Don't Be Scared of 'Terror in Resonance'

Zankyou no Terror (Terror in Resonance)

Studio: MAPPA
Producer: Aniplex, Dentsu, Fuji TV,Tohokushinsha Film Corporation
Genre: Psychological, Thriller
Episodes: 11
Episode Length: 22 min

In an alternate version of the present, Tokyo has been stricken by a shocking terrorist attack, and the only hint to the identity of the culprit is a bizarre video uploaded to the internet. The police, baffled by this cryptic clue, are powerless to stop the paranoia spreading across the population.

While the world searches for a criminal mastermind to blame for this tragedy, two mysterious children—children who shouldn't even exist—masterfully carry out their heinous plan. Cursed to walk through this world with the names Nine and Twelve, the two combine to form "Sphinx," a clandestine entity determined to wake the people from their slumber—and pull the trigger on this world.

Likes:

• This is one of those animes whose subject matter is touchy. Not many people would dare create a show about terrorism, much less from both sides of the coin (aka the terrorists and the detectives.) Most people see the 'anime about terrorism' and immediately jump in. It's a different subject. Other realistic animes are typically slice of life (from what I've seen.) The crime animes focus on murders and kidnappings and disappearances. While those are all interesting, there are enough American crime shows to supply me with enough death and destruction. But this anime's premise really got me. A mysterious video? Bombs? Interesting...do continue.
• Twelve and Nine didn't want to hurt anyone. It was never their goal. They didn't want mass killings or anything. They just wanted their cause to be noticed, for people to look into what happened to them (and their dead friends/family.) And their (albeit subtle) kindness was something that really caught my attention.
• Nine and Twelve as a duo weren't too bad. They stuck together through all of this. And what happened in the last episode? I couldn't bear to hear that noise. I never heard such sadness and rage and loss of hope from any anime or any person. It was something unheard of. And, gosh, did it strike a chord...

Dislikes:

• Lisa was probably the most boring character in the entire show. No, she might make my list of top ten most boring characters ever. She was a complete Mary Sue. The Sphinx Duo should have dumped her. She was so completely useless. She freaked out over every little thing they did. And she was all 'Nooo, I can't kill people!' when they weren't even thinking of murder. I wanted to shake Twelve. What in the world did he see in her? She was weak-willed. And, basically, a wimp. She never stood up for herself and took all the yelling and beating from others. Anybody could walk over her. Even a stranger. And no voice color could be better than that. Her story could have been fleshed out more. If so, maybe I would have liked her better.
• The supposed (or so I thought) romance was completely laughable. While there have been unbelievable romances (ehem SAO), this was undeniably unnecessary. The relationship between Mary Sue and Why Does It Matter If He Has Synesthesia was just a fan service of sorts. Because every anime needs love! There was no buildup, and even if they had been dating before the whole anime started, I'd doubt they would really care for each other. What in the world did Twelve do for Lisa other than save her a few times? Zip. Zero. There is no basis for a romance. If you were trying to make me feel for Lisa, even a little bit, you failed.
• The story ends on a highly anticlimactic note. You build up the whole series around the bombs and the sneaky US government. Then...what? EMP and everyone dies? I made a hypothesis that they were all in the afterlife. It would have been better than what actually happened.
• The show also antagonizes the United States. Sure, we've done had to Japan (namely the WWII bombings), but this show went a tad too far. Why would the US even get involved? An atomic bomb? And for what purpose? To render Japan useless with an EMP wave? Highly unlikely. Also, on a different topic, the people who were the voice actors for the US people could have been way better. I was laughing the entire time they talked. They sounded so robotic.

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I'm Just a Little Crazy: 'A Madness So Discreet'

A Madness So Discreet

Author Name  

Goodreads / Amazon

Grace Mae knows madness.
She keeps it locked away, along with her voice, trapped deep inside a brilliant mind that cannot forget horrific family secrets. Those secrets, along with the bulge in her belly, land her in a Boston insane asylum.
When her voice returns in a burst of violence, Grace is banished to the dark cellars, where her mind is discovered by a visiting doctor who dabbles in the new study of criminal psychology. With her keen eyes and sharp memory, Grace will make the perfect assistant at crime scenes. Escaping from Boston to the safety of an ethical Ohio asylum, Grace finds friendship and hope, hints of a life she should have had. But gruesome nights bring Grace and the doctor into the circle of a killer who stalks young women. Grace, continuing to operate under the cloak of madness, must hunt a murderer while she confronts the demons in her own past.
In this beautifully twisted historical thriller, Mindy McGinnis, acclaimed author of Not a Drop to Drink and In a Handful of Dust, explores the fine line between sanity and insanity, good and evil—and the madness that exists in all of us.

As a person who wants to be in clinical psychology, stories about mental illness/disorders always are different for me. Especially if I know someone with that disorder. It changes things for me. I look at the book differently.
So I walked into this book hoping. Hoping for an exposé about asylums. Hoping to learn something. I walked out of this book disappointed.

With Grace's story, you could see her descent into madness. My thoughts? Awesome. She really changed. She had less reaction, less care. Her emotions dulled. She didn't flinch near dead bodies or when she wielded a knife. Compared to her before-the-book, frilly, and floofy lifestyle, her asylum life was starkly different. It was horrifying. I knew that asylums were terrible places, but I didn't know about the specific treatments the patients went through. It was a blast from the past, a smack of reality. People can be horrifying sometimes. Humanity can be horrifying sometimes.
Sadly, her personality fell flat, though. She was dull and emotionless. I know that she was trying to be that, but it annoyed me to no end. Even Nell and Elizabeth had personalities. They were bubbly and full of life. What Grace went through was different, but she was still a teenage girl. She still had youth. I wanted her to act that way. To have a shred of hope. Because hope is all you need in the worst of times.

Her friendships were amazing. She found friendships in unlikely places. In the dark. In the light. I thought that was pretty cool. Friendship trumps romance any day in my book.
And her friends supported her. They laughed with her. They made her smile. They were the only people who could. With Elizabeth and Nell, Grace had life. I thought that was great. Friendships can change you. I know my friendships define who I am. The guys. The group. My best friends. These people are who I am.

The plot was lacking. Was it a mystery? Or a story about change? Or all of the above? I wanted to know. I wanted something definite. If the plot was a mystery, I wanted more clues. I wanted something to follow. If the plot was about change, I wanted the frilly lifestyle of Before. If it was all of the above, I wanted more details. I wanted more story. More depth.

Rating:

3/5

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