Showing enough hip-hop stamina and lyrical versatility to overload any scanner in range, “Otaku King” Richie Branson has taken to dropping new, anime-themed tracks on a weekly basis. He’s made Otaku Tuesday an internet institution within just the space of a month, spitting rhymes about the likes of INITIAL D and GURREN LAGANN with subjects requested by users like you.
Today, he makes a plea for Toonami’s return, and the occasion’s seemed to right to make Otaku Tuesdays part of Anime Vice’s schedule. Whenever there’s a new rap out, we’ll be there with some exclusive questions to shed some light on the motivations, inspirations and assorted perspirations that went into a track.
Listen to this ditty, below, then go on and get #bringbacktoonami and #otakutuesdays trending…!
Anime's become available in America through other venues since Toonami bowed out - - what makes Toonami so special for you, even today?
Absolutely true, I've been doing most of my GUNDAM watching on Crunchyroll these days. What made Toonami special was its presentation. TOM was awesome to watch in between shows.
How did you feel when Toonami returned for April Fool's Day? Surprised? Shocked? Terribly teased? Maybe even hopeful?
I was amazed, particularly due to the fact that I released the Wing Zero EP just 10 days earlier. It was definitely surreal seeing TOM introduce Gundam Wing for the first time in years.
Last week, you did a much-appreciated rap about GURREN LAGANN. Is it just me, or is Kamina a deeply-profound philosopher who simply chooses a "bro-y" vocabulary to get his ideas out there?
Kamina is one of my all-time favorite anime characters. That bro-cabulary of his is unmatched and I must agree, his trash-talk always had some surprisingly deep meaning behind it.
He was also really good at freestyling wild finishing-move names off the top of his head. As a rapper, I can dig it! I remember falling out my chair in when he did that first Giga Drill Break. Epic.
Epic, indeed. There you have it. Go on and send Richie requests for any anime you're dying to hear getting this treatment!
Tom Pinchuk’s the writer of HYBRID BASTARDS! & UNIMAGINABLE. Order them on Amazon here & here. Follow him on Twitter: @tompinchuk
Nothing like some anime rap to brighten the day.
I'm spoiled by fansubs and readily available streaming now. I do not want Toonami back because I will not watch it. It will be especially embarrassing if anime continues to be relegated to 11pm on Saturday. We'll most likely end up in the same place we are in now.
It was probably coincidence, but I sent Richie a request to do a Tom/Toonami tribute rap last Thursday. As such, it is my deluded theory that he saw it and made this.
I missed Toonami and Tom's commentary on anime and video games. Awesome rap!
I think Toonami should come back paired with it's own streaming site like Crunchyroll. Imagine a Toonami site full of classic anime where you set up playlists, sit back, watch and enjoy TOM jumping in and doing his thing in-between episodes.
Great rap, enjoyed it for someone who doesn't listen to rap that much.
But in bringing back Toonami, probably not.
@takashichea said:
@Daniel_Newton said:
Agreed.
If only I could have put it so elequently...
Hm. Surprisingly, this one's a very good rap!
@Daniel_Newton said:
That's a brilliant idea. That way, the network responsible will still legally gain money off of it.
i hope we see it in the UK