Line #15 Music/ManWithAMission


1	->''"Ladies and Gentlemen, We are the MAN WITH A MISSION."''
2	[[quoteright:400:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/man_with_a_mission_1602.jpg]]
3	[[caption-width-right:400: From the top center, clockwise: Tokyo Tanaka, Jean-Ken Johnny, DJ Santa Monica, Spear Rib, and Kamikaze Boy]]
4
5	What do you get when you take a group of [[FunnyAnimal anthropomorphic wolves]] that have the backstory of something out of a Saturday morning cartoon plot, give said group some instruments, and let them start a band? Well, [[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles the US already did that]], but this time they're a Japanese version of that concept.
6
7	Said band would be ''MAN WITH A MISSION'', a Japanese AlternativeRock band of five anthropomorphic wolves with both incredible brain power and superhuman physiques.
8
9	In the year [[YearX 19XX]], humanity was in a full-on war with itself for wealth and power. Seeing this chaos, a genius biologist named [[Music/JimiHendrix Dr. Jimi Hendrix]] on an island called [[Music/ElectricLadyLand "Ladyland"]] to create the UltimateLifeForm to help save humanity from its greatest threat; itself. Said lifeforms, in Dr. Hendrix's eyes, have the heads of wolves, explaining their appearance. Eventually, they grew a power greater than any single army ever has, but soon were hired by the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Principality of Zeon]] to take on top-secret missions that caused near endless death and destruction.
10
11	Doctor Hendrix, seeing this, began to fear his creations. He knew that they were capable of causing some of the most horrible things in history for the time, but he also believed that one day they would bring the end of days. Wracked with guilt, the doctor froze the group within the ice of Antarctica, leaving them with a radio to listen to the music of the modern day to entertain them for the rest of eternity. At least, until 2010, when GlobalWarming eventually thawed their icy prison, and the group went on a rampage through Tokyo greater than any {{Kaiju}} ever has. Not of destruction, however, but of music. And now only time will tell, will they bring our doom...or will they save us from ourselves?
12
13	In reality, however, the very much human band was formed in 2010 in Shibuya, Tokyo. To keep up with the band's crazy backstory, however, it's members have created stage names for the wolves.
14
15	The band's lineup consists of...
16	** Tokyo Tanaka (vocalist)
17	** Jean-Ken Johnny (vocalist and guitarist)
18	** Kamikaze Boy (bassist and backup vocalist)
19	** DJ Santa Monica (disc jockey)
20	** Spear Rib ([[SpellMyNameWithAnS pronounced like "spare rib"]]; drummer)
21
22	Their music explores [[GenreMashup a bunch of different genres]], usually mixing pop, hard rock, dance, rap, and punk elements. They're mostly known in Japan but have reached a fanbase worldwide with tours the US, Europe, and other Asian countries for both opening acts to popular western bands and their own. They also have received invites to famous music events such as ''[[Music/{{Slipknot}} Knotfest]]'' (both US and Japan locations) and ''Download Festival''.
23
24	They're best known, however, for being the artists behind themes for multiple anime intros, video games, and other products, which include but not limited to...
25
26	** "[[Creator/TVAsahi distance]]" (2012)
27	** "[[Manga/HentaiKamen Emotions]]" (2013)
28	** "[[VideoGame/LostPlanet Wake Myself Again]]" (2013)
29	** "[[Literature/LogHorizon database feat.TAKUMA (10-FEET)]]" (2013)
30	** "[[TitleDrop Seven]] [[Manga/TheSevenDeadlySins Deadly Sins]]" (2015)
31	** "[[Film/MadMaxFuryRoad Out of Control feat.ZEBRAHEAD]]" (2015)
32	** "[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans Raise your flag]]" (2015)
33	** "[[Manga/{{Inuyashiki}} My Hero]]" (2017)
34	** "[[Manga/{{Inuyashiki}} Take Me Under]]"/"[[Manga/GoldenKamuy Winding Road]]" (2018)
35	** "[[Manga/VinlandSaga Dark Crow]]" (2019)
36	** "[[Film/GodzillaVsKong Into The Deep]]"[[note]]Japanese release's soundtrack[[/note]]/"[[Franchise/MyHeroAcademia Merry-Go-Round]]" (2021)
37	** "[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans Blaze]]" (2022)
38	** "[[Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba Kizuna no Kiseki / Koikogare]]"[[note]]2-single collaborations with milet[[/note]] (2023)
39	----
40	!!Man With A Mission contains examples of:
41
42	* AnimalMotifs: Wolves, Obviously.
43	** In their music video for ''Take Me Under'', the wolves' oppressors are actual pigs, with the {{Cyberpunk}} city the video takes place in being heavy with pig propaganda.
44	* AnonymousBand: The band is extremely secretive over the identity of the band members. This extends to when they perform live. Jean-Ken Johnny, Tokyo Tanaka, and Kamikaze Boy all don different masks that free their mouths so they can sing more easily, [[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e7/30/22/e73022c28e60a45091ea2b148fc38695.jpg but their faces are painted pitch black]]. Japanese broadcasters go out of their way to avoid showing their faces during live performances, either opting for wide shots of the whole band slightly from behind, closeups of the top half of the wolf masks, bad lighting, or closeups of DJ Santa Monica and Spear Rib instead. All for art.
45	** It also extends to their touring support guitarist, [[https://66.media.tumblr.com/6407955b9ea79da8fdc658e83bc369fa/tumblr_inline_mh6nuy4fIW1ra4z9p.jpg E.D.Vedder]] who wears a plain white mask à la Music/{{Buckethead}}.
46	** Rumors abound in the Japanese blogosphere that the band is a reinvention of their previous band Grantz, comprising vocalist Tsuyoshi (Tokyo Tanaka), bassist Nishida (Kamikaze Boy), guitarist and vocalist Hiroshi (Jean-Ken Johnny), DJ Nakajima (DJ Santa Monica), and drummer Yumiza (Spear Rib). Grantz allegedly ceased activities in 2009 and MAN WITH A MISSION formed in 2010, and Yumiza's long-abandoned [=MySpace=] page [[https://myspace.com/yumiza/music/song/rock-in-the-house-45717277-48880951 has a demo of Rock in the House]], a track eventually released on MAN WITH A MISSION's debut EP.
47	*** Even more rumors suggest the band is on its second person behind Spear Rib, with Yumiza replaced by Atsushi Maehara. People have tried to suss out information by comparing Maehara's abandoned Twitter account with his alleged early performances with the band as Spear Rib.
48	* {{Backstory}}: An official version of their backstory can be found [[https://www.mwamjapan.info/profiles here.]]
49	* BilingualBonus: They usually switch between English and Japanese in most songs. Some songs like "Dead End in Tokyo" and "2045" are even exclusively in English.
50	* CatchPhrase: "(｢ﾟДﾟ)｢ GAW GAW!".
51	* CelebrityEndorsement: The video for "Take Me Home" shows the band snowboarding on Yes boards.
52	* CensoredTitle: Never Fxxkin' Mind The Rules.
53	* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: They kinda come across as this when they don't sway from their backstory in interviews.
54	-->"We’re not "wearing" [our masks]. We’re made like this."
55	-->"We were made in a laboratory on an island which is not on this world anymore."
56	* CoolMask: Their most evident characteristic.
57	** Once the band was signed to a major label, they all got brand new masks. Just compare [[https://78.media.tumblr.com/bc14e9cdf0563ea2dbd4941ec53ed367/tumblr_mh30vvdGNs1qf0hgro1_1280.jpg this shot from 2012]] with [[https://78.media.tumblr.com/cb3af318f031c9272395577ce4824c2c/tumblr_n1ss3ebsWU1rqd2bjo1_1280.jpg this 2014 magazine cover]].
58	* CoverVersion:
59	** They've covered "Lithium" for a Japanese Music/{{Nevermind\|Album}} [[CoverAlbum Tribute Album]]. They also have covered "Smells Like Teen Spirit" before that.
60	** They've also covered "Thinking Out Loud" by Music/EdSheeran.
61	* DesertPunk: The theme for the "Raise your flag" music video.
62	* FunnyAnimal: They claim to actually ''be'' wolves.
63	* GlowingEyesOfDoom: They have them in the video for "Feel And Think."
64	** Some of their live performances [[https://66.media.tumblr.com/00c8fb870a8a9407a5eac5b5138e8601/tumblr_p7r92vq1RM1uvk2a5o4_1280.jpg have this as well.]]
65	* HarmlessFreezing: They were frozen in the Antarctic for several decades.
66	* {{Homage}}: "Green-Tinted Sixties Mind" is an original song based around the [[HairMetal Mr. Big]] song of the same title, sampling the guitar intro and making several lyrical nods.
67	* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: Or in their case, Japanese Rockstar Anthro Wolves.
68	* PunctuatedForEmphasis: "Raise. Your. FLAAAG!!!"
69	* SelfTitledAlbum: Man With A Mission.
70	* ShoutOut: The band is really fond of them.
71	** They quote Music/TheBeatles in "Fly Again" ("life just comes and goes/[[Music/RevolverBeatlesAlbum tomorrow never knows]]")
72	** They quote Literature/TheBible of all things in "Emotions" ("you'd always [...] loved your neighbors as yourself").
73	** The video for "Distance" features an octahedron that looks quite suspiciously like Ramiel from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' (the song itself seems to sample its scream, or at least features a sample that sounds quite similar, pointing out that it's probably an intentional nod).
74	** The video for "When My Devil Rises" features an animation of Manga/{{Devilman}} fighting demons (done as a collaboration with Creator/GoNagai, who contributed album art).
75	* TheSingularity: Both name-dropped and the focus of "2045", where it's indicated that humanity will be completely and inevitably replaced by AI.
76	* SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein: Their lyrics can easily fall victim to this, thanks to the random Japanese words and their non-native English.
77	* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Spear Rib is pronounced as "spare rib" and is probably supposed to be written that way.
78	* StageNames: Obviously.
79	* VocalTagTeam: All songs feature Tokyo Tanaka and Jean-Ken Johnny in varying amounts.
80	* TheVoiceless: Jean-Ken Johnny is the only member of the band to speak (Japanese and English) in interviews. Apparently, he was the only member of the band "created" to speak. Except Tokyo Tanaka is lead vocalist and Kamikaze Boy sings during choruses and shares lyric writing duties with Johnny. They never quite explain this.
81	** During a TV interview hosted by Daisuke and Nao of Music/MaximumTheHormone with just Jean-Ken Johnny and DJ Santa Monica on set, DJ Santa Monica accidentally spoke on camera, leading the others to feign surprise and crack a couple jokes that they heard him speak. During this same interview, Johnny complains he cannot speak English very well. All of his subtitles (and tweets) also substitute the katakana writing system where hiragana would be used instead.
82	----
83	->(｢ﾟДﾟ)｢ GAW GAW!

Context Music / ManWithAMission