Nowadays Ideon may come off as a heavy-handed allegory for nuclear warfare and the apparent inevitability of human conflict, but Be Invoked--a feature film that provides the original series with a final arc and ending, instead of the rushed final episodes prompted by the show's cancellation--continues to be one of the most emotionally devastating and spiritually aspirational anime. The fact that Ideon began as a transparently toyetic mecha franchise, which is still reflected in many of its designs, doesn't detract from how seriously the story takes itself, its characters, and its message. The violence pulls no punches, even when children are involved, and this is still Tomino's rawest look at civilian casualties and collateral damage in war. All leading up to its rather open conclusion, Be Invoked is an experience, and a touchstone for later "psychological mecha" shows (most famously Evangelion).
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