Finished this, after youtube algorithm go brr suggested me the op, which drew me in.What the fuck did I just watchI loved it. But man, that pacing was kind of terrible. This did not need to be 15 episodes. Well, 13 episodes + 2 movie length episodes. The plotcould have been way better spread across fewer episodes, maybe a bit longer. I dunno. Still, I liked the story, even if It was all mostly expodumped onto episode 14, after 13 eps of barely a drip feed of plot.
I've been interested in watching this. Is this the one where the final episode is just a lore dump?
>>287770806Key is the cutest and loveliest!
>>287770806Key's weird pacing is one of the consequences of the OVA market collapsing in the mid-1990s, because the recession in Japan meant that people didn't have enough disposable income to spend 6000 yen for one episode anymore.
>>287771179The second to last episode, yes. I'm not sure if production hit crunch time or what happened, the pacing was good up till then, with a steady drip of plot to keep you going. Then suddenly last 2 eps are movie length, 1 being an expo dump, and the last having a few rushed through elements.Still worth watching though imo. Despite the plot mostly being dumped onto you suddenly, it is still a decent plot. I can't explain it. By all rights it shouldn't be enjoyable. But it is. That's a 90s ova for you I guess.>>287771273Key is wonderful. And deserves to be protected
The twist sucked.
>>287771371From what I read wasn't it to begin with sold at a reduced price as "experimental" ? The last 2 eps were- prolly due to their feature length, full price. But I guess they felt the need to wrap things up lest they couldnt
Key is my favourite anime. I'm a huge sucker for the blending of sci-fi and supernatural, as well as the very heavy atmosphere. Key is also top notch daughteru material and Ajou is a very effectively scummy villain.
>>287771437He is pretty good. D is good too, even if he is sidelined half the show. Also the PPOR design is killer. (Especially with their silly oversized trenchcoats and hats)
I'm still not entirely sure what his fucking problem was
>>287772190Not enough gel.
Why the lack of porn? There's some old doujins but most of them are lost to time.
>>287772417Much like the anime.
>>287772491Even these days there's not much doujin porn besides gacha franchises
>>287772417Key is not for lewd.
>>287772899Her body is perfect though
>>287772899There's Sakura tho
its alright. of its timealso not subtle commentary on the idol business
>>287774180lel
>>287770806I'm sorry Anon.It's probably because of me looping the OST constantly that YT got you into this...
>>287776210The OP is so good.https://youtu.be/xVKfcv_yAL0
>>287776292>we could have a cute robot girl that evolved from a mech>instead it was just autism
>>287776210soundtrack is good. not just the op/ed either. I liked the in ep music
>>287770806I liked the anime until the last two episodes. They felt pretty rushed. If they had focused on only the sci-fi side of the story without all the supernatural about mystical Shinto powers, I feel like it would've been more compact and not so "all over the place".The title says Key the Metal Idol, but the idol plot gets resolved too conveniently. People heard Key's song through their computers and they became fans of her in that instant, as if they were running out of budget. Also, Sakura's sudden death felt just like a quick plot device to awaken Key's humanity. And was it really necessary to kill her only "true" friend instead of all other male characters she had bonded with throughout the story? Even that porn video director lives. Guess that Sakura was meant to be sacrificed for Miho, as in woman-to-woman gelThe creators seemingly took heavily influence on Lynch. The build-up was great, because you didn't know what would happen next, but exposition dump kinda broke that weird looming feel of the series. On a leaving note, I think that if Key had focused more on the potential of connection/fanbases through computers and the struggling of idols in the entertainment industry (like in the form of social criticism), it could've been remembered as highly as Perfect Blue and Lain are now
>>287777255Honestly, I don't like any of the male characters other than her special forces bodyguard guy.
>>287770806you don't come across as someome worth talking to about this topic. good day.
>>287772603I’ve noticed this for everything. Used to be that something would come out and you’d have 100 lewd post the first day. Now there are new/newish series where you can’t find anything. I would have thought ai slop would have flooded the internet but it’s always the same series that people make. What happened?>>287770806Possibly one of the best OP songs ever. Listen to both the English and japanese versions if you haven’t already they are both really good. Wish they were on Spotify. Also yeah I loved the anime but I feel like if any anime could use a proper remake it would be this one.
>>287775508Personality excretion.
>>287777825
>>287770806It should have been longer, like around 20 episodes. A shame about the 2 hour exposition dump at the end.
>>287770806i liked the start, very atmospheric, but got filtered by the infodump episode and never got around to finishing it.i really should
>>287770806Sakura deserved so much better, felt horrible for her and I still feel upset. Girl had such a shitty life for no reasonThey fumbled the ending spectacularly, it was hard to do with such an interesting premise but they did. the final song slightly improved my last impression, that was beautiful and made me emotional https://youtu.be/RgDa7Nyn6so
>>287777255I watched the anime years ago, what was the point of key not being a robot with a human soul a la pinocchio but a human all along acting as a container of some sort? Wasn't the robot angle better? Even as a metaphor? Couldn't that be connected to the shinto stuff too?
bumping the thread because I want to talk about this anime since when I watched it fandom was already dad
One of the four voice dramas was translated a few years ago.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTjHDblZsAAThere's also an untranslated message that would play if you called the number on Sakura's business card.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZLHJszNekU
>>287779599You got tricked into watching a drama with a sci fi premise.the point was that it was to hide her power. Suppressing her massive power and pumping her full of gel had the side effect of killing her emotion. There's also a slight contrivance here of her being full of her mother's gel, and it being her mother's will to protect her or something, iirc. So she needed 30k people focusing their good vibes on her to overpower the gel inside her.That said even from day 1 I'm not sure it was ever in doubt, her true nature. A lot of the imagery when she would awaken was mostly symbolic, not literal.
I like how sakura just casually confirms that her father raped Toyoko
>>287780679>There's also an untranslated message that would play if you called the number on Sakura's business card.That's actually real neat. I always love when anime/movies do that sort of thing.
>>287779599>>287780727 to clarify this a bit- more specifically, Key did not exhibit powers initially, until that tower collapse. From there it was clear she would be a target for Ajo. Especially since he I think already knew about the gel. He had already extracted a lifetime's worth during his experiments. And so to hide it from ajo, he pumped it all into key. Which had the sid effect of killing her emotions, which was a plus, since without emotion, she would not trigger her powers or set off detectors. They kind of expected her to just live the rest of her life as an emotionless flesh robot. Just to hide her from ajo.
>>287770806I hate it, a lot.
>>287780727>>287781107Thanks anons, I do remember the plot ending up convoluted. Still, can't the expected emotionless personakity thing be seen as a metaphor for people twisting Idols' lives as they please and want to to make them match their perfect image in their head. Without any further meaning other than the literal plot, I feel like the anime would feel a little void, without nothing much to say, when the whole metal idol thing has so many philosophical implications
>>287781292sorry, my English was pretty botched and I didn't even (?) the question
>>287770806I like Key for the atmosphere and vibes, the episode where they spend 45 minutes explaining the plot is embarrassing for any story but I still enjoyed everything else. Didn't expect them to kill off that one character near the end, I thought for sure they'd have some magic asspull to bring them back to life.
>>287781292Did you miss the whole bit about miho being replaced with a robot double that *literally* drains the original's life to operate? The whole idol thing in this is a *not* subtle commentary on the idol business.Key wanting to be an idol and the conclusion of that plot is almost besides the point. Or rather, it wasn't really about key wanting to be an idol. But as the expodump says, a robot pretending to be human, and a human pretending to be a robot, it was inevitable key would seek out miho. It's implied she on a subconscious level, knew miho was a robot.
>>287781494>Didn't expect them to kill off that one character near the endmost fans disagreed with that choice. It was indeed a shitty choice crafted just for drama since that wasn't really needed for Key to awaken at the end. The show does say something about she and Sakura being together forever tho, I do not know how
>>287781494Same. Honestly none of the deaths here feel earned. Even Tsurugi. I was starting to like him. The man survived despite all odds because he's just too autistic to die. Only to basically off himself. Like come on. The fucking sleazy talent agent from the first episode fucking made it back
>>287781507>Did you miss the whole bit about miho being replaced with a robot double that *literally* drains the original's life to operate?I watched the anime long ago as I said, I don't remember much aside from the main characters and the ending, but I do remember I didn't understand the middle finger idol's deal. I should give it a quick look again maybebut what did Key's nature and story meant?
>>287781540She absorbed the essence/gel/geist. Or rather, she found the container of the extracted gel.Or it could just be a symbolic thing. Taking her memory back with her.
>>287781588I'm not sure there was any deeper meaning than the story plot.The meaning was the folly of old men. Since this all came from her grandpa's actions, and the jealousy of the maestro, who sold out and betrayed him to ajo out of jealousy for having married key's grandmother.
>>287781647>I'm not sure there was any deeper meaning than the story plot.sucks, it's up to fans to analyze it then>was the folly of old menand powerful men at the expense of young girls. Good point anon. Might start my reading from there. Feel like the premise of this anime was very interesting for its times
I'm glad there are other anons who didn't like how they did Sakura dirty. Poor girl did nothing wrong.
>>287781716You could say there's themes of dehumanization across the board. It definitely is of it's time in many ways. The director was very convinced the ova format was the future for more mature storytelling and experimental ideas, where mainstream tv anime was more safe.Unfortunately, Evangelion, and Lain, came out after this, and kind of blew the notion apart that mainstream broadcast anime couldn't handle those themes and storytelling methods. That said, Key does succeed as a robotic emotionless character where Rei really absolutely fails. But overall, while Key had great themes and fantastic visuals, it was just overshadowed by stuff that followed it. (Along with it's massive pacing problem at it's climax stopping it from ever being on anyone's top lists)
>>287781924it's pretty much a universally shared sentiment. Sakura was best girl. Key took a lot from her, involuntarily of course, yet she still sticked with her until the end, gave her a home, friends, a job. She was a real sis all the way through even if she was dealt a bad hand. I wish the ending included her a lot more I hate the scene where she died and how quickly they dealed with it
>>287781998>Unfortunately, Evangelion, and Lain, came out after this, and kind of blew the notion apart that mainstream broadcast anime couldn't handle those themes and storytelling methods.That wasn't how the causes and effects worked out. The Japanese economy started crashing in 1990, and by 1995 it was clear that the OVA business model couldn't be sustained because there weren't enough consumers who could afford them, resulting in Key being cut short. Evangelion aired on prime-time TV in 1996, but particularly the episode where EVA-01 dismembers and disembowels EVA-03 became hugely controversial. The Japanese government started restricting the level of violence that could be shown in prime time programs, so more mature and experimental anime began to be broadcast in late-night time slots; one of the first of these was Lain in 1999. It was the kind of show that could have been a 13-episode OVA ten years earlier, but the market couldn't support that format anymore.
>>287782355The point stands that tv anime that came out around the same time/after overshadowed Key and it's director's notions about format.Think, Key could have been a full length anime series, something like lain. Broadcast on tv. Imagine. Who knows.
>>287782486If it had been on tv it might have not suffered it's final 2 episodes how it did.But who knows how else it might have been different. Nudity and sexuality for sure
>>287782201Yeah it was brushed aside way too quickly.
What I don't get is, I recall when key heals the boy, she coughs up blood. What was that about. I figured there may be significance, like, her power is more geared towards machinery and not human life, but considering the way that turns out, that isnt necessarily the case. Was it just the exertion? She never really has that reaction beyond that.
>>287781494>>287781507>>287782201I watched Key back in the 90s and I remember being annoyed that Key was able to heal random strangers in the earlier episodes but just watched Sakura die without doing anything except cry over her afterwards>>287781549And speaking of potentially preventable deaths, couldn't the other characters at least tried to pull him up? Key mentioning him in her list of people that died for her annoyed me back then since she literally watched him fall to his death without doing anything after he helped her
>>287785598I mean she only healed that one kid. There was no-one else.To be fair, she is not in control of her power. And in that instance specifically, she seemed to act on instinct. But as anon pointed out, she then coughed up blood and passed out so it is unclear what her limits are, despite being powerful. Also also, in the kid's case, it was physically healing him. In the second case, it was the complete drainage of life force. That's not something you can just replenish. Not without literally injecting the solidified gel. Which they did not have anyway.
>>287770806I hate it, why would you trick someone into watching Key over anything else that is at least kind of good like Ghost Hound?
>>287787508You are allowed to watch more than one thing.I liked the opening credits and decided to watch it, and enjoyed what I saw. By the time it got to 14 I'm in deep by that point. I'm not gonna drop it. I wouldn't really "warn" someone. Other than to warn of the pacing bomb at the end. It's one of those "if you like what you see, try it."Thanks for the rec though.
Key makes me horny
>>287788201Key is not for horny
It really bugs me that the dub decided to give key a definitely robotic modulation for her voice. Like I get committing to the theme, but it kind of defeats the purpose that nobody believes her, and she says "I am well built" Like if this emotionless chick spoke withan actual robot voice, then I'd actually wonder.>inb4 ">dub" Listen the whole thing was uploaded free on youtube. I wouldn't have minded a cheesy 90s English dub. They're quaint these days.But that detail was the dealbreaker.
Finale song, new version. Which one is better?https://youtu.be/8g6I_XR9ebkhttps://youtu.be/4dNpN5dGmi0It's such a nice detail that the OG one used Key's main motif, one of the very first soundtrack you get to hear, as an overture
What I loved the most about this anime is the atmosphere and aesthetics of it, it just cannot be made anymore. It's old, cheesy and at the same time fascinating.
>>28778903390s anime just hits different. Every time. It was the right era, the right level of tech, peak anime era.
>>287789033Key's sex hair style is unique
>>287789033>>287789187>atmosphere and aesthetics of it>It was the right era, the right level of tech, peak anime era.please watch Boogiepop phantom, from 2000. Not the same thing at all, it's dark and almost horror like but if you're a sucker for atmosphere, it hardly gets better than that in my opinion
Key is built for sex
>>287789634Thanks I hate it
bump
>>287789634>tfw civitai banned porn generation unless you're a paypigthe world is becoming more garbage every single day
>shit starts getting real>this starts playinghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt69pjPtvfM
>>287792227The end credits theme is underrated
>>287791487Good. Fuck ai art.
>>287770806I watched this show for the first time about 10 years ago and it still made me feel nostalgic, it really has a very "90s vibe".
>>287786159Wasn't the blood she coughed up some of the gel stored inside her? We see in the ending that Key can revive people even if they're completely drained by giving them her gel, so Key reviving the child by using some of her gel would be foreshadowing to the finaleWhich goes back to my complaint that True Key didn't even bother to come out to try and save Sakura until after she diedEven if she failed because it was too late, she would have at least tried and it would have made True Key's breakdown at the end more relatable since she's able to save complete strangers but couldn't do the same to the person closest to her despite her best efforts, instead I was left thinking about how she could have tried to save the people she said she cared about but she chose not to when she didn't come outYeah, I didn't like True Key, which may have been what the writers were going for
>>287781292the implications is that having any sort of idol in your life is wrong.that's something our ancestors knew since the dawn of time, yet we retards have forgotten about it and costantly argue for it
>>287777255eraserbead my favorite lunch movie
>>287795523i mean at the end it was arguably their own gel, as well as her own.but again, she was never in full control of her power. even in her grief, she quickly reverted back to robot. overcoming her robot side/her mother's will required overpowering the geist/spirit/gel of her mother, the thing that caused her robot persona to begin with and suppressed her power, 30k people worth. which was why she only ever awakened under intense stress + large gatherings. the kid was the exception, and even that seemed to hurt her.
>>287787385key really did the emotionless thing way better than rei
>>287779268Looked up on the Japanese Wikipedia article, and initially 26 episodes were planned (citation needed). But things happened.>>287771424This is right, each OVA volume was sold for 2427 yen, while the last episode OVAs were 9700 yen. Also, apparently the first OVA's first edition was only 970 yen (citation needed)
>>2877974719500* yen
>>287781998Talking about the director?Does somebody know what happend to him?Did he leave the industry?His last credited work (at least on mal) is a weird kodomo (?) series from 2006
>>287797599its possible he either left the industry, or works uncredited for some company.Seems like after Key his career sort of just never went anywhere. Though looking over it, Akira and Key are the only real standouts to begin with. he did the script for 2 hentais before his last listed credit, Yoshimune, which is a children's tv anime, based on a pachinko property. Safe to say his career floundered and fizzled out real hard after Key. Not that he really had much of one before then either. He went from small time sort of children's stuff, to Assistant director on AKIRA, back to kids stuff, then KEY, and from there his last notable thing was Fushigi Yuugi, a shoujou anime, before doing 2 hentai scripts, working on a kids show, and disappearing.what a waste. Im not sure if he got blackballed,couldnt catch a break, or he just didnt have what it took to progress further than 2 flukes hes remembered for.
>>287798120look at this shit. Akira and Key are the only real standouts here. Damn shame too, because Key showed he definitely had some vision.
>>287798179>talented director doesn't get much workalas, that's not unprecedented. However he might have retired early and didn't feel like working more, or couldn't
OST was really good and so nostalgichttps://youtu.be/qBSHqeSZSTY?https://youtu.be/-mrug2dGle4?
>>287798120>and from there his last notable thing was Fushigi Yuugi, a shoujou animeI wouldn't look down on Fushigi Yuugi since it's 90s shoujo, specifically Watase Yuu shoujo, with all the sex, rape, and tragic deaths, and child murder that entails, and it was absolutely huge in the 90sBut yeah, pity on his resume
>>287781924>>287782201Rarely in fiction did a character's death made me go in denial so much, I really couldn't accept the brutality of it and I kept thinking she was just in a coma or something, that she could get better.
>>287799532>brutality that's the best term to describe her death, she was tortured by those fuckers and left lifeless. The show makes you think there might have been a chance of her living since Key rescued her successfully, but there wasn't. They were very unfair to her character for no particular reason but drama, but think about it this way anon: Sakura was the last straw for Key and that helped her becoming human again and defeating that sicko Ajo for good, ending a lot of girls' suffering, she was the one who kickstarted Key's search for humanity from the beginning so it's like a part of her is permanently with Key
Tataki was so hot
A key thread is pretty rare. if this thread isn't going to progress further, I want to end it nicelyI'm glad I could talk about this anime again with you lot
>>287798179>Pigeon BloodI thought that sounded familiar. I never actually watched it or read the VN it was adapted from, but I remember seeing the literal mouth-pussy. It's kind of sad knowing that was apparently one of the last things the director worked on.
>>287801049Same. Nobody in my usual circle of friends really either had seen it or was interested in talking about it, yet I NEEDED to talk about it. While it was fresh in my brain. So glad others had seen it and had thoughts.
>>287801049>>287801689Key is cute! Cute!!
>>287801703Key is for protecting
>looking for Key art on boorus to post in the thread>see this collage of anime robots/mecha- Key is in it (right next to fellow 90s anime girl Lime)Heh.
>>287801785Lower middle, leaning towards left side, btw
>>287801703Sakura too>>287801716Sakura should've been protected
>>287788658that makes sense. but robotically modulated voices are really hot
>>287801889Sakura was wife material.
