At its core, Zankyou no Terror is a story about alienation. Lisa is alienated from her mother and the rest of the world. The terrorists are alienated from everyone but one another. The detective is alienated from himself and his work by his past.

There’s no going back. No where to return to.

Everyone is trying to run away from everyone else.

The alienation is so powerful that there’s nothing left to do but destroy the whole world.

Or to sit around wishing  to be taken out of this world.

But this world’s all we’ve got.

And for those who’ve been abandoned, love does not exist.

Or so it seems.

Zankyou no Terror’s riddles are centered around the story of Sisyphus. He was abandoned at birth. He killed his father, married his mother, and gouged out his own eyes in despair. Alienated, if anyone ever was, from both the world and from himself.

Yet at the same moment, blind and desperate, he realizes that the only bond linking him to the world is the cool hand of a girl. Then a tremendous remark rings out: “Despite so many ordeals, my advanced age and the nobility of my soul make me conclude that all is well.” — The Myth of Sisyphus, Albert Camus

All is well.

Be reconciled.

Further Thoughts

All the police talking in the room were kind of boring. The main detective is interesting, but his subordinates I find it hard to care about.

Things really picked up in the second half of episode five. That was amazing, watching the terrorists try to stop their own bomb. I’m curious what this new girl is after. It seems the main terrorists are trying to reveal the things that were done to them as children (I presume). Since they’re so smart I’m not sure why they couldn’t find a better way to do it, but okay.