What They Say:
After the incident at the airport, Nine and Twelve are forced to abandon their hideout, and Shibazaki is suspended but keeps searching for the truth.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
After two weeks (thanks to noitaminA’s standard week off happening last week), Terror in Resonance is back and I’ve been wondering if it’s still headed in the right direction. For all the climactic tension brought upon by the airport plot, there was a bit too much attention given to silly tropes of anime and blockbusters alike to assist in that, damning it to lose a bit of the realism that have made the consequences of these plot points as affecting as they have been. Five’s arrival has been the major turning point for this, and her character is easily the most ridiculous, not only for her own eccentricities and willingness to do things that our terrorist protagonists find absolutely unforgivable but for the power she commands that it seems should probably be questioned at some level between her and the rogue detectives who took it upon themselves to bring some actual justice to the scene.
If there’s an episode to answer these concerns, this one isn’t necessarily it (although the perpetual abuse of Lisa is getting a little old, and Five is a bit too much of an anime villain at this point), because it’s more about the aftermath of those major events and leading up to the next big focus which, based on the number of episodes remaining, is likely to be the last.
While the Sphinx crew (whether or not you count Lisa), are mostly back to plotting out the next move and revising the scenario due to Five’s involvement (after finding a new home thanks to one of her generous gifts that probably should’ve been given a bit more attention), Shibazaki is not sitting still for a moment, even after essentially being fired – hell, especially because of it. He’s the ideal detective dedicated to revealing the truth and doing what’s right, gladly spitting in the face of the disgusting bureaucracies that try to keep him at bay in order to continue on his search until he is physically incapable. That doesn’t always mean he’s the sweetest guy around; for his work (which isn’t even technically his work anymore), he’ll neglect his wife, see his daughter only for leads, put his collaborators at equal risk to himself regardless of how they or their very innocent families may suffer from it (turning his coworker who prevents hacking to “black hat” hacking himself), and use blackmail and extortion to assist in his digging. But ultimately it’s not just his pride throwing caution to the wind, as we hear probably the foremost thought on his mind throughout all of this: he knows that failing to stop Five from abusing the system for her sick game with mean the deaths of many, and the lesser of two evils is as clear in his personal, rogue investigation as it was in his decision to help Sphinx at the airport. With that interaction on his mind, he’s starting to realize that the word “terrorist” could be applied to any number of figures looked back upon with much rosier retrospect. Although it may prove to be a choice that at least some of them regret after all is said and done, it’s nice to see his fellow detectives who criticized his unconventional methods back him fully, having grown to realize that he exemplifies what someone in their field should truly be.
In Summary:
Terror in Resonance is in probably the last of its calmer moments in between the two big conflicts between the various sides involved. Shibazaki steals the show as he often does, but it will really take these next few episodes to prove if the overall writing of the show can live up to its promise.
Grade: A-
Streamed By: FUNimation
Review Equipment:
Toshiba Satellite L655-S5191 PSK2CU-1C301U Notebook PC.
