Hypnosis Mic anime review

I’ve always been curious about Hypnosis Mic, since it’s been so popular for a while now!

But as you know, drama cds and mobage are not my thing, so I had to pass and let my twitter friends enjoy the hype without joining.

When the anime was announced, I was happy I could finally take a look and understand why those guys are so special… and I wasn’t disappointed! After a few minutes, I realized they are really something.

The concept is original and interesting: in a world where wars and fights are forbidden, there are basically gangs (or you could call them crew I guess) who “fight” with rap battles.

Words are literally more hurtful than weapons here.

At first I thought it was going to be though stuff, since some of them apparently are gangsters or something, but I could never take seriously other random gangs: first of all, there are so many comedy scenes, that it’s impossible to feel any kind of tension; second, just by looking at them, who look like plain rappers, it’s obvious that they’ll never get the chance to even try. Poor guys, maybe they had some bits of talent, but they weren’t good looking enough and we’ll never never know.

Now, let’s take a look at the main characters.

Busted Bros are from Ikebukuro division: it’s a crew made of 3 brothers, so their strongest feature is their family bond. They are the youngest main characters of this franchise.

Ichiro is the leader, with a deep sense of justice; he takes care of his younger sibilings, always protecting them. Saburo, the youngest, is a computer genius who can infiltrate everywhere.

Not much is shown about the middle brother, Jiro, which is a pity, poor guy.

Mad Trigger crew is from Yokohama division and they are definetely the most intimidating.

Samatoki, the leader, is a young yakuza boss, he’s used to deal with crimes and real violence every day; he’s a typical ore sama who thinks Yokohama belongs to him. His sister is his weakness.

Rio is a stoic former soldier, who loves cooking random frogs or disgusting animals.

Jyuto is a sadistic policeman who only thinks about career advancement.

Needless to say, if you know my awful taste a bit, I can’t avoid do-s policemen, it’s my type!

Their songs are probably the most violent, since they are used to deal with real criminals.

From Shibuya division, Fling Posse is probably the weirdest and less “gangster” crew of the bunch.

Ramuda is the typical shota with fluffy pink hair… or so he seems; he’s obviosuly just hiding his true personality, which makes him very interesting.

Dice is a gambler, who always needs money to feed his addiction (and himself).

Gentaro seems to come straight from a Taisho era game, he’s a novelist who always talks politely and old fashioned.

Matenrou is from Shinjuku division, they are the oldest and probably more mature characters.

Jakurai, the leader, is a serious doctor, who has the ability to heal his team in battles. Well, that’s really useful! Hifumi is an host, who is secretly terrified by woman, but he learned the ability to become a womanizer when he wears his suit.

My favorite character, the one who had the biggest impact on me, is Doppo, a desperate salaryman.

He’s pessimist, he hates himself, his boss and the whole society. What a life mood!

When he goes berserk, his negativity becomes a power which explodes and destroys.

They are my favorite crew, I guess it’s probably because they are older and somehow I can better relate to them? Doppo’s lack of sleep because of overwork is extremely relitable for me and everyone of my age, I get the struggle literally every day.

When he said “no matter how much I work, for my boss is never enough and he takes his frustration on me!” I wanted to hug him, that’s exactly my life, let’s cry together!!

So, did I enjoy this anime?

A lot more than I expected! Somehow, I thought that seeing 2D ikemen bursting out rap lyrics could make me cringe, but it was actually my favorite part of each episode.

Each of them are very defined, they rap about different themes with a personal approach; I like that every crew gives off a different aura, they fight with their own original style.

Even if I enjoyed every single episode, which is rare, my favorite part of the anime was without doubts the final rap battles at the end: I found myself cheering for my favorite guys, hoping for them to win! Go Doppo, show them your angst!!

But obviously, I won’t spoil, you’ll have to figure out by yourself how it ends.

I don’t know if there will ever be a second season, but I’d gladly watch it, I’m not ready to say goodbye to these boys.