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
