If last week the tables were turned, in episode six of Terror in Resonance (Zankyou no Terror), the players are now hurtling in opposite directions. Nine and Twelve are racing into traps to disable bombs while the authorities, controlled by Five and the FBI, have the upper hand.
This episode deals a lot with set-up and the reactions of three different groups. Five and her FBI handler are now in fact the terrorists (if they couldn’t already be called that after last week’s events). Five arranges a bomb in an airport and sends out a riddle, pretending that all of this from Sphinx. Her intent is to draw Nine and Twelve into a trap, where she can play an airport-wide game of chess with them. The boys have no choice but to abide if they want to avoid being blamed for possibly hundreds of deaths, though Lisa now appears to be the Ace up their sleeve. And Shibazaki, no longer a “lone wolf,” is joined by his comrades as they decide to go to the airport, even though they’ve been ordered to stay put.
Each of these three groups is lead by outcasts – those that don’t belong. They’ve all been forced into their situations, or otherwise ostracized in a way that’s led them to become dangerous in their own rights. Terror in Resonance very accurately shows what can happen when we treat others as outcasts – they can become angry, bitter, crazed, and/or violent. While Nine and Twelve are attempting to do something just (though neither is entirely stable), Five has become a would-be mass murderer. Meanwhile, Lisa seems willing to join in on terrorist schemes, still under the assumption, it seems, that Nine and Twelve are trying to hurt people. SHE’S OKAY WITH THAT, as long as it means she has a place she belongs.
Thankfully, Lisa is under the guidance of two who are trying to do right (we assume). They have the ability to take a lost soul and influence her in a (probably) positive way. Many of us are similar circumstances, even if not as dire or over-the-top as those in Terror in Resonance. There are those around us – acquaintances, co-workers, fellow students, etc. – who we can tell are outcasts, of all different kinds and “colors,” like the “pale yellow” that Twelve detects in Lisa’s speech. Yellow represents joy – a vibrant, shiny color. Lisa can be vibrant and joyful, too – but a pale layer lies over her, as if she’s not there yet. Nor may she ever been there if others don’t reach out to her.
Contrast to Five, whose white hair seems to reflect someone devoid of goodness. Her path was set by others – a dim path and one without a savior. And now she’s become someone cruel and without qualms about taking innocent lives. How differently would she have turned out if she had escaped? What if she had a source of kindness rearing her?
There are Lisas in our lives – those who are quietly suffering. There are Fives in our lives – those who have surrendered to their own affections, even if they cause pain to others. And all other colors of the spectrum are there as well. The question is this: are we opening our eyes to see them? And when we see them, what will we do about it?
Such an insightful review, there are lots of details that I would have missed. The themes that this anime underscores, repercussions of social abandonment vs. social acceptance, definitely ring true in reality.
Thanks! Yes, the series is full of pertinent themes – there’s so much depth here. I’d expect nothing less from Watanabe.