Terrible in Resonance: A Review of Zankyou no Terror (Heavy Spoilers)

Be warned: this is a review of Zankyou no Terror with heavy spoilers.

Relaxing Zankyou no Terror OST to listen as you read this rather long review.

Introduction

Zankyou no Terror follows the story of the two teenage boys Nine and Twelve, who carry out bombings as the terrorist group Sphinx, and Lisa, an innocent bystander who was roped into becoming an accomplice to their crimes. Their motives are unknown and their methods are too well thought out for the police to track them down—only the retired detective Shibazaki is able to keep up with the riddles that Sphinx posts onto the internet, which lead to the site of their next terrorist attack. In Zankyou no Terror, also known as Terror in Resonance, Shinichiro Watanabe weaves an exciting, action-packed thriller, through which he explores the state of Japanese society.

Or, at least he tried to. Let’s see what went well, and what went wrong (but mostly what went wrong because there’s honestly not a lot that went well).

Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo: Shiina Mashiro is a Hobo

Yahallo~

Happy New Year! After a very long hiatus, I am kicking off the New Year with an angry rant leveled at Shiina Mashiro from the anime Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo! What a great way to start the year!

First and foremost, I’m sorry for the title, I just wanted to hurl a random insult at Shiina and I wanted to make it rhyme, so…yeah. Also, I won’t be giving too much context for my rant because I’m lazy like that, and plus this anime is four years old so nobody’s gonna be reading this anyway. I know, I’m doing a great job being relevant

Today’s target of my distaste

As I write this, I have watched up to Episode 13 of the anime, and I am writing this post in response to a lot of comments that I found about the episode. So many people were trashing on Sorata, the main character of the series, for getting angry and yelling at Mashiro-chan. They were all butt-hurt and triggered that their favorite shy, panty-less waifu was being yelled at by this ‘dense, brain-dead idiot’ of a protagonist. But I disagreed with them (Nanami is obviously best girl and anyone who disagrees with my opinion is objectively wrong) and this post is basically me trashing on their opinions. So yeah!

Please Stand Clear of the Doors

It started on bus sixty-three,
A millimeters width twixt you and me.
The after-school sun in your hair,
The screen which attracted your stare—
Woah, did the bus just run that light?

Beneath Dreem Station, we waited,
And anxiously contemplated
Our terminal stations and look
Back upon the transfers we took.
My two hour commute sure went by fast.

Footsteps raced through the station’s floors;
The train began to close its doors.
I held them open, but in vain;
‘Cause on that platform you remain
Another thing I lost when I left school.

“Please stand clear of the doors.”
…
“Please stand clear of the doors.”
…
“Next station is Attult, Attult Station.”

As I’m carried into darkness,
The scenery seems more lifeless.
Tunneled-vision creases my face,
My black backpack’s now a briefcase,
And every time I come back home I’m missing even more.

This poem is about growing up. I’ve decided to break down what I’ve done in this poem for you guys!
The ‘bus sixty-three’ probably won’t make too much sense to you all, because it is a direct reference to a bus near my school. But the major theme in this poem is about growing up and how becoming an adult often leads to losing and giving up on many things, including friends.
I depicted this through the narrator leaving school, their backpack changing into a briefcase, and being unable to get on the same train as their friend/love interest (however you want to spin it is fine, it’s not too important). The narrator’s commute is a metaphor for the “path” the narrator is taking for his future, and terminal station is a metaphor for the destination (kinda).
Also notice how the narrator is leaving Dreem Station and heading towards Attult Station (leaving their dreams behind as they become an adult).
I also try and depict that the narrator is uncomfortable with the speed at which they are becoming an adult. Because the narrator’s commute is a metaphor for their path to adulthood, they are surprised when the bus doesn’t stop when they expect it to, and the speed at which they are taken away from the freedom the had as youth.

I don’t mean to say that adult life sucks and is all gloom and doom (I’m sure there are things one gains as an adult), but I overall just wanted to write about how growing up often results in the need to give up on certain dreams to make ends meet.

Once again, thanks for reading!

AAAAA: Oregairu Analysis – Once Bitten, Twice Shy, Her Kindness Must Be A Lie

If the truth is a cruel mistress, then a lie must be a nice girl.

Hikigaya Hachiman

Kokoro Surechigau – put it on loop.

Youth. It is time when young teens experience and are forced to deal with a variety of emotions and situations thrust unto them. Their awareness grows, their relationships change…

It is a turbulent place where we each look for something to grab on to. Friends, hobbies, aspirations…no matter what it is we find, there are bound to be times when the ledges give out beneath our feet. There are times that we decide to let go of one handhold to hold onto another. And there are times that we refuse to move from the ones we are holding onto.

I think that Hikigaya Hachiman’s iconic “I hate nice girls” speech stems from such a situation. He rejects Yuigahama’s friendship in order to stay true to the person he established himself as and his rejection of superficial relationships. Thus, in the final scene in episode 5, Hikigaya cuts off his relationship with Yuigahama, under the pretense that she was being kind to him out of pity and that Hikigaya did not want such a relationship.

This was one of the most important scenes in the story, as it showed how Hikigaya afraid of kindness and friendship. Using this scene, I will be exploring Hikigaya’s personality and his ideals at this point in the series.

The Curse of Caliburn

Above the fateful fields birds sing
About a deadly jousting ring.
For there you set a crown of gold
Upon the boy fifteen years old.
To him you promised victories,
Drenched in blood of his enemies.
His scrawny shoulders seemed to sag
Beneath his kingdom’s gold-red flag.

And yet you had the gall to break
And put his ill-fated life at stake.
Have you no honor as a blade,
To leave your greatest friend disgraced,
His iron helmet bent and raced,
And force the warlock’s hand in aid?

When you broke, he gave thankful words,
But ‘gainst scores of traitorous swords
At Camlann, he could only spurn
That cruel, stone-drawn blade, Caliburn.
And birds across those fields still sing
Of sword who cursed a life with king.

Hey, I haven’t posted in a while, but here’s a poem based of Arthurian legend. Of course, the theme was inspired by the story of Fate/stay night, although the lore I use is based off of Le Morte d’Arthur written by Sir Thomas Mallory. I hope you liked it.

Thanks to Winter

Once a friend brought me to a small, flowing stream
Down the mountain, to caress the red-orange hills
Upon which we frolicked, our toes dipped into the gleam
Of Summer’s last light before the coming of Autumn’s chills.

The water slipped between my fingers, carrying time away
So fast, that my friend was gone and out came a night
So bright, that even if Betelgeuse exploded that day
He wouldn’t outshine the brilliance of Spica’s light.

Not my tongue nor throat, but my heart thirsted for a drink,
So I cupped my palms and brought the water to my lips,
But Tantalus cursed me, and before the eye could blink
Not a droplet glistened upon my fingertips.

The next day, I returned to that hilltop stream, to forget
the deluged mind with thoughts of peace and paradise.
Even as the last red fell, not knowing I would regret
Those trips until—until her flow died in ice.

At last, Winter’s choking grasp held the water still,
And slowed Time’s travel with swamps of snow so deep
I was barred behind the foggy window sill,
And even the stars forsook me in their sleep.

So it was thanks to Winter that I found myself again
Upon that dark, melancholy permafrost—
A cold snap on blue fingers to seize that foolish man
Who himself by that aimless happiness lost.

So though the stream runs crisply in the touch of Spring,
It is thanks to Winter that my visits feel so hollow
And thanks to Winter that I work for my tomorrow
Instead of listening to a hill-top river sing.

Though my failure still weighs upon my mind from time to time,
For pulling me from that stage, I give my utmost thanks to Winter.

Thanks for reading! I’ve been a little unmotivated recently, which is why it took me a while to get this one out, and I can’t promise I’ll return to weekly posting, but I want to make my posts more interesting and of higher quality, so that’s what I’ll be working on! Thanks again! WhoAmI, signing off!

Kaimetsu no Yaiba First Impressions!

Previously, on this blog…

I’ll put out a first impressions post for Kaimetsu no Yaiba tomorrow, so until then!

WhoAmI

That, was on Saturday. Today, is Thursday, and I’ve finally decided to give my long overdue first impressions of Kaimetsu no Yaiba! Yaaaay.

Anyways, my first impression of this show is that it feels super shounen-y. By this I mean there seems to be an overwhelming amount of monologue and dialogue that just seems to drag on, and on, and on…….

Random screencap to make this post less boring. Btw, is this guy CG cause he looks really CG. His eyes are also very dead.

There’s just so much exposition on the protagonists thoughts straight in the middle of the action, and it just feels really awkward watching a fight scene move so slowly because the main character is just monolguing the whole time.

And I mean…I guess its fine, since its shounen…? I mean, I’m pretty sure Naruto and One Piece did the same thing, and I somehow wasn’t bothered when I watched those…I guess my tolerance to filler dialogue really went down. But well, the dialogue wasn’t meaningless or anything—it just felt like there was a lot.

Other than that, the animation is quite solid, although I’m still not a fan of the character designs, since all the characters look really short for some reason, which feels kind of weird. But ufotable’s animation is really good.

The plot seems like it’ll be going in a shounen-like direction, with our protagonist getting a mentor figure soon, and a few adventures are probably planned, along with some additional friends to add to the group…

Conclusion: Feels very shounen, but looks really good.

At the moment, I can’t really say I’m too excited for this one, but hopefully this anime turns out to be a blast.

WhoAmI, signing off.