ID: Invaded - The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		2.5

ID: Invaded - The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie Review

A premium box-set for the fans.

ID: Invaded is a psychological sci-fi horror anime series exploring the minds of serial killers. The series is produced by Japanese animation studio Naz (My First Girlfriend is a Gal, DRAMAtical Murder). The production features gritty storytelling for mature audiences only. The soundtrack has a opening tune entitled “Mister Fixed” as performed by Sou and a ending theme song called “Other Side” as performed by Miyavi. Fans of dark, disturbing, and super-violent anime will want to check the series out.

Akihito Narihisago (Kenjiro Tsuda) is an intelligent detective who is well renowned for his work in the field. However, Akihito's life gets turned upside down completely when a ruthless serial killer murders his young daughter Muku. Upon the death of her child, Akihito's wife also decides to commit suicide. Furious with the loss of his family, Akihito decides to find the serial killer and take matters in to his own hands.

After murdering the serial killer with his own hands, Akihito finds himself in prison. However, Akihito becomes a recruit for a new program: a virtual reality creation in which investigators can delve directly in to the minds of their subjects. Asked to help the team, led by Momoki (Yoshimasa Hosoya), Akihito finds himself diving in to the minds of serial killers. The danger looms large as the body count starts rising and Akihito must confront the ruthless Fukuda (Ryôta Takeuchi), a psychotic serial killer who kills all of his victims using drills. Can Akihito find a new mission in life while diving in to the minds of killers?

Deluxe packaging and a 120 page art-book.

The series animation is dark and grim throughout. The production values are interesting but the series remains so morbid and disturbing that only fans of ultra-gritty anime will find the animation up their alley. The killings and fight scenes are bloody. The series has such a dark style that the art work is mostly gray-in-tone. The art direction by Masakazu Miyake (Humanity Has Declined, My First Girlfriend is a Gal) is determined to be hyper-dark and the results are exceedingly successful: throughout the entire program. One scene which was particularly hard to watch involved groups of people jumping off of walls to die.

On a more positive note: the character designs are effective. The character designs created by Atsushi Ikariya (Fate/stay night: Unimited Blade Works, Busou Shinki: Moon Angel) managed to be largely distinctive (though Akihito's hair might remind some of a certain Fairy Tail character). The bulk of the designs managed to make an impression and were distinctive enough.

The worst thing about ID: Invaded is the story. The production is so dark and grim that it makes it a difficult watch at times. The series story is by Otaro Maijo (Neck, The Dragon Dentist). The scripts delve into the psychological elements of serial killers and the storytelling is disturbing as a result. Throughout the program, ID: Invaded managed to become more and more dark: even sometimes questioning the lead-characters and asking the audience to try and sympathize with serial killers. Disturbing, grim, and hyper- violent, ID: Invaded is not for everyone.

Ei Aoki (Last Exile, Re: Creators) directs the series with so much gruesome violence that it is a production only mature audiences can handle. The series seems to draw heavily from Christopher Nolan's Inception. At times, ID: Invaded felt like a hyper-dark series inspired almost entirely by the Nolan concept. Director Aoki and writer Maijo delve into the minds of characters (literally) in a style that is extremely similar to Nolan's landmark sci-fi-thriller. If only ID: Invaded was half as good.

ID: Invaded - The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Funimation, ID: Invaded is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The transfers for the series are surprisingly dark and grim: the aesthetic is staying true to the animation style. The animation looks remarkably crisp. The encode quality is similarly impressive and never suffers from any egregious banding or compression artifacts. While not a reference-grade presentation, it is certainly a strong encoding that looks quite good on the format.

ID: Invaded - The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Blu-ray release includes two lossless audio options: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 with English subtitles. The lossless audio options included on the release are enormously effective and will satisfy fans. Dialogue reproduction is exceptionally crisp. The 5.1 surround sound mix for the English dub is particularly engaging and the surround sound stage has effective sound effects that make the experience a heightened one. While the Japanese track isn't in surround sound, the inclusion of lossless audio means fans don't have to sacrifice on the sound quality.

ID: Invaded - The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The special edition release of ID: Invaded comes packaged inside of a collectors art box. Inside of the set, fans will find a number of exclusive goodies: five art cards, an acrylic standee, and a 120 page art- book (featuring full color art and a written "Lost Episode" of ID: Invaded. Fans of the series are going to want to consider picking up this considerably impressive box-set. The extra additions to the set are worthwhile and add some value to the collection that makes it feel more "premium" and special.

Please Note: The release is a Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy combo pack. The art sleeve comes with a inner-art print. The digital code is on a sheet of paper included inside of the package.

On disc extras:

Inside the Mind of the Staff and Cast of ID: Invaded (HD, 39:04) features interviews with behind the scenes members of the producing. The interviews include participation by Ei Aoki (Director), Atsushi Ikariya (Character Designs/Animation Director), Kenjiro Tsuda (voice of Sakaido), and Yoshimasa Hosoya (voice of Momoki). Fans of the Japanese language language version may want to take a look as the production team discuss the series and what it was like to be involved in the making-of the series.

Promo Videos (HD, 3:00)

Textless Opening Song (HD, 1:32)

Textless Closing Song (HD, 1:32)

ID: Invaded - The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

ID: Invaded is an ultra-dark anime which focuses on a team of investigators who dive directly in to the minds of unconscious serial killers for missions. The series seems inspired heavily by the concepts of Christopher Nolan's mind-bending thriller Inception. Unfortunately, the series is so overbearingly dark and disturbing, it is not an easy watch and the course of the series only gets more and more grim as the storyline progresses. Only fans of hyper-violent anime will find it interesting. Established fans of the series will find the high-quality video-audio presentation (and selection of supplemental features) worthwhile but everyone else should consider renting it first. This is not your average cup of tea.

The special edition release of ID: Invaded includes some extra swag which will appeal to fans of the anime series. The premium set includes a collectible art box, 120 page art book, 5 art cards, an acrylic standee. A must-have for series fans.