Episode Write-ups

Zankyou no Terror, Episode 7

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I was worried coming into this episode, as the popular opinion on the streets (read: Anitwitter) seemed to be that this episode wasn’t very good.

I disagree. This wasn’t my favorite episode of Zankyou no Terror, but it was more that serviceable. (EDIT: Apparently the ruckus has to do with believability problems with FBI allowing a bombing to take place under their command. Y’all are too grounded in the real world.)

This episode we saw the return of (better) visual storytelling to Zankyou no Terror, as well as giving us a number of parallels and contrasts on which to ponder. There were also a TON of facial expressions this episode, most of them revealing small details in tiny moments that are easy to miss.

Zankyou no Terror

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Zankyou no Terror, Episode 6

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In this episode, Lisa uses her moe powers to convince a couple of terrorists to let her in on their super secret plan to defuse a bomb somebody else set up.

Well, not exactly, but Lisa’s first real inclusion to Nine and Twelve’s purposes is a landmark moment for both Lisa and the boys—one that places her in very real danger. I do wonder if she truly understands what she has gotten herself into, but at this point its not about the danger and its not about whether or not she can harm others. It’s about whether or not she belongs.

Zankyou no Terror

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Zankyou no Terror, Episode 5

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I wonder if I will be able to make it to the end of the episode notes for this show without running out of words to praise it. This was another great episode from Zankyou no Terror, and the most impressive thing is that it was great in a totally different way than last episode. The visual storytelling here is of a quality unlike anything I’ve ever seen in anime before (really, a good season for that, if you include Argevollen)—and man does it make the entire show better.

Zankyou no Terror

What a great first shot for the episode. Everything’s disjointed.

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Argevollen, Episode 5

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I threatened to do an full episode post on Argevollen last week, but didn’t get to it. I’m remedying my laziness today! And, fortunately, this was another excellent episode from the best of Xebec’s two offerings this season. I think I pretty much figured out why Argevollen clicks so well with me—it cares about the details. Characters, events, moments, looks. Argevollen understands that life is made up of a lot of small things that happen in between the big events that define us, and it takes the time to let us experience them.

Argevollen

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Zankyou no Terror, Episode 4

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What did I say last week? “Give me more of the teens,” I said. “They make the show better,” I said. Well, you know what? Zankyou no Terror did exactly what I wanted it to, and turned in the best episode since the premiere because of it. The final minutes of this episode (omigosh that freaking soundtrack) were an amazing ride—yup, I just did that. This is the kind of stuff I wanted from this show from the start, and when I got it…well, you could say I was a bit misty-eyed.

Zankyou no Terror

That’s going to look amazing on the BD’s.

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Zankyou no Terror, Episode 3

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The fault lines in Zankyou no Terror are very, very evident when the focus away from its strengths. One thing I’ve learned from writing fiction is that it’s much easier to write well when writing good characters. Solid characters with depth and emotions of their own naturally support good writing and good storytelling. I said last week that I like the main trio more than I like any of the police officers, and I stand by that this week.

Zankyou no Terror

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Zankyou no Terror, Episode 2

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Well, Zankyou no Terror leaned a bit more on dialogue this week than it did last week, and it showed, because episode 2 was neither as intense or as interesting as the premiere. That being said, this is still an chilling piece of work and Watanabe and company are doing an excellent job of laying out their foundation. Even if parts of it feel a little unoriginal, Zankyou no Terror is still the best currently airing show right now (EXECTUTION, PEOPLE), and I don’t see that changing soon.

Zankyou no Terror

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Zankyou no Terror, Episode 1

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So, Zankyou no Terror didn’t make it into my First Impressions post due to a late start, but that’s okay because that was a premiere deserving of a full write-up. This is my first outing with Shinichiro Watanabe and I was, to be frank, hugely impressed with the episode from start to finish. I don’t have any experience with him regarding his style of direction, but if his other work is like this, I’m now much more interested.

Early Verdict: Premiere of the season, and it looks like Noitamina might be following up Ping Pong with another Anime of the Season candidate. Great aesthetics, great direction, great tension building, great everything. A must-watch in my book.

Zankyou no Terror

What can I even say about this shot? Just…man.

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