Title: ID:Invaded #Brake Broken Vol. 1
Author: Otaro Maijo (Story), Yuuki Kodama (Art)
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 176
Genre: Sci-Fi, Mystery, Drama
Publication Date: February 23, 2021
The Story
The world of ID:Invaded has returned with a brand-new case! Sorry to say that for those who were expecting this to be a manga adaptation of the anime, that is not the case. The manga doesn’t really require someone to watch the anime; however, it would help make sense of things a lot quicker if you had watched it.
To bring you up to speed, ID:Invaded is a sci-fi crime-solving series in which the brilliant detective, Narihisago, is sent into something called an ID Well. A ground unit uses a portable device called a Wakumusubi to detect particles generated from a person’s intent to kill. The stronger the intention, the more particles there are. The headquarters, called Kura, will take these particles and construct an ID Well from them. Narihisago will enter the Well to try and gather information on the crime. Usually, the Well is a massive puzzle where Narihisago has to identify the cause of death of a girl named Kaeru. By solving the mystery around her death, the real world can gather clues to the actual crime happening and track down the suspect.
In this series, we are exploring a brand-new case in which Narihisago enters an ID Well where he is driving a car on the freeway and… well, if the title of the manga hasn’t tipped you off by now, get ready for it…
Every car’s brakes are broken.
Kaeru is dead in the trunk of the car. Narihisago dies over and over again and each time he does, he’s pulled out of the well. After being reinserted, he must start over from scratch as he loses all of his memories of the previous dive each time he goes back in. The fact that he can solve these cases after starting from zero each and every time is the reason why he was named The Brilliant Detective.
On the outside, one of our agents and this series’ waifu candidate, Hondomachi, is trying to piece together the puzzle behind a series of accidents and how they happened. Slowly, the begin to make connections and determine who the killer is; however, this killer is a bit different than any other that they have ever faced in the past. The killer knows how to dupe the police and their wakumusubi devices, making tracking them incredibly difficult.
This looked to be a one-volume series until just when everyone thought the case had been solved… turns out… it’s not over yet by a longshot and if the final pages were any indication, things are just getting started! (That and plus Yen Press already listed Volume 2 in their upcoming print releases on their website. It was kind of a dead giveaway that things wouldn’t be resolved in one book!)
Characters
This is actually going to be a very hard section for me to write because I have seen the anime and I am not sure if this series takes place before or after the show. There are certain things about these characters (which would have been dead giveaways) that were hidden from the reader to make you wonder just when this case takes place.
For example, a certain character is missing a very distinct feature on their forehead… and if it’s there, it was covered by their hair and not displayed to the reader. That would have been the biggest indication so to err on the side of caution, I’ll just be as generic and non-spoilery as possible in case reading this interests you in checking out the tv anime.
Narihisago is our main character and he is working with the police in order to help them solve high-profile cases. While he is working with him, as unveiled by the manga, he is also incarcerated by the police which forces the reader to wonder just who he is and why a detective is also a prisoner? (The answer is in the anime). Still, he is a brilliant detective and is one of the few qualified to dive into ID Wells to help piece together cases. He has a pretty laid-back persona but is also filled with a bit of determination. He’s actually a pretty good main character if you saw the show but none of that really comes through here in the manga. Those unfamiliar with the series will find him a bit flat without a lot of his backstory. Seeing how this series is assuming you saw the anime, I doubt it’s going to touch upon his story… all the more reason to go watch the show!
Hondomachi is basically the Narihisago of the real world. She’s very young in her appearance but she is, indeed, quite legal… just in case you were questioning if you found your new waifu. Given her confidence and her brilliant deductive skills, I am assuming that this story takes place after the anime series as in the beginning of the show, she was a lot timider and meeker than she is here in the manga. Her all guts and glory attitude makes her a bit of a loose cannon but it’s also her most charming aspect. She does seem a little too good at piecing clues together but if not her, then who else? Otherwise, nothing is going to get solved!
Matsuoka is her partner and, typically, her voice of reason that keeps her in check; however, in this series, it seems that not even Matsuoka can do much to control Hondomachi. She is a loose cannon incarnate so all he can do is shout at her and hopes she follows his guidance. (Spoilers; She doesn’t)
Fukusen seems to be a brand-new character in this series as I don’t recall him from the anime. If he was there, he was in the background and/or was just too forgettable to remember. He is Hondomachi’s partner in the real world and seems kind of a happy-go-lucky type of guy. He’s a bit starstruck when working with her but, at the same time, he seems like a by-the-books kind of character. When Hondomachi offers him a gun, he says that’s against protocol for someone like him, but he’s not strict about it in the least bit. Seems like a pretty cool character.
Final Thoughts
I loved this show. It was easily one of my favorites from 2020 and when I saw that it was getting an extension in manga format, I knew I had to jump right on it. Before this, Dimension W was one of my favorite sci-fi shows/series, but now, it is being heavily contested by ID:Invaded. They are two completely different premises and genres but both fall within the realm of sci-fi. While sci-fi case-solving has been done in the past (i.e. Ghost in the Shell), there is something refreshing about it here in ID:Invaded.
Again, I don’t think you need to watch the anime in order to understand what’s going on but having watched it will make things less confusing. However, just like the anime, this series just throws things at you with the assumption that you already know what’s going on and leaves it up to you to piece together the information on your own so even if you watch the show before reading that, you’re still going to be extremely confused in the beginning… so whatever order you want to handle this series… manga first or anime first, I’ll leave that up to you because it’s going to start out the same way for you no matter what route you take.
If you haven’t noticed, I’m talking as if I’m expecting you to pick up and read this and/or watch the series. That’s because I am. This is one of those series that makes you think and forces you to pay attention but it does things in a very interesting way. I know this kind of series isn’t for everyone but if you do like good case-solving stories and want one that does things in an unconventional, yet interesting way, then this series is well worth your attention!
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**This item was provided for review by Yen Press
