Ranked #375

Detroit Metal City (Manga)

Howling with laughter while reading "Detroit Metal City" (DMC), the word I kept thinking of was "genius".

DMC is based on the theme of dual personalities. Negi Souichi is a kind-hearted, simple 23 year old, a virgin with an ugly bowl-shaped haircut. He hails from a farm, talks to his mother every day, and dreams of uniting the world with fashionable pop songs about love and French desserts.

At night, he dresses up as the fearsome Krauser-san II of the band DMC, a KISS and Gwar-inspired death metal frontman who sings about rape, murdering one's parents, and on stage, beats up an elderly Japanese man wearing women's lingerie known as "The Pig of Capitalism".

He is considered a true demon by his crazed fans, who would love nothing more than to be raped and killed by their idol, and eventually comes to be known as the emperor of metal, thanks to his many legendary deeds, such as raping the Tokyo Tower, and his destruction of any rivals to his throne, whether they be punk, rap, or fellow metal bands.

At first, it seems like Negi is simply forced to go along with this because of the tyrannical President of DMC's record label, a frightening death metal chick who beats up Negi and everyone else standing in her way, and constantly talks about performances "making me wet".

However, as the series progresses, one realizes that Krauser is very much a part of Negi himself. All of his anger and frustration at not being recognized for his pop music, as well as his annoyance with various people and circumstances in his life fuel his angry, violent death metal acts. Often, the very people he is close to and respects as Negi are the ones he destroys and humiliates as Krauser.

The writing and stories throughout the series are nothing short of brilliant. While the joke could quickly wear thin, here the mangaka manages to keep thinking of creative, exciting situations and obstacles for DMC and Negi to be up against, and he never fails to resolve it with something absurd and over-the-top, which a normal, rational Negi would be outraged by.

The other characters are also interesting and funny, if a bit one-dimensional. There is Negi's considerate, sweet love interest Yuri Aikawa, who works for a fashionable music magazine, and is frequently tormented by Krauser-san. There is Jyagi-Sama, the bass guitarist for the band, an outgoing, kind partier who is popular with the ladies. He hopes of making a lot of money from the band, but just doesn't understand the essence of metal quite like Negi.

Then, there is Camus-San, who, to go along with the stereotype of drummers as being bizarre weirdos, is a short, fat, ugly, bespectacled man, whose entire speech consists of offensive, perverted one or two word sentences, mostly spoken to attractive women. He frequently seems to think he's in a brothel, telling an innocent girl either "anal" or "next!".

As mentioned before, there is DMC's frightening record label president, as well as a hilarious male DMC super-fan who makes a living doing shows for little kids, and has an inferiority complex about not being raped by Krauser. Frankly, every repeat character in the series is funny, and their inclusion in the story is very much in context.

The art is simple and to the point, good enough to convey the hilarity of the idea and situations, much like the set-up itself.

Overall, a great read, highly recommended to anyone with even a passing interest in manga. read more

(just for the record, this is a slight alteration of my anime review)

ART SECTION: 7/10
It is hilarious, no matter how crude the characters look or move. If it was a title where graphics play an outmost importance this would be a major minus. Since it is a comedy not based on slapstick movements, it goes well with the territory. To be honest, the thing that matters the most are the spaced out grimaces the characters make. All the rest are unimportant. Looking so gentle to a point of passing like nerds and mama’s boys or freaked out to resemble mass-murderers was enough to make the jokes work. So, movements and proportions suffer big time but at the same time they give of a feeling of an anarchistic underground comic. I almost doubt it would be as funny if it were done any better.

STORY SECTION: 5/10
A polite, kind youngster turning into a make-belief Kind of Demons against his will and becoming the exact opposite of what he always wanted to be was more than I could bear without laughing for several minutes. I mean most series have some perky youth with high ideals that struggles to accomplish his dreams (i.e. Naruto, Ash Kecham, Luffy D. Monkey). Here we have someone who fails miserably at it but is quite good at being bad! If that is not funny, I don’t know what is. The story was making fun of this cliché most manga have become quite repetitive of (thus feeling boring for the same reason), so seeing it being ridiculed is hilarious for a veteran reader like myself.

In all, the story is funny but not really developed or solid in any way. It will feel like stand-alone chapters with an almost identical form of storytelling. The gentle protagonist will have some peaceful, cheery plan, something goes wrong, and he turns to his hated alter ego in order to solve the problem in a most embarrassing (yet hilarious) manner that favors him. Everything is very convenient, so I never felt the story was meant to be realistic. It is just a simple scenario that unfolds in separated chapters, with an identical manner. The story does depict the basics of the problems music bands and singers have to face as they struggle for fame and acceptance. It still doesn’t get serious at all, as most things are resolved in a very forced way.

CHARACTER SECTION: 8/10
I am the King of Demons! (Krauzer II)
The cast of the characters is generally very likable. None besides the main character gets much focus or development; but since this is a series that focuses solely on one character, this is not a bad thing. Negishi is very interesting as he hates violence and passes for quite passive when in practice he always uses his hateful persona to get out of his troubles. Something like a suppressed dark side of his, Krauzer II is the persona you will most likely choose. For you see, calm and gentle people are presented in very negative ways (spineless, useless, oblivious) while the scum of society are glorified (mucho, imposing, decisive). Like the rest of the story, everything happens in extreme ways and leads to funny results because of the absolute separation of all the characters in to only two reverse poling categories.

VALUE & ENJOYMENT SECTION: 8/10
F**k! My c**t is so wet, that the rain season will come early this year! (Krauzer II’s manager)
That is one of the reasons I adore manga. Give them the liberty, and nothing is impossible to them. It is true that many manga are about a music band (i.e. Beck), or even implement irony and the unexpected factor as means of telling a joke (i.e. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei). This series is the only one that mixes all of the above and even takes them to extreme heights.

The repetitive form of the plot does start to become tiresome later on. Still, the total amount of laughing overshadows the amount of time you start to doubt things. It is far more extreme and bold than most comedies out there. The chances of watching it again are high. The chances of forgetting it are zero.

VERDICT: 7/10
Krauzer II, your verdict for killing and raping a thousand people is … NOT GUILTY! Oh, Lord of the Underworld, murder me now! read more