What is XP?Get rewarded for being a good fan.Every review, rating, list and vote earns XP. Stack it up to climb 100 levels across Lifehaki.Start earning
Soichi Negishi is a soft-spoken, fashionable young man who moves from his rural hometown to Tokyo, dreaming of performing sweet, romantic indie Swedish pop songs. However, to make ends meet and pay rent, he ends up as the lead vocalist and guitarist for Detroit Metal City, an outrageously vulgar, hardcore death metal band. Performing in corpse paint and gothic armor under the demonic stage persona Johannes Krauser II, Negishi unleashes vulgar guttural growls and demented onstage antics that captivate frenzied metalheads, all while desperately trying to woo his sweet college crush.
⚠ Background — may contain spoilers
Studio 4°C animated this hilarious twelve-episode original video animation series, released in 2008. Directed by Hiroshi Nagahama, celebrated for *Mushishi*, the anime adapts Kiminori Wakasugi's hit manga serialized in *Young Animal*. The production captured the chaotic energy of underground music culture with raw, kinetic animation and abrasive rock tracks. Veteran voice actor Daisuke Kishio voiced the gentle Negishi, while Yuji Ueda provided the guttural screams of Krauser II. The anime became a massive cult phenomenon in Japan and abroad, inspiring a blockbuster live-action film starring Kenichi Matsuyama.
Established in 2002 and launched as an independent event in 2014, the Tokyo Anime Award Festival (TAAF) is an annual international animation festival hosted in Tokyo, Japan. Operating under the slogan "TOKYO is the HUB of contemporary ANIMATION," its goal is to discover new talent, promote animation culture, and celebrate outstanding works worldwide.
