Product Details

• Actors: Key the Metal Idol
• Format: Animated, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), Japanese (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: Unrated
• Studio: Viz Video
• DVD Release Date: September 19, 2000
• Run Time: 180 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00004W1ZP
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #69,801 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Logic falls by the wayside as the tangled plots and subplots of this Pinocchio story unfold. Key, a robot in the form of a pubescent girl, believes she must win the love of 30,000 friends to become a human, and the easiest way to attain that goal is to become a rock star. The alternately icy and hysterical Hikaru Tsurugi, who serves as superstar Miho's choreographer, takes up Key--even though she can't sing, dance, or act (or use first-person pronouns). Meanwhile, the sinister president of Ajo Industries continues his experiments with deadly cyborgs that run on "gel," a mysterious, power-giving substance extracted from humans. Key's grandfather/inventor, a brilliant scientist, endowed her with powers linked to gel that Ajo both fears and covets. The grotesque priest of the snake god continues his campaign for Key's "salvation," which brings him into conflict with Key's old school friend, the fractious Sakura; her sometimes boyfriend Tataki; and the mysterious self-appointed bodyguard, Tamayo. When a concert by Ajo's cyborg-performer Miho stumbles to a halt, Key demonstrates some of her powers, which prove formidable. But tying these disparate elements into a satisfying conclusion will be a real challenge for writer-director Hiroaki Sato. Contains these episodes: 8. "Goto," 9. "Return," 10. "Bug," 11. "Save," 12. "Virus I," 13. "Virus II." Unrated; graphic violence, nudity, profanity, and grisly imagery are unsuitable for children. --Charles Solomon

Product Description
Key's need for 30,000 fans makes her pursue the career of a pop-singing idol - even though she can't sing or dance. At an audition for a musical, a major producer becomes interested in Key even though she does nothing at all. Is this her big break, or will the president of a rival's fan club uncover a link with the sinister Ajo Heavy Industries and their deadly experimental robots?! Volume 2 (Contains episodes 8-13)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You can't miss this serie for your Anime collection !, September 17, 2000

By	Pierantozzi Luca (Terni, Italy-Europe Italy) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Key the Metal Idol - Singing (Vol. 3) (DVD)

This is one of the best Anime Tv series released in Japan. If you are an Anime fan and you watched and liked SerialExperiments Lain then you'll love this one. Key The Metal Idol looks like a futuristic horror remake of Pinocchio. Buy all the DVDs from this serie, you won't be disappointed unless you really hate the genre. It's one of the best cyber Sci-Fi stories to date.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Someone forgot the rule of storytelling!, November 26, 2001

By	P. A Clark "pacanime" (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Key the Metal Idol - Singing (Vol. 3) (DVD)

(SIGH) I first saw this seiries on public televison, but only caught some of the episodes. Due mainly to the unpredictability of the stations air times. Needless to say I was stoked when I could buy the series on DVD.

DISC's 1 and 2 are great. Just like I remebered when I saw them of TV. In disc three however, the whole series takes a turn for the worst. I don't know if it was a lazy animator, or a rushed director, but the whole disc pratically turns into a story of telling instead of showing. In any story, especially a visual one, the story is supposed to be shown instead of told. But for well over and hour, two of the characters talk about Key and her past.

It would have been alot more effective if the they could have used flashbacks or left Keys past as a mystery. Like others have already stated I had a hard time watching the last disc.

I gave the third volume 2 stars just because I felt like it's neccesary to finish off Key's story, if you've seen the first 13 episodes.

Maybe the producer of Key will redo the last episodes and give them justice. (unlikely though)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Five stars for the series, three for the last disc..., September 2, 2001

By	Mark Savary "moon_city" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Key the Metal Idol - Singing (Vol. 3) (DVD)

Disc 1 and 2 of "Key the Metal Idol" are absolutely amazing anime. Up until that point, you're left with a tantalizing wonder about whether or not Key really is a robot, a human, or something more. Images of the "human" Key overtake the "robot" Key at emotional moments, and there are also hints of Akira-like powers Key posesses, but is completely unaware of.

Unfortunately, the last two installments of the series on Disc 3 bog things down and throw too much out the window. Also frustrating is the feeling that both of the last two segments were padded and overwritten. Many moments that made the first two discs a joy are here on Disc 3 as well, but they are far too infrequent. On top of that, the viewer must wade through many dull scenes laced with obtuse exposition, and little or no action.

Part 1 of Disc 3 is the worst offender in that regard, but Part 2 has many long, drawn-out scenes as well. For example, there are several inexplicable pans of the Megalodome concert that fill space again and again on the disc without doing much to advance the story. A story's climax should be climactic, after all, not excitig moments laced together with dull spots.

Fans should be warned, without resorting to a spoiler, that one of the cast members falls prey to a decidedly nasty turn of events the series could have done without. Again, this does not really do all that much to advance the story in a positive way, and the finality was unnecessary given Key's powers.

On the plus side, there are some great moments worth waiting for, (mostly in Part 2), and the series comes to a somewhat satisfying, if not totally comprehensible, end.

While Disc 3 is the worst of the lot, it's still better than the average anime. As such, you won't feel cheated, and the price is good value for your anime dollar.