Disclaimer: Spoilers.I was looking forward to "Terror in Resonance," a 2014 anime by Shinchiro Watanabe, the director of "Cowboy Bebop." He hadn't worked on "action" shows for a while, experimenting with a few different genres. And this appeared to be a thriller-mystery that strived to be a little smarter, with bold political things to say. The trailer and synopsis reminded me a lot of "Eden of the East," one of my personal favorite shows. And after having watched it... it's clear Watanabe had watched and enjoyed "Eden" too. Enough so to want to create his own original version of it. Granted, "Eden" is a good option to copy, as it had an original concept that didn't quite stick the ending, falling apart a little under the weight it put on itself. But with "Terror," it doesn't feel like there was any ambition to create anything other than a copy, and frankyl, not a particularly great one.The story involves terrorists in modern-day Japan. In this case, explosions in public areas are caused by "Sphinx," a duo that hides behind masks and publishes online videos about each attack. Curiously, no major casualties come about from the attacks. The viewers of the show learn that the terrorists are two teenagers, calling themselves "Nine" and "Twelve." One is deadly serious, and the other a bit more outgoing. But both have a secret past that involved Japan's government, and dedicated themselves to taking action to call attention to it. In place of the viewer is Lisa, another teenager in their school, who comes across their plans by accident, becoming witness to their actions and their story by the end.At risk of spoiling the ending, it turns out the big secret involved medical experiments sponsored by the government on human subjects after World War II. A fictional injustice, perhaps, but a disappointing reveal when "terrorists" remain such a relevant subject in our real world. And of course, World War II itself is a factor that yet again drives the story of a Japanese anime. Yes, the impact should never be forgotten, but it can feel redundant by this point. All of the work of these terrorists, ultimately, isn't to kill or scare a specific person, to change the world or to save it, or even to profit from it. It's a form of public protest here, only meant to get attention from the masses on a cover-up that affected many lives, albiet long ago and no longer present. Was this really the only way they could get attention? Regardless of the journey, I couldn't help but shrug, wondering what it was all for. 
Leading up to those revelations, the journey is a reasonable one, although we never really get a sense of urgency, never thinking the kids are really in danger. Even the detectives investigating the attacks don't make the story as exciting as it could have, as they quietly start to ignore the terrorists in favor of discover the "real" story to why they are doing it. There are a couple added subplots, but seemingly only to stretch out the shows runtime. While the bullet points don't come across as well-written, the details that occur in each episode do well enough to make the show seem smarter than standard. Much of the enjoyment of watching the show is purely from the excellent production values. The animation is great for a television anime, with action (in this case, usually chase scenes) well directed, unafraid to morph characters while in motion. While character designs and environments don't have too much personality (this is mostly just a gritty and idealistic thriller, after all), dark colors and gradients and detail help make things stand out. And the music... wow! Yoko Kanno returns again to work with Watanabe, and the soundtrack is wildly varied, at times switching from fast paced, futuristic, and operatic. It's a great soundtrack that pairs well with the high-quality visuals. And not unexpectedly, the English dub is solid, if not entirely exceptional.Funimation's English trailer for "Terror in Resonance" is a thing of beauty. There are many beautiful moments in the show. It's a massive shame the show doesn't live up to those expectations. But too often, anime seems content with shooting for a "B," or even a "C+," and being celebrated if it manages to be exactly that and nothing more. "Terror" should be comended for shootng for "A+," and still deserves a solid grade, even if it's quite a bit less. If I haven't entirely spoiled it for you, it's a reasonable thriller to sink a short amount of time in. For the most part, the ending is the biggest issue, and overall writing the second; the direction and production is still great, just lacking a better writer for the entire thing.