at the tip of my toes and guessing at what the main characters would do next. In terms of the characters, I would rate the character development a 5/10 due to a lack of background information provided. When it did provide information, it did not meet my expectations as there were many holes to be filled. Art direction and animation would get a 9/10, the art was beautiful and the animations were smooth. With these things in mind, my overall grading for Zankyou No Terror is an 8/10.
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