In Part Two of our “Older Anime that you May have Missed” series we’ll discuss Key: The Metal Idol, the story of a young robot that dreams of becoming a real girl. You’ve probably never heard of this one, which is a shame because it’s worthy of your attention.

Key: The Metal Idol has been around for a while. This series was originally published in Japan in 1994, with the English DVDs becoming available in 2004. The series is pretty much unheard of here in the United States (but we’re gonna try hard to change that, aren’t we? )

The lead character of the story is a young girl by the name of Mima Tokiko, she’s called Key for short. She lives with her grandfather, Mima Murao, an eccentric old scientist with a kind heart. On the surface Key seems to be a shy, wide-eyed, awkward teenage girl. She’s a little strange and aloof at times, but sweet in her own little way.

In reality, Key is actually a robot.

Key is quite aware that’s she’s “different” than everyone else. The kids at school always tease her about being a robot (yes, she goes to school, why…i dunno). Every year, Key’s kindly old “grandfather” would build her a new body to simulate her aging as her “birthday present”. Key carried on with her life, trying desperately to be a normal girl although she had no idea how.

Key’s life changes dramatically when her grandfather has an accident and dies. Key is lost. In her own way, she grieves for him. The only person left in her life is Tomoyo, her grandfather’s student and the closest thing she has to an older brother. Tomoyo cares for Key quite a bit, and looks out for her no matter what.

Before he passes, Key’s creator records a message for her. He tells her that she can become a real girl, though it will take a great power to do so. In order to become a real girl Key must win the love of 30,000 people. On top of that, she has to do it quickly, because her current battery won’t last very long.

Key, undaunted by the task and driven by the simplistic logic of a robot, knows that her small village doesn’t have enough people to help her accomplish this new goal. She decides to go to Tokyo to find the friends she needs.

When Key first arrives in Tokyo, two dirtbags try to recruit her to do a porn video. Key’s reaction to the whole thing is priceless. Once she realizes what’s going down, Key tries to leave (Dr. Mima didn’t raise no fool) but the creeps won’t let her. Luckily, Key runs into an old classmate, Sakura, who saves her and decides to take her in. Sakura and her friend Shuuichi are big fans of a music idol that’s hot in Tokyo at the time, Miho. Key sees Miho’s performances, and her multitudes of adoring fans, and decides that she too must become an idol to win the friends she needs.

At its core, Key: The Metal Idol is a different spin on the Pinocchio story. It’s almost a modern fairy tale, albeit a very dark one. As we all know every fairy tale needs a villain, and Key: The Metal Idol is no different. In this story industralist and corporate villain Ajo Jinsaku plays the antagonist. He is the President of Ajo Industries, which once employed Key’s grandfather. It’s no coincidence that Ajo industries’ hot product is a line of military robots (also called dolls). Ajo is testing these killer robots out on the streets of Tokyo, but his problem is that the dolls are very difficult to control. The robots tend to go on little killing sprees. That’s fine when they’re in the midst of the enemy, not so fine when it’s your own people.

Ajo needs a way to control these robots, a method that Dr. Mima kept from him…a “key”, if you will.

I’m sure you can see where the story is going :icon_cool:

Key: The Metal Idol is an interesting story. Viewers will certainly be reminded of the aforementioned Pinocchio, and perhaps a bit of Spielberg’s A.I. The story itself is very metaphoric in places, and can honestly be pretty confusing. Multiple viewings are usually required to piece the whole plot together. But watching the series over again isn’t really a chore. The series is delivered with some very good animation, with some pretty intricate mechanical detail at times. The soundtrack is also fairly well put together, and the opening and closing themes fit the mood of the show perfectly.

The series is oddly juxtaposed with contrasting images. On one hand you have the violence of Ajo’s robots and the cruelty of the world in general. On the other hand you have the tenderness and sorrow of Key’s struggles to become human. This is a series that’s definitely geared for the adults, preferably those that don’t mind doing a little thinking.

There’s some storytelling issues with the last couple of episodes of the 15-part series, but overall I would highly suggest that you pick this one up. Although it’s well over 10 years old now, the series still has a lot of relevance.

You can read Part 1 of the Older Anime that you May Have Missed series here

Tags for this posts: Anime, Manga, Key The Metal Idol

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