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Year: 2020
Genre: Mystery, Police, Psychological, Sci-Fi
Episodes: 13
Rating: 3 out of 5
Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, had done many studies and maybe even coined the terms id, ego, and superego. The question is, what is the id? Freud defined the Id as the instinctual component of personality that is present at birth and is the source of bodily needs and wants, emotional impulses and desires, especially aggression and the libido. That the id acts to the pleasure principle for immediate gratification of impulse and desire. See, I dropped some knowledge in this review already.
Id – Invaded is an anime where a detective dives deep into the serial killer victims’ id to pinpoint who the killer is and why they do what they do. In a world where the killers leave a trail of id particles to be tracked down because their desire to kill is so strong.
Overview
The anime follows the investigations of former renowned detective and now prisoner Akihito Narihisago. Through his highly advanced detective skills, Narihiago is tasked with diving into various serial killers’ id wells. Narihiago uses the Mizuhanome System, a highly advanced development that allows people to enter people’s minds. They enter people’s minds by gathering “cognition particles” left behind at a crime scene by the perpetrator. The only way to use an id well is that you have killed someone yourself in the past. These particles manifest a criminal’s unconscious mind to a police squad called Kura. Kura is tasked with exploring this psychological plane, called an “id well,” to reveal the culprit’s identity.
Two years before the current events, Narihisago’s daughter Muku was brutally murdered by a serial killer, leading Narihisago’s wife to commit suicide. Narihisago killed his daughter’s murderer and now serves on the other side of the law, being imprisoned and using his skills to track down known killers. When Narihisago is inside the id well, he goes by the name “Sakaido,” the world’s greatest detective. As Narihisago uncovers more murders, he soon learns that someone is pulling strings behind the scene in an attempt to make him the world’s best serial killer.
Review:
Id – Invaded had the potential of being a really good anime. It started off so well, and I was hyped for it only to be really, really disappointed in the end. Actually, I was probably unhappy halfway through the whole anime. Now, this doesn’t mean it’s a bad or awful anime. It has some really great moments, and some of the themes are quite interesting. I was expecting something more after the first episode.
The anime has tried to have a bit of this Psycho-Pass/Minority Report theme and idea. The basis of the whole anime is that a renowned detective named Narihisago is tasked with diving into various serial killers’ id wells. When we are introduced to Narihisago during a crime scene, he has no memory of who he is, but he always states that he is the world’s greatest detective. It is a bold statement as L from Death Note is the world’s greatest detective. This would be a fact, but the only problem is that based on Narihisago’s mental state and physical ability, he can dive into an id well as many times as possible. The dude can literally die 30 times in the id well before solving the case. How are you the world’s greatest detective if you get killed that many times? Here is the thing, if someone else goes into the id well, they also might forget who they were, and they also say they are the world’s greatest detective.
The concept of this anime is interesting. I’m not going to put it down like it’s not. It is really interesting and fascinating to watch the type of cases Narihisago has to solve. In one case, he is in a room where he has to put a whole town together to get an idea of what is going on. In the next case, he is some type of tower where people are getting picked off by a sniper, and he has to figure out who the killer is. Another case is when some people are getting struck down by lightning. Each case is interesting in its own way along with the victim being the same, the character has some ties to Narihisago. The character always sparks Narihisago’s memory into remembering who he is.
With the concept, the main thing, like all anime stories, is the villain. The villain in this anime creates serial killers. His appearance is pretty funny because he is a man in a red suit, has a cane and a top hat. The one thing I liked was that no one knew what the villain’s face looked like because it was pixelated, but the dude was always around.
The aspect that is somewhat a twist is the fact that Narihisago is actually in prison. After some horrible and unfortunate events in his life, his daughter was killed, and his wife committed suicide. Narihisago tracked down the person who killed his kid and killed them. This landed him in prison. What is crazy about Narihisago is that he can talk to other prisoners when he is in his jail cell and convinces them to commit suicide. Apparently, he has done this so often that it’s a concern with the group he works for.
The animation is this anime is also quite noticeable. It is actually really clean and crisp, with some really eye-catching scenes. The first episode was one highlight with the main character bringing together a whole town. Then there is a scene where a girl is in an id well, and we see the drill come straight down on her. Actually, each crime scene is drawn nicely.
As for the characters, there are a few that can be mentioned. First, there is Akihito Narihisago. He is the main character and a renowned detective assisting in investigating and analyzing serial killer id wells. He has a pretty sad story as he had a happy life, but that changed when his daughter was killed. As the series progresses, you see the toll of what the id machine puts on him, and each time he comes out of it, he seems to lose a piece of himself. Then there is Tamotsu Fukuda. This dude is bizarre because he is a serial killer known as the “Perforator” for his style of murdering victims by drilling a hole in their heads. Fukuda has arithmomania and drilled a hole in his head to try to block out his thoughts before becoming a serial killer.
Id – Invaded, once again, had the potential of being a really good anime. The animation and characters were pretty good, along with all the cases. It just fell flat as being a great anime that people will remember. The concept is nice, but overall, you can watch this anime in a day and then forget it.
