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Genuinely the greatest movie I have ever seen in my entire life. Never in my entire albeit short time have I ever been left so mesmerized by a piece of media. The way Be Invoked manages to take the stress-inducing, paranoid experience of the TV series and take it to a whole new level is jaw-dropping. Ideon is not as well-known outside of japan, but within the mecha mythos, it's arguably one of the most revered properties not only within the genre, but amidst all of anime, serving as clear inspiration for later visionaries (Hideaki Anno directly cites Ideon as one of the main inspirations ... for EVA)

Since the firm effectively serves as a direct sequel to the tv series, and speaking of its shining quality is impossible without the previous knowledge, I'll instead focus on the l aspects that the film itself exceeds at. However, if you're curious, I highly recommend the tv show, it's by no means a perfect series, but it's no less brilliant than this masterpiece of a movie, though nowhere near as polished.

If you're familiar with Tomino's work, be it the horribly depressing Victory Gundam, or the zany, fun and comical Overman King Gainer, then you know damn well that the man has an eye for amazing visuals. Ideon is no exception, the movie takes the tv series' brilliant visual direction and, thanks in no small part to a having a theatrical budget, elevates the visuals to a mouth-watering spectacle. The soundtrack is no less pristine, Koichi Sugiyama (of Dragon Quest fame) once again returns to deliver, what to this day, are some of anime's finest tunes, I implore to anyone reading this review to give Cantata Orbis a listen, you won't regret it.

Ideon: Be Invoked is a glorious, grand and shocking final roar that closes the curtain on the 39 episode long saga that precedes it. Both the tv show and this movie are something special, the likes of which we haven't since seen on anime, or any medium really. Give the series, and then this movie a watch, make sure to fully embrace the existential crisis after you're done though, it's part of the experience