ID Invaded – 10, 11

「Inside-outed II」

Episode 10 truly elevated this series, making it anime of the season. I haven’t bawled so hard consuming fiction in such a long time – since Clannad actually, which also featured similar heart-wrenching loss of loved ones and an illusionary world that fell apart once the protagonist regains his memories.

Narihisago, desperate to spend more time with his deceased loved ones, convinces himself that this fake matrix is reality – allowing him to live with his wife and daughter for over a year. And I don’t blame him one bit. It was the least he deserved, considering they were cruelly torn away from him way before their time. Part of me was angry towards Hondomachi for bringing such a beautiful and heart-wrenching dream to an end. That said, she couldn’t have known any better. And Narihisago admits it might have been for the better. The matrix is just a dream at the end of the day. And John Walker is still at large in the real world, while Kiki Asukai needs to be saved.

The montage where he reminisces about the special times he had with his family really made you feel the depth of love he had towards them. That they meant everything to him. You could acutely sense how utterly destroyed he became when his daughter was brutally and unfairly murdered, with his wife committing suicide shortly afterwards. He lost every reason to live. Though he didn’t suffer a physical death, anyone could pinpoint this as the moment where Narihisago died. I don’t understand how people could fault him for immediately rushing out to gun down the Challenger. That’s just the pure hatred you can only get from losing your nearest and dearest in such an unspeakable way. It really fucking hurt to see it happen. Ah fuck, I don’t think there’s any word that exists to properly convey my thoughts or do these scenes justice. It’s just rough and impossible to describe. Don’t even get me started on the insert song.

Browsing online forums, it definitely looks like I’m not alone on this one. And it’s a testament to ID Invaded’s excellence – that it managed to elicit such a powerful and emotional reaction from its viewers, an accolade very few other works can claim to have achieved. With no other show even coming close to that mark this season, let alone recent years, ID Invaded has rightfully earned its spot as anime of the season by my current estimations – though that might always be subject to change depending on what kind of note it ends on.

「Stormed」

John Walker’s been manipulating Narihisago this whole time. And it makes sense how it can give Narihisago such restraint. With The Challenger killed by his hands, his hatred has found a new pathway – because he’s come to realise John Walker definitely played a part in the death of his family. Perhaps he even orchestrated the entire thing to transform Narihisago into a serial killer that kills serial killers. That would be a dark development even if it was within the realm of expectations.

And we discover that due to the hole he drilled into his own head, Anaido can remember everything from diving into the ID Wells – which also applies to Hondomachi. We’re also told the reason why he drilled the hole, and how it’s connected to his quick deaths when diving into ID Wells. Turns out Fukuda used to have unbearable arithmomania – a condition where he cannot help but obsess with numbers. John Walker was the one who compelled him to drill a hole in his own head, which fixed the condition. But strangely enough, for whatever reason, Fukuda refused to drill a hole into Kiki Asukai’s head – affirming that Fukuda is not in the cahoots with John Walker. And returning to the ID Well returns Fukuda to a state where he suffers from arithmomania, being so unbearable he quickly seeks out the quickest way to die so that he can escape that personal hell of his. It doesn’t absolve him of the murders he committed. But that kind of backstory definitely makes me feel more sympathy for Fukuda.

The retained memory trait came in really handy for solving this case, because Hondomachi solves the mystery through recalling her time within the inception ID Well. John Walker is indeed the section chief – I repeat, it wasn’t a red herring. And I’m glad that they went with an established character, as opposed to pulling a new big bad out of the hat. However, it’s difficult to put a finger on his motive. Just why would he do such fucked up things? My first thought is that he must be a sadist who relishes in suffering. My second thought is that with supernatural abilities existing within this fictional setting, perhaps John Walker has an unrevealed power of his own that can bestow him a god-like status. Kiki said that she felt the world was in imminent danger – suggesting to me that the director has some grand plans in mind.

If John Walker can invade dreams and control them, what if Kiki Asukai could be made to project her dreams upon the global populace? If he possesses these hypothetical powers – which wouldn’t be farfetched looking back on what he’s been able to do so far in this series, he could theoretically control every person on the planet and become the god of a new reality. Of course, that’s one heck of a crazy fan theory to go with. But that’s my hunch for now, and I’d like to see how everything will play out – since we’re so close to the end.

Apologies for the delays. Started a new job, had to move out of home into a new place, etc. Process took a while, but the busiest parts are done and I should have time to release these posts more punctually. Anyway, that’s about everything I wanted to discuss. As always, thanks for reading this post and catch you all next week!