HypnosisMic -Division Rap Battle- Rhyme Anima Episode 4: MANGO REVIEW

  Preface

    These reviews are written in a way that can be enjoyed by fresh new and crusty old fans alike, and written by an avid fan that very familiar with the series. There will be no major spoilers for the main HypMic storyline in these reviews.

Rio Mason Busujima Mad Trigger Crew episode

Story

    PLOT. WE FINALLY HAVE PLOT. It took 4 episodes, and earlier than expected BUT WE'RE FINALLY GETTING INTO THE PLOT. Mad Trigger Crew is one of my favorite divisions, but I promise, my love of this episode is not because of that (Well, not completely anyway). It is because we are finally getting into the meat of the story rather then fun wacky episodic adventures. It felt much less like a crack fan fic and more like one of the original drama tracks. With 3 out of the 4 divisions covered so far, I'm wondering why they waited until now to include plot points. I supposed it's likely because they were covering motivations and MTC's members are more connected to the government than normal citizens, like Buster Bros and Matenrou. That being said, Fling Posse's episode next week is likely going to be a blast. Especially seeing as Ramuda forced Samatoki into promising a favor for him.

HOW CAN YOU NOT TELL WHO THAT LOUD NASALLY OBNOXIOUS VOICE IS?

    So far, each episode has further explored the motives behind everyone. All of the leaders, of course, want to protect their territory, but have slightly different Motivations for taking part in the government sanctioned rap battle (I can't believe I typed that out). Buster Bro's Jiro and Saburo joined to protect and support their brother, Matenrou's Hifumi and Doppo joined because they have high respect for Jakurai and support his cause to make the world a better place. MTC's motives, however, are the strongest so far and most explicitly stated so far. Especially Rio and Jyuto. Jyuto wishes to eliminate the trafficking and distribution of drugs, Rio wishes to save his lieutenant commander, and Samatoki, is fighting to make the world a safer place for his sister. We also see that Rio is the pin that keeps MTC together, as Samatoki and Jyuto would rip eachother's throats apart without him.

Hmmmmm.... No comment.

    With this being said, there's not as much fun silly stuff to make fun of, since it was a bit more serious of an episode. But this means that there will be loads of deep analysis in the future is more and more content builds up. But before I end here, can I ask one last thing? HOW MANY HOSTAGE SITUATIONS ARE WE GOING TO HAVE? THREE OUT OF FOUR EPISODES HAD A HOSTAGE SITUATION IN SOME FORM? WHY IS THIS SUCH A COMMON PROBLEM? WHY ISN'T ANYTHING DONE ABOUT IT? WHY ARE PEOPLE SO SURPRISED AT THIS POINT WHEN THEY SEE SOMEONE BEING HELD HOSTAGE?

Just another normal day in Post WW3 Tokyo

    Animation

    It appears animation quality is going down, but I'm not upset. Series should be the perfect balance of story and animation. I don't expect A-1 Pictures to give 110% at all times unless it's for Fate, but even then... There were some pretty great segments though. Complex animation was used at appropriate moments. There was some use of still panning shots, but it never felt awkward or out of place. One of my favorites was the short scene of Rio wrecking his ex-military teammates. Dude threw one into the ground by the head and kneed another guy in the face.

   Of course, the music segment was the most well animated segment of the episode. The song was also my favorite so far as well. And wow, no explosion this time. I love the visuals they put in. Sake drinking skeletons? Hell yeah! Visually it was not the most exciting episode, but here's a couple of pretty cool shots from the rap segment I took excluding the frame of Rio I used in the introduction.

 Final Thoughts

     I apologize for the short post. Since this episode was more of an introduction into the actual plot and not much wacky hijinks, there's not much more I can discuss about it without spoiling the original series. Until the end of the season, these will likely become shorter and more of a short discussion on the progression of the story and analysis of any cool animation I find. Heck, I may start combining episode reviews after episode 5. But who knows? Next episode of will be about Fling Posse, and anyone who knows me knows my feelings toward Ramuda. That being said, here is my Ramuda Salutation. 

"THE CONTRACT IS SEALED"

"wait what?"

HypnosisMic -Division Rap Battle- Rhyme Anima Episode 3: MANGO REVIEW

 Preface

    These reviews are written in a way that can be enjoyed by fresh new and crusty old fans alike, and written by an avid fan that very familiar with the series. There will be no major spoilers for the main HypMic storyline in these reviews.

Matenrou episode!

Story

    What the hell did I just watch? And I ask that rhetorical question in the best way possible. The choice of covering each division individually before getting into the plot was probably not the smartest move for bringing in new fans, but God, if this episode wasn't an absolute blast for pre-anime fans. It felt like the writers were thinking "what would these characters do in this very strange and unlikely situation?". Essentially what I'm saying is... This was just a very expensive crack fic... But it's canon. Doppo coming home to find a random dead guy’s body in his apartment and having wacky hijinks ensue because of it is completely on brand for HypMic, but I would have expected filler-esque content like that later on in the series while waiting for more story from the drama tracks and manga. However, I'm not complaining! It was hilarious.

    Just a little disclaimer with this episode for anyone unfamiliar with the series, like a lot of other media in general, HypMic has some unfortunate flaws. There are parts that are pretty insensitive to serious subjects such as phobias, addiction, alcohol, depression, and in the case of this episode: stalkers. But I think that should be a given that it's a bit offensive, seeing as most of the humor in this episode stems from Doppo finding a dead body in his apartment. The premise of the episode was likely inspired off the original Matenrou introduction drama track, which also revolved around a stalker – only in the original, the stalker was attempting to kill Hifumi, not frame Doppo for murder. I've been assuming since the beginning that the anime is canon alongside all the drama tracks and the manga, and if that is the case, Hifumi is very VERY unlucky and should probably look into hiring a bodyguard.

    I would have thought that Jakurai was acting out of character when dealing with criminals however, I don't think there has ever been a time in the whole series that they have shown him going against petty criminals, especially without his teammates around. He is normally calm, collected, polite, and sweet (dare I say... MILFy?) towards the average person, but who is to say he wouldn't use intimidation tactics to get the information he needs, especially when no one else is around to see. Intimidation tactics such as threatening to smash a poor fool's testicles with a pool ball after obliterating his teammates in front of him. I would get more into this subject, but doing so would enter major spoiler territory. Maybe in another post...

Who wouldn't want to be in this man's position though?

There are people would pay to get their dick smashed by Jakurai.

    Just some extra small bits I appreciated were both Hifumi and Doppo assuming the other murdered the dead guy, Jyuto unnecessarily kicking a man in the stomach while on the phone, and, most importantly, the fact that Hifumi was completely unfazed by seeing a dead body. What the hell has he been through that seeing a dead guy means nothing but women terrify him? We also learn the three new characters from the previous episode are most likely foreigners visiting to document Japanese culture. This just adds to the likelihood that they are included to bring everyone's story together for the viewer. They know little of where they are and what is going on.

The name Tom Whisper Weathercock is probably English, right?

Music

    I'm surprised there wasn't as much rapping in this episode, but I am just going to assume, the less songs there are, the better the music will be. The composer only had to focus on one song and therefore was able to put all their effort into making it sound amazing. However, the lack of rapping at some parts led to some awkward and sudden transitions between fight scenes. Regardless, I'm glad they did it that way because I'd rather one high quality song than many mediocre songs.

There isn't much else to say about this now and I may just drop this section in future episodes unless we get multiple songs... Or God forbid... They play drops in the Fling Posse episode... However, I love the funky quick art style changes they do from time to time during the songs like shown below.

Animation

    The animation in this episode wasn't anything too special. There was a very slight quality drop, but that's to be expected. The drop was so minor, you wouldn't catch it unless you're looking for it. There were a few scenes where Hifumi or Jakurai looked a bit wonky and off model or where the flowing of Jakurai's hair or coat looked stiff and unnatural. With quality drops like this, it's likely this episode was not as high of a priority as some later ones. That said, you will find a boost in quality in future episodes. Despite that, the composition, the dynamic camera angles, the color choice, and the lighting were still fantastic as always. Here's a select few shots I liked the color choice and composition of:

   Final Thoughts

    While I am a little disappointed that we will most likely have at least two more filler-like episodes, this episode was not a disappointment in the slightest (Besides lack of Ramuda, of course). If the Matenrou episode was this wild, I can't even begin to imagine what the Fling Posse episode will have in store.  I'd give this episode a 8 out of 10 and probably drop the previous episode down a digit. I also appreciate the inside joke of people inside the HypMic universe trashing on Doppo and forgetting about him, seeing that Doppo is the most popular character in the series, among women at least. But it's his pathetic-ness and relateability that makes him so loveable, isn't it? 

    Next episode will likely be for Mad Trigger Crew, which is my second favorite division so you'll likely be getting a lot out of me. No Ramuda again so signing off with my biggest note of the episode: I'm sorry Doppo, but that guy was 10000% dead. I'm pretty sure Jyuto told them to tell him the guy was alive because he would be an anxious mess otherwise. See you next week!

HypnosisMic -Division Rap Battle- Rhyme Anima Episode 2: MANGO REVIEW

Preface

    These reviews are written in a way that can be enjoyed by fresh new and crusty old fans alike, and written by an avid fan that very familiar with the series. There will be no major spoilers for the main HypMic storyline in these reviews.

Buster Bros episode!

Story

    Judging from this episode, it's likely they will have one episode per division before actually getting into the nitty gritty of the plot. For the new fans, that's probably a smart move, seeing as it fleshes out the characters more past the shallow introductions of the first episode. This gives the new viewer a reason to like the characters and understand their motives. For the older fans, it can appear a bit tiring and redundant, since we already know who these people are and what they stand for. 

   Starting the premiere with an episode per division before getting into the actual story is a risky move, seeing as this is to be a 13 episode season. But this is assuming they're planning on covering the plot, rather than making it an episodic series (which would be a disappointment to quite a few long time fans). Fortunately, seeing as series director Ono said that they will be respecting the fan's decisions on the original tournament results, it appears they are very likely following the original storyline. Fans should not worry too much about the length of the season though. With how popular the HypMic series in Japan, it's likely it will continue on for well over just one season.

How can you hate this series when it's like this?

    As for the actual episode, it was so damn cheesy in a good way. "What's that? Jiro and Saburo are being jumped by a large gang? Better go save them. But first, I'm gonna rap while slowly dancing my way there". This is just West Side Story with rap, isn't it? Also... is anyone going to question how he just teleported to them all of a sudden? I'm sure they did it just for the aesthetic, but honestly, I'm not even going to question it. With everything else in this damn series, the idea of Ichiro having the power of teleportation doesn't even phase me. 

"HOLY SHIT DID THAT GUY JUST TELEPORT I'M GETTING OUT OF HERE"

    This definitely wasn't a bad episode, especially considering I'm not a huge fan of Buster Bros unless they're interacting with the other divisions. I'll probably have a blast if they have a Fling Posse and Mad Trigger Crew episode, but nothing would be better than an episode revolving around the good old crazy HypMic main plot. Ono stated the events of the anime may differ from events of the main story since it was being produced concurrently with many other albums since 2018. However, this is the same year the drama tracks "Know Your Enemy Side BB vs MTC" and "Know Your Enemy Side FP vs M" were released, so it is entirely possible they could cover the events of these dramas.

    Before I move to the next section, I would like to note these new characters. Who are they? What are they doing? My brother-in-law assumed they're there to pull the events of the story together, which makes sense! For an unfamiliar watcher, it's a lot to take in, so having an unfamiliar third party looking in to converse with eachother and bring everything together is a pretty smart idea. Not a huge fan of their designs, but that's just my personal tastes. So what are these new folks names? T-rex... Okay. Iris Innocent Traitor? That's... Kinda suspicious and sounds like a google translate jumble of words, but I guess it's acceptable. Let's look at the last oTOM WHISPER WEATHERCOCK? The writers of HypMic are notorious for hilarious misuse of English words, the top ones being God Asshole and North Bastard, but TOM MCFRICKEN WHISPER WEATHERCOCK WINS ITS PLACE AT THE TOP OF THE LIST. 

TOM WHISPER WEATHERCOCK

Music

    I don't have a lot to say on this. The music in this episode was great. "Ore ga Ichiro", the song Ichiro was rapping while his brothers were being attacked is still one of my favorite songs in the series, so it was a very pleasant surprise, even if it felt a bit out of place. If they do this for all four of the leaders, I love you guys and will miss every one of you because if "drops" plays from beginning to end while I'm watching with my partner and his brother, I will implode on myself and form into a black hole from shame. 

    As silly as the robber was, he probably had the best parts of the whole episode. But I'm also a sucker for angry gravely rapping. These were definitely better than the first episode's, but it's to be expected since the composer and writer only had to focus on one, rather than four completely different songs.

Animation

    I am blown away. If you read my episode 1 review, you'll remember I said the quality would either go up or down depending on the direction. Episode 2 was definitely an increase in quality. While it's no Ufotable or Trigger, it was still pretty damn gorgeous. Everyone on model (this is pretty important to me), fun changes in style for mood, beautiful color choice, and dynamic camera angles at appropriate moments. 

 

    One of my biggest worries at the announcement of the anime was how they would do the fight scenes, and I couldn't have asked for better than what they gave us. I love the fact that they bring in a new environment with their speakers. It brings in an atmosphere that just glowy static floating speakers can't compare to. They change size depending on the environment and alter the setting they're in. I still have no idea how using a microphone does that, but who cares? It looks cool! I also like the fun little visualizations on each character's verses. You know it's not actually happening, but it adds character and is something visually stimulating to look at! I'm still in shock that the explosion sounds in the drama tracks were... actual explosions... I really don't know what I expected.

Final Thoughts

      No Ramuda in it, so I rate this episode 0 out of 10. But if Ramuda was in it: 7 out of 10. Some of the bias is still probably because I'm a huge fan and never expected we would get an anime so soon. There's still no sign of the actual plot so far besides the short appearances of Chuuoku in the first episode, and it felt like filler despite being only the second episode. But as mentioned earlier, it's likely to give new viewers a reason to relate with or become attached to the characters and understand their motives. 

Here's to hoping for the continuing climb in quality this episode gave us! See you all next episode! As there was no Ramuda this episode, this is my parting gift to you:

"Hey Sensei, your old teammate is being held hostage" "Don't worry he'll be fine"

"OH GOD THIS IS THE WORST PAIN I'VE EVER EXPERIENCED IN MY LIFE"

Recommended Hypmic album listening order

1. Division Rap Battle

2. Buster Bros!!! Generations Album Songs & Dramas

3. MAD TRIGGER CREW Bayside M.T.C Songs & Dramas

4. Matenrou Clinical Sound Songs & Dramas

5. Fling Posse -F.P.S.M.- Songs & Dramas

6. Division Battle Anthem

7. Buster Bros!!! VS MAD TRIGGER CREW Songs & Dramas

8. Fling Posse VS Matenrou Songs & Dramas

9. MAD TRIGGER CREW VS Matenrou - DEATH RESPECT song

10. The Champion Songs & Dramas

11. Hoodstar

12. Enter the Hypnosis Microphone Full Album Songs & Dramas

13. Osaka Dreamin’ Night Songs & Drama

14. Bad Ass Temple Funky Sounds Songs & Drama

15. FP&M and BB&MTC - 3 volumes each (NOTE: You can get by without reading the manga, but it covers extra details and plot not covered in the dramas)

16. Buster Bros!!! -Before the 2nd D.R.B- Songs & Drama

17. MAD TRIGGER CREW -Before the 2nd D.R.B- Songs & Drama

18. Fling Posse -Before the 2nd D.R.B- Songs & Drama

19. Matenrou -Before the 2nd D.R.B- Songs & Drama

20. TDD Before the Battle manga and DH&BAT manga (Still ongoing)

21. Hypnosis Mic Limited Edition Guidebook Songs & Dramas

22. Anything else in here can be listened to at any time because they are not connected with the main story.

HypnosisMic -Division Rap Battle- Rhyme Anima Episode 1: MANGO REVIEW

 Preface

    Despite being a huge HypMic nerd, I will be writing this review in a way that it can be understood by both new fans coming in from the anime, and old fans who have been here from the beginning. I have listened to all of the currently translated drama tracks and have read most of the manga, so this is through the eyes of someone very familiar with the series. However, I will not be including major spoilers for the main story. Small spoilers unimportant to the story, maybe, but nothing major. I’m very excited for the new fans to come and am already having a blast seeing the reactions of those learning about it for the first time. I look forward to seeing where this takes us!

Preview of what I was watching while high off my ass

First Impression

    Listen... I'm going to be real with you all. I was a little too excited for the anime so I may have taken an edible an hour before to calm myself. I don't know if this was a bad idea or the best idea ever but man it was a WILD RIDE. I'm contemplating whether I should do it before every episode now. Bright colors, trippy animations and crazy camera movements. 

    I'll admit, the episode wasn't too exciting, but what do you want? It's a huge cast and they have to introduce the characters, so you might as well get it over with at the beginning. And you know what? They captured everyone's personalities and relationships with eachother pretty spot on, and for 24 minutes and 2 seconds? That's pretty impressive. I'm also in love with the use of color palette for each division. Incorporating color psychology to subconsciously influence how you view each team? Nice. 

    The mature warning at the beginning gave me a little laugh. I can see it getting a higher rating later on for blood and drugs, but right now? I guess swearing like a sailor is a good enough reason, but what has been written and animated so far can't be too inappropriate if series director Katsumi Ono pondered whether he should let his elementary school age son watch it.

Story

    As mentioned, it was not very exciting of an episode. Pre-anime fans probably needed that anyways seeing as how they were having meltdowns after King Record released an MV with characters BLINKING because they finally saw the characters animated. They don't want to murder half their fanbase with the first episode by going straight into the excitement. It covered the main premise, introduced the characters, presented their relationships with each other, and showed what each division stands for.

    I've always compared Hypmic's writing style to anime like Tiger&Bunny, Double Decker Doug&Kirill, and Kabukicho Sherlock with the wackiness levels of Yugioh or Heisei era Kamen Riders. It starts out very light-hearted, fun, campy, and a little bit silly, and then BAM, suddenly an orphanage director takes drugs in front of children and shoots a waiter in the kneecaps. 

     I’ve read comments of folks hesitant of getting into it because they are afraid of it being "fujobait". I don’t have any problem with fujoshi nor media aimed at them, but I don’t see it outside of the art style and being a majority male cast. Just give it a try. Despite what the art style may lead you to believe, there is very little fanservice, and if there is, I haven't noticed it. There's a bit of homoeroticism, but no more than any of your other majority male ensemble casts. And besides, what is a story without a bit of gay sexual tension? 

    I am curious of how the anime will go about the story. Will they cover parts that are covered in the series’ original drama tracks? If so, will they re-record the dialogue? Guess it's too early to find out! But according to Ono, there will be areas covered in the anime that have not been covered before.

Music

    Before I get into anything else, I will just say, if you do not like Japanese rap, don't watch. You'd think it would be a given for a series with a plot revolving around rap battles, but I've read reviews and met fans that say otherwise. 

    The thing with Hypmic is that they cover so many different rap styles. Rap is divided into so many sub-genres just like any other music. And just like any other group that covers many genres,  (coughcoughlovelivecough), some songs are amazing and others are... Not so good. Some people will be better at certain subgenres than others and different composers will create different results. And as like the audio drama series, the songs are composed by different Japanese hip hop composers. For the anime so far, the OP is composed by long time HypMic composer Invisible Manners, and the ED composed by one of my ABSOLUTE FAVS, which I am still in shock about, Tofubeats.

    There's been criticism over the OP, but personally? I enjoy it. And I really enjoyed it while high. As for the in-story raps? Pretty good! Some better than others, but seeing as they're supposed to be interpreted as being ad libbed, it works perfectly. In fact, apparently some of the cast did, in fact, ad lib some of their own lines during recording. I’d put them at the same level as any of the raps featured in the drama track fights. Some better than others, but never bad.

Animation

    Get ready, because this will be my longest section of every episode and the one area I feared the most. Anyone who has gotten into a serious conversation about animation studios with me knows how I feel about A-1 Pictures. While I've never seen them create a masterpiece, they've produced some pretty high tier works... But they've also created absolute hot garbage. I will never forgive them for what they did to Ace Attorney. So, between the announcement of the studio and the airing of the first episode on Friday, I was anxious to see how they executed it. Especially the 3D – and I was not impressed by the PVs. But... Thank God I was proven wrong. The animation exceeded my expectations and that was all I could ever ask for.

    So much effort was put into color choice in every scene, and for a new viewer of the series who is completely unfamiliar with the characters, it can immediately give one the general idea of each division's vibes. Buster Bros is very sporty and fun with a very autumn-y scheme, Mad Trigger Crew is very serious with a dark intimidating use of cool colors, Fling Posse is eye straining clown vomit (my favorite), and Matenrou is simultaneously dark and depressing but with use of warm artificial lighting 

    The 2D animation is above average. But like most anime series, the quality will vary from episode to episode. This may be much higher than average quality or the opposite, depending on the animation direction. There was nothing too special in terms of 2D skill and animation techniques, but it looks great in terms of color choice, perspective, staying on model, lighting, and proportion. I may also be biased because part of what drew me to the series was its colorful and urban aesthetics. Also Jakurai’s nurse had a really really cute design...

MOVE ASIDE JAKURAI LOOK HOW CUTE SHE IS

     Now, the one thing that scared me the most and the largest subject of discussion since the airing of the first episode: CG animation. When I first saw the PVs for each division, my expectations dropped. The object CG and animation looked fantastic, however, the character animation not so much. My first reaction was "That looks like the weird out of place CG dance segments in Love Live”. I thought there was no way they could make it work. It was beyond saving unless they barely used the 3D segments. I was pleasantly proven wrong.

     My big complaint toward the CG is the stiffness of the models clothes and unnatural joints. They essentially look like MMDs. Not a huge fan of that. But as with any art, the tool is as good as the artist, and whoever animated these segments knew exactly what they were doing. With the fast camera movements, background animations, text animation, and fast fluid action during these parts of the episode, the flaws are barely noticeable unless you’re looking for it. Just pray it doesn’t pause or your frame rate doesn’t drop.

     One thing I noticed in the first ten seconds of the CG, I noticed that it seemed extremely fluid and natural. This may be part of the reason some people are uncomfortable with and put off by the 3D, as it does straddle the line into the uncanny valley. My thought was either: these animators are gods or they used motion capture. Lo and behold, I learned that, it was in fact, motion capture. And not only did they use mocap, but actual dancers from the HypMic stage plays. These are professional dancers that are familiar with the series, and amazing at what they do. Confirmed members who took part in acting for the motion capture were: beatboxer and dancer Toyotaka from dance group Beat Buddy Boi, dancer and singer HILOMU, and international award winning breakdancer GO from the dance group PaniCrew. By the end of the episode I was completely adjusted to the CG, I was disappointed to learn that after episode 1, we are going to get less of these trippy CG segments and more focus on 2D or 2D/3D mix animation instead. 

 Everyone say hi to the talent! Original twitter post found here

Final Thoughts

    This still feels like a fever dream. This is exactly like how I felt when I got a job and bought my car: It’s something I really wanted and hoped for but was never going to happen. Yet here I am, employed, paying off my car loan and... watching the hypmic anime. Dreams come true when you shoot low. Only the hypmic anime came to me much faster than my job. 

     You can tell a lot of love went into the production of the first episode and a lot of thought was put into their staffing choice. They went for some very experienced and pricey talent. Choosing the Yugioh director and writer were genius seeing as HypMic is essentially just Yugioh with rap battles instead of cards. They wanted to stay true to the series and bring out the parts fans love about it. At the moment, it does not look or feel like a cheap cash grab. You can feel the love and thought that was put into it. On a related note, if anyone is interested in reading up on what different members of the anime’s crew has worked on, I made a list of some of their more notable works. 

    Unlike some of the other fans coming from the drama tracks, I’m looking forward to the newcomers. Some of the comments were hilarious. Both the ones excited and the ones who absolutely loathed it. If you find the idea of rap battles to the death stupid and absurd, then it’s not made for you. Don’t watch it. But for those who are intrigued and wanting to see where this wild ride takes you, you’re gonna have a lot of fun. See you all in the next episode!! Here’s my favorite cap of Ramuda from this episode as my salutation. 

I enjoy Ramuda a very normal and healthy amount. I am not gay for him in the slightest.