Back to Soleil-Lis's Profile Soleil-Lis's Profile

✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿
STORY - 10/10

Zankyou No Terror (ZNT) has an incredible story surrounding each character that ties in with each other wonderfully.

This all started with The Athena Plan, which was a scientific project where children were tested to see which would be valuable test subjects for the grand project and those successful would be sent to 'The Settlement', where their identities would be stripped and their main purpose was to participate in a neuroscience research with the aim to create humans with special abilities and intellectual power that would prove more useful to the Japanese government than any other military weapon.

These tests were based on a drug ... that served similar effects and traits to those with Savant Syndrome - commonly people with autism - this is where certain parts of the brain exceed intellectually and talent-wise, however, it causes other parts of the brain to not develop as well as the average person. This drug the children were tested with had major affects that lead to the eventual deaths of most test subjects, except for three - those being FIVE, NINE and TWELVE.

Other than that, we also have a police detective in the metropolitan police department - Shibazaki - who's backstory ties in to the main. After defying his higher ups and 'getting too invested' in a case, he was transferred from First Division to the archives, 15 years before ZNT's current storyline. Shibazaki is the son of a second generation of survivors that suffered an atomic bombing during WW2 and after hearing about Nine and Twelve's first 'warning video', he was deeply interested, solving their riddles before he was even officially involved in the case, possibly out of fear that history would repeat itself and Nine and Twelve planned to cause harm like that of the atomic bombing during WW2.
Because of his excellency in problem-solving (or in this case riddle-solving) as a police detective, he was reintroduced to the police department, no longer part of the archives, but is instead asked to assist in the Sphinx case. Later in the series, viewers learn that the case that Shibazaki had been ridiculed for, 15 years ago, directly ties in to the Sphinx’s past.

Learning about this was, for me, comforting. Zankyou no terror didn't just make random parts of character's stories that didn’t go anywhere, it made connections between characters where it mattered, not out of force but out of what feels like pure coincidence.

Zankyou no terror did such a wonderful job at providing viewers with story-ties beyond what I've explained. It made what felt like real problems that were left unexplained to some people in this world, suddenly have a meaning and give you that moment of realization, where there is shock yet also relief to finally have an answer to that stressful past event. It's not a show that leaves you with any questions about things that happened or unexplained plotlines, it told it's story and left you with the aftermath. Sphinx gave their message, exposed their past and died, as they were unfortunately destined to. It's perfect.

✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿
PLOT - 9/10

As for the actual main plot, it was carried out with a clear plan and execution, showing everything the main characters had planned to happen and more, successfully achieving their goal whilst leaving us with a deppressive yet conclusive ending too.

Like I said before, nothing was left unexplained, everything was perfectly explained and exposed as Sphinx intended, the only thing keeping my score of the plot a 10/10 was the desire for just that bit more. In some of the riddles Sphinx provided the police with, I kept hoping it would include additional meanings or easter eggs of some kind outside of what was already shown in the series. Unfortunately, the riddles didn’t have any additional meanings like I had hoped, which is fair, but that is where I wish the plot had given just a bit more attention to detail, to let viewers figure out for themselves or connect the riddles to something else.

✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿
THEMES - 10/10

Next up is themes! I think the themes for this were amazing and well-used, there’s obviously themes of terrorism, but there’s also themes of domestic abuse, war, authoritative corruption, torture, conspiracy and some more undertone themes like bullying and PTSD.

I think all the themes in this series are handled phenomenally well, I was very impressed with the ones included in the show, how natural they were to the story and characters and how they all blent in with each other as a result. There’s a lot of serious themes here and the way the characters experience them have such a cold and melancholic feeling to them, it feels hurtful yet peaceful - at times EMPTY.

All of the issues handled in this series feel satisfying to watch being unraveled and explored and I loved every theme included in Zankyou no Terror.

✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿
CHARACTERS - 9/10

For me, rating the characters is probably the hardest one, I love this series to bits, I only wish I could give the characters a 10/10, because Nine and Tweleve I believe are 10/10 characters, - their backstories, the way they act, think, their skills, their interactions, their dialogue and the way they are described throughout the series, everything is perfect for those two, they are incredible characters and I adore the way they were written and expressed throughout the series.

Lisa was also a great addition, she felt like she was the perfect type of person for Nine and Twelve to get to know and the fact the series didn’t overdo her parts in the series was also perfect.

For the most part we would want a series to show a lot about side characters’ personal time, but for Lisa, the small moments at her house or her in the bathroom by herself, feeling overwhelmed and deppressed was the ideal amount for her character, she wasn’t overdone, she had her role, she had her story and her interactions with both Nine and Twelve and I think that was amazing for who Lisa is.

Lisa wasn’t a terrorist, she was nowhere near the level that Nine and Twelve was, undoubtedly, but what she is, is the perfect accomplice for Sphinx, and friend to Nine and Twelve. She was the perfect person to carry on their memory after their deaths.

Where it starts to get tricky is with Five’s character. I think Five is a really great character to have included, I am glad she was in the story for the reasons that she was, I like her backstory and how she seems so connected to Nine through their trauma, what I don’t like is how little we see of her. For the impact that she has on our main characters, there wasn’t enough ‘her’ time, the most memorable moments of her I always remember is her being part of the FBI or her suicide and I just wish we had seen more of her character, seen more of what she had to say without being so contantly attached to the FBI. I completely understand why she was, that was the whole point and the FBI didn’t want to take their eyes off her, especially when she was leading them to capture Nine and Twelve, but I wish we would have just seen more alone time with her, 2 more scenes of just her and I think that would’ve been perfect.

Shibazaki is a complex yet detailed character, I think the way other members of the police force talked to him made complete sense and I also think he really is the best the police force had to offer, obviously. What I mean by this is that he really felt like the name he was given was justifiable. As someone who has studied a criminology course, I love detectives that really involve their full selves in cases, whilst in real life it can be emotionally damaging, I think Shibazaki’s choice to visit Sphinx’s hometown to experience what their life was like there, what atmosphere they lived in and the way Shibazaki thinks about Sphinx’s strategies is incredible for both Shibazaki and the viewers, whilst not outsmarting Nine and Twelve. As Nine said, they couldn’t have achieved their goal without Shibazaki and that’s why I think Shibazaki is a golden detective.

Overall, I think every character was given the right amount of screen time and viewers could really understand and immerse themselves in the story and lives of these characters, all except for one - Five - if Five was given just the extra moments she deserved I would be able to bump up the character score from a 9 to a 10 because other than Five, the characters are written so perfectly and I love each one for different reasons, but when I think about the characters I just can’t help but wonder how I would feel about Five if we had learnt more about her.

✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿
SOUND - 10/10

Both the music and sound design in ZNT are breathtaking, luckily I know a lot of people that agree, some even claim that ZNT’s music is their favourite anime music by far. I think the songs are beautiful and added so much to so many scenes, the motorbike scene obviously was just beautiful, all thanks to the song by Yoko Kanno, that is the iconic scene from this show, but the other songs, -all with this icelandic rock feeling and once again melancholic atmosphere - were also just mind blowing, they capture so much emotion and character’s feelings in them that it becomes addictive to listen to, regardless of it’s deppressive melodies.

Furthermore, the ending song added so much to Lisa’s character, the way it’s sang and the lyrics are so meaningful to Lisa’s character and uppon rewatching the series it made it so I didn’t skip it a single time, it gave a more meaningful aura to her character and it just felt so much better watching Lisa on screen with that song in mind.

The opening was also incredible, I adore it for all it’s worth, and the rest of the soundtrack is magnificent.

The world of ZNT really feels like a ‘cold land’ with the music being that blanket of ice that just envelops everyone in its sombre atmosphere. And for such a cold place, it fills you with comfort and love for the people in this world, the magic of the music and sound design in this series is immaculate.

✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿
ART - 10/10

Last, but certainly not least, is the art!

The art in this show, whilst dark and solem, couldn’t fit the series more perfectly. It presents Tokyo beautifully and all the explosions feel so real and consequential, the characters and landscapes do as well, I had a family member comment on the art while I was watching, finding it’s realism really captivating and intriguing, I mean it is just perfect for the show and I love how Nine and Twelve look in the opening and the series as a whole, Sabazaki and honestly all the characters are just *chef’s kiss*, I’m someone that loves bright colours, but I absolutely adore Zankyou no Terror’s art, it is so fitting, it is so wonderful, god bless the animators.

(⊃｡•́‿•̀｡)⊃━:｡･:*:･ﾟ’★,｡･:*:･ﾟ’☆:｡･:*:･ﾟ’★,｡･:*:･ﾟ’☆:｡･:*:･ﾟ’★,｡･:*:･ﾟ’☆:｡･:*:･ﾟ’★,｡･:*:･ﾟ’☆

CONCLUSION

WITH THAT SAID! I think there are minor faults in the lack of time given to Five’s character in the series and also some missing attention to detail in the story, for extra ‘spice’, but overall? This is a perfect show, it’s incredible in so many ways and it is one I will always remember in the most deppressing yet lovely way possible, I couldn’t reccomend this enough, what an underrated show, and what a masterpiece it is too.

OVERALL RATING - 10/10 ♡ σ(≧ε≦σ)

Carole & Tuesday is a beautifully crafted story focused around two girls - Carole and Tuesday- who both share a mutual passion for music, as that is what brings them together in their first meeting of the show.

They both have unique backgrounds, but ones that feel real enough to immerse you into the show and connect with the character's emotions, as they go through life-changing experiences both positive and negative, that help them grow.

The characters they meet through their journey, the music presented and all the diversity in this anime, are the exact ingredients that make it - what I would like to consider - ... the perfect show and my personal favourite anime.

▄▬▬ ▬　（　🤍 ）　▬ ▬▬▄

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵
Story
{Score: 9}

Carole & Tuesday's storyline is easy to understand, whilst also accompanied by countless amounts of interesting events to keep you entertained and immersed, though I never felt like the show was forcing plot-points just for the sake of it, which - again - served for a more immersive experience.

I don't recall ever feeling bored watching this anime and I was very intrigued to see what would happen to the characters, along with how they would affect the story and main characters. I can look back at the show and think of a lot of the different changes in the story, separately, in addition to how unique they were to one another.

The start and end of the show are very distinct, there's clear character development from a handful of the people we meet, whilst also making sure the growth of the story isn't a complete stranger from where it all started. It feels realistic and not like a fairytale-like miracle that happened in just another anime story. The ending felt satisfactory and well-earned and I don't expect there to be another season, but the series did a good job to make sure we shouldn't need one to enjoy Carole & Tuesday to the fullest. Because of this, I'm giving the story a 10/10.

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵
Art
{Score: 10}

There isn't much for me to say here, other than the art style was astounding and incredible. I adore re-watching the performances in Carole & Tuesday, especially the ones from the Mars Brightest Competition because their movements felt astonishingly realistic, whilst also having the beauty of anime make it just that tad bit more magical to watch.

I never felt like the animation didn't make sense and also, going back to the Mars Brightest Competition, the dances drawn for that from Pyotr and GGK were absolute eye-candy. The camera focus was good too and the overall style of art chosen for the series was phenomenal.

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵
Music
{Score: 10}

As I'm writing this review, I'm listening to Carole & Tuesday's soundtrack (also, it's 1 A.M) and I keep getting distracted due to the fact that I keep singing along.

There is quite a few different types of music in the show that all felt so great to listen to, there were some I didn't like so much, but not because I thought they were poorly written, I just didn't necessarily like the genre. However, this was a very rare case, as there were an extremely low amount of songs I didn't like.

I really felt like the music in the show was able to provide deeper meaning in their lyrics, nevertheless, this was not applied to all songs and that's what was good about it. Music isn't always about conveying a deeper meaning, it's important to put meaning into a song, but music is used for endless amounts of reasons, so to include songs that just felt like they were catchy songs to listen to, alongside songs that could make you either link it with a reality of our world or link it to an event in the show, made the soundtrack truly special.

Additionally, almost all the songs were English and I really enjoyed that change in anime. Don't get me wrong, I love listening to Japanese songs, but the songs in the show really allowed me to -yet again- get even more immersed in the realism of it. There were elements in the series that felt really familiar to real life and the addition to the way the songs were built, as well as them being English, made it so you could really connect the overall message of the show to reality. Also, because I live in an English-speaking country, I feel like I could play one of the songs out loud and nobody's first thought would be that it's from an anime.

It was different from traditional anime songs, but beautifully written and made the shows' focus on music extraordinarily rewarding.

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵
Characters
{Score: 9}

Carole & Tuesday's characters were nearly perfect, but unfortunately, some characters were not given as much development as I would have hoped. I'm specifically talking about Desmond because I feel as though Desmond was not given the proper representation they deserved in the show.

In the English dub, we are told that Desmond was born a man but is slowly starting to feel like a woman as well, which is why they identify as non-binary, which to me, sounds more like genderfluid or pangender, but I am not here to decide their gender, however, if you've watched the show, you would know Desmond 'dies' in the same episode they are introduced in and magically comes back on the last episode to sing 'mother' along with everybody else. I feel like the show did such a good job with representation in general but all characters who weren't cis in the show felt so unnatural.

From what I can remember, there are 3 different people who do not identify as cis in the show, those 3 are; Dahlia, the mermaid sisters, and Desmond.

Dahlia was a transgender female however she was not designed to look 'feminine', she was designed in a weird way and even though I encourage different body types to be shown and for genders to not be associated with any - specific - body type, I felt as though she was designed to make her look unattractive and she was even given a male voice actor for both the dub and sub, which I guess would have been fine if they talked about it in the show as her transitioning but they didn't.

Next are the mermaid sisters which I thought were extremely funny at first and even though I have nothing against their characters specifically, it is weird to think that they were also not cis in the show and even though we had plenty of characters in the mars brightest who were insane, it was weird they were the ones to cause the most controversy and to be the most violent when they were the only ones who weren't cis.

Finally onto Desmond, now, even though I believe Desmond deserved better from the show, they're still one of my favorite characters because of the beautiful lyrics they had in their songs and the way they thought and lived life, however, with them being the first non-cis character on the show to not be represented badly in any way, they had to die on their first episode, just to show the main characters of the show a song? Characters Desmond had previously never met before? It just feels a bit weird to me, I don't think the creators of Carole & Tuesday were ill-intended but with the representation for
non-cis characters in the show, it just makes me wish they would have put some more care into making sure everybody was represented well. I really liked the show using Marie to represent lesbians in a healthy and natural way with the comparison of Cybelle - who sexually assaulted and then caused physical harm to Tuesday when she rejected her - because I saw Cybelle as a representation of yaoi readers and what they hope homosexuals to be like, to be sexualized and violent when in truth, that's not what they're like, so we had Marie as a lesbian, just like Cybelle, to show the comparison, but for non-cis representation, other than Desmond, which died on their first episode, I didn't really see it the same as with Marie and Cybelle.

However, as I mentioned before, there was a lot of character development in Carole & Tuesday and it all fell perfectly into place with clear reasons behind the character's personal growth, as their journeys developed throughout their separate stories.

The story didn't do the weird 'Main Characters VS Villains' that a lot of shows do. Instead, it felt like a lot of characters were anywhere in-between. It was realistic in showing how nobody was perfect and people can change from one category into another with the right justifications, as well as showing that even if someone has a certain talent, it doesn't excuse things they do or have done. (talking about a specific character here)

The character's stories felt wonderfully fleshed out and the diversity in the show is AMAZING.

I have never seen more diversity in anime than in Carole & Tuesday. Different ethnicities, sexualities, personal pronouns, backgrounds, it was all incredible to see. I feel as if though we don't see nearly enough diversity in the media, let alone anime, so to have so many different representations felt refreshing and I felt like they were well represented.

Some weren't looked in-depth as much as I would've liked, but the issues raised were all very relevant and I was able to deeply connect with a social issue raised in the show, personally.

The stories of the characters were really unique to one another and that is why I feel so deeply for all of them and the creators of this show.

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵
Overall
{Score: 9}

Overall, this show is a MUST-WATCH. It is the perfect show for me, personally, and I think it deserves much more recognition than it currently has. I am not saying this from a biased P.O.V, I am saying this genuinely. If you have not watched it, please do. Maybe it will not be the perfect show for you, but you will most likely get a lot of enjoyment from it and really appreciate the story given to us by this series, so do yourself a favor and go watch it.

10/10 Masterpiece.

▀▬▬ ▬　（　🤍　）　▬ ▬▬▀

Even though I am an atheist, I think it's fair to say that after watching this anime, I will be thinking of Jesus and Buddha way more than I ever thought I would. Not in a bad way either, it was just a very wholesome and fun anime.

The concept was funny and the reasoning between certain topics that people aren't sure how to feel about in real life, about both Jesus and Buddha, are handled pretty well and wholesomely.

The art style was super pretty and just seeing the silly scenarios the two kept getting into was so much more interesting because of how the ... characters are interpreted, so it kept me super hooked throughout the whole movie.

All in all, it was a great movie, I will be watching it again but I wish I could find the OVA episodes somewhere. (if anyone knows where I can watch them, please let me know.)

If you have some time, give it a go, it's a super underrated anime.

As a member of the LGBT+ community, I am really happy to say that in my opinion, Given is the best gay anime that I have seen so far.

It handles gay representation beautifully, where it isn't sexualised, but it's also not subtle. Gay relationships in the show are healthy and normal. The love story, in general, is super beautiful and the music is also really good.

From the songs performed in the show, you can tell the lyrics were well thought out and each song has a meaning and a story that is used to present a lot of different information and ideas to the viewer, ... which I really appreciate. Music in a show is very important and when handled well, it can be really fucking good, I genuinely believe Given did a pretty decent job at handling the music side of it too.

The story is nothing too crazy or unique, but that doesn't mean it's bad, is really good and what this anime focuses more on is the music and gay sides of things which again, is handled phenomenally well.

The show deserves more love, but I really hope it doesn't get overrun by fangirls from yuri on ice, because I hate yuri on ice personally.

Anyway, if you haven't watched it, give it a go, there is only 11 episodes and a movie afterwards, that gives more insight into side characters, and my favourite character - Haruki!

I'm sure it comes as no surprise when I say that after watching and reading the movie/series over and over again, I still tear up when watching A silent voice for the beautiful story and with memorable characters that it has.

From the art style, to the music, to the voice acting, to the story and to the characters, everything fits perfectly with each other. Relationships between characters feel natural and not forced, the simple concept of Shouko being deaf brings representation to the anime community and just the way we see the characters grow in both manga and the anime adaptation is phenomenal.

I will continue ... watching this movie again and again, and will never stop enjoying it for the masterpiece that it is.

(it also enncouraged me to learn sign language, so thank you o(〃＾▽＾〃)o)

If you haven't watched it, just do it. It's a goold ol' classic.