Detroit Metal City (2008)

Detroit Metal City is a live-action Japanese movie directed by Toshio Lee and based on a popular manga series by Kiminori Wakasugi. It was released by Toho in Tokyo on July 31, 2008.

Kenichi Matsuyama stars as Soichi Negishi, a wide-eyed country boy from Oita Prefecture who travels to Tokyo to pursue his dream of becoming a trendy pop musician. However, he instead ends up fronting a death metal band called Detroit Metal City (DMC), known for their KISS-like face makeup and flamboyant live performances. As his alter ego Johannes Krauser II, he’s known as a wild man rumored to be everything from a terrorist to a demon from hell.

Meanwhile, as mild-mannered Negishi, he closely guards his secret life from his kind, unsuspecting mother (Yoshiko Miyazaki) and a girl he likes named Aikawa (Rosa Kato), who loves trendy pop music.

When DMC’s new song becomes a big hit, a death metal icon from New York named Jack IL Dark visits Japan for an epic battle of the bands.