(L) Zankyou no Terror (Terror in Tokyo)

[mweloo]

I like how they played around with tropes with regard to the main male characters- the seemingly stoic and resolved "leader" is the one being plagued by ghosts of the past, while the childlike and impulsive "subordinate" seems to have no regrets about anything, and might actually be the more dangerous of the two.

[JaLooNz]

Seems like they reproduced the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building quite well, even the internals of the observation deck. The strange part of this story is that they were able to get past the bag check shown previously and get access to the observation deck with so many plushies that were sold on the observation deck.

[SPARTAN 119]

Originally Posted by Irenesharda

What type of explosives did they use? It seemed to react violently with the water from the sprinklers.

I'm not sure if it was an explosive per se, looked to me more like thermite, which burns at extremely high temperature, capable of melting steel etc. Any explosions would be from things like gas lines etc. Thermite does not react violently with water, rather, water has no effect on it as it contains an oxidizer. The use of thermite would also make sense given that Lisa was ordered to place one of those bomb-plushies in a very specific place, suggesting they intended her to place it there in order to melt through a girder in the structure of the tower.

[Kanon]

Watanabe is back for real this time. That was absolutely excellent. The animation, the music, and the writing were all very high quality. I was hooked right away. I'm dying to find out more about Nine and Twelve's background and motivations. The glimpse of them we saw in this first episode were very intriguing.

The female lead didn't do much for me, but I believe she has potential to grow into a great character under the other two's guidance. Very curious to find out which direction they're going to take her character in. There are a lot of possibilities.

I really wonder what the message of this anime is going to be. They obviously didn't make the main characters terrorists just for kicks.

[ninryu]

Well, one thing is for sure - if they are planning on trying to make me sympathize with terrorists they are bound to fail.

[askara]

Although i quite like the mature and realistic portrayal of the real life. i cant really agree to the premise of this anime, i mean what can justify their indiscriminate action.


actually did anyone die? it seem everyone was evacuated on time. if so then there is still turning points. tbh i judging by the poster and summary i thought they wiped out Tokyo or japan

[ninryu]

Originally Posted by askara

Although i quite like the mature and realistic portrayal of the real life. i cant really agree to the premise of this anime, i mean what can justify their indiscriminate action.


actually did anyone die? it seem everyone was evacuated on time. if so then there is still turning points. tbh i judging by the poster and summary i thought they wiped out Tokyo or japan

The top of the building crushed down and there were people in the way. People definitely died.

[kyuudere]

[willyvereb]

Or at least it resulted in many injuries while seriously endangering the lives of any civilians who were nearby.
Twelve also had no qualms about killing the female lead if she wasn't going to become an accomplice (though he certainly hoped that she'll join).
So yeah, all things point to that while they're trying to avoid causalities, they aren't exactly remorseful if some still happen.

Overall, I seriously hope there WON'T be any kind of message with this anime.
They might be more interested in publicity than ramping up a huge death toll but they're terrorists, regardless.
Thankfully their names and that flashback implies the two of them have some sorts of "fantastic" background so I probably don't need to worry about it.

[ninryu]

"Fantastic" or not, killing is wrong.

[willyvereb]

Originally Posted by ninryu

"Fantastic" or not, killing is wrong.

It is wrong.
Sure.
Never stopped characters to kill many people in combat yet remaining "heroic".
Never stopped people rooting for a mass murderer with a magic notebook, either.
Never stopped people supporting a man who laughs manically while massacring armies or ruining Tokyo's entire infrastructure.
Once there isn't a context with real life this is exactly the same.
It becomes "fantasy".

[ninryu]

Originally Posted by willyvereb

It is wrong.
Sure.
Never stopped characters to kill many people in combat yet remaining "heroic".
Never stopped people rooting for a mass murderer with a magic notebook, either.
Never stopped people supporting a man who laughs manically while massacring armies or ruining Tokyo's entire infrastructure.
Once there isn't a context with real life this is exactly the same.
It becomes "fantasy".

I may be in minority, but I personally loath Light. Actually, I really didn't enjoy Death Note that much, probably because the main characters were so goddamn unlikable. So no, fantasy does not make terrorism okay.

[hyl]

It's probably too early to tell from just 1 episode what the writer's view/message is about terrorism. So i don't think we should concern ourself yet whether terrorism caused by them is justified or if we can sympathize with the protagnists (since we don't know much about them) for doing so.

As for the episode, it was surpisingly good. I didn't expect to like it that much.

[psycho bolt]

Hmm I feel there a hidden message between the questions he asked her...

Either to die or to become accomplice.

Dying would mean true freedom right? Misa's character seem to be reluctant to to do either.

Or maybe I am reading too much.

Seeing that the building was completely evacuated, I'm predicting that no one died besides some serious injuries to bystanders and first responders.

The animation and dark cool colors were fitting with the theme. The character designs were realistic.

Nine and Twelve, code names for the kids when they were prisoners? That would mean there could be others? Another theme about anti government?

Yoko Kanno is back! I'm loving the ost. How long have we heard something similiar to it? Maybe GiTS.

Watanabe making a Trio again. Since Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo. I wonder who is writing the script or screenplay.

[dniv]

Originally Posted by ninryu

"Fantastic" or not, killing is wrong.

Contrarily, killing for a reason isn't necessarily wrong. In a war, when you are fighting an opposing enemy to save many people you love, it is a choice rather than a "wrong."

Also, killing a mass murderer who could potentially kill many people at the push of a button isn't wrong either (from my POV).

It depends on why they are doing this. Their motivations seem deep and interesting. They mentioned something about protecting others... and this is what really got me interested. Protecting others, weakness, overcoming weakness, and desensitivity to death/life. It's certainly mysterious to me.

Nothing is ever black and white. The situation could be much more complex than it initially seems anyway... (e.g. if everyone was going to be killed anyway, and 9 & 12 did this to make others aware of it so they could prevent lots of future deaths somehow...)

TBH: After reading/watching To aru series, I stopped believing that any character couldn't be redeemable to me no matter what they did in the past...

[Wandering Soul]

Originally Posted by SPARTAN 119

I'm not sure if it was an explosive per se, looked to me more like thermite, which burns at extremely high temperature, capable of melting steel etc. Any explosions would be from things like gas lines etc. Thermite does not react violently with water, rather, water has no effect on it as it contains an oxidizer. The use of thermite would also make sense given that Lisa was ordered to place one of those bomb-plushies in a very specific place, suggesting they intended her to place it there in order to melt through a girder in the structure of the tower.

I have to agree that it was probably thermite too. In additon to the reason stated thermite is also easier to sneak past security measures and some common used security measures cant really detect it that well.

[Somnus]

"Compelling" is one of the many adjectives I want to use to describe this first episode. An extremely strong start, from visuals to storytelling. I'm very much looking forward to how this all unfolds.

[Irenesharda]

Originally Posted by SPARTAN 119

I'm not sure if it was an explosive per se, looked to me more like thermite, which burns at extremely high temperature, capable of melting steel etc. Any explosions would be from things like gas lines etc. Thermite does not react violently with water, rather, water has no effect on it as it contains an oxidizer. The use of thermite would also make sense given that Lisa was ordered to place one of those bomb-plushies in a very specific place, suggesting they intended her to place it there in order to melt through a girder in the structure of the tower.

From what it looked like, the little stuffed toys burned up and melted creating a fire that caused the sprinklers to go off. However, even as the water put out the flames it seemed to react with what was left in the toys and the whole thing exploded. It wasn't the gas lines or anything, it was the remains of the toys themselves that exploded outward. I'm a biochemist by profession so I was really interested in what type of chemicals they used to do that. I do have some ideas, but I'm fascinated to hear from the cops point of view what went on.

Also, are the boys working with someone else? Someone had to move that crane out of position to destroy the power cables and shut down the power. Either they had the thing on remote control, or someone else is working with them.

Originally Posted by askara

Although i quite like the mature and realistic portrayal of the real life. i cant really agree to the premise of this anime, i mean what can justify their indiscriminate action.


actually did anyone die? it seem everyone was evacuated on time. if so then there is still turning points. tbh i judging by the poster and summary i thought they wiped out Tokyo or japan

As you say, they are being pretty realistic here, and realistically speaking, yeah some people definitely died. They did evacuate a lot of people with the fire alarms going off. However, I'm guessing not everyone got out of the building on time, and also, the falling rubble would have killed those on the street. Also, there's the long term effects as well coming from the debris that's in the air which will affect people as well.

[kuromitsu]

I've had high expectations for this series, and so far they're being mostly met - 12's character design keeps creeping me out, and I hope the characters will gain a personality, but otherwise this is very nice so far.

I did laugh at the shameless iPhone product placement. Apple is like "Please take note how the cool guys (and that one policeman) use our product reproduced with loving attention to details, while the girl uses some lame Windows phone stand-in."

[askara]

As you say, they are being pretty realistic here, and realistically speaking, yeah some people definitely died. They did evacuate a lot of people with the fire alarms going off. However, I'm guessing not everyone got out of the building on time, and also, the falling rubble would have killed those on the street. Also, there's the long term effects as well coming from the debris that's in the air which will affect people as well.

yeah i agree realistically there is no way everyone evacuated on time or no casualty from debris but on the other hand they went through the trouble of cutting power to evacuate everyone first and it has never directly show casualty.


i can only see 2 reason for their action. completely crazy villain and want to take revenge on the world but this seems very unlikely or this world is fake/fantasy/dream and they try to wake people up.