The “HYPNOSISMIC -Division Rap Battle-” movie began its revival screening at 66 theaters across Japan starting September 2nd, HypMic’s anniversary, to commemorate the 8th anniversary of the project’s launch. With the revival, HypMovie has finally surpassed the major milestone of 2 billion yen in box office revenue. HypMovie is Japan’s “first” interactive movie and made its screen debut on February 21st, 2025, at 85 theaters in Japan.
Due to the limited amount of interactive screening equipment, the movie continued its run at a limited number of 60 to 80 theaters in Japan. While there have been many movies in the past that started with small-scale releases of around 10 theaters, gained popularity and expanded to over 150 theaters to become major hits, HypMovie has become the first movie in Japan to surpass a box office revenue of 2 billion yen with fewer than 100 theaters from its opening day.
One of the reasons the movie has been such a hit is due to its interactive nature, the first of its kind in Japan, and which plays a central role in the viewing experience. The outcome of each rap battle unfolding on the screen is decided by the audience via a specialized voting system carried out via smartphone. Viewers vote during the movie a total of 5 times to determine the winner of each battle, which means there are a total of 48 different ways the movie can play out and 7 different endings.
“Abema PPV” live stream/ticket purchase page:
- Fling Posse & Matenro: abema.go.link/dv05N
- MAD TRIGGER CREW & DOTSUITARE-HOMPO: abema.go.link/98uOH
- Buster Bros!!! & Bad Ass Temple: abema.go.link/13rPT
- Official Website: https://hypnosismic-movie.com/
HYPNOSISMIC -Division Rap Battle- is described as follows:
Music-based character rap project Hypnosis Mic: started in September 2017. Hypnosis Mic features 18 unique characters who are divided into 6 teams: Ikebukuro Division, “Ikebukuro Division,” “Yokohama Division,” “Shibuya Division,” “Shinjuku Division,” “Osaka Division,” and “Nagoya Division,” where they engage in intense rap battles.
Leading figures in Japan’s hip hop scene are featured as creators in the tracks used for each rap battle. Each character’s voice actor performs all their own songs, and so each character’s story develops through the music.
The world of Hypnosis Mic has been explored across a range of media, including manga, video games, stage plays, anime and more, all based on its strongly characteristic music and narrative audio dramas.
Source: Press Release
