Forum - View topicREVIEW: Key the Metal Idol
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Ggultra2764
 Subscriber Posts: 3982 Location: New York state. |
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Oh, the irony. I finally get to see Key review Key: The Metal Idol.
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belvadeer
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This always sounded like one interesting OVA as people kept mentioning it over the years. I might need to see this.
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Vaisaga
 Posts: 13243 |
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Yeah, I get the feeling his review isn't unbiased 
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PingSoni
Subscriber Posts: 195 Location: Lansing MI |
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Good review of one of my all time favorite series. Thanks!
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Parsifal24
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I bought the old Viz release at an convention in my home town and it is a good series but also kind of feels like a "museum piece" if only for how it looks.
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Ouran High School Dropout
 Posts: 440 Location: Somewhere in Massachusetts, USA |
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Thanks so much for anyone taking a renewed interest in this show--Discotek's for the re-issue, and Theron's for the review!
Despite the fact I haven't seen Key in a decade or more, the heartbreak, pain, and suffering left a lasting impression. It is one of those rare shows that defies genre pigeonholing and stands in a class by itself. The characters are engrossing, the songs arresting. Definitely not a series to be forgotten, and an easy one to recommend to a new generation of fans. 
Last edited by Ouran High School Dropout on Thu Apr 13, 2017 3:49 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Ggultra2764
Subscriber Posts: 3982 Location: New York state. |
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Joking aside, I've owned the old Viz release of Key the Metal Idol for years now and the series is definitely a unique beast for the anime medium since it doesn't follow many of the typical plot conventions and character archetypes you'd expect from many anime back then and even now. An overlooked hidden gem from the 1990s worth checking out, and one I'm glad Discotek has re-released.
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crosswithyou
 Posts: 2900 Location: California |
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Anyone from the Bay Area remember when this used to be aired on PBS? Man, those were the days!
Reminds me of how the translated lyrics for the Please Save My Earth songs also matched the song melody. That takes skill! I'm a sub fan through and through but the Ocean Group dubs were rather enjoyable. Maybe it's because I liked hearing the actors from Beast Wars and my other favorite cartoons. |
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Lemonchest
Posts: 1771 |
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I'll say this for episode 14: it has the second best walking & talking scene after Fate: Zero.
I do think (as I remember it, anyway. It's been a while) the series is a bit more flawed than just its penultimate episode, though I think that highlights the problem with the series. Key took about four years to release & feels like a series where the writer-director kept thinking up new things he wanted to add while forgetting bits of what had already happened in earlier episodes. The 90 minute info dump is basically him answering all the questions nobody but he had been asking while making it. While I wouldn't say a bad/disappointing ending should stop someone watching a series, it's worth bearing in mind that the final two episodes are three of the shows nine-ish hour run time, so they ask a lot of the viewer. An apt analogy for the show comes from the its opening, I think. The bit where Key is passing through the liquid wall GITS style (though this came first) looks really cool & arty, but then it cuts to a shot of the half that's emerging & its just flailing about awkwardly & ruins the moment. Key never quite matched its pretensions for me, & devolves into near nonsense at times towards the end. On a different topic, I wish someone would license Shakotan Boogie, the other OVA Hiroaki Sato worked on (directed the first episode, I think?). It's next to impossible to find & I don't think even a fansubbed version exists, at least publicly. |
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NeoStrayCat
 Posts: 635 |
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Hah, so Theron is "Key" here? Not that I've never noticed, but I wondered if the user "Key" here would review...what else??? Key! (lol) |
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Arale Kurashiki
Posts: 782 |
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I'm gonna have to pick this up. Key is absolutely fascinating and exactly the kind of idol anime that the industry needs right now, along with Perfect Blue. Strange how they came 15 years early.
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Ialdaboth
Posts: 94 |
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A shame for the anime industry to have let Hiroaki Sato fade away from it after Key...
I didn't come 15 years early - Key was a perfect product of its time in its mid-90s pre-Evangelion pop-bleakness / post-bubble hangover. It would be completely out of place and misunderstood in today's market. |
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Pierrot.
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Such an underrated show. Honestly I feel this anime was too early for it's time and I think this show would really be appreciated if it were released in today's market.
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18527 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Agreed. Unfortunately it's hard to track down info on what he's been up to since then, as his is a fairly common name combo. (We have four in our Encyclopedia alone.) His last anime credit that I can find was the screenplay for White Album back in 2009.
I hadn't considered the angle that I put in bold but upon reflection I have to agree with it. However, I still stand by my statement that the series is still relevant these days as a counterpoint to all of the more idealistic idol shows out there. Oh, and one thing that I don't feel I stressed enough in the review: the video quality is fairly crappy on this new release. I may go by to my old early 2000s DVDs for future rewatches. |
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Ialdaboth
Posts: 94 |
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Wholeheartedly agreed. Modern anime tend to be so pontificatously enamoured with its own crap, so compromised by its submission to neoliberal commoditization of human empathy and feelings, so lacking of capacity for pop-cultural auto-criticism, it's embarrassing. Sorry, just spouting nonsense... i'm out there. |
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