Now, let the game begin, Nine.
-Five
Hey guys, I know everyone hates “Engrish,” but sometimes it’s done so well that you don’t even notice. However, Zankyou no Terror isn’t one of those times, and its “Engrish” is one of the only gripes I have with this series, but I digress.
Nine, Twelve, and Lisa head into the airport, the supposed location of the fake Sphinx bomb, and attempt to deduce its location. Five has turned the airport into a chess board: the terminal is turned into a grid and Nine must run around to the sections he wants his piece to move to. Nine is forced to play her game which will reveal the bombs location once the solution is found, and let me tell you, he is truly a genius as he is able to play a chess game within his head and determine which moves to make; he is my personal favorite character, always remaining cool, calm, and collected.
At the same time, Shibazaki and his gang of rogue detectives arrive at the airport, and he very quickly comes to the conclusion that the police are the ones who planted the bomb. I love the convergence of the multiple factions with conflicting objectives: Five wishes to have the bomb go off, so she can pin it on Nine and Twelve, Shibazaki and the detectives want to prevent the bomb from exploding and capture Sphinx, and the two boys wish to prevent the bomb from exploding and not get captured. I like the symbolism of the chess match being played by Nine as well; it seems to me that the whole episode is a chess match played by all three factions.
Lisa finally has a purpose as she is tasked with making a distraction, allowing Twelve to hack the camera feed. Because of this, Nine is able to sneak up on and confront Five from whom he learns the location of the bomb is “Gate 106.” It should be blatantly obvious that there is a history between Nine, Twelve, and Five, but at this point, my only guess is that they all came from the same facility. I look forward to learning what has caused such friction to form between these three.
Nine is forced to retreat when airport security arrives, and as he is heading to meet up with Twelve, he passes Shibazaki in my favorite scene from the episode. At the same time, Lisa attempts to remove the bomb from its hidden location, but when she does, one of Fives cronies takes her hostage. Lisa is brought to a plane, the true location of the bomb, and calls Twelve pleading for help. The plane is being controlled remotely by Five from up in the control tower. I love how dirty politics and police work are a huge aspect of this series as of late; however, I do not understand how more of the police have not joined Shibazaki. It seems that Five and her henchman are being more than a little excessive.
The plane is being piloted towards the terminal where it is planned to detonate. Nine, desperate to prevent this from happening, calls Shibazaki and informs him of the situation. Shibazaki heads up to the control tower to stop the plane while the two boys drive off in a truck in an attempt to rescue Lisa. The irony here is astounding: Shibazaki is so close to capturing Sphinx, but he is forced to swallow his pride in order to stop the bombing. It just goes to show that Shibazaki’s pride and sense of justice supersedes everything else.
Luckily, Shibazaki is able to reach the control tower and pilot the plane away from the terminal; Nine and Twelve are able to rescue Lisa from the plane before it explodes. In the turmoil, the three escape, but the escape, unknown to them, is bittersweet because Five has gotten ahold of Lisa’s ID…
Every week, I try to find something significantly wrong with this series, but each time I come out empty-handed. The pacing is handled well, the characters are unique (they could be fleshed out a little more though), and the soundtrack…well, it’s Yoko Kanno, need I say more? Don’t forget to subscribe by RSS or email.