PS: I DON`T OWN ANY OF THOSE GIFS… They belong to their rightful owners
Tragically beautiful. That’s my impression of the last episode of Zankyou no Terror. Let’s just throw all these technical problems about how this show is lack of characters’ development and  how Five ended up killing herself, like seriously if we forget it all and just accept of what is Zankyou no Terror, I think it’s pretty brilliant show. We all knew Nine and Twelve would be dead, we knew it but it is still kinda sad to see it happen, right after we see them getting all playful with Lisa. For a moment I thought it would be a good ending for them, except it was false hope.

As soon as everyone was evacuated, and the atomic bomb made its effect, Sphinx came back to their old home, the secret facility. And this is where I start to sob knowing how Nine really cares about all the children who were taken away for being sole subjects. But they all come back to where they started, and it ends when it began. Shibazaki found Sphinx with Lisa being stated as hostage by Twelve, then here the FBI guys came and one of them shot Nine. This is really the end. Nine died soon after saying his last words (oh shit, nobody will forget you), leaving the detonator (yes the nuclear bombs are real) with Shibazaki.
A year after the atomic bomb incident, Lisa makes it to move on, well, although we don’t know what’s really happening to her. *her mom?* at least, we can be sure our beloved flawed heroes, Sphinx, still have visitors. Don’t you think it’s beautiful how they end it with those feathers? Like seriously, they wrapped it all perfectly in one last episode, and I just wow. This is one of the best animes I’ve ever watched my entire life. Beautiful directing, great soundtracks, very good execution. It might fall for some flaws like I mentioned earlier, but I don’t really care because what really matters is how I feel about the story, how it gives me this unsayable feelings and somehow feels any connections to the characters. Anyway, Lisa’s not really that useless, like come on if everyone is really that important and has to have shining moments then it’s gonna fall to the boring pattern of Shounen. She’s important for Twelve and that is enough.
Shibazaki played his role in a pretty much enjoyable way to watch, for me. As for Five, I’m not gonna say she sucks as an antagonist, like she’s not really the focus. Nine and Twelve are, and they died right after they achieved their true goals. Five was obsessed of beating Nine, and I think her obsession turned to some kind of romantic feeling, and that’s enough reason for her to go through all the shits she had faced. She died after what I call her blitz of glory over Nine. Twelve on the hand was craving for connection, and he really got that from Lisa right before he died. Nine, too had achieve his true goal when finally made his mark with Sphinx in international world for all he had done to reveal the pasts mistake of the old governments.
So we can say reason is all you need to stay alive. Even if you are on the verge of death, death won’t even come near you if you do have that strong reason that gives you all the strength to live. And even for some people who really are alone, still want to be remembered, even it’s just one person who will remember, and there we have Lisa and Shibazaki who really know the true nature of Sphinx and once had all these “connections”. Shibazaki will probably keep “shouting”, that’s why Nine trusted him.
I really like writing about Zankyou no Terror. Every episodes are masterpieces for me.  And yes, it has highs and lows, and I just can’t stop to love Sphinx. At the end they didn’t die vainly, they fulfilled their goals with styles. Like I said, they have this charm of flawed heroes. Even though Five, Nine and Twelve are screwed by drugs they were given, they are still humans, crave for interactions, have egos and emotions, dreams and the last thing, hopes. Hopes that stand for everything.