The Darkest Hour is Just Before the Dawn

***The Darkest Hour is Just Before the Dawn*** is the seventh episode of the *Hypnosis Mic -Division Rap Battle- Rhyme Anima*. It aired on November 13, 2020.

## Plot

While at work, Doppo laments over the upcoming Division Rap Battle and is reproved by the section chief over him being unfocused with his work. As a result, the superior assigns him more work to be finished by the end of the day. Later, when Doppo goes to make some photocopies, he bumps into a man by the name of Kazuha Rurikawa. Kazuha is a fan of the group Doppo is a part of Matenrō and details that he likes Doppo's rap style, stating it'd be ok if he had more confidence in himself. Also, Kazuha volunteers to make the photocopies himself in order to allow Doppo to have more time to prepare for the upcoming Rap Battle, which pleases him.

Elsewhere, the Buster Bros!!! win against their opponents in the division battle and Tom, Iris, and T.Rex cover it. Because it'd be more productive if they'd split-up in order to cover the other bands. Tom takes Shinjuku, to cover team Matenrō, T.Rex is assigned Shibuya to cover the Fling Posse which pleases him, and Iris is assigned Yokohama to cover the MAD TRIGGER CREW.

In their HQ, the members of the MAD TRIGGER CREW note that the Buster Bros!!! will surely advance into the finals, to which, Samatoki vows to crush them. Meanwhile, in Shibuya, Fling Posse win a division battle and when the band separates for the day, T.Rex takes unsolicited photos of Ramuda who recognizes him. Noting to himself that it'd be fortuitous if he acts cordially toward him to solidify a relationship with him, Ramuda offers to take T.Rex out for a meal and he happily agrees. Sometime at night in Shinjuku, Tom meets with Dr. Jakurai, who recognizes him as the person who wrote the article about his band and someone he met before in the past. Apparently, the two met at a field hospital in a war zone, it was there that Dr. Jakurai treated him. When asked about his assistant Yotsutsuji, Dr. Jakurai details that he's currently in a coma. Pressed by Tom on how that happened, Dr. Jakurai vows to continue winning in order to find out as to why. Doppo and Hifumi then approach Dr. Jakurai and the group goes on stage in order to perform in front of the audience.

The following day, Dr. Jakurai is approached by Inspector Degarashi and Detective Irihatoma in the hospital hallway. They ask him about the serial burglaries that have been occurring as of late, which surprises Dr. Jakurai as normally he's falsely accused of such crimes. Detective Irihatoma then states that this time around there isn't any valid proof to suspect him of the crime. At his workplace, Doppo gets helps again from Kazuha with delivering some things, and the two walk and talk into the night. Eventually, the two are joined by Hifumi and the three of them go out for some drinks. Enjoying themselves at a bar, Kazuha details that he's part of a division group as well, however, his group did not make the qualifiers. Kazuha also notes his envy of Doppo on how he's able to "release the muck" from his heart in his song battles. Doppo states that he's nothing special and that one-day Doppo will find his voice too in his voice, to which, Kazuha notes that he's found an "alternative".

The next day at work, Doppo learns from a co-worker that their section chief has fallen down a flight of stairs which caused him to injure himself. He then receives a call from Dr. Jakurai and at the hospital, Doppo learns that his boss is fine and will be discharged in 2-3 days’ time. With Hifumi also there, Dr. Jakurai details that he wants to talk to them that Doppo's boss was pushed down the flight of stairs and what he's learned from Detective Irihatoma. It was said that during every Matenrō concert, a string of Hypnosis Mic burglaries have been committed. A flashback showing Detective Irihatoma elaborating the full details of the burglaries to Dr. Jakurai. Apparently, the equipment used to pull these burglaries are from the same company that Doppo works at.

Later that day, Kazuha approaches Doppo and wishes him good luck also stating that it's good that his chief isn't breathing down his neck. This gives Doppo an epiphany that Kazuha is the perpetrator to the burglaries. Right before, their performance, Dr. Jakurai eases his teammates’ tension with a bit of pep talk and go onto perform. Afterward, the group learns that the burglars have struck again and then Doppo receives a text message from Kazuha who gives a farewell message. Eventually, Matenrō confronts Kazuha and his comrades and take them out in a Division Rap Battle with Doppo at the lead. Once the battle is over, Detective Irihatoma and Inspector Degarashi arrive and arrest Kazuha and his group.

Elsewhere, the MAD TRIGGER CREW win their Division Rap Battle, and Jyuto gets informed of a crime in process at Kannai, Naka-ku where an armed suspect is at and all nearby officers are needed. Rio then claims that this crime Jyuto is being roped into may interfere with their next Division Rap Battle the following day.

## Staff

* Screenplay: Shin Yoshida
* Storyboard: Jouji Furuta
* Rap Scenes Storyboard: Pink Janakutemo
* Director: Ryuta Yamamoto
* Chief Animation Director: Yukari Takeuchi
* Animation Director(s): Rina Morita, Maki Fujioka, Kouji Shiyouki, Kanetoshi Kamimoto, Ayaka Yasumi, Yukari Takeuchi

## Cast

### Main Cast

* Sho Hayami as Jakurai Jinguji
* Ryuichi Kijima as Hifumi Izanami
* Kento Ito as Doppo Kannonzaka
* Subaru Kimura as Ichiro Yamada
* Haruki Ishiya as Jiro Yamada
* Kohei Amasaki as Saburo Yamada
* Shintaro Asanuma as Samatoki Aohitsugi
* Wataru Komada as Jyuto Iruma
* Shinichiro Kamio as Rio Mason Busujima
* Yusuke Shirai as Ramuda Amemura
* Soma Saito as Gentaro Yumeno
* Yukihiro Nozuyama as Dice Arisugawa

### Supporting Cast

* Kazumasa Fukagawa as Tom Whisper Weathercock
* Lynn as Iris Innocent Traiter
* Daiki Hamano as T.Rex
* Kosuke Miyoshi as Kazuha Rurikawa
* Mutsuki Iwanaka as Detective Irihatoma
* Mitsuaki Hoshino as Inspector Degarashi
* Yuki Sanpei as Hodogaya
* Hiroaki Okuda as Nagatsuta
* Fumitake Ishiguro as Section Chief
* Kento Shiraishi as Co-Worker
* Hayato Kimura as Security Guard

## Music

Opening Theme
* *Rhyme Anima* by Division All Stars
	+ Lyrics/Composition/Arrangement: invisible manners

Ending Theme
* *Bonds -SHIBUYA ver.-* by Fling Posse
	+ Lyrics: Yanosuke (AFRO PARKER), tofubeats
	+ Composition/Arrangement: tofubeats

Insert Songs
* *IKEBUKURO WEST GAME PARK* by Buster Bros!!!
	+ Lyrics: Colabintaro
	+ Composition/Arrangement: Gesshoku Kaigi

* *Shinjuku Style ~Don't Make Us Laugh~* by Matenro
	+ Lyrics: Mr.Q & Yamada Man (Rappagariya)
	+ Composition: noTOKYO & hatch (Mellow Monk Connection)
	+ Arrangement: Rappagariya

* *Fallin'* by Matenro
	+ Lyrics: Pecori (ODD Foot Works)
	+ Compostion: Tondenhey (ODD Foot Works)
	+ Arrangement: ODD Foot Works