HYPNOSISMIC -Division Rap Battle- Rhyme Anima; Or, So Bad It’s Bad

One of my favorite internet videos during my teen years was the rap battle between Loaded Lux and Calico. I say “You gonna get this work” at least 5 times a day. The culture has bred music and merchandise galore and I can say, with confidence: the culture ain’t produce this janky J-Pop jabroni of an anime.

HYPNOSISMIC -Division Rap Battle- Rhyme Anima (yes, that is the full name) is part of a Japanese multimedia project including albums, manga, video games, mobile games, and anime. The albums regularly chart in their native Japan, and to be frank, I’m not entirely surprised by that. The energy of this show and its music are frenetic, and that’s a big understatement. There’s color pop, explosions, and what Webster technically defines as comedy. Most of all, though, this show encapsulates a frighteningly accurate fusion of J-Pop and words that rhyme (heretofore referred to as “rap”).

But I’m getting ahead of myself. The plot of HYPNOSISMIC is as follows:

In a world where “men are trash” has become a political party, all weapons are replaced with Hypnosis Mics. These are (magic? robotic? It’s unclear) microphones that grant power overwhelming to whosoever decides to get on one and spit dat.

Yes or no: Have you ever seen the Beyblade anime?

If you answered yes, you’re in luck! HYPNOSISMIC takes this concept and says “You know what? Waaaaaaaay too smart. Let’s do it but with the speed of 1000 freshly crushed Adderall and the writing of a seventh grade Full Metal Alchemist stan.”

The Characters

Our story follows four teams of “rappers” from all over Tokyo: The Buster Bros., The Mad Trigger Crew, The Fling Posse, and Materno. These crews each possess these special mics, which have the power to wreak havoc and cause minor bodily injuries. Each group has domain over a certain sector of the city, an intentional move by the government to curb their destructiveness and make this franchise as much like Jet Set Radio as humanly possible.

The Buster Bros. are three brothers who presumably bust rhymes, a la Busta Rhymes. All they really bust in the end are eardrums. From here on I will call this group the BladeBreakers because they want to be the heroes so bad.

The Mad Trigger Crew run the docks area of the city. They specialize in heavy weapons and one of their number used to be in the military. Now and forever they are known as the Extremely Limited Soldiers.

The Fling Posse are as close to literally being the Sailor Scouts as possible. Their leader has pink hair and SUPA KAWAII dialogue, with a rough and tumble crew of sardonic or otherwise not pink-haired members. I will call them the Sailor Scouts.

Last up is Materno. I guess their name is something to do with medicine, since their leader is a doctor and we first meet them in a hospital? If I’m honest with myself, this group is called Sephiroth and the Holograms.

I didn’t get to dig too much into any particular characters here, because the characters are secondary to the crews. It is a unique brand of storytelling in that regard, I will give them that.

The other major force is the Government. In this new future, the world is governed exclusively by women, with a heavy emphasis on cleavage to remind us that we are watching a shounen anime. Like aglets on shoelaces, the true purpose of this government is known to few and it is sinister.

The Plot

In a world of color and peace (with all assault weapons replaced by microphones), we are introduced to the BladeBreakers. Two of them, anyway. They are looking for the oldest brother as our story opens. They bicker and curse at each other, as you do, before we learn that they were hired by another crew to trail one of their members. From here we see our first battle and hoo boy.

Well that was certainly a collection of words.

The episode carries on like this, systematically introducing us to the Extremely Limited Soldiers, then the Sailor Scouts, then Sephiroth and the Holograms.

It is apparent that the writers of this show and the voice actors are having fun and think they are spitting some bars. That counts for something, right?

These raps are used to do everything from entertain to raise money (one of the Sailor Scouts is a gambling addict) to STOP A BANK ROBBERY. The absurdity starts at 11 and never ever ever evereverevereverever dies down.

For the culture?

I tried, people. I tried to love this show that, on its surface, seeks to pay homage to a culture that it is not a part of but does admire. But I would literally not be doing my job if I just looked at this show on its surface. There’s far too much iceberg here for that.

The exchange between Japanese and black culture, especially blerd culture, is one I’ve talked about before. Missy Elliott cosplaying Rockman with Timbaland as Doctor Wily, The Boondocks animated series being manga inspired, and the entirety of Afro Samurai are testaments to what can happen when culture is respectfully alluded to or serves as inspiration. These series and videos show a level of depth and understanding that allows them to form their own identity and still stay within the confines of the art.

HYPNOSIS MIC does not do this, and it shows in a painful way.

The major differences between HYPNOSISMIC and, say, the “Sock It 2 Me” music video is that the assets that were lifted to make that video possible were pop culture. HYPNOSISMIC, instead, places an unhealthy emphasis on just copying culture. The difference is small but staggering.

Mega Man is never going to pop up and say Missy did it wrong or didn’t represent him in a respectful way, because he is a fictional character. The Boondocks and Afro Samurai and Marvel Anime will never caricature the Japanese people as a whole because they do not seek to copy the mannerisms, voice, or ancestral musical styling therein.

HYPNOSISMIC takes rap battle culture, an inherently underground and openly black space, and brings it public and mainstream. This by itself is something of an affront, but it keeps taking it steps further. The characters gesticulate and move about their spaces like a 90s rap video. The rhymes are punctuated by throngs of screaming fans, and the battles normally contain or end in violence.

This is the antithesis of what rap battle is.

When you battle, there is a strict rule against putting your hands on an opponent. The spaces are meant to be energetic and combative, sure, but they are also peaceful spaces and there is a strong social contract binding the spectators and participants. The settings are intimate, with the crowd forming a circle around the rappers like a cypher. And the bars are complex and devastating.

There’s little of that culture present in this work. There are two crews (normally battles are individual) going back and forth with rhyme-heavy but low substance lyrics. There is thumping, almost painful music punctuating these battles (by and large, battle rap is done with no background music). Finally, for better or worse, there is not a single black person to be found anywhere (battles usually have black people, either competing or in the audience).

Honestly, I have a lot of respect for that last choice. It tells me that this show wasn’t necessarily meant to mock or put blackface to the culture of battle, but that it instead just lacks any understanding of how this world actually looks. However, that doesn’t save this show from being poorly executed, borderline racist, and cringe-worthy.

With that said, I’ve figured out that the C stands for in MC:

Can’t watch it.

But maybe this your jam, your guilty pleasure?

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