Sometimes anime titles slip through the cracks of my fandom, even titles that are fairly well known and appreciated. Back in the day, Key the Metal Idol was one of those titles that I’d always heard of and read about, but I never got around to actually watching it. Since it’s part of the zeitgeist of my formative years as an anime fan, I thought I’d watch to review here.
Teen girl Tokiko Mima is a peculiar sort. She’s quiet, withdrawn, and somewhat naive. Oh, also, she’s a robot created in a rural laboratory of her now-deceased “grandfather”. When she’s left his final wishes- for her to become human by making 30,000 friends- she moves to Tokyo to make it big. The only problem is, she doesn’t have any actual talents. Well, none that would make it big on the stage, unless you count her array of esp-based abilities. But is “Key”, as she’s called, less than human, or more than human? It’ll take a pop idol, a harsh taskmaster coordinator, a fanboy, a robot fetishist businessman, his indestructible right hand man, and a passive-aggressive best friend to bring out the song in this synthiod!
