Offensive Humor of Detroit Metal city

Negishi and his hidden persona Kauser II.

Detroit Metal City surprises, shocks, and cracks us up. Anime heavily uses dark visual gags, offensive dialogues, and slapsticks. It employs a stereotypical image of death metal to satirize people’s perceptions of the musical genre in the society. But what defines its humor is Negishi’s sense of embarrassment and lack of self-acceptance towards his inner self.

Negishi is a college graduate who loves Swedish pop and is passionate to pursue his dream of starting a pop band. Events take a different turn when he ends up being the lead vocalist of Detroit Metal City, a Death Metal band. He undertakes the stage name Krauser II and portrays a polar opposite persona of him. Krauser II is expected to be obnoxious, violent, abusive, and a misogynist. Krauser II is not just a band persona but also a part of Negishi’s hidden personality.

Anime begins with Negishi’s guilt of joining a death metal band. He is constantly soaked in shame and embarrassment for making this choice. Throughout the anime, he is conscious of what people are thinking about him. He is aware of people’s perception towards Death Metal and his strong people-pleasing tendency makes it harder for him to accept his reality. Negishi’s dual personalities are always in conflict with each other. He tries to suppress his emotions during tense situations. In most cases, he fails and his personality switches with that of Krauser hidden within him. Krauser’s violent and abusive behavior makes situations unpredictable, hilarious and at times worst.

In certain moments, there is a deliberate switch between his personality, especially when Negishi feels hurt, he lets Krauser take over him. But what generates humor is Negishi’s complete denial of Krauser within him. He is constantly covering up for Krauser’s behavior to avoid judgments from society. Negishi has an intolerance towards grotesques, wild and ugly. However, such intolerance contradicts when Kauser takes over and this forms the crux of humor within the anime. But what’s truly humorous is that anime satirizes human urge to fit into the society. Negishi is one single face representing every other face that tries to suppress its inner self which consequently comes out in inappropriate times.

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