An interview with director Takanori Tsujimoto and producer Ryo Nakaoka of the movie 'Hypnosis Mic -Division Rap Battle-,' whose main premise was that it would be an interactive film in which the winner would be decided by audience vote.



The latest content of '

Hypnosis Mic ', a music-based character rap project, is the movie 'Hypnosis Mic -Division Rap Battle-', also known as ' #Hypmubi ', which was released on Friday, February 21, 2025.

The biggest feature of the film is that there are seven divisions in the film, so there are seven multiple endings, and the winner of the rap battle that takes place towards the end is decided by audience votes. In other words, no one knows which route the screening they go to will take and which ending they will reach.

We spoke with director Tsujimoto Takanori and producer Nakaoka Ryo about how they came to bring this film to the world.

Hypnosis Mic -Division Rap Battle- the Movie
https://hypnosismic-movie.com/

GIGAZINE (hereinafter, G):
The movie 'Hypnosis Mic -Division Rap Battle-' was planned in 2020 and took more than four years to complete, but was it planned from the beginning with the premise that people would vote using an app at the movie theater? Or was the content different at first?

Polygon Pictures Producer Ryo Nakaoka (hereinafter, Nakaoka):
It was decided from the beginning that we wanted to make an 'interactive movie,' that is, a movie with multiple endings where the winner and loser are decided by the audience's votes. That was the starting point of everything, but we had no guarantees regarding the technical aspects, including the use of smartphones, so we started from the point of 'How can we make that happen? Is it even possible? Does something like that exist in the world? I've never heard of it...'

G:
Wow...that was an amazing start.

Nakaoka:
Yes. After checking the system, it wasn't like 'We already have this system, so if we just build it on top of that, it'll be fine,' so I had the feeling that 'it might not be possible in Reiwa Japan yet...'

G:
He says that an app called ' CtrlMovie ' makes this possible.

Vote for the rap battle with the interactive movie system 'CtrlMovie'! | Hypnosis Mic -Division Rap Battle- Movie
https://hypnosismic-movie.com/news/information/241/

Nakaoka:
This app, 'CtrlMovie,' is very much 'HYPNOSISMIC-specific,' and I think King Records is achieving what they wanted to achieve through the app.

Director Takanori Tsujimoto (hereinafter referred to as Tsujimoto):
I'm really looking forward to seeing the reaction to this app and the film once it's released in theaters.



G:
I see. This time, there are 48 different screening patterns depending on the outcome of the battle. Were there any challenges or things you struggled with by making it this way?

Tsujimoto:
I didn't make it thinking 'There are 48 ways' from the beginning, but in the end, I felt like 'There are 48 routes in total.' If I had been told to 'Make 48 ways' from the beginning, I think it would have been really hard (laughs).

G:
(lol)

Tsujimoto:
As for the ending, I thought it was only natural that there would be seven different endings because there are seven divisions. The characters are all different, so that wasn't a problem. The biggest challenge was that it was a long film, so it would be difficult to get the same animator to work on it from start to finish.

G:
Ah, I see. So that's what's coming up.

Ikebukuro Division Representative 'Buster Bros!!!'



Yokohama Division Representative 'MAD TRIGGER CREW'



Shibuya Division Representative 'Fling Posse'



Shinjuku Division Representative 'Matenro'



Nagoya Division Representative: Bad Ass Temple



Osaka Division Representative 'Dotsuitare Honpo'



Chuo Ward 'Word Party'



Tsujimoto:
So, first I made a sample of 'this is the ideal form,' and then I distributed it to various animators. However, since I created what I thought was the best first, it was very difficult to maintain the overall quality over the length of the film. Because I found the best answer at the beginning, I thought, 'If we don't aim for this, we won't be able to reach the end,' so even though it was difficult on set, I persisted as a director and tried to improve the quality, saying, 'I'm sorry everyone,' and making NGs.

G:
oh…….

Tsujimoto:
Because the film was so long, that feeling just continued on and on. The fight against time was the most difficult part. It was the equivalent of making three movies.

G:
That's tough... This time, there are five voting opportunities, but the matchup for the first match is fixed. How was this matchup decided?

Nakaoka:
Considering the combinations of the division rap battles that have been done so far and the relationships between the characters, especially the leaders, King Records decided that 'this is the only division rap battle we should do next.' Of course, King Records may have been really worried behind the scenes, but when they came to us, they said 'this is it,' so we said, 'I accept.'

G:
I see.

Nakaoka:
However, as you can see from watching the main story, the drama of the relationships is fleshed out before and after, and we also feel that it is inevitable that this combination is the one. Of course, if the first round was interactive, the variations would be so overwhelming that we would die (laughs).

Tsujimoto:
Yes, the matchup for the first match is fixed, isn't it? (laughs)

G:
(lol) The music video for the song celebrating the opening of the Final Division Rap Battle was released on YouTube and has become extremely popular. (As of February 21, the release date of the movie, it had been viewed over 2.04 million times.)

[Movie] Final Division Rap Battle Commemorative Song 'Hypnosis Mic - Division Rap Battle - FINAL' - YouTube


G:
Regarding the music video, the director posted to X, 'I'm originally a live-action director, so I wondered what kind of music video would suit me best, and I proposed a video that would allow everyone to make a pilgrimage.'



Tsujimoto:
We know that everyone wants to make a pilgrimage to sacred places. I myself have been to places where Ultraman and Godzilla appeared. Having sacred places means that fans can continue to enjoy them afterwards, so we thought about using actual locations as much as possible. We also wanted a big hook for the MV. On top of that, I'm also a live-action director, so I consulted with Polygon Pictures and asked them, 'To what extent can we pursue a live-action background and animated characters?' and then presented the idea to King Records.

G:
Is that what you mean? When the MV was released, you also posted, 'We worked with Polygon Pictures to pursue a rich range of emotional expression in the movie, so we wanted to condense that into this MV as well, so we had the characters get close to the camera and show off their expressions!'



Tsujimoto:
I have to keep saying this forever. Polygon lived up to my expectations until the very end, and it made me feel a sense of mission to spread this great achievement to the world. The staff even said to me at the end, 'You have to shake your hair like this to give us the OK, right?'

G:
(Laughs) Is that because the director has said 'it's not quite there yet' and rejected it?

Tsujimoto:
Yes... that has happened many times.

Nakaoka:
It was especially true in the beginning. Because production requires energy, there is the question of 'where should I put my effort?', but on the other hand, there is also the need to balance various things such as schedules and finances, and Mr. Tsujimoto told me, 'That won't do,' and raised the quality in some areas. Of course, there were times when I had to push myself too hard and almost missed the schedule (laughs).

G:
(lol)

Nakaoka:
Polygon Pictures prides itself on being a company that excels at animation, but we went beyond that pride and created something great, and I'm extremely grateful to the director and all the staff involved.

Tsujimoto:
I'm glad. But I think it was quite a bit of pressure. I think there were times when the staff thought, 'Director, we're asking you to do this much, but are you really going to do it?'

Nakaoka:
Absolutely, there is (laughs).

G:
Yes (lol)

Tsujimoto:
'Are you sure you want to do this? If you do it here, you'll have to do it forever.' That's certainly true in the beginning. But when you really pursue it, it becomes visibly better. There are clear changes in facial expressions, and the hair and clothes move properly. When that happens, it's like, 'There's no choice but to do it if you can...'

G:
I can understand that...

Tsujimoto:
I really felt that King Records had high expectations for this work, so I thought that as a director, I would be persistent in that area. But that's about it. I try not to be persistent in strange places. It's not good to be persistent in the wrong places. With 'Hypnosis Mic,' I thought that the top priority was to bring out the charm of the characters.

Nakaoka:
I think they were able to make choices and focus. This is just a hypothetical example, but if this movie had been directed by someone other than Mr. Tsujimoto, for example a director from the animation industry, and he had said, 'We'll shake up the 'good cuts' at the key points, but stop with the rest,' I think I would have responded, 'That's how it is.' In a way, this may have been unique to a live-action director, and now that the movie is about to be released, I can say that in the end it was the best choice.



Tsujimoto:
The schedule got pretty messed up along the way... (laughs) But I owe it all to the staff who made it through, so I'm using SNS to express my gratitude in a stealth manner. It's hard to say it in front of your eyes (laughs).

Nakaoka:
In the end, the animators on the production team were able to produce output they could be proud of, so I think that was a good thing.

G:
By the way, I'd like to move away from the film and ask you about Director Tsujimoto. Director Tsujimoto has been interviewed for many of his works, and I was able to watch an interview video from 'Millie: Hard Revenge' on YouTube.

'Hard Revenge Milly Bloody Battle' Interview with Director Takanori Tsujimoto 1 - YouTube


Tsujimoto:
Wow, you've brought out some great stuff! I wonder what you're talking about...

G:
When asked what made him want to become a film director, the director, who had made independent films in his high school days and then worked as a dental technician, replied that DV cameras were cheap and affordable now, and he also had a car, so he decided to get together with his friends again and try shooting something on location.

Tsujimoto:
Ah, definitely. That's right.

G:
At the time, 'Face/Off' was showing, so I went to see it and thought 'I want to do something like that', and since non-linear editing was becoming more common, I worked hard to edit it on a PC, and I also told him that I taught myself CG expression instead of gunpowder for the model gun. I thought it was pretty amazing that you were able to teach yourself CG at the time, so I wanted to ask you how you did it...

Tsujimoto:
Sorry, 'CG' is an exaggeration! It's compositing!

(Everyone laughs)

Tsujimoto:
When a gun is shot, there is a muzzle flash that flashes like a spark around the muzzle, and there is a technique where you can make it look like a real shot just by inserting one frame of this in PC editing. I remember reading about it in a column by Shunji Iwai, who is a pioneer of non-linear editing, and he said, 'Oh, I see, all you have to do is draw a picture of a spark on the muzzle of the gun in just one frame!' So I tried to do it on my own.

G:
I see.

Tsujimoto:
I had so much fun that I thought, 'I don't have time to be a dental technician anymore!'

(Everyone laughs)

G:
You've been making films since that time, and while you've directed live-action films, you also directed the CG animated film in this one. Do you feel like you've seen any changes in technology, or that it's a legitimate evolution of technology to get to this point?

Tsujimoto:
Well... we use smartphones nowadays, but a dozen years ago, we would never have imagined being able to watch movies on our mobile phones. When you think about it, it's not just 'legitimate evolution,' but has reached a place that is unimaginable. But at the same time, I feel that if I don't put myself in that situation and show interest, I will be left behind as a film director. So when I heard about the 'interactive film' project, I didn't think, 'I don't understand that, so I'll give up,' but rather, 'It sounds interesting, so I'd love to participate!'

G:
Director Tsujimoto served as the main director of '

Ultraman Arc ,' which aired until January 2025. You've been interviewed about 'Ultraman' in various ways, and in one of your interviews you said that you felt anxious because you felt like you were running out of ideas. Does working on a work with a different vector like this one have any impact on you?

Tsujimoto:
I've been working on Ultraman for eight years now, and I've come up with a lot of different ideas, so sometimes I'll just rearrange the ideas I came up with before. However, anime is a completely different field, so ideas just keep coming. Rather, 'doing something different' is my motivation and what inspires me to create. As I work on anime, I get more ideas for live-action and special effects, so I think it's great that I'm doing both now.

G:
The film is finally about to be released, but as a production team, how do you expect audiences to react to an interactive film with seven different endings and 48 different screening patterns?

Nakaoka:
Even while we were making it, we often talked about what would happen when the film was released to the world. One of the features of 'Hypnosis Mic' is that there are divisions named after regions, and the movie theaters where the film is screened are in all of those divisions. In that case, naturally, fans of a particular division will want their favorite to win, but at the same time, they may feel that they don't want their hometown to lose. When the lid is opened, I have no idea whether it will be positive or negative...I'm curious to see what it will be like.



G:
The winner is decided by the results of the votes, so you don't know whether your favorite person will win or not.

Tsujimoto:
I wonder what will really happen. I can't wait to see it in the theater.

G:
With that in mind, I would like to ask you to say a final word to your fans.

Tsujimoto:
Since it's an audience participation movie, it would be best if you could see the ending where the division you support wins, but sometimes it's not like that, and the route ends up in a loss. But when your favorite characters lose, they also express the same feelings of regret, so it's a movie you can share the same feelings with. I hope you'll enjoy being immersed in the world of 'Hypnosis Mic'. And if you have the money, I hope you'll watch it two or three times and enjoy the different routes.

Nakaoka:
We had the opportunity to have people who were not involved in the production see the film, such as at preview screenings and screenings for related parties, and based on that, I want to tell the fans, 'It's going to be fine.' Some people who saw the previews personally like 'Hypnosis Mic,' and in response, some said, 'The initial impulse of 'Hypnosis Mic,' which started with the soundtrack and character illustrations, is in the film.' Many people also found the voting system interesting, and I think that if you go to the cinema once, you'll understand that 'it's going to be fine.'

G:
I'm really looking forward to seeing how the screening goes. Thank you for today.

Tsujimoto and Nakaoka:
thank you very much.

The movie 'Hypnosis Mic -Division Rap Battle-' is Japan's first theatrical interactive movie, with 48 routes and 7 endings, and is scheduled to be released on Friday, February 21, 2025.

[Trailer] Movie 'Hypnosis Mic - Division Rap Battle -' - YouTube

Distribution: TOHO NEXT
©ヒプノシスマイク -Division Rap Battle- Movie

Related Posts:

in Interview,   Video,   Movie,   Anime, Posted by logc_nt