HYPNOSISMIC -Division Rap Battle- Rhyme Anima PLUS

HypMic Round 2 - I'll just keep it short: Season 1 WOWed me, but the sequel here completely missed the mark. Given HypMic's anime introduction back 3 years ago, I didn't know much about the Evil Line Records idol label at the time, but it's clear that it got mixed reviews about its own anime adaptation in the sea of its mixed-media content, despite how much I lauded Season 1 for it being a clear, balls-off-the-wall premise about rap groups fighting against evil. It was such a novel concept that this can only be done through HypMic. And 3 years later, we get Rhyme Anima+, whichis essentially Round 2 of the Division Rap Battle, added in with new characters and a new enemy rival that's typical of any original sequel. The newcomers being Dotsuitare Hompo (Nurude Sasara, Rosho Tsutsujimori, and Rei Amayado) and Bad Ass Temple (Kuko Harai, Yushi Aimono, and Hitoya Amaguni), they certainly add more flare to the series, along with the enemies of the mysterious TBH, who want to influence Japan to their bidding after a scuffle with the women-only group Party of Words, which the previous 4 rap groups battled with in Season 1. This storyline isn't bad, but it just screams cliché, almost as if the sequel was pushed thanks to Season 1's popularity in Japan by the producers (Aniplex) themselves. We never asked for one but got one anyway. My TL;DR for Season 2 here, the OP comprising all 6 rap groups, is decent, but nowhere near Season 1's HypMic banger level of greatness. The ED is a good follow-up, though nothing memorable. And as usual, A-1 Pictures can always deliver, even if on the basis of a series that has little to no marketing in the West. With a storyline so typical and a teeny-tiny fraction of followers from the prequel, Rhyme Anima+ a.k.a Season 2 here has none, or at best, the partiality of what made Season 1 so HypMic. Easy skip.