Zankyou no Terror Episode 8 Discussion

Stark700 said:
Episode 9 PV:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIGKRfEW-jE

j0x said:


death flags everywhere

Stark700 said:
Episode 9 PV:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIGKRfEW-jE

pakoko said:


It's definitely refreshing to see your comment amongst comments that more or less all say the same thing about Lisa or Five. I definitely get that characters have been a problem for this show, but the main focus of this show is not necessarily about the characters' development. Some people are so caught up about Lisa doing something stupid or Five acting like a classic villain (what does that even mean?) that they're like "See? there she does it again!" like it matters hugely looking at the series as a whole. The show has so much more to offer than just its weak characters, like the story, great cinematography, beautiful animation, and amazing soundtrack that it doesn't make much sense to rate this show lowly because one (or two) character(s) ruins it for viewers.

Lisa was not supposed to be anyone special. I don't know what people's expectations were, but she wasn't supposed to be some super intelligent hacker or some secretly crazy arson. She's a completely average, softspoken girl that just happened to witness Nine and Twelve during the first bombing. Have you ever considered a scenario in which the protagonist is actually not that special? Put yourself in Lisa's shoes. If you were to be picked up by two skilled terrorists, chances are you'd mess up just like Lisa. Sometimes people are forgetting that we're not watching a shounen anime in which Lisa will develop some hidden ability. She's an outcast in a realistic society that is trying hard to fit in and do something right for a change, but keeps failing miserably. She's practically been doing nothing her whole life, but I guess people expected that she'll suddenly become a crazy good terrorist or develop into some strong, outspoken hero. She shouldn't be bashed on every single week for every single stupid thing she does, but I suggest that people wait to see or at least theorize why she's one of the main protagonists despite her being a VERY unlikely protagonist.

Five's circumstances are not known 100%. But like you said, she probably didn't want to become who she was right now. It's implied that she was experimented on with various drugs, and we see her suffering some withdrawal symptoms as a result of drug addiction or overdose. We get a glimpse of Five's true character this episode for the first time and people still hate her as a "classic villain" because of a couple mean things she said to Lisa. Rather, she only seems evil and psychotic because she is desperately trying to kill Nine and Twelve. We'll have to wait to see what her exact reasons are, but she's certainly suffering. It's like if she doesn't kill Nine and Twelve soon she'll die or experience something along the lines of death. She's been downright evil not caring about who she kills because whatever the consequences are of failing to kill Nine and Twelve is driving Five insane and making her fearful.

Well said on your last paragraph. Watanabe definitely isn't perfect in his execution of this show, and because he was trying to approach the psychological study/social commentary and action thriller together, it's understandable that he'd sacrifice characters to become more like plot devices in order to deliver a story strong enough for a 1-cour.

gumi-tan said:

THIS. After reading the whole thread, I'm really happy to see these two comments, seeing that almost everyone's hating on Lisa and Five and stuff.

Unpopular opinion up ahead :P

I won't comment much on the two ladies now since everything is well stated by those two already. My only opinion is that Lisa is an important character in terms of her relationship with Nine and Twelve. I'm not sure, but it's possible that Twelve may feel strongly for Lisa simply because he wishes to FEEL human. And by the way, I'm disappointed that everyone hates Twelve now. I do feel bad that he left Nine to save Lisa, it was a stupid move considering how obvious of a trap it was, but lets consider Twelve's feelings for a bit here. Remember that episode when Lisa ran away from home and Twelve picked her up? Lisa then asked if him if they want to destroy the world and then they suddenly started laughing? Yeah, I think it all began there. (BEST SCENE EVER BTW) I think Twelve just wants to have a normal life and Lisa is the closest thing to that. I mean, all his life, he's never experienced things that a normal teenager would do. I would definitely understand why he's so attached to her. (The feels when Nine begged Twelve not to go tho T ~ T)

I'm not sure about all this, but this is how I feel about it.

Also, GDI LISA WHY DID U PUT POCKY IN THERE U DORK XDD

pakoko said:
After this episode, however, I sort of like the idea that Lisa is humanizing 9 and 12. She's humanizing them in the sense that as much as she needed 9 and 12 to feel like she belonged somewhere, 9 and 12 needed her to feel a sense of what it means to interact with real humans. 9 and 12 have only had each other to rely on ever since they were little because they were basically fugitives. Add the fact that they are technically still savants, and you have two socially awkward guys that haven't had a normal human interaction until Lisa came along. So of course 12 would be irrationally attracted to Lisa. Not only is she someone of the opposite sex, she's also the first friend that 12 made, besides 9. I wouldn't go as far as to call it romance, but 12 definitely treasures Lisa's existence. It doesn't matter if she's weak or incompetent. 12 did everything he could to protect her at every turn: motorcycle, airport, and now ferris wheel. 12 is trying to overcompensate for abandoning Five, or just abandoning anyone, during his days at the Settlement.

Therefore, it's not a question of how "human" they were before Lisa came along, but how much MORE "human" 9 and 12 became after Lisa came along. 12 is "reasonably irrational" in his attraction to Lisa, given his circumstances and his age. It goes much deeper than simply "falling in love."

ZaldiuntheGerman said:
Good grief, Five really needs to stop speaking English.

nina4life said:
You stop a bombing attack and get suspended for it...oh, it was american agency that's responsible for bomb almost going on in a crowded airport.
Does it sound incredibly retarded just to me?

I am sick of non sensical shit like that. It's not like everything was under control and police intervention endangered anyone.
No, it was American agents endangering thousands of people on Japanese soil, japanese officer saving those people and getting flak for doing it from Japanese superiors.
What the actual fuck.

There's conspiracy, there's suspension of disbelief and there's stupid.

ZaldiuntheGerman said:
Good grief, Five really needs to stop speaking English.

Vikopaulum said:
Also, for some reason I start to find this show more and more average by the episode.

ZaldiuntheGerman said:
Good grief, Five really needs to stop speaking English.

FlareStar101 said:
Other than that, great building episode.