Story & Playability
A strange mishmash of all the cliches of many different genres within the anime medium, when I first heard the premise I
thought 1. That it would be a show about finding yourself, friendship, all those Pinocchio devices or 2. That it would
be a dumb proto-moe series. This twisted OVA series turned my expectations around. The basic premise is this: Tokiko
Mima (or Key - a pun on the Japanese word for "strange"), is a 14-year-old girl with a strange look and feel
to her. She is supposedly a robot created by her grandfather, though as the series goes on it is implied that this is
not so. Her grandfather, the magnificent maker of android technology named Doctor Mima, tells her before his death that
she must make 30,000 friends to become human. Key wants to both please her grandfather and live a life where she is
liked instead of looked on as a freak, and goes to Tokyo to attempt to become an idol singer. Her friend Sakura takes
her in and trains her, and her brushes with the famous idol Miho Utsuse become stranger and make everyone around her
wonder if she knows what she really is, and what her purpose is. Between the circumstances of her grandfather's
death, Key's source of mysterious power, what Key is, why she needs 30,000 friends, and why the bad guys are after
Key, there are far too many questions both asked and answered that I can't fit into this review.
Anime I might compare to this would probably be Perfect Blue, for the horrific potrayal of how idols are really
supposedly feeling and Evangelion, for the heavy religious symbolism and general weirdness. The characters are likeable
and believable as heroes, and the main villain is as downright disgusting and deplorable as they get. The characters
with less obvious morality - Dr. Mima, and Miho Utsuse, the idol, are some of the more interesting that could have used
more focus on them.
Rating: 8
Graphics
The art is certainly early-90's, with the stereotypical sketchiness and sometimes stiff movements. The character
designs are appealing, and Key certainly doesn't seem unique now thanks to all the pale-haired emotionally stunted
girls in anime nowadays (I'm looking at you, Rei Ayanami!), but she did predate all those and still looks nice
enough. Sakura's design is a contrast to Key's, nicely reflecting opposite personalities. Most of the male
characters are either generic or look like a deliberate take on Ryo Saeba of City Hunter. By far the ugliest to look at
is Ajo, a grimacing or maniacal look on his face constantly that definitely fits his mental state perfectly.
The two movie-sized episodes contain a lot of "pillow shots" in between dialogue, which comes off as cheap.
Despite the not-always-stellar fluidity of the animation, I really love the use of trippy/scary imagery, and these
images always look good when their sequences come up.
Rating: 6
Sound
The Japanese voice work is good, but not notable - Key's VA makes a good sweet robot, but the rest are just
stereotypical. The casting is not bad, but not stellar either. The English dub is fairly well done in terms of dialogue,
but at times becomes overwrought or corny. Sakura in particular has that bad, smoker-sounding "tomboy" voice
that often pops up in anime dubbing. Key effectively has an innocent robotic sound in the dub as well, although the
beautiful singing doesn't seem to quite match. Speaking of music, the dubbed music is outstanding in terms of
quality, surpassing the original. The opening and ending are graced with more emotion here, and the famous lullaby of
Key makes more sense and is more effectively creepy.
The BGM usually fits the mood and is expected of most action-oriented anime.
Rating: 6
Fun
The different genres here - psychological horror, action, idol girls, mecha, military, and the old androids dreaming of
electric sheep question, are all twisted and intertwined in the strangest and most surprising ways. I would never have
guessed that there would be an anime combining Shinto mysticism, conspiracy theories, idol singers, mecha warfare and
cute robot girls and have it not be a Frankenstein's monster of regurgitated anime premises. It's certainly
weird, and certainly interesting, but by combining all these, fans of the individual parts might be turned off by it. (I
went in expecting moe robot Idol Densetsu Eriko at one point, and luckily I like enough different things that I
wasn't bothered by finding it was NOT that. The concept is more enjoyable nowadays thanks to social networking and
all.
Rating: 7
Final Verdict
7.0000 (above average)
Reviewed by blamspam, Jul 30, 2011