Audience reviews
16 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
akako7gray
It may seen like it's building something interesting in the first 10 or so episodes, then at the end it shows that it's just a pile of crap.
The biggest problem of this anime is certainly the pace and the way the mysteries are solved, as well as the solution itself. Very little is actually answered for the first 13 episodes. Then there's the last two episodes that are each one hour and fourty minutes long, and you think "Aha! They will clarify everything now!", and that perhaps the movie-long last two episodes, something quite experimental, show confidence in the artistic direction of this show.
However, it's really not it. These last two episodes give the most dumb explainations for about every single mystery up to that point, and the way these episodes work pretty much confirms that the…
Read at the sourceSkyBlue1012
A 90's anime that slightly fails to portray the gloomy nature of being a robot. I was intrigued to watch this because I love serial experiments lain and been told that this is one of the underrated hidden gems of retro anime. So I ignored the ratings and gave this a shot.
STORY: 5/10
- The story is very interesting as the nature of the main protagonist remains mysterious, until they dumped overwhelming information on the last 2 episodes. But the one I don't really like here is the pacing of the plot, it's very slow, tedious, and almost hard to watch even when I'm playing it at 2x speed. But despite all of that, I love the plot twist it presented on the last episodes of the show, I just don't like how they drag it on for too long.
ART: 6/10
- The visual here is average, it's not an eyesor…
Read at the sourceShiftyKitsune
It was the year 1995 and a certain mecha Anime changed the industry forever, spawning similarly influential classics that are fondly remembered to this day. A year prior, Akira animator Hiroaki Sato and Studio Pierrot would bring us an OVA about a robot girl named Tokiko Mima, aka Key, who must gather 30'000 friends to become a real girl. This show, obviously inspired by Pinocchio, fits right in with this era of experimental and challenging Anime but somehow faded into obscurity while a certain other idol show that became very recently gets tons of blind praise for doing the bare minimum..
Key the Metal Idol might seem simple at first glance and It's slow pacing isn't for everyone, but It's also a layered tale that remains relevant to this very day. In a world where companies are expecte…
Read at the sourceKanudelgruber
Key the Metal Idol is an underappreciated, cerebral and interesting anime which evokes feelings of Lain despite its coming out several years earlier. I would absolutely recommend it to fans of that and other 90s sci-fi anime like it. However, as much as I like this show, it's unfortunately held back by a premature cancellation which resulted in a final episode that essentially boils down to a feature-length info dump of what the final few episodes were meant to be. Because it exists in this half-formed and unpolished state, I give it a mixed review. However, to those who are willing to try it despite these issues, there are some unexpected developments later in the story that make this series, if not masterful, at least highly interesting.
Read at the sourceLinkped
I am making no exaggeration when I say that the best part of this anime is the intro. Absolutely beautiful singing, and the singer even has two versions, an English and Japanese one, if I'm not mistaken. The story starts off somewhat interesting and proceeds to fall off as it goes on. The art is good for when it was made, but no big deal now. Same with sound design. Most of the characters are one-note. If you really MUST watch this show, either stop after the 13th episode to maintain the mystery (if that's your thing) or only watch the intros. Better yet, just look it up on YouTube: In The Night Key by Kijima Sario.
Read at the sourcerobddoo
Is she, or isn't she?
Key: the Metal Idol is the story of a young girl, or more accurately a robot, named Mima Tokiko, or as most people refer to her, Key, in her quest to become "human". This mission is given to her by her Grandfather Doctor Mima on his deathbed, recorded on a tape as his last will with the simple instructions to "make 30,000 friends" and humanity will be hers. With such a vague explanation and so little restrictions given, how would you go about fulfilling this request? Attempt to make 30,000 individual friends? Maybe start a cult and gather 30,000 followers? Or would you possibly become an idol and gain 30,000 fans? It's with these dying words that Key is spurned on to move from her home in the quiet rural village of Mamio Valley to the city of Tokyo, searching for he…
Read at the sourceMike4Life
To be frank, Key the Metal Idol isn't a great anime, nor does it get anywhere close. Conceptually speaking, it definitely had potential, but this would go largely unrealised. Given the fact that Key's final two episodes are each an hour and a half long, it's possible that scheduling and/or finances are the reason/s for this squandered potential.
Key's story is a fairly obvious criticism of the idol industry in Japan. As a Western viewer, it's hard to deconstruct this aspect of the story in any meaningful way since idols (in this context) are a cultural phenomenon exclusive to Japan. That being said, it is interesting in the way it depicts idols as robots/puppets, and how a human's life force is drained controlling these idols. Having the titular protagonist Key struggle with the ambiguity…
Read at the sourceBlackFlamesMimi
I'll have to say that anime pacing is a lot to go through. Some parts are jerky while some parts were well connected. Other than that, I will lie to say that I didn't thoroughly enjoy this anime.
The story: As seen in the description of the anime, it may seem like this is a generic anime about a robot girl just trying to be human again. However, this anime is more than that. What we see in the story is the main character, Key, is going through obstacles that test her emotions and mind of the state. This is also seen in the people around her. Like finding 30,000 friends is insane to make a show about, but that what makes this anime enjoyable. There were so many mysteries unraveling for her to find 30,000 friends to become human again. Though the pacing of the story starts off slow in the f…
Read at the sourceToShiStar
I'm not really an avid anime watcher, as if you leave out pokemon, yugioh and sailor moon I've only watched maybe 3 other full animes, but this one drew me in just by the title.The title which I think could be understood as idol in all definitions. The more I watched the more confused I got but as it was drawing to a close everything I was confused about got answered.
I had a great time watching this anime and would recommend it to anyone. It is quite dated, as my boyfriend loved to point out. He'd say things like "Whoah, that is so late 80's early 90's" and "Wow, that animation looks old". Nonetheless, it is a great watch.
So take it from someone who doesn't really watch animes XD This is a great anime!
Read at the sourceephemerry
Key the Metal Idol is a unique narrative―Serial Experiment Lain’s concomitant predecessor; a series, the likes of which I had never experienced before in Japanese animation. A pulpy dive into the spiritual psyche underneath the superfluous mask of artificial intelligence―as well as corruption and abuse in the corporate world and idol industry, and much more than that! This series is drunk on color, a prophetic odyssey that is oozing with uncomfortably numb gore and nudity. Something that distinguishes itself on the basis of its peculiarity alone.
• The visual direction is striking. Hiraoki Sato’s directorial sense in this series is something that surpasses the work of Satoshi Kon. While I do think that the directing is too out-there, as well as more stagnate than any anime should be at it…
Read at the sourceSailorGloom
This was a bit of a janky ride to finish. I think there is a genuinely good anime here but its hidden under some really odd pacing issues and inconsistent art.
For episodes 1-13 you are only getting scant clues as to whats going with the plot details, but its a good level of mystery. I felt I was pulled through those episodes while maintaining interest , but once you get to the last 2 episodes which are full feature length and act as massive exposition dumps which can be hard to sit through.
Some details of the story I'm still a little confused about and I'm still deciding if the ending was satisfying or not, it did have some cool visuals at the end though.
The 2 main girls undergo some good development as their relationship gets a little rocky at times but gets patched up by the end. P…
Read at the sourceFear_the_Reefer
Throughout your tenure as a student, you probably met a diverse assortment of people... You made friends with those you connected with, feuded with those you hated, and largely ignored those that fell by the wayside. However, there’s an incredibly likely chance you met someone you couldn’t easily categorize... Someone who challenged your perception of how a fellow classmate should act and interact with the people around them. Someone like Tokiko Mima, a quiet, strange girl who speaks in a flat, inflectionless voice, carries a broken speech pattern, and seems to have no interest in the world around her. Now, being young, you probably haven’t heard of the word Aspergers, so you’re more likely to use words like weird, creepy or gay to categorize kids like this. Tokiko, or Key for short, has a…
Read at the sourceQuiddity131
Key the Metal Idol’s basic premise is very similar to Pinocchio. Tokiko Mima, nicknamed Key, is a robot girl who lives in the Japanese countryside. When Key’s grandfather, Dr. Mima passes away unexpectedly, he leaves her a dying message about how she can become human by making herself 30,000 friends. In order to fulfill this goal, Key heads to the busy streets of Tokyo where she quickly encounters her best friend, Sakura Kuriyagawa who had moved away years before. Thus, the two begin a quest to help Key become human, believing the best way to do so is to make Key an idol singer, like the well-known Miho Utsuse.
Don’t let the premise fool you, this is both a dark show as well as a very intellectually fulfilling one. The similarities to Pinocchio are there with Key’s main goal to become hum…
Read at the sourceDjisas
This is a 17 yo classic, while both animation character design and music show their age, they are still impeccable and very good if you look at it from a classics's perspective...
The best about The Metal Idol, is the Intricate story that develops really slowly but very deeply and very detailed, episode 14 at 97m was almost mind washing, almost everything is explained, all the secrets and mysteries built and there is a lot of character development, this all continues in the last episode where they continue to build up and prepare for the last assault, there are many sacrifices in the path for Key to become Human once again but in the end everyone is saved with her Lulaby...
The cast for this anime considering its age its very well composed, specially the male V.A. i could reckon them all i…
Read at the sourceHayato_Matsuo
I first heard of this anime in an old RightStuf catalogue I got in high school. After reading the description, I knew it was a must see.
Even though most people would rather see the japanese sub, I highly recommend the english dub. Not only the VAs were decent, but the music has all been remade to english, and is some of the most beautiful music of the mid-late 90s.
Storywise, this had a great storyline. You could say this anime has a bit of a Pinocchio complex, as the main character (Key) is trying to become a human. How she does this is to simply make 30,000 friends O.O. How this works out remains a mystery until you get near the end of the series, where all questions will be answered. As Key is faced with obstacles, her human transformation takes place, and truly wows those around her…
Read at the sourceFALLEN101
Story: The story for Key the Metal Idol is relatively simple at first. It's the generic 'go on a quest' type. For Key she has to get all these fans so she can change from a robot into a human, relatively blah right? Yeah, it kind of is.
The story does get really good at the end but getting there takes forever and the pacing of the series isn't good. It's relatively boring for about three or four episodes and then BAM! something just exciting enough happens so you keep watching the series a little longer to see how it ends.
Up until the end practically nothing really makes any sense at all. However, the ending is quite good and it wraps up the series nicely and with no loose ends. And the story, once it gets going, is rather original and ... strange.
Art: About the art there's not much…
Read at the source