Detroit Metal City: Volume 4

Rated “M” for “Mature”

A sweet-natured, well-mannered boy, Soichi Negishi loves Swedish pop music, shopping in trendy places, and doing whatever’s fashionable.  But Soichi also has a double life.  He is Lord Johannes Krauser II, the front man of and guitarist for the indie death metal band, Detroit Metal City.  Negishi wishes he could simply play his acoustic guitar and sing happy songs, but there is no denying that as a death metal god, Negishi is a natural.

As Detroit Metal City, Vol. 4 opens, the death metal festival, Satanic Emperor, roars on.  Now, DMC faces their most formidable opponent, Swedish metal band, Helvete.  When Helvete’s lead singer reveals his true side, Soichi will find him surprisingly familiar, but this meeting of like minds may mean Armageddon.

THE LOWDOWN:  One of the best things about Detroit Metal City is juxtaposition.  This manga is at its best when creator Kiminori Wakasugi places the madness that is Soichi’s life and the craziness surrounding DMC next to normalcy – comparing and contrasting.  The “Satanic Emperor” storyline starts off well, but then it just turns into a hot mess of heavy metal nonsense.  The antics of the bands and their fans are funny at first; then it just grows tiresome the more you see it, and this narrative is shorn of its strength.  The series returns to its old self with three short stories that close this volume.  Here, DMC is placed in the context of the real world and the power Detroit Metal City is back.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  If you like metal or are in a band, you will like Detroit Metal City.

B