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PART ONE (eps 1-recap/13):
10/10, I may turn preachy or crusade-y for this; no space for lethargy when you're sHOOK.

- Plot: enrapturing, like sinking deeeep into a circus of delightful mechanisms and sorrowful tales. Plus amazing one-offs that embrace comedic absurdity. It's all I've ever wanted.
- Art: fluid/natural with bursts of extravagance, fleshing out unimaginable world designs. Strong focus on bringing characters to life, and you'll see everything from the awe-inspiring to the highly memeable.
- Sound: a tiny well-tempered orchestral pit sets up on your keyboard, following the screen and tearing up with you (uhh or TV you do you). Hands down my favorite ... soundtrack next to rakugo shinjuu.
- Characters: a roster of strong independent beings who don't need no exposition! They bounce off into an amazing range of social permutations and wildcard dynamics

PART TWO (eps 14-26):
3/10, unforgettably disappointing, hitting the exact pressure point that sends my blood pressure through the roof...I too want to amputate my brain.

- Plot: falling apart like a US public transport system where people have no choice but ride it point A to B.
- Art and sound: nothing's gone here but the soul flew away.
- Characters: Have you ever found yourself goading each interminable brat through the screen into taking up a fatal accident? Have you ever started evangelizing at your fellow audience about noxious writers who think script closure is about blending everyone and their problems up into a cesspool of sentimental lobotomized degenerates? Part 2 brings out the worst in me.


For the purposes of this review I minimize the impact from the second half to 10%. Consider not watching it; you won't get closure but for me it's too high a price to pay if you just want a good time after a long day. I got out of work late and here I am writing this preposterous review for a show I finished 6 months ago. All because I can't scrub the rant out of my brain. Alternatively I think it's a landmark bashable and leading figure of TV mudslides....don't miss out!!

A DRAWN OUT MV FOR AN AMAZING OST
This was an ambitious show and it tottered a little, but I enjoyed it. I promise, there's a reason why the protagonists are blowing stuff up.

Story:
- This is the struggle of young people who want to leave a bang on the world. I find such sentiments to be somewhat relatable, like something fished out of a half-lucid dream. The presentation of this message however, is a bit too melodramatic for me. The story feels immature, and I can almost feel the heartbeat of a young writer behind it (ie, is like me and hasn't experienced ... or reflected too much on the world). I think the story does a decent job considering how it is not an adaptation of a novel, light novel, or manga of previous renown.
- I didn't find the story very engaging; there are other shows that had me hooked from the first episode. I actually struggled to finish this show, and luckily it sped up a little around the 7th episode (or maybe that was just me. At some point I started to fast forward a few seconds at a time past the slower scenes).
- There was youthful struggle and political struggle; trials of friendship, trust, and morals. There were also many cultural references (or they're questionably implemented plot devices if you think too much about it). Like I said, ambitious, and it actually does an OK job of it. It definitely could have been less straightforward.
- Note: I'm a US kid speaking on a show targeting Japanese audiences, but I would say that US intervention is again being used as a major plot device.

Art:
- Backgrounds and props were mostly amazing! Bright, vivid, extremely detailed. No cardboard sets to be found here, nope nope. That said, there are sometimes rather awkward transitions; I've seen better. The animation of the characters is not nearly at the same caliber as the set, and there are goofy moments here and there, but this is all to be expected from a show.

Sound:
- Ok some weird backstory: Personally I took up a recommendation, watched the first episode, took a break, found the soundtrack, ended up listening to it often, and then forced myself to finish the show. I have no regrets watching Zankyou no Terror; the use of music in the plot helped me to better appreciate the soundtrack.
- The point is, the soundtrack is nice ambiance as a standalone and is even more beautiful sitting in the laurels of a minimal plot and luscious images. For me, it held the show together and was crucial in making it palatable. The ending theme is definitely in my list of favorites. There's a conspicuous lack of the usual suspects in jrock and progrock; unusual for a thriller blow-stuff-up type show but it added to its deeper appeal.
- Note: it's unfair to be a native English speaker judging a show aimed at Japanese audiences, but I think there was pretentious overuse of heavily accented and choppy English, totaling to entire minutes of the show. (the only kudos goes to Clarence)

Characters:
- I wish the show did more to have us feel empathy for 9 and 12 through their history and upbringing. Where's the terror that gives birth to these little terrors? The show ends and does its job in tying up loose ends of motivations and such, but I still struggled to feel for why these crazy kids did what they did.
- And then there was a particularly questionable seeming character design cough five. She's a necessary plot twist, and plot twist again, but she was a bit of a prop (and an outrageously dressed one at that).
- And there's also someone who seemed to be totally out of the loop for the majority of the show cough cough Lisa. (idk, the moe factor doesn't really in here, aka, a 1 cours that has a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it)
- There's been better and there's been worse, though I would say that overall this show does a good job for the time it has to branch its characters.
- I was disappointed in the how the show addressed barriers between the younger and older generations, it's such a universal problem and the show suggested such a rift. I was also expecting more due to 9 and 12's lack of parent figures, and the in-depth and time consuming references to the stories of Oedipus.
- I've been watching enough anime to not really care (and American media villifies other cultures all the time), but the Big Baddie USA is again, a barely developed and conveniently placed set of characters and motivations.

Enjoyment:
- This show did make me cry, but I'm a bit of a crybaby anyhow so this isn't the "stamp of tearworthy" for all.
- Again, the show strikes a memory of passionately/manically/half-lucidly desiring to make an impact on the world. You know, like after waking up from a nap and finding that you're boiling over the fading recollection of an existential confrontation in dreamland. I will be brooding over the show for a bit (and I'll think of the story and think about it some more when I listen to the soundtrack).
- Fact: I marathoned episodes 6-11.
- but I don't think this is has much rewatch value, and anyhow, the story already has faded/abridged itself into a long music video in my head.

Overall:
I felt enough to write home about it seems, since I rarely write reviews.
Art and sound definitely a strong point of this show. This means that this is something to watch with the usual advice of ignorance is bliss: don't read too much into the meanings and feasibility of things if you want to simply enjoy it.

I really wish there could have been more character development (or more efficient of such), because I'm left with a strong desire to love the characters but not enough experiences with them to do so. But if it made me feel this way, it seems to be be a success for the 1 cours.