Key the metal Idol

[Nairohe]

I obviously wont get the rest of it... but i'm up to episode 14. This is about the time when they've figured everything out about Key... now for the questions.


1. Key is actually human. Ok, makes sense... but she doesn't eat... that explains why she looks fragile... so how exactly does she get nourishment? is it because of that device she carries around? is it because of the powers that she gained from her mother? I suppose that explains her anemia attacks... but wouldn't she feel hungry?

2. Is sakura and Key really sisters? Sakura was mentioning how her father rejoiced when he learned that Key's mother chose him. They might have had an affair, thus had Key. nobody knew who key's father was.

3. Dr. Wakagi is always there to watch after Key... so how does he go about it? i mean, he's always there when she's in trouble?

4. The whole purpose of Key trying to be an idol makes sense now. She gains her power from people who adore her.... which explains the very powers her mother had. though, as for that guy who was training her to dance and sing to become an idol. I get the idea that he wants to fail... but... he also wants to destroy Mima.... Does he love Mima? Didn't he just leave her? He's using Key... so what exactly does he want?

5. I can't see the rest of the series so can someone summarize what happens next? pretty please?

[Shale]

Warning: I haven't been able to discuss the series with anybody else who's seen it yet, so this is all IMO.

1. Key has blocked out her feelings of hunger, just like she prevented herself from noticing that she grew steadily over the course of her childhood, instead of getting new, larger bodies once a year.

2. It's certainly possible, but never explained one way or the other. Sakura is buried with Key's family, so that lends some credence to it.

3. For the most part, it's good old-fashioned spying on her. Also, Wakagi's device monitors Geist sources in the general area, amd when Key becomes psychologically connected to any group of people, her human side begins to awaken, and she begins radiating ludicrous amounts of geist. It makes her very easy to find.

4. He's nuts. He's seen Key's human self partially awaken two times, and he sees artistic perfection in Key's transition from "robot" to fully human, but has no idea how to effect that change - he just wants to be there when it happens. That doesn't stop him from trying to make it happen anyway, hence his constantly putting Key in emotionaly stressful situations (berating her for trying to imitate a human, bringing her to Miho's concert, etc).

5. I can if you'll tell me what's happened to Sakura at the end of episode 14. I don't remember quite where it leaves off.

[Nairohe]

thankies!!! well, at episode 14, sakura was kidnapped. she was taken to a pit... somewhere...

[Shale]

Good thing I asked - I though it was farther along than that.

Anyway, spoiler warning:
WARNING: This describes the last episode of Key The Metal Idol in detail. Do not read it if you haven't finished the series. If you have, there's not much point in reading it, but you're free to.
Nairohe - only read this if you're sure you won't see the episode (duh).




That said, taking it from the top...Shuichi and Wakagi go to Sakura's apartment looking for her, and find Snake-Eye and the boy Key healed - now the last survivors of Snake-Eye's cult thanks to the PPORs - holed up there. Snake-Eye explains that he sabatoged Key's career because succeeding in show business would destroy her soul - that Miho is soulless, and Key would end up like her.
Wakagi takes Shuichi to Ajo Heavy Industries, saying that the building has been emanating geist all day. Just then, Key and Tsurugi (the nutso manager) drive up, with Tsurugi still practically weak as a baby after losing God knows how much gel. He offers his own Geist to Key, and her human persona awakens. She homes in on Sakura's geist - which is, of course, in the building. Tsurugi tries to follow them in, but can't make it to the elevator they're taking in time. He tries to jump in, but ends up throwing himself into the shaft, presumably to his death.
Key traces out a path to Sakura, and falls back into her robot state, exhausted.
At this point, it's revealed that "Lullaby" is a song that Toyoko sang to Key, and that Key has been broadcasting in her sleep, when she's searching for her human memories.
D tries to stop them physically, but he's so infused with gel that Key is able to neutralize him as if he were a PPOR.
The trio rescues Sakura, but she's already been drained of gel(twenty bloody packs' worth). They get her back to her apartment, but she dies there. Snake-Eye takes her to be buried with the Mima family.
The group goes into Tsurugi's files, and discovers a strange hollow space under the stage that will be used for Miho's farewell concert, large enough to store quite a lot of machinery. In the next scene, Ajo unveils to D (rather painfully for D, might I add) a device that can force gel out of anyone in the area. Maestro finishes the new Miho robot.
Aio (Miho's old manager) and Tamari (the "adult film" agent form the first few eps) show up here for no real reason and become part of the group for the remainder of the episode.
The group makes the obvious connection that Ajo is planning to extract the geist from the attendees at Miho's farewell concert, and decides to kill two birds with one stone by instead using the audience (50,000 people) to permanently awaken Key. The Miho fanclub begins getting publicity out for Key, and how Miho stole "Lullaby" from her.
Skip ahead one week to the concert - Shuichi goes onto the stadium's PA system saying that "Lullaby" was plagirized. Miho faints, and Beniho takes over the robot. When she goes into a screaming rage at Shuichi, he drops to the stage and reveals her as a robot. The crowd begins to riot, looking for the real Miho.
The crowd starts shouting for Key, and she awakens from hibernation as her human persona. In her mind, her human and robot personalities merge, and she comes to the stage - but refuses to sing, saying that the world is so full of sadness that she doesn't want to be human.
Ajo starts up the geist-draining device, and the techs turn on him. He shoots them. As everybody in the auditorium begins to fall unconscious, Key finally starts singing. Gel pours out of her, overloading the extraction machine. Ajo kills Beniho and tries to control a PPOR himself, but the control unit compresses on him, crushing his head (presumably Key's doing). Key finishes the song, the gel evaporates (after filling - to the brim - a 50,000-seat auditorium), and fade to black. The last scene is the human Key bringing Miho flowers in a hospital room.

Wow, that was longer than I thought it would be.

[Nairohe]

SAKURA DIES?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!! ><

[Shale]

Yeah, that was kind of my reaction. Not quite as violent, but that was not a pleasant scene. </understatement>

[Nairohe]

I just found out that Key the metal doll is an OAV... does that mean there's an actual series on key or its simply an original animated series?

[Shale]

It's just an OAV series. I guess they thought it wouldn't sell on TV, or that the last two episodes wouldn't go over well broken down into four broadcasts each.

[Nairohe]

Did they ever explain why Key is called key?

I'm also wondering if Key's grandfather really did love his grandmother. The way their marraige was arranged was done rather hastily... only when they had tomoyo did the doctor seem to show any feelings for his wife... especially when key was born.

[Shale]

The only hint of significance to the nickname Key (that I saw, anyway) was in the first episode, when Key's schoolmates were chanting "Key, Key, robot Key" at her - probably just a taunt, associating her with something actually made of metal. Beyond that, I think it was just short for Tokiko.

I seriously doubt Key's grandparents were actually in love. Her grandfather married into the family to experiment on them, and he pretty much killed his daughter. The biggest question in my mind is why Toyoko and Tomoyo went along with it.

[Nairohe]

tomoyo showed some resentment about being involved in the experiments judging from the flashback scenes of her throwing up the last of her mother's geist... she just might be going along with what her father wants since, he is her father... who knows. Toyoko may have been forced somehow into marrying him.... yet she agreed... but Key's grandfather seems to adore her... Why else would he hide her from that evil man? well, i suppose he's concerned that his discovery will kill people. They are stealing 'souls' in the process.

The whole theme seems empty... or maybe it was meant to be that way. He may have gotten over his obsession of figuring out what the power was and decided to keep Key at that point. Aaaaah... i'm kinda confused.

[tekblade]

ive seen bits of it when it aired on kteh. i really didnt understand the plot either. it seemed key was like a holder for all the pink stuff, i forgot what it was called. she acts like a robot cause of the all the pink stuff in her. i saw the last episode and it was quite interesting

[Sheex, The Dark Stalker]

>>It's just an OAV series. I guess they thought it wouldn't sell on TV, or that the last two episodes wouldn't go over well broken down into four broadcasts each.

The nudity and Ajo's strange behavior (like feeling up his robot, video taping himself slicing up Miho, etc...) wouldn't make it through on TV. As an OAV you don't have to worry about those very effective scenes being removed.

>>Did they ever explain why Key is called key?

Key (Ki) means strange in japanese if I remember correctly, and Key is rather strange after all...

[iwakura]

Ki is the life force that Chinese refer to as qi (pronounced chee)

One might interprete the "pink stuff" as a physical manifestation of ki.

[tekblade]

ahh i se :D