#and the lore our writters created are fantastic!

[owlyjules]

You like TTRPGs? Wondering what you could add to your campaign?

What about Strange, Powerful and Mysterious Deities and their followers? :) "Book of Devotion" is the most recent compendium by SleepyWyrm_Ed, who you might know from their previous project "Tome of Pact", currently open on Kickstarter!:D I was lucky to be part of this one this time as one of the "Forces of Nature" Deity artists!:D The compendium is great to add to any campaign or just to read for fun! If you are interested to learn more about those Deities and their Clerics and Paladins, please check out the kickstarter page!

[icharchivist]

Hey, how do I get into hypmic? Is it an anime? A song based thing? Like I see some music videos but also there's apparently a plot so that can't be it right? It seems interesting but I'm lost

aaHH HEY!! welcome welcome! 

Oh my god i’ll try my best to make it not sound as complicated as it is. 

Hypmic is a mixed media series that is mainly told via songs and drama tracks, so it’s a little tought to get into, but we also get side content with a manga. The only struggle is to find all you need online but i have a drive file with all the songs/elements in chronological order, so i can send that in private if you want to (the fandom tends to try not to share stuff publically because the right holders are very serious over not letting things spill too much)

the plot is a little cheesy and it’s mostly just for characters’s moments and excuse for songs but tbh I have so much joy out of it i don’t even want to belittle it for that, it’s the best kind of cheesy i love it so much.

the place to start is here, this video:

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The translation of this song in particular can be found here. As you can see in the video there is also the profile (name/age ect.) of each characters.

You’ll find all the translations available on this website. They only translated the first battle season (the second one just started recently) and so far we only have summaries of the new seasons thanks to this twitter account.

The general structure of the series, as it is narratively intended to be consumed, is that each Album has about 3 songs and 2 drama tracks. So you just need to get into the albums in a chronological order to get about everything. The rest is honestly just bonus, even if we’re starting to get more unique content in the manga adaptation lately. 

(there are previews of each albums on youtube, and the full songs of all the ensemble songs and of the latest album’s songs, you can find them in this playlist to give you an idea at least of if you’re interested in the sound.)

The Project: Was started by Ichiro’s VA specifically to bring spotlight to the Rap scene in Japan. Each songs are made in collaboration of multiple rappers who get promoted with it. Meanwhile it is also a passion project for the 12 main seiyuus involved who all get to develop their characters with it. Each divisions generally works with different styles of music and ambiance. Each Divisions also get different plots and different development through them, evolving with very different themes.

The Story (at least what you need to know before getting into it): 

After World War 3, the new Government in place in Japan banned all weapons, only allowing them to be remplaced by Hypnosis Microphones, Microphones that can cause multiple physical and mental injuries depending on your flow, your way to use words, the truth of your words, ect... Some more extreme uses in skilled hands can do as much as create violent hallucinations or even healing.

Originally the Government barricaded itself in Chuukukou, the center of the city, and left the rest of Tokyo to fend for themselves in territories battles. As time went by and the territories battles were organized in a way for only 4 major divisions to be in the control of the city, Chuukukou however siezed the opportunity to organize Gladiator Battles with said 4 representants and fight for more territories between themselves while entertaining everyone, as the battles are treated also like they were idols. It’s of course more a way for the Government to keep a control over what’s going on outside and keep a close eye on the powers outsides its walls. 

Those Four Divisons are divided as presented in the above video: 

Ikebukuro Division is taken care of by the Buster Bros!!, Ichiro Yamada, Jiro Yamada and Saburo Yamada - three brothers working odd jobs together. Yokohama Division is taken care of by Mad Trigger Crew, Samatoki Aohitsugi, Juuto Iruma, and Riou Busujima Mason - a Yakuza, a Corrupted Cop, and an Ancient Marine  Shibuya Division is taken care of by Fling Posse, Ramuda Amemura, Gentaro Yumeno, and Dice Arisugawa - A Fashion Designer, A Writter, and A Gambler.  Shinjuku Division is taken care of by Matenrou, Jakurai Jinguji, Hifumi Izanami, and Doppo Kannonzaka - A Doctor, An Host, and a White Collar Worker. 

I am keeping it as vague as possible so if you get into it you get to discover why those bands even formed and what sort of dynamic they ended up creating with each others. If the fact those combinaisons of characters intruigue you then i’m encouraging you to get into it even more because it is fantastic ahah.

And to make their battles worse: the Four Leaders, Ichiro, Samatoki, Ramuda and Jakurai actually used to be part of a band together, The Dirty Dawg and were very close. Until something happened leading to their breakup and some level of resentment- different for everyone of course. And obviously this gets addressed as the battles go on. 

I’ve personally got into the saga by just knowing vaguely about the characters and listening to the music available on youtube and ended up... well. Loving the songs so much I needed to know the story behind them. So i personally i do recommand listening to the songs on youtube, and if you like the vibe, just dive into it ;O

Before moving on, reminder, all of the translations available for all i’m talking about are on that website. 

The Structure of the Main Series, is therefore by Albums: 

The four first albums (Buster Bros!! Generation / Mad Trigger Crew Bay-Side / Matenrou  Clinical Sound / Fling Posse - F.P.S.M) are the Introductions albums: Each about one of the division, has one song by character to present them, and 2 drama tracks setting up their dynamics (the first drama tracks of each album is available on youtube if it serves as a starting point - the second drama tracks explore the relationships more in depth and are not available online.)

Then you need to listen to the Battle Anthem / translation

Then comes the Battle Season: 

-War War War, BB VS MTC. It has one group song per band, and a rap battle song where they face off, alongside with two drama tracks that basically moves the main story up while establishing the dynamics between the divisions. (as a word of advice storywise, listen to the group songs before the drama tracks and to the battle song after the drama tracks) -Battle Battle Battle, FP V M. Same formula as Warx3. -Death Respect, The finale of the winners (that I won’t reveal yet). The album itself only has the battle songs and remix of the groups songs. -The Champion, with a song announciating the Champion, AND a Song about the Past of the Four Leaders when they used to be together. Along with two drama tracks, one basically concluding the Battle Seasons and the characters’s arcs, and a Prequel Drama Track about the leaders’s past.

There are yet no translations for the Prequel Drama Track. 

Then we have the preparation for the second Season as it starts with Hoodstar.

The last released Album’s name is Enter the Hypnosis Microphone.   The album countains:  -All the 3 ensemble songs -All the 4 group songs  -4 New Group Songs that are all available fully on Youtube. 3 out of the 4 had been translated. (Ohayo Ikebukuro, Stella, Papillion. Dead Pools wasn’t translated yet) -5 Drama Tracks: One per division and one finale one that conclude this arc in particular. Only summaries are available. 

That’s the core of the story, that’s where you should focus on. Like I said I can share the full discogaphy in private. We’re being secretive but we just keep it private, so if you are interested my file should be clear about the Order and all.(I also have the translations saved in those files for better accessibilities - if i share this file you will just need to follow the numbers and you should be fine, just ask me about it and i’ll send it gladly, i just don’t post it in public)

ON A SIDENOTE: we get mostly Official art releases via magazines and such so it can be hard to find again. as much as i hate zerochan in term of how it deals with fanarts, its official art sections is pretty solid so you can find a few of the official arts HERE if curious.

Another note: the winners during Battle Seasons are determined by the audience, the fans, us. As a result the plot is always everchanging by our own involvement with it. We get to decide the winners just like Chuukukou is supposed to do and that’s a fun gimmick. for now we’re not in a battle season but soon :3c

If THEN you decide to go into deep, There a few manga, and you can find the translated versions of it there. (only three of them had been translated). 

the manga are hard to find and incomplete so i wouldn’t encourage you to seek them yet unless you get into deep. The two first manga that were translated are adaptations of the first drama tracks. it seems the volume version that recently came out also adapted the second drama tracks but we hadn’t got to see them yet.  The Third manga (ongoing) is set before the Prequel about the Leaders, before the met each other and it sets up more the politics of the world (warning the politic worldbuilding is slightly cringeworthy). I wouldn’t recommand it before you’ve reached the Champion album. It is also not over yet.  Now two new manga are ongoing and i only have chapter 2 of each in Japanese so @.@ but they seem to cover unique new side stories for the characters with some lore dump. We get translation threads over the twitter i linked once in a while.

Other bonus: They started releasing Duets for some characters, which are super hard to find (i have them though so it’s fine, we just have no translation of them except the translation threads). The Duets so far are mostly joke songs + a drama track to give it context. We got a Samatoki&Ichiro, Jiro&Saburo and Hifumi&Doppo duets so far. More seem planned. They came out with the volume versions of the manga. 

Others bonus: They have made 2 full lives yet where the Seiyuu came out as In Character as possible to play and sing their songs. It’s mostly bonus content to see how they set up some of the songs ahah. (I have them but it would take me time to share them)

Upcoming: there will be a ryhtmic/visual novel mobile game, but we have no idea how much it will be involving plot or just gaming device ahah. But it’s coming. 

I think this is as much as a vague taste i can give about the series. If you’re really curious i can send the file right away, and you can take it at your own rythm.

and since i’m publishing it that’s an invitation for anyone who would want it. 

I hope it makes it clearer and i sure hope you are still curious about it :3c 

Take care! :3