A Brilliant Detective Through and Through
- Episodes : 13
- Genre : Sci-Fi, Mystery, Police, Psychological
- Airing Date : January 2020 – March 2020
- Producers : NAZ
Contains Spoilers
ID:INVADED Introduction and Story
Serial killers have always seemed to be one step ahead of even the best detectives but thanks to the Mizuhanome System, police might have the upper hand finally. Hidden in the police force lies the Kura Team who use this mysterious system to enter the id wells--landscapes within the mind-- of killers.
Once inside an id well, a man or woman assumes the identity of a “brilliant detective” and must use the clues within to track down the killer and attempt to better understand their drive/motives. However, those within the id wells assuming the guise of brilliant detectives aren’t normal law-abiding citizens. The only ones able to dive into the mind of a killer are serial killers themselves…
ID:INVADED follows Akihito Narihisago who enters the id wells as the brilliant detective Sakaido. After a string of murders begin taking place, Sakaido and Team Kura notice they seem to link with one mysterious entity known as John Walker. Using the id wells and the power of Sakaido, the search for John Walker begins…
1. Original Concept
One of the strongest elements of ID:INVADED is the concept of diving into people’s minds—namely criminals—to examine their next move before they make it. We’ve seen different anime/movies play with this concept before but ID:INVADED took it into a new dimension and made it truly captivating by using the Mizuhanome System and id wells.
2. Interesting Cast of Brilliant Detectives/Characters
In many ways, ID:INVADED would be a lesser series if the cast wasn’t unique and well done. Everyone from the main man Akihito Narihisago to the first major serial killer he deals with—Tamotsu Fukuda—are complex souls that border between being realistic and outlandish. We always rooted for Akihito’s brilliant detective persona—Sakaido—and prayed he find the murderer of the always present Kaeru.
3. Great Soundtrack
There aren’t many anime that we can say we watched both the opening and ending songs for every episode like we did with ID:INVADED. Both the brilliant opening done by Sou titled “Mister Fixer” and the ending tune “Other Side” by MIYAVI made us turn up the volume each time they played. Even the insert music in several episodes was both catchy and fitting for the scenes it played in. Overall, ID:INVADED has a soundtrack we’d buy in a heartbeat if it reached stateside!
1. Not Enough Detailed Backstory
It won’t take long to explain how the Mizuhanome system works or what happened to Akihito’s family but there are a lot of backstories that aren’t fully fleshed out in ID:INVADED. We would have loved to know about the partnership of Akihito and Funetarou Momoki—leader of the Kura Team—as well as dive into the lesser characters’ stories like Kazuo Wakashika and Sarina Tougou. ID:INVADED leaves a lot of backstory in the dark and that removes our care for the story at times.
2. Rushed Finale
Without completely spoiling the ending, we will say that the finale felt a bit rushed. The plot for John Walker and why he was killing/making others kill felt a bit underwhelming. Add to that the way they solved his case and then dealt with the issues behind the Mizuhanome System just felt too quickly fixed and solved. Clearly, Studio NAZ didn’t have the means of making a longer ending and that goes into our last issue with ID:INVADED…
3. Needs More Episodes
The issues above can be summarized in one issue that truly hurts ID:INVADED, lack of episodes. If ID:INVADED had possibly ten more episodes or even another season—which isn’t impossible—a lot of the problems we mentioned could have been solved. Here’s hoping a second season adds upon what we loved about this season so it can propel even further as a series.
Final Thoughts
ID:INVADED wasn’t a perfect series but we truly enjoyed this original work. That’s why we hope this review compels some readers out there to try out ID:INVADED as it didn’t get enough fanfare this anime season. Are you going to dive into ID:INVADED and catch the main killer—John Walker—yourself? Let us know via the comments below! Be sure to keep stuck to our amazing hive here at Honey’s Anime for even more anime and manga reviews!
Author: Aaron
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