Mary Villanueva

Its been four years since I finished this anime, yet even after four years, I still can't get it out of my head. Especially that heart-wrenching ending. A part of me already knew what fate had in store for the characters.....but the way it played out, was just so shocking and heartbreaking, it left me screaming out loud in anger. I cried a lot too. As per Shinichiro Watanabe's direction, this anime matches the quality of his previous works; its beautifully-detailed, visually appealing, and the soundtrack....oh god, the soundtrack was everything I wanted in an anime. I remember thinking some of the songs reminded me of an Icelandic band I admired called Sigur Rós; and lo and behold, I read online that the anime was, in fact, inspired by Sigur Rós' songs. Yet the anime also stands out from Watanabe's other works, in that it has a much more serious, dramatic tone. While the directors' other shows like Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop can be thematic when it needs to be, Terror in Resonance is basically swimming in it. Because of that, it may not appeal to some audiences, due to the occasional slow-pacing and confusing story elements; hell, even I got lost a few times watching this. But I still highly recommend you keep going, like I did; it all eventually begins to unravel and make sense. This is not your shonen/battle anime where everything is fast-paced and action-packed and everything is settled with the power of friendship. This is an anime steeped in realism, created at a time where much of the world was uncertain of its future....and still kind of is. It is a story of corruption, greed, and the consequences of that corruption and greed on innocent people. It is the story of individuals horribly wronged; and in their vengeance wants to show the world what happened to them, even if it meant ending the world. And it is a story of children, who, in a world that wants to erase them, does not want to be forgotten.