‘Rhyming Man’ a hot-blooded rap manga
One by one, manga works are joining the world of rap, depicting MC battles, or improvised rap battles, in which two rappers throw words at each other.
Elaborately rhyming lines make such manga all the more exciting.
So, do manga and rap get along well?
“I always wanted to draw rap for a long time, but I didn’t know how to do so. When MC battles became popular, I thought, ‘I can do this,’” said manga artist Kiminori Wakasugi, who draws “Rhyming Man” in the Young Animal manga magazine published by Hakusensha, Inc.
The lead character, Fumio, is a high school student whose life is dominated by his father, a jobless rapper. Fumio used to hate rap, but he gradually comes to find it interesting. There is one scene that demonstrates MC battles are not about trading insults. Fumio faces off with a girl for whom he feels unrequited love, and he assails her with words that are too harsh to repeat here, albeit with love.
“I racked my brain so hard thinking about this scene,” Wakasugi said. “He makes a girl he has a crush on cry. But in an MC battle, they say things they can’t normally say to each other, and shake hands at the end, feeling refreshed. I feel like rapping myself through this manga.” (219 words)
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