Hypnosis Mic: Division Rap Battle - Rhyme Anima

[Watched 5 episodes, drop] That one time in the world of anime where Tokyo is armed to the teeth like every other American city. Only instead of submachine guns, it's wired microphones, legal or otherwise. There's no problem that can't be solved with a rap battle where the contestants physically fry their opponent with sick rhymes. No need to kid yourself: this mix of JoJo with a random male vocaloid is a rank piece of crap with a terrible story and a laughably awkward script, but at rare moments it falls into the category of so bad it's good. The anime sticks with the idea of using microphones in everyday life, which can only result in a windstorm of absurd situations and inconceivable ideas that leave me either gaping or laughing. With the rap battles comes an incredible range of colors used, but more importantly style and music to a literally dazzling degree. I'm not particularly fond of this genre of music, and I couldn't even imagine Japanese rap working until this point... but once more than one character decides to kick it up a notch and mega speakers come pouring out of the sky, it has solid appeal. The satirizing of this society is a hoot, and despite the apparent total lack of depth, I was ultimately convinced that this garbage might actually be worth something. Edit after episode 5: After the opening introductory episodes, the anime loses its appeal awfully fast, the characters are a bit much and the original ideas get tossed in the trash. Too bad. (2020-10-13)