Early Access: Herald Anime Club: ID:INVADED, Episodes 1-2

Meeting Date: 1/11/2020

 Disclaimer: The Herald Anime Club discusses shows as they’re airing. Naturally, there will be spoilers for a given episode. You have been warned!

-----------------------

Samantha Ferreira: Hi everyone, and welcome to the Herald Anime Club! I'm Samantha, and I'm here with L.B. Bryant and Anthony Simpson.

Anthony Simpson: Evening

L.B. Bryant: Hello

Samantha Ferreira: Tonight, we're entering an all-new anime season as we sit down with a new show. This time, the patrons spoke, and we listened as we dive into ID:INVADED And, as a quick note, we'll be talking about the show's first two episodes, which form one larger over-arching arc.

L.B. Bryant: These episodes were a trip and a half.

Anthony Simpson: I was looking forward to watching this and I'm glad it seems to be good so far.

Samantha Ferreira: I'm really digging this one, myself - I love detective mysteries and I adore sci-fi, so this is basically a match made in heaven for me. Like, I really like how they pieced together that flowing narrative, jumping from the well, to the real world, and how the two led to an unraveling of a real serial killer case. The playful destruction of the walls of reality was just -chef's kiss-

Anthony Simpson: I love myself some good sci-fi and this is right my alley.

L.B. Bryant: I'm not normally a big sci-fi fan so I had concerns going into this one.

Samantha Ferreira: I can see that... especially given this is shaping up to be fairly dense sci-fi series. Like.. we have the well, we have the id realms, which literally change from person to person, and we have this crazy future-prison where we have a person who's apparently the greatest detective ever, who's also a totally fucked sociopathic killer, himself.

Anthony Simpson: Got some Psycho-Pass vibes here since they have a device that detects those who have murderous intent.

Samantha Ferreira: Likewise. Also the use of criminals to solve crimes, themselves Sakaido is a murderer... apparently drove four people to suicide in the wells, as well if he's telling the truth

Anthony Simpson: Makes sense, since only killers can get into the Id realms. I believe him, there.

Samantha Ferreira: Likewise. And it's clear that he touched a nerve with his handler I really loved how the mystery was built up, too. Like, the little details, like photos, the reflections, even book titles were being treated as clues by that team who stood wellside.

It was just incredible to see how both the well and the real world came together. Then there was the point where the walls were closing in, and we finally saw the real killer panicking and... ahg, it was so good!

Anthony Simpson: The attention to detail here is something that I'm really glad there was effort put into.

Samantha Ferreira: Likewise. I mean... mysteries fall apart if even a few small details are ignored. I was glad to see that they kept a close watch, even when things got chaotic and Sakaido started pulling this world together by hand. Like "Oh wait, you'd have to look from this angle to get this specific view on the text."

Anthony Simpson: Chef's kiss on the detail.

Samantha Ferreira: Agreed Now, I have to wonder how Kaeru plays into this. Why is she always the victim, and what happened to her, to lead her to this role?

Anthony Simpson: So there is one thing I wonder about. Sakaido dies in the Id wells. I wonder if that is taking its toll on his psyche at all.

Samantha Ferreira: I wouldn't doubt it. I was curious about that, myself, especially when the handler asked about it

Anthony Simpson: If I had to make a guess either he killed her and lead to him being in the prison or she was a victim in a case he was assigned to.

Samantha Ferreira: I'm thinking the former - the "Do It For Her" picture array at the end of episode 2 heavily hints toward it

Anthony Simpson: I certainly hoping we get an answer to that in the future.

Samantha Ferreira: Same. I'm genuinely hoping that we'll see these cases build up now (I'm curious about how the field agents will keep factoring in, for example... especially after the rookie dove right in to take a drill to the face)

L.B. Bryant: That was freaky

Samantha Ferreira: Yeah... that was just... nuts. I can't help but imagine how that will affect her o_o Like... poor girl got perforated

Anthony Simpson: I said "My god" when Hondocmachi shoved her face right into the drill.

Samantha Ferreira: Likewise... though I was a bit more... vulgar ^^; Also, shout-outs to her partner for carrying a glock.

Anthony Simpson: Good choice on his part.

Samantha Ferreira: Indeed. Especially given the department has this generally careless disregard for their safety

L.B. Bryant: Makes me wonder if the field officers have their own histories that make them more expendable than the others?

Anthony Simpson: I would probably guess that they all have some mark on their background.

Samantha Ferreira: That's what I'm wondering, myself... especially given both how new and how elite this unit supposedly is. Also, Director Santa Claus is an asshole

L.B. Bryant: lol

Samantha Ferreira: I'm half expecting him to tell the rookie "you don't get Christmas presents because your family is poor"

Anthony Simpson: lol

Samantha Ferreira: "Why can't we put a GPS on the gadget?" "Well that would compromise its secrecy! :0"

THE VERY NEXT SCENE the killer's playing with it. 

Like, Dude.

Anyway! Any final thoughts this week?

Anthony Simpson: I'm curious to see if the show can keep up the quality each week.

L.B. Bryant: Nothing from me.

Samantha Ferreira: Likewise... that was a strong opener. Now, we enter the crucial "will it or won't it keep things up?" phase. I guess we'll be finding out, though! Til next time, remember: Drills aren't playthings and scary men in old-timey clothing go down like chumps. Have a great night!

Anthony Simpson: Good night

L.B. Bryant: Night