Review of Detroit Metal City
Warning possible Spoilers As I've said in the past, I'm not a person who listens to a specific music type so after watching anime's that focus on Orchestral, Jazz and Rock music it was time to try out Metal. Story (8/10) Since this an OVA there isn't really going to be a strong story, but for what this anime offered it was actually pretty damn good since it focuses on Souichi Negishi, who wanted to become a musician, but ended up being in a heavy metal band which he hates being in. The interesting thing about the story is Negishi himself, true there is other aspects, but the focuson his character was really well done, mainly because of his different sides since his normal side doesn't want to be in the band and instead he wanted to make more cheerful music, but he has played in the band so long it has created a split personality within him, which during some points in the show make him do horrible things although luckily he immediately apologises and gets away with his actions.
I liked how it also focused on the fierce competition that different musicians have to overcome like popularity, criticism and other rival musicians including their own fanbase, these instances did lead to some pretty epic standoffs especially the finale standoff with Jack ILL Dark however I felt like the standoffs were lacking in length because they would begin and end very quickly.
The story does in some way lead to an endgame point, but it makes me want more, because some things felt like they were unfinished or just hadn't been focused on.
Characters (8/10)
Now as far as characters go the main focus is on Negishi, who outside his alter ego Johannes Krauser II he is really a sweet and nice guy who just wants to make his own music, sadly though must people don't like it and over time he starts to become more focused on the DMC, making his alter ego take over more and because of this it has caused a few problems, however he still hasn't lost track of who he is and still wants to make his own music someday.
Masayuki Wada, Terumichi Nishida and Keisuke Nashimoto are the other band members, sadly this is pretty much all you know about them because they don't get that much focus in the show I mean Nashimoto gets half an episode for himself, mainly due to his masochism, but Wada and Nishida really don't get anything other than Wada being a ladies man and Nishida being a creepy pervert which is all you'll know about this two.
Death Records Manager otherwise known as President is alongside Negishi the best character of the show, mainly due to her vulgar nature since she doesn't care about what the boys do as long as it gets her money or makes her feel wet, everytime she's in a scene she makes the whole show 10 times funnier.
Yuri Aikawa is a girl who befriended Negishi in College because she liked his music, however she doesn't like DMC which makes Negishi incredibly worried if she ever finds out his alter ego, overall there isn't much to say about her character other than being used for a romance sub-plot.
Art (9/10)
What I most definitely like about the art is the design of the characters especially their costumes, they really resemble the heavy metal band Kiss which is probably what the costumes were based on, it definitely captures the image of a classic heavy metal band and I like the style of the art too mainly because it captures that grim, dirty look which fits the show perfectly.
Sound (10/10)
Despite the lyrics of DMC being pretty vulgar and weird I really liked the tune of the music, it felt real and captured the true essence of a heavy metal band plus I also liked how it also had a bit of rap in there too along with other musical elements.
The op wasn't too bad either considering it definitely shows what you're getting into.
Extras:
Now if there was one thing that definitely surprised me throughout the whole show is the comedy, it was funny, weird, vulgar and really unpredictable and the best example has to be when Negishi/Krauser snorted up a giant loogie and spat it into someones mouth, what's even worse though is that the guy ate it which made me cringe out of my seat, yet another great example for the comedy is the President herself who always keeps creating crazy situations or saying weird stuff that just made every scene she was in pure gold.
Enjoyment (9/10)
Overall this was a surprisingly fun and entertaining OVA, it had great music, good characters and fantastic comedy so if you're someone looking for a short OVA with some heavy metal to listen to then get this on you're to watch list.