Premiered
26-06-2025
Ei Aoki is a good director, not necessarily because his works are without flaws, but rather because his skill as a storyteller allows his works to shine despite their lows.Id: Invaded, an original science fiction story by writer Otarou Maijo, is one such flawed series that hits the ground running with a captivating premise thatputs a spin on serial killer mysteries.
So often in police dramas about serial killers, there’s a big emphasis placed on getting inside their heads to understand them and discern how to stop them, mostly in a metaphorical sense.Id: Invadedforgoes metaphor and takes this concept literally, imagining a technology that allows detectives to hunt down murderers by using their minds against them.
Id: Invaded’s Inventive - Albeit Ludicrous - Premise
The story follows a special police squad known as Kura, an assembly of detectives and analysts who use a technology known as the Mizuhanome to track down criminals. They accomplish this by collecting “cognition particles” from where the suspect has struck and using them to create a simulation of the killer’s mind called the “id well,” but there’s a catch. Only someone who has killed before can dive into an id well.
Enter Akihito Narihisago,a former detective who took the lifeof the man who murdered his family, and who has been a shell of his former self since. Even as he helps save others from harm, he’s detached from himself, because when he dives into an id well, he forgets who he is and instead assumes the role laid out for him. He becomes Sakaido, the “brilliant detective” and he must solve the death of Kaeru, a girl who always appears as the victim, no matter the id well.
It’s a very cool and elaborate concept that will either make or break a viewer’s investment depending on one’s taste and ability to accept some of the foundational contrivances. The concept of cognition particles alone might sound too far-fetched, but to this story’s credit, it does a great job ofexplaining how everything works without bombarding the viewerwith too much.
Information is dispensed in pieces and the decision for Sakaido to have no memories only aids in the presentation. The premiere is gripping in how it follows him every step of the way, slowly making sense of his world and its rules, and remembering his role. Almost every new episode presents Narihisago with a new id well to explore and a new murder to solve, but the nature of that solution is very different from a conventional murder mystery.
These id wells are built based on a suspect’s memories and experiences. So, as Sakaido uncovers info, the support team in the real world analyzes the data, interprets it, and uses it to direct their field agents.This is where detectives Koharu Hondomachiand Kokuryu Matsuoka come in - the ones on the front lines bringing in the killers. Hondomachi, in particular, stands out as the deuteragonist, given the scope of her role and how often she steals the show.
How The Characters Succeed Where The Premise Fails
All of the above contribute to a unique formula for a police drama that emphasizes the abstract in a way that few other mysteries could feasibly attempt without contorting themselves. Sadly,Id: Invadeddoesn’t always capitalize on the opportunity this framing presents. While the main characters are highly entertaining, the supporting cast - namely the support team watching Sakaido - severely hurts the storytelling.
Part of it could be influenced by the audio track one chooses, andthe English Dub might not be the best wayto experience it. This is unfortunate because Jesse James Grelle as Narihisago and Monica Rial as Hondomachi give some excellent performances, but the supporting cast fares less favorably. There are notable exceptions, of course, and it’s not even their fault, necessarily. They aren’t given the best material to work with in the first place.
The biggest issue is that they talk too much without ever being allowed to feel like real characters. Early on, this can help, like with the aforementioned explanations of the show’s rules that make the story easy to follow. Unfortunately, this also means that these characters don’t develop much beyond that and can often spoon-feed info to the viewer. It takes some ofthe fun out of solving these abstract mysteriesand can sometimes feel like a waste of such a cool premise.
On that alone,Id: Invadedcould be considered a failure, but there’s still a lot to like in these characters, this aesthetic, and even the music. Musical artist MIYAVI not only sings the ending theme but also a few vocal insert tracks that lend their respective scenes a fun energy. This might not be the best murder mystery series, but few stories are as in love with the aesthetic of a detective as this one,save for perhapsBungo Stray Dogs.
Whenever a character dives into an id well and assumes the role of the brilliant detective, it’s a moment that’s treated with appreciable weight. It’s almost like a superhero getting their signature costume. The main storyline surrounding these characters is very engaging. Narihisago sees himself as a failure for not saving his family and has to confront his past to bridge the disconnect between him and Sakaido - the hero that he feels he can’t be.
Hondomachi is by far the most interesting, however. She is a remarkably brave newcomer to the unit but one who progressively seems just a little “off.” Very early in the series, she has a run-in with a serial killer who himself becomes a recurring character, and it leaves a mark on her. The fact that it’s hard to tell whether her personality changesbecauseof this man or if she was like that already ispart of what makes her so fascinating.
(Note: Another reason one might want to opt for Japanese is that Aoki had the Japanese voice actors record their lines in a somewhat unconventional manner, as described below.)
Aoki revealed that instead of using the typical microphones for recording anime dialogue, the voices were recorded with a shotgun microphone, which was positioned above the actors rather than in front of them. He said that he wanted the actors to produce a more raw and realistic sound rather than an “anime-like” sound.
Is Id: Invaded Worth Your Time?
As stated at the beginning, Ei Aoki is a good director, but not all of his biggest projects have been well-received.People enjoyed 2014’sAldnoah Zero, but they mostly remember it because of Hiroyuki Sawano’s score or how the story was the brainchild of Gen Urobuchi (Psycho-Pass,Madoka Magica). They tend not to bring up how critically divisive the story was or how Urobuchi’s actual involvement in the script wasn’t as significant as others might have hoped.
To that same end, while revisitingId: Invadedto write this, a lot more of the flaws poked out, noticeably in the writing and some of the dub performances. It was the cool stuff that stuck out the most when thinking back on it. Yet, even after returning and being reminded of its problems, this remains one of the more fascinating stories from 2020 and a reminder that anime needs more original science fiction. It’s definitely worth giving a try for fans of Aoki’s work.
