ID-0 is about a naive astrogeologist girl and a group of space bandits, some of whom are minds trapped inside robot bodies, who engage in illegal space mining. Things go wrong during one of their illicit excavations and the plot spirals from there. All the characters have unique personalities and I enjoyed the chemistry of this motley crew working together.
This show is actual genuine science fiction and frequently invokes intriguing sci-fi concepts such as digital consciousness, robotics and cloning. The story is interesting and engaging; it incorporates mystery elements well and does a good job of 'peeling back the onion' as the plot progresses. As a whole, ID-0 is quite creative and unique; it feels like a hobby project moreso than a commercial anime.
ID-0 also seems to have a budget as low as a hobby project. All of the character animation is CGI, but it doesn't look completely awful and I didn't find the faces to be uncanny or unsettling in ways I've experienced with CGI animation in the past. A lot of the celestial landscapes are cool and the show looks best when it is depicting spaceships, planets and things of that nature. Although they are infrequent, the action scenes in this, especially the space battles, are actually quite entertaining; the CGI looks nice and dynamic. There are also lots of awesome spaceships, and the celestial environment is a nice backdrop. I couldn't help but laugh at the space motorbikes with the decorative-flames paintjobs – they fit the mood of the anime well. In some ways, ID-0 is metal as fuck but also doesn't take itself too seriously; it's a really fun ride overall.
The soundtrack is somewhat unconventional but fits the atmosphere of the show. The OP/ED songs are endearingly cheesy. I liked the voice acting for Grayman and Rick.
My overall rating: 7/10
ID-0 is an endearing passion project with a unique intriguing story, fun likeable cast, and lots of cool creative sci-fi stuff mainly relating to space, robotics, consciousness, physics and the like. If you can overlook its janky visuals, ID-0 is a great sci-fi show.
If you're a fan of actual science fiction (i.e. not space romcoms) then you would likely appreciate this show. I enjoyed it way more than I expected.
