"WHEN I WAKE UP IN THE MORNING, YOU'RE THERE MAKING CHEESE TARTS"

Soichiro Negishi, or should I say Krauser II, has two identities. His natural state is that of a mild mannered college student and aspiring musician who loves Swedish Pop music. The other side of him is Krauser II, the lead Guitarist and Singer of the Heavy/Death metal band DMC (Detroit Metal City). The two worlds do not mix and Soichiro often finds himself in some rather odd and disturbing situations. So, imagine Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA and Gene Simmons of KISS sharing the same body. 
 

Highlights

Throughout each of the 12 and a half stories, or 12 plus one bonus track, Soichiro struggles with the dichotomy between Krauser and himself. He does have a tendency to let Krauser come out in the most awkward places. While in a music store he runs into a girl he knew in school and both of them loved the Swedish Pop scene, he had even written a song for her. DMC's new CD had just been released and it was playing in the background. Some devout DMC fans come in the store and overhear him bashing DMC. They push him to prove he is a fan and he begins doing all of Krauser's guitar moves and singing along with the album. This freaks out the old friend as he slips into the Krauser mode. She is also an editor for a music magazine and this sets up other meetings, but they tend to end badly. 

DMC is just beginning to make their mark on the Dead Metal scene and get a big break when Black Metal Emperor, Jack Ill Black comes to Tokyo to do his last show. DMC is asked to preform with him, but he plans to show them up because they have gotten so big too fast. The end result is that Soichiro goes deeper into the psyche of Krauser so far that he overwhelms Jack Ill Black too much that he ends up bowing down to DMC and handing over the mantel of power. All of the events that happen in this track are over the top and must be read to be appreciated. 

Overall

Not being a fan of Death Metal or Swedish Pop, I was not too sure of why I would pick up this Manga. After I got over the  "in your face/over the top, profanity and disregard for any sense of humanity", I began to understand the parody. It took the first story or track to get me over the grotesque aspects of this manga. As I moved through the story I began to realize that it was well thought out and captured the absurdity of both genres. 

I found the art work to be the standard fair and did not see it as having any impact on the story. Going through this crazy manga, I kept mixing musicians together like Donny Osmond and Ozzy Osbourne or Michael Jackson and Wargasm's Lead Guitarist, Rich Spillberg, when he is dressed as a clown. OK, so much for my imagination. 

I did find this crazy, grotesque manga almost addictive. After the initial shock, I was drawn in and moved through the stories quickly. The writing appeared to be very basic, but once I came to understand the real meaning I found it to be well done. I would place this in a true post-modernist, deconstructive approach to parody. Kiminori Wakasugi manages to pull it off and truly reflects the absurdity of the world he has created. 

Warning: this is not for younger readers. It is rated MA and it does deserve the rating. With that in mind you might find it funny that they included Decals as an extra in the first issue. 

ComicsOnline gives Detroit Metal City: Volume 1, 3.5 out of 5 Breaths of Fire.