Originally released by Viz Media before getting picked up by Discotek Media, there are multiple locations where the show has been streaming over the years, which is good as this is one the stranger and more engaging series that have come out here with Key the Metal Idol. The fifteen episode series is streaming in its original Japanese language with English subtitles on various sites but the folks at RetroCrush have now started adding subtitled clips from it.
This one focuses on the seventh episode where we get almost six minutes of material that deals with a cult leader and some pretty grim material.
The series features the opening theme song “In the Night” by Sario Kijima that’s positively haunting after all these years.
Originally released between 1994 and 1997, the series was directed and written by Hiroaki Sato with character designs by Keiichi Ishikura.
Plot concept: Her classmates at school called her Key, as in the “key” to a strange mystery. Key’s “grandfather” was a kindly old scientist wanting to use his skill in robotics to create peace and love in the world. But when that kindly old scientist passed away, poor Key was left behind, lacking even the ability to smile. There still is hope, however—a message left behind for Key suggests a fantastic possibility. Could it really be possible for Key to become a real, live human, if she can only win the love of 30,000 people?