In the opening scene of this anime series somebody steals a quantity of plutonium from a reprocessing plant; the only clue is the word 'VON' painted on a wall. Jumping forward six months two boys who refer to each other as Nine and Twelve post a mysterious message saying that Tokyo will be blacked out at 3pm; in the message they call each other Sphinx One and Two. They set about planting bombs in a government building; here they come into bump into Lisa Mishima and tell her she will either die or become a collaborator. So begins a series of terror attacks where government infrastructure is targeted but nobody is killed. Former detective Shibazaki manages to solve their various riddle so is put on the case. He isn't the only one investigating though and it looks as though the others are going to launch fatal attacks to draw Sphinx out into the open!
This animated thriller was one of the season's best series; there is a degree of mystery and both Sphinx and the police have sympathetic characters especially when we learn what drove Nine and Twelve to take the actions they do. Given that the series was directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, of 'Cowboy bebop' and 'Samurai Champloo' fame it will be of little surprise that this is a quality series; however the lack of levity may be; this isn't a funny show and it isn't meant to be. There is however plenty of tension and more than once it looks as if a key character might be killed off. Overall I'd say if you like serious, suspenseful anime you should check this out.
These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.
This animated thriller was one of the season's best series; there is a degree of mystery and both Sphinx and the police have sympathetic characters especially when we learn what drove Nine and Twelve to take the actions they do. Given that the series was directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, of 'Cowboy bebop' and 'Samurai Champloo' fame it will be of little surprise that this is a quality series; however the lack of levity may be; this isn't a funny show and it isn't meant to be. There is however plenty of tension and more than once it looks as if a key character might be killed off. Overall I'd say if you like serious, suspenseful anime you should check this out.
These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.