ID-0 (Netflix) 2017

Netflix has lots of Japanese anime. But chances are that most of it are titles that you don’t really hear of in mainstream pop culture discourse. This has led to an unfortunate reputation among hardcore anime purists of Netflix as a dumping ground for unsuccessful anime. I will admit that I too had succumbed to that mindset. That is until I discovered ID-0. 

 ID-0 (that’s pronounced “Aye-Dee Zero”) is a quaint little science fiction anime from the director of Code Geass, the script writer of Gundam 00 and My Hero Academia, and music composer for Gundam The Origin, Godzilla: The Planet Eater, and the Slayers movies. What looked at first like a pretty run-of-the-mill 12 episode show turned out to be much better than I expected. It is not perfect but it is a fun space faring adventure with lovable characters, great voice acting, an unexpected level of thematic depth, and surprisingly expressive CGI animation. 

 In a far flung future, humanity has expanded out to different colony worlds and hassle free space travel is made possible with the miracle mineral called Orichalt. Another miracle is the I-machine, giant hardy robots able to operate one extreme conditions and are controlled by projecting your consciousness into and operating it as if it were your own body. Our story starts when Alliance Academy student Maya Mikuri gets involved in an incident with space pirates, and ends up being mistakenly labeled as a criminal along with the eccentric crew of the Orichalt mining ship, Stulti. Now stranded and out of options she works with the Stulti crew to hopefully clear their names. With the authorities on their trail, they soon encounter a mysterious seemingly malicious planetoid that seems to be hunting down sources of Orichalt, including ships and whole settlements. Thrown into a battle for survival, the Stulti crew must now race against time to unravel the mystery of the sentient planetoid, classified as “Rajeev”. A mystery that seems to be tied into the nature of Orichalt and the originator of the I-machines. 

 Right off the bat, I found myself loving the characters. Maya is the audience surrogate character and a lovable spunky girl making the best of the extraordinary circumstances she had bee put into. The colorful crew of the Stulti is a mix of humans and I-machines with their human minds permanently uploaded. There is the tough Captain Jake “Greyman” Hojo, his daughter Claire, the friendly accountant Karla, thrill loving speedster Rick Ayer, the mechanized animal friend Fa-loser, and the soft spoken but unusually combat proficient Ido. Every one of them are very likable, complemented by the exceptional voice acting in both Japanese and English, along with the colorful and expressive animation. 

The animation was a pleasant surprise for me. It is in cel shaded CGI but a far cry from the more grounded motion capture style more commonly seen in Sola digital (Ultraman 2019, Ghost in the Shall SAC 2045) or Polygon studio (Ajin, knights of Sidonia). It captures the look and feel of classic hand drawn anime with only the uncannily smooth character motions giving it away as CGI. As opposed to cold drab greys that tend to be popular in this type of sci fi genre, ID-0 is colorful, bright and dynamic. 

 If I had a nitpick about ID-0, it would be that it’s short run of 12 episodes do not give us enough time to get to know our characters organically or the unique world that the story takes place in. The main draw of the series is its characters but aside from Maya and Ido, the rest get only superficial development and their history and backstory is only quickly breezed through. Perhaps a longer series with more character or world building focused episodes akin to Cowboy Bebop would help in this respect. Such episodes may seem like filler but they help us familiarise with characters and the unique setting. 

 All in all, ID-0 is a new favourite for me. It would summarize its plot as if Planetes tried to be Outlaw Star by way of Gundam Seed Astray, and a light touch of Total Recall and Ghost in the Shell. What starts off as a lighter hearted adventure eventually delves into more existential trans humanist themes, the nature of one’s identity and the concept of the soul. All this is set to a remarkable electronica and orchestral mix musical score with a touch of 80s synth stylings. A very retro feel almost like a throwback to classic sci fi movie scores the likes of Brad Fidel, Vangelis, and John Carpenter.

It is short, brisk, and a low commitment series that at least deserves a try

Highly recommended.