The main thing that makes this series more unique is a duo of males as protagonists (Nine and Twelve) and a female character (Mishima Lisa) which seems to not really belong in this series and, despite being marked as main character, has a mostly negligible role. The number of characters are plentiful and inevitably one can draw parallels with other characters in the series of a similar genre. What has to be mentioned is that the series has, in fact, employed proper English voice actors for the minor / secondary roles. as opposed to English) being spoken, it is excusable for the main characters based on their background. Voice acting is quite good and the voices fit the characters. There is a certain disconnect between these themes and the actual series as it borders on impressionism and art, whereas the actual show seems to mostly try to present the audience with a dip in reality (reflected in both topics and art) The opening theme and ending theme are alright, with the opening theme being the more memorable of the two, even though the narrative in said opening theme does not particularly prepare the viewer for what’s to come. Personally double the effect, seeing that this show takes place in tokyo where you see landmarks violated you have actually visited in real life. Explosions will sound like proper explosions and coupled with the great quality of the art and animation of said explosions, will deliver memorable scenes. Sound effects are very well made as well. The music used in separate scenes is spot on to describe the mood and feeling of said scenes. During dream sequences I often found myself checking whether the episodes had ended already, comparing the music used in these sequences to a well-done Ending theme. The OST in this series is wonderful and has a great deal of variety. The art of the other characters are quite unique and do not feel out of place.ĭirected by none other than Kanno Yoko, I expected great things and this was exactly what you receive. The main issues in terms of art is the character designs which for the most part look alright, but some characters (In particular Twelve and Five) have some character designs which feel a bit alien and off. Explosions and spectacle are shown in bucket loads and have an epic feel and impact to them based solely on the quality of the art and animation quality. However, the CG animation fits well and does not upset the eyes. Animation is mostly fluid and there are a few scenes at the start where CG animation is used. The whole series looks well-polished and diverse enough in terms of art and animation. Unlike other shows in the same genre (that is, detective / thriller), one could not simply predict what was going to happen next. While of course the size of the show restricts answering all open questions, it feels as a complete whole by at least answering the crucial plot related ones and not needing external sources (such as manga or a light novel) to reach a satisfactory end.įurthermore the narrative devices and the puzzles (or riddles), although somewhat simple for a somewhat seasoned person in Greek mythology, managed to give a good swirl or twist to them to still be able to surprise me. This does mean that the start of the show is somewhat deceptive in what it wants to be (by presenting a pseudo-school setting) and being slow to start up. The series has a clear progression ending up in a grand finale in the last few episodes. In terms of story progression and believability, this series is well structured and sufficiently discusses underlying plotlines to form a complete whole. It’s the duty of the detectives of the Tokyo police department to figure out the end to these terrorist attacks through solving riddles relating to this mythology. The name connects the group to Greek mythology and gives well-researched elaboration to said mythology. The series takes place in modern day tokyo and revolves around a duo of no-named teenagers who together form a group called Sphinx set on unveiling hidden dark pasts of Japan through acts of terrorism. *NOTE* Unless otherwise mentioned, JP front- and surname ordering is used This Noitamina show was made in recent time and carries the terrorism tag making it a show quite topical in current and recent events occurring all over the world and because the series being a relative unknown to me, I have decided to give this show an earnest review. Zankyou no Terror is created by the relatively new and upcoming animation studio Mappa, which is responsible for a wide variety of different genres of anime.