Dec 8, 2008 Comments Off
Oct 12, 2008 Comments Off
Detroit Metal City & 20th Century Boys @ LIFF
Leeds International Film Festival has Detroit Metal City and the first installment in the 20th Century Boys trilogy playing this year on the 15th & 16th November.
Sep 17, 2008 1
DETROIT METAL CITY – Episode 4 – FRUSTRATION/GOOD SONG
GO! TO! DMC!
This episode covers Chapters 12 & 8 of the manga. While out of sequence, paired together they provide examples of how DMC doesn’t just satirise metal, but all aspects of pop culture.
In “Frustration” we see just what a thin line there is between Negishi and Krauser II, as Negishi takes rejection by a personal hero very badly. Another minor difference to the manga is in this episode – the poster Negishi drunkenly berates is more clearly the “Amelie” film poster in the manga.
In “Good Song” Negishi runs into a school friend who has the sort of music career he dreams of, that of a fey Sarah Records style indie band. When they find themselves booked on the same music show the inevitable occurs.
Sep 16, 2008 Comments Off
DETROIT METAL CITY – Episode 3 – PIG/DRUG
GO! TO! DMC!
This episode covers Chapters 7 & 6 of the manga.
In “Pig” Aikawa has been sent by her fashion magazine to infiltrate a gig by the band voted as the worst band in the world by it’s readers – Detroit Metal City. Of course this doesn’t go well for either Aikawa or Negishi. Pay attention to the names of the other bands in the magazine. This will not be the last we hear of them.
In “Drug“, after an press interview goes badly, the President decides to make Negishi’s lifestyle more “death metal” with the help of her “metal” friends. The anime version does have a notable difference to the manga version of this story – in the manga the President’s syringe is clearly shown, whereas it never appears on screen in the anime.
Sep 15, 2008 Comments Off
DETROIT METAL CITY – Episode 2 – REAL LEGEND/SATAN
GO! TO! DMC!
This episode covers Chapters 4 & 5 of the manga.
In “Real Legend“, another recurring character gets introduced. “The Pig Of Capitalism”, a balding middle aged man who dresses in bondage gear and gets abused by Krauser II on stage, much to Negishi’s embarrassment. However his embarrassment only gets worse by the story’s end as he accidentally creates a “Real Legend”.
In “Satan“, Negishi goes to dinner and karaoke with Aikawa and her friends, but his bandmates, the charming Wada Masayuki and super-creepy Nishida Terumichi, end up coming along too. Alcohol fueled social faux pas ensues.
Sep 14, 2008 Comments Off
DETROIT METAL CITY – Episode 1 – PV/SICK MURDERER
GO! TO! DMC!
To go along with the live action adaptation of Detroit Metal City, Studio 4°C have produced an anime series based on the manga tale of soft mummy’s boy Soichi Negishi’s double life as death metal superstar Johannes Krauser II. And despite it’s straight to DVD status, it feels a lot like a TV show rather than an OAV. This is due it’s gag manga origins, and how closely the series stays true to those origins. It feels like Cromartie, Sexy Commando and Gag Manga Biyori in how well it captures Kiminori Wakasugi’s original work.
This is not surprising given the presence of Hiroshi Nagahama in the director chair. Frequent collaborator of Akitaro Daichi, Nagahama seems to have Daichi’s ability for adapting themselves to the project, rather than moulding the project to fit their own worldview. Nagahama was also the director of the Mushishi anime, and the mood there could not be further from the mood in DMC.
The resulting anime isn’t the glossy, showy sort of eye candy you’d expect from an OAV. It’s rough around the edges limited animation that pulls panels straight out the manga and animates them. It near perfectly captures the jagged comedy of embarrassment that the manga gives you.
The first episode covers Chapters 2 & 3 of the manga. In “PV“, DMC record a video and we are introduced to the nameless President of DMC’s record label – an abusive, foul mouthed woman who bullies the band and is the bane of Negishi’s life. In “Sick Murderer“, we meet Aikawa, the girl of Negishi’s dreams and get the first of the many times that Negishi’s double life causes him to embaress himself in front her.
Jun 6, 2008 Comments Off
GO~! TO~! D~! M~! C~!
Amazon.co.jp stream of complete episode
Far more than any other anime this has a feel of a manga animated. The shape of the shots changes to reflect the panel shape from the manga, and while the limited animation isn’t quite 1960′s Marvel Cartoon quality, a lot of shots are simply a loop of movement extrapolated from the original panel. However, it seems to work. Not as good as Akitaro Daichi’s gag manga adaptations (Sexy Commando, Gag Manga Biyori), but much better than the Pyuu to Fuku Jaguar flash animation.
GO! TO! DMC!
Apr 7, 2008 Comments Off
Detriot Metal City OAV – TAF08 trailer
Uploaded by saueki
This looks a very good capturing of the art style, similar to how well Sexy Commando and Cromartie were animated. I wonder who is directing, as it would be an ideal project for Akitaro Daichi’s comic timing. Detroit Metal City as a whole really needs a proper English release, the parodies of heavy metal and aspects of the music industry are pretty much familiar wherever in the world you are. Hopefully the live action film might be the thing to kick start it Tokyopop or Dark Horse’s interest (I don’t think anyone else has licensed Young Animal titles – am I wrong?). Sharing a star with the live action Death Note has brought the live action film onto world cinema sites radar, so a US release seems a definite possibility.
