Ranked #464

Detroit Metal City: Birth of the Metal Devil

Detroit Metal City: Birth of the Metal Devil is that small bite you take before chomping down on the meatier OAV series.

It opens with a crowd chanting and cheering, and a young man lamenting in his gentle, quiet voice, 'How did this all happen?' Immediately, you're drawn right into it as he talks of a life in the countryside but how things have changed. What is this young man's predicament? Very quickly, we learn the answer. And boy, what a funny, ridiculous, stupid answer it is. Detroit Metal City: Birth of the Metal Devil does indeed show us the birth of the death metal rocker from the darkness: Krauser II. This short plays out almost like a superhero flick: a young musician walks the streets as mild-mannered Negishi, a simple, sweet boy with unfortunate hairdo and dreams of making it big as a folk singer, but when he's on stage, he dons the mask of Krauser II, the much-adored supervillain of society, a devil of death metal, and rocks the crowd and music. The entire short follows Negishi's humorous but pathetic attempts to live a double life.

The art is pretty good, but be warned: a significant portion of the characters are ugly. They have a "realistic" look to them. They look like regular people. The art style uses still-shots, manga-style frames, and has pretty good animation throughout. It really has a unique look, and it quite a refreshing break from turquoise-coloured eyes or supposedly natural blonde hair on a Japanese person.

And the great thing about this short is the music. There are some great songs throughout the anime, even though most are parodies given the unbelievable lyrical content. But the pop songs are nice and poppy, the metal songs are loud and forceful, and the OAV brings forth different genres of music really well.

As for the characters, they all serve as comic devices. Negishi is your typical nice guy, Krauser II is the supposed bad boy/evil guy, and Aikawa (Negishi's crush) is the standard oblivious good girl, and the anime really pokes fun at the stereotypical aspects of their personalities. Each is at the mercy of satire and are the butt of many of the anime's crude and hilarious jokes.

I have seen the series as well, so I know that Birth of the Metal Devil has scenes that are reused or incorporated in the first three or four episodes of the actual series. So if you've seen all episodes of Detroit Metal City before, this may be nothing more than a recap for you. However, for those who would like to test the waters, so to speak, of this franchise, then this OAV is just the thing. It's short, it shows you exactly what to expect for the full length series, and it delivers the spirit and style of the comedy.

Detroit Metal City: Birth of the Metal Devil is wonderfully funny. Given, it is tremendously offensive and crude. If crass verbal and visual humour is not your thing, then this may not be something you want to spend almost fourteen minutes on. If you have thoughts about getting into the actual series, then this OAV is perfect, as it shows you what to expect.

Personally, this was a great achievement in terms of combining great satire with accessible comedy. It was great fun. read more