Oh, no, how did this happen? I watched a show that was BOTH giant fighting robots and CG animation! Am I crazy from the heat? Missing a critical enzyme? On the verge of being deported? What could have led me to such a series? Well, sit down in front of the fireplace (it’s summer; there’s no fire in there, merely deadly spiders and a ton of creosote) and I’ll explain “ID-Ø”.

It is the really, really, really distant future, but STILL no hover boards. We have found a way to merge the mind of a human into the body of a mecha, or, as they are known here, “I-machines”. We send these machines out to do the dirty work in the mean environment that is deep space, but they can be intelligently controlled so that they are more than just a mere automaton. And if something should happen to the metal body, the mind is still intact and you can get another mecha body. Our hostess in this brave new work is Alliance Academy student Mikuri Maya (that really happy one, front and center). She is an astrogeologist and she is with a crew of people trying to mine a substance known as orichalt. It looks like a cluster of rubies, but it is a powerful commodity that energizes all the spaceships of this universe.

However, they are attacked by space pirates or mining renegades or some caliber of nefarious folks and she is captured. They are the company Excavate and they don’t always follow protocols in mining orichalt. But Mikuri can’t be let go, as she is now being painted as a criminal and has to figure out a way to clear her name before getting arrested and sent to the spice mines on Kessel. Until that time, she helps the company with finding orichalt.

What this mineral does is allow one to do what is known as a Miguel Jump. It’s a kind of hyperspace maneuver, but you get from Point A to Point B in mere seconds, no matter the distance, as long as you have the coordinates. As she comes to learn, most of the people on the ship are Evertrancers. This means that they do not have a physical body to go back to and are, for all intents and purposes, this I-machine. The one up there is Mr. Ido, but it is a reflection of what he is. He has no memories of his distant past, only when he woke up on a prison ship and eventually escaped. In looking for his identification mark, all he got was “ID: 0” (actually, that zero with the toothpick through it). He then became Ido.

The story turns odd when they go after a massive chunk of orichalt and encounter Alice (that catgirl up there). I mean, she was living in it! She doesn’t speak, but possesses power and abilities far beyond those of normal mortals. At this point, the entire United Planet Force is after them, not only for the orichalt, but this Alice person. The show details all the back stories and mysteries surrounding everyone as they try to seek the truth behind it all.

The CG is stultifying. I mean, it certainly helps with the I-machine sequences, in that you want a caliber of herky-jerky movements, but when we get to the real people, it’s “Knights of Sedonia” all over again and very annoying. Equally so is when we finally get to the heart of the matter and learn all the truths and now that you are privy to all the reasons behind it, it is a bit of a let-down.

At least the characters are well-defined (save for Alice and she doesn’t need that much). Too bad the evil buttheads are evil buttheads. They just can’t seem to make a solid villain without having to fall back on some well-worn tropes to get their point across. I would have liked to have learned more about the rest of the team, especially Rick and FA-Loser (you’ll meet them.) Yes, everything does get explained in the end, but I found it did not live up to the hype. Well, they can’t all be winners. Still, I would have you see this show, as there is enough going on you keep you tethered.

I would have you test the waters for binging. For me, CG works against itself, as it is never as nice and smooth as it should be and you could find yourself getting worn down by it. Binging does help the story flow better and it picks up speed when Alice is picked up, but, again, it all hinges on your tolerance for the 3D portions of it. Me, personally, I got tired of Alice really fast. You may get different results.

On a scale of 1 to 10:

Artwork           7 (CG pulls things down)
Plot                  8 (Interesting approach)
Pacing              7 (Sometimes too much to take in)
Effectiveness   7 (A lot of loose ends)
Conclusion      5 (It reaches a ‘coupler point’, but hasn’t ended)
Fan Service     2 (A similar show would be “Okamisan”)
Bingeing         7 (Truly a matter of personal taste)

Overall            8 (Uncertainty as to the good guys and the bad guys)

And remember, it’s first run until you’ve seen it. Prepare for Miguel Jump.