Anime Impressions - Zankyou no Terror Episode 2

"You make one wrong move, and I'll kill you." -Twelve/Touji Hisami

Piano and violins at the beginning of the episode help to bring a stark reminder of the horrific events from the previous installment. Lisa's tragic home life is unveiled as we learn that her father left, and her mother deals with separation anxiety. It will be interesting to see how this situation will influence Lisa's decisions.

The episode introduces us to the police force responsible for investigating the latest bombing. The team has being researching the incident extensively. One of the more interesting points brought up by the Forensics lead: Chief Hamada. He stated that the explosion was caused by a thermite reaction which interested me, because thermite was also used to break open a door in the American TV series Breaking Bad.

The term "VON" that was seen in episode one seems to be linked with this event. It seems Sphinx wants the police to know they are the ones behind both events. It is revealed that the item stolen at the beginning of the series was plutonium which is a necessary element for the creation of an atomic bomb. They seem to be directly challenging the police.

A new video is found on YouTube (or the show's equivalent) announcing a second bomb. This video is different than the first, because Nine and Twelve give a riddle telling the populace that if they solve it, the bomb is "theirs."

Twelve is seen following Lisa around, and after a period of time he threatens Lisa by saying, "You make one wrong move, and I'll kill you." I found this interesting because up until this point, I felt that Twelve was interested in Lisa and wanted to protect her, but this event helps to develop him as the sociopath he is.

This episode helps to further cement my opinion of its mature nature. The atmosphere is tense and realistic. We are starting to see some development of the main cast. At this point, we still do not know the motivation behind Sphinx's actions, but this will most likely be explained over the course of the series.