Growl, my hypnosis mic! so i have no idea if anyone here other than me is into hypmic but it's my latest interest and i've gotta have somewhere to talk about it... Hypnosis Mic is a Japanese music franchise set in a world in which traditional weaponized conflict has been outlawed and replaced by specialized microphones which directly affect the mind: the Hypnosis Microphone. In this new world where words are literally mightier than any weapon, rap is power. There are 12 characters, split into 4 crews, each representing a different "division" and battle rapping against the other crews to expand their division's territory: Ikebukuro Division: Buster Bros!!! The Yamada brothers: loving big brother and anime geek Ichiro, delinquent middle brother Jiro, and genius little brother Saburo. Yokohama Division: MAD TRIGGER CREW. A trio that should probably be in jail: yakuza Samatoki, dirty cop Juto and ex-navy survivalist Riou. Shibuya Division: Fling Posse. A colorful team with equally colorful personalities: fashion designer and cute trickster Ramuda, author and pathological liar Gentarou, and thrill-seeking gambler Dice. Shinjuku Division: Matenrou. An odd trio: genius doctor Jakurai (whose rap is the only one can heal instead of harm), host (who's afraid of women) Hifumi, and exhausted office worker Doppo. (For more info on the characters, the official profiles are translated here, or this thread for a more humorous explanation.) The franchise itself is primarily music and audio-focused, consisting of character songs, rap battles, and audio drama tracks. Some of these can be found on the official Youtube channel; the rest are available by purchasing the various albums, either physically or through Amazon JP / JP Apple... or less legally, on Soundcloud (just search for 'hypnosis mic' and you'll find it.) There is also an affiliated manga, though it is best read after listening to the songs. Of course, it's all in Japanese, but thankfully the fandom has a team of dedicated English translators: here's the masterlist of their translations, which is also listed in recommended listening order (and their FAQ may also be helpful.) Where to begin? Well, Division Rap Battle serves as an introduction to all the characters. Here's the translation, while we're at it. so please... talk to me about hypmic !!
a little extra lore (though uh, not much, since the worldbuilding & lore is fairly light so far): (parts of this are quoted from @hypmic_en on twitter) also, when i said this was my latest interest, i mean it's been like... a week and a half? two weeks? i mean, i'd seen hypmic stuff on twitter/tumblr for a while now but only dived in recently. my favorite team overall is probably Fling Posse, but i absolutely love Jakurai. i just can't resist the long hair and deep voice <3 songs-wise, some of my faves are 3$EVEN, Labyrinth Wall, Champagne Gold, and Ikebukuro West Game Park. also, like all the battle songs, but that's kind of a cop-out.
i'm thinking about a supernatural AU of some kind (as in, still in the HypMic world, except the majority of the cast is not fully human) matenrou: jakurai is a centuries-old vampire. hifumi is a werewolf; can't decide if i want doppo to be human or another werewolf. in either case, hifumi & doppo didn't realize what jakurai was, and vice versa, until jakurai runs into hifumi (+ doppo) on a full moon and puts it together. anyways vampire jakurai ends up as honorary member of a werewolf pack fling posse: ramuda is a witch, or maybe a siren. dice is a selkie; used to have a bad habit of betting his pelt while gambling, but since he joined FP has started hiding it at gentarou or ramuda's place instead. not sure about gentarou; maybe fae? shapeshifter? mad trigger crew: juto could easily be another vampire, but idk. unsure about riou; nature spirit of some kind? fae? as for samatoki, i actually think it'd be really funny if he was not only human, but had no knowledge of the supernatural before he formed MTC. buster bros: honestly not sure. could go for another werewolf pack, maybe? something with strong family ties would be good. or i guess they could be the token human group, but i'd like it better if i could find something for them. or... maybe they're the witches? brb laughing at the image of ichiro setting up an intricate ritual to try and improve his chances at pulling his best girl in one of his gacha games
songs i didn’t expect to like as much as i do now: What’s My Name, Ikebukero West Game Park, actually all the Yokohama songs songs i will never like and in fact didn’t even bother downloading: New Star. sorry saburo ily but i can’t stand ur song anyways i ended up writing a bit of the supernatural creatures au with matenrou (since they’re the ones i have the most ideas for). posted it on DW cause why not.
