Key the Metal Idol (キィ・ザ・メタル・アイドル, Kii Za Metaru Aidoru) is a Japanese original video animation (OVA) series that was released from December 1994 to June 1997.

Upon his deathbed, Mima records his will on audio tape, revealing that Key can become human with the aid of 30,000 friends.

Key believes she must do this quickly before her battery runs down, and attempts to gain the amount of friends by becoming a Japanese idol.

The series details the slow unraveling of Key's identity and a secret conspiracy bent on controlling her unique supernatural abilities she develops over the course of the narrative.

The anime and soundtrack were released in the United States by Viz Video on eight VHS tapes and three DVDs in 1997–2000, and later all together as a box set in 2004.