So what do you get when you combine the awesomeness of anime and the epic epicness of death metal? You end up getting Detroit Metal City (DMC), the anime I just finished watching. This was about one of the best I have seen yet (even though I haven’t claimed to have seen a lot – that’s a lifetime goal), for a long list of reasons; if you’re aren’t into metal, or are the faint of heart, then I would suggest possibly watching something else that is up your alley. This one will tear up those who don’t like metal and make them scream in pain – because that’s what Krauser, the main character’s stage identity, would have wanted.
It was Great!
I loved the very simple story of DMC. DMC stars Negishi, a boy who left his home to Tokyo to make his dream come real. He wants to be a guitarist and singer for a trendy band that plays Swedish pop music. But, to his dismay, he ends up being the frontman for indie death metal band DMC, a band notorious for their commitment to everything demonic and metal. Negishi’s onstage persona, Krauser II, is supposed to be a demonic emperor who claims to have raped, killed, and done everything wrong in the world to anyone who has crossed his way (including his parents). Yeah, this is not for those who like cutesy stuff in their anime. Negishi ends up touring across the country, trying to show his love to Aikawa (his unrequited lover), showing his supremacy as a musician, and prmoting his band as the best thing since sliced bread (since the president/manager forces him to). What was great about much of the story was that Negishi really wants to escape his current life, but whenever he tries to do so, hilarity ends up ensuing that pulls him deeper and deeper into the metal world, earning him thousands of more fans daily. Examples of this include: hanging himself, pseudo-humping everything, screaming curses, and pretty much anything else you can imagine. These funny moments I apprecaited very much, especially since I have been exposed to mostly action-based anime with very little humor these past months.
I must say one of the best parts of DMC was Krauser II (aka Negishi’s stage persona). I loved the fact that he would viscerally scream on and off the stage and would say the most insulting things to people. But as soon as he would say something awful, for example, to his unrequited lover, he would immediately try to cover it by saying something else. This type of situation played itself over and over again and I didn’t stop laughing the whole time. I also loved how he would just scream and try to relate everything that he was doing to the fact that he was supposed to be a demonic king from the underworld. Krauser II was the embodiment of everything I love about metal, and I see myself definitely making his costume in the future. I’m attached to the persona duality of Negishi, and I haven’t really let out my inner metal beast in a long time. Besides, it’ll be fun to learn how to do his facepaint and try to create a metal costume. And if people recognize me, I think it’ll be funny to try to say some of the stuff Krauser does, not to mention shredding the guitar with my teeth.
Another great aspect of DMC was that it featured everything that I enjoy about the metal world. It inculded all of the wonderful language: face melting, shredding guitars, double-bass drumming, swearing, demons, blood, sex, gore – all of these I find quite entertaining as a listener of metal. With an anime twist on this culture, it was even better and made me appreciate my love for metal even more. DMC also had all of the fashion of metal: armor, face paint, gloves, and all of the musical equipment. I wanna go out and buy a whole bunch of metal and goth-like clothing now to celebrate my love for metal and DMC. I’ll put some of that on my Christmas list.
I Need Moar!
The only complaint I have with DMC was that the episodes were very short and quick. Each episode was only around 12-14 minutes in length, much shorter than I am used to (but it did feel great to watch 4-6 episodes per night!). Every time I felt like I was getting into the flow of each episode, it would be over, and that made me sad. But I’ll definitely be going back to this anime – as, if you couldn’t tell – is now one of my favorites.
Overall, though, if you want some great laughs, comedy, and a heaping dose of metal in your anime, I’d definitely recommend this for your viewing time. Even if you aren’t into metal that much, I’d still say give it a time if you’re a fan of randomness helping the main character get through many of his troubles.
