After a terrorist attack on a Japanese nuclear facility, the country was paralyzed to act. After six months of searching for the perpetrators, the public is shown a video of two boys known as Sphinx who take credit for a recent bomb attack. The pair are soon linked to the terrorist attack on the nuclear facility by police. Threatening more mayhem to come, it is up to the police to catch these terrorists. However, Sphinx has been very careful to never kill anyone with their attacks. Instead, they hope to use them to expose a secret government experiment and its cruelty.
Although this widely anticipated anime about terrorism fumbled the ball at the end, it still provided and intriguing ride about a subject that many find themselves curious about. If you are looking for similar anime recommendations, then perhaps we can help.
Anime Like Terror in Resonance
For Fans of Cat and Mouse Games With Terrorists
Death Note
Light Yagami is a high school prodigy and genius. However, he has an ever-increasing boredom and disdain for the rotten violent world. One day, he happens upon a notebook, called a Death Note, which states that if you write a name in it, the person will die. To his surprise, the notebook’s claims turn out to be true. This Death Note, the property of the Shinigami gods of death, gives Light the power to change this world and he decides to become its new God by executing all criminals.
This is the ultimate game of cat and mouse. It is like a chess game of moves and counter moves. While Terror in Resonance doesn’t quite measure up in that way, it was trying to achieve the same sort of result through their puzzles that were used to give clues to the police.
Eden of the East
On an event known as “Careless Monday,” Japan was hit by a series of missiles in a terrorist act that fortunately did not harm anyone. Months later as the attacks are all but forgotten, Saki Morimi goes on a celebratory trip to America. There she falls into unexpected trouble with a man named Akira Takizawa, a man that appeared before her completely naked. Drawn into the mystery around him, Saki’s life is changed forever.
Eden of the East is set up as more of a mystery at first, but it actually ends up having a lot in common with Terror in Resonance as it goes on. It is a distinctly lighter show at times, but ends up just as intriguing and things start to ramp up.
Monster
Dr Kenzou Tenma has the perfect life as one of the world’s most renowned brain surgeons. However, one night he is presented with a doctor’s most painful choice – to save an injured child or the mayor, both mortally wounded. Against his colleague’s advice, he saves the kid. However, when a series of crimes start happening around him, all evidence points to the child he saved.
While Monster doesn’t necessarily have a police perspective, it does feel very much the same as Terror in Resonance in the respect that someone is chasing after someone that could at least potentially harm someone. Everything in both shows is built to be very tense and they end up as excellent thriller shows.
For Fans of Philosophical Undertones
B: The Beginning
On the islands of Cremona, a vigilante named Killer B is running rampant taking justice into his own hands with seemingly superhuman abilities. After being unsuccessful in their attempts to capture Killer B, the Royal Investigation Service brings in Keith Flick, an eccentric detective that was exiled to the archives department after a personal trauma effected his work. However, as the crimes of Killer B begin to escalate, it becomes abundantly clear more than one person is responsible.
Both B and Terror in Resonance tell stories about a police investigation into a criminal. While B isn’t about terrorism, a cop is a cop is a cop, as they say. So in that way, they end up feeling very much the same, at least during the scenes where the police investigation is explored in Terror in Resonance.
Psycho-Pass
In the 22nd century, the justice system has changed. The Sibyl System now determines the threat level of each citizen by examining their mental state for criminal intent. This has become known as their Psycho-Pass. Once criminal intent has been identified, Inspectors like Akane Tsunemori are in charge of subjugating them. However, this tough job is not without dangers. This is why Inspectors are paired with Enforcers, like Shinya Kougami, latent criminals with just the right amount of psychopathy to keep other criminals in their place.
Both series feature perspectives from both the criminals and the police. They also try to humanize the criminals a little bit more by having philosophical elements to the story line that show that not all criminals are distinctly evil.
Inuyashiki
At only 58 years old, years of overwork and stress has Inuyashiki Ichirou looking like he is well into his 80’s. Ignored and disrespected by his family as well as diagnosed with cancer, all seems hopeless. However, a light descends from the sky and strikes Ichirou where he stands. When he awakens, he finds he is a new man, one augmented with alien technology. He sees this as just the power he needs to become a hero and earn the respect of his family.
Both shows pose questions about morality, and Inuyashiki does actually end up being about terrorism as well. The difference is that while Terror in Resonance is steeped in reality, Inuyashiki has more action due to its sci-fi element.
For Fans of Thrillers
Steins;Gate
In a rickety old building in Akihabara, mad scientist Rintarou Okabe and his lab assistants work on so-called future gadgets. However, their most successful contraption to date, the Phone Microwave, a machine that can turn bananas into gel, also has the added function of sending emails into the past, thus altering the flow of history.
Both shows paint themselves as a sort of high minded thriller series with either science or puzzles. However, whereas Terror in Resonance had occasionally easily solved puzzles, the science in Steins;Gate and the plot got exponentially more complex as it went on.
Erased
Recently, the detached, struggling manga artist Satoru Fujinuma finds himself going back in time to just minutes before tragedy strikes around him. He has saved many lives with this power of “Revival,” but when he is wrongly accused of murdering someone close to him, Fujinuma finds himself sent back to his childhood. As he discovers, the recent death in his life is somehow connected the kidnap-murder of three children in the area that is about to happen. This time, he may be able to use his power to save more than just one life, easing his past regrets in the process.
While Erased has a supernatural element to it that is never really explained, you honestly don’t care because how much that thriller type mystery draws you in. It grabs you and keeps you intrigued to the end. While Terror in Resonance does the same thing at first as well, it kind of fizzles.
No. 6
After a series of bloody wars, humanity retreated into six city-states. However, while everything seemed peaceful and perfect to the elite of these cities, the poor suffered. One day, Shion, a resident of the elite, encountered Nezumi, a fugitive from outside the utopia. After taking him in, Shion and his family were forced from their home and now learn the ugly side of their society.
Despite having a difference in setting, these two series tell a similar story. While No. 6 doesn’t market itself about terrorism, the main character is essentially a terrorist. In both series, a normal person gets pulled into a plot to change the world, but No.6 doesn’t really explore the police side of things.
Do you have more anime recommendations like Terror in Resonance? Let fans know in the comments section below.
