Mob Psycho 100

asterris Oct 10, 2016

8

This show was pretty entertaining, you have a teenager trying to find a place socially in life that also has OP psychic powers...but he doesn't deal with it like the regular shounen MC with their 'I've got to face my fears, lvl up my pwr, and fight my enemies to protect my friends' way. I'll also note that though this anime has a similar esscence to One Punch Man, I actually prefer this show. I feel like explaining this so I will, but you can also just skip to the directs categories for the main review of the show. There also may be indirect spoilers (about characters ands stuff) but I don't think I included any direct spoiling of the plot. Now for similarities; they are created by the same person first of all(meaning they have a similar 'vibe'), inlcude an OP MC, and an exaggerated plot with lots of dry comedy to list a few. I like all of these features, so I greatly enjoyed both shows, but the reason I like this one more is due to the differences. I love action, which both shows some of, but Mob contains the supernatural theme, while OPM has this to some extent it's orientated towards super heros more. If you like the super hero theme more than a supernatural one, you might like OPM more. Another difference is also just the characters themself, and the plot. OPM is really quite simple, you are introduced to more superheros that aren't as OP as the MC, and they struggle to beat a bad guy until Saitama finally gets around to doing so, and it gets super extreme in an overblown funny way. Mob is a bit similar, but towards the middle of the anime the more extreme plot line is taken more seriously with other psychological implications. The plot also worked to change and further develop characters Mob Psycho, while in OPM the characters remained relatively stagnant as Saitama does not face any internal struggles other than one brought about by being extremely dense (lol that was pretty funny tho).  Story 8/10: There was a solid amount of plot in the 12 episodes given. You meet important characters, get to actually know these characters more, and there is even once small (and dramatic) arc near the end. I'm not asking for anything rushed or cut, sacrificing the nice character developmet given in order to get farther in the story. The problem is that I read ahead in the manga, and realized that the plot of Mob is essentially very extreme character developments in each plot line, and that one or two characters face a critical hole in the way they had been living, leading them to re-evalute their moral standards. This is done in an almost nonchanlant comedic way. For example, the answer to socially awkward Mob's problems often is relatively simple. The common line for people that have super powers is that they're not supposed to hurt others weaker than them and stuff like that unless there's no helping it, so when the OP MC looks around him, there is only people weaker...and he's kinda just too afraid/cowardly to use his OP powers and accidentally kill someone. Which, considering what happens when he reaches 100%, is a reasonable fear. This is actually a good thing, not a problem, but it does create a slight bias in my opinion as I know the story will continue to deliver dramatic story arcs centered around psychological struggles like that but the anime only covers the first run in with 'claw', and a bit of character development for Kageyama Shigeo, dimple, and Teruki. It only had time to do a good job of scratching the surface. Basically, it's the usual issue with 12 ep. anime being short, and the fact that the plot of Mob Psycho is intermittant episodic ghosts and comedy, and action packed extreme psychological arcs with character development. It might seem close to a regular shounen with this latter 'action packed' and 'extreme' statement, but I think it's not quite as simple as that, and this is also why the show earns a psychological tag, because it leans more on that during the action packed scenes. Don't worry it's not just 'talk no jutsu' there's some actual fight scenes too (though they linger on the short side), but not quite as pure 'shounen' as normal. Overall, plot is good, but it starts slow with episodes of introducing characters (and some of the main cast) and mainly comedy, so it doens't dig deep with more psychological struggle until a bit later. Even so, the over arcing dry humor is likeable, and I enjoyed the rythmn that the series had throughout the whole show. A serious moment in the plot is often interrupted/trolled with snide comments from characters that are never serious (basically most of the main cast). This being said, plot seems to be the weakest point for me, as I know it gets better the more of the series you see, but the 12 ep. given is just the start of it.  Despite just stratching the surface, the plot is still quality. The fact it doesn't try to cram too much into 12 episodes isn't a bad thing. And the connected plot that emerges a little over half way through brings in character development for some of the characters. Honestly, pretty similar (plot pacing wise) to the first 12 ep. of My Hero Academia, which started by mostly introducing the characters and just stratching the surface of the main plot line (though it's getting another season). Animation 10/10: It was very nice, it flowed well and has more of a comic book style than othe anime. The only character that gets actual sparkly eyes is Tsubomi-chan, and she doens't even matter at this point. The characters actually are extremely expressive, with excessive amounts of sweat drops or negative lines, all in all it really worked with the extreme nature of the characters and the plot. Even the color scheme and shadowing seemed to enforce the extreme and occasionally psychological nature of the show, and I thought it worked really well for it.  Sound 10/10: This is mostly opinion, but I actually really liked the opening song, it was catchy and looked trippy, which made it pretty entertaining. Like the animation style, I felt that the sounds supported the silly/dry humor throughout the anime as well as the supernatural theme. To me the soundtrack in the show reminded me of Eyptian music for some reason....but with a supernatural theme in it. Characters 8/10: I really liked the characters, they aren't super complicated, but throughout the show they become more and more fleshed out. The amount of cast actually given depth is a nice chunk considering the 12 episodes. There's of course Mob (Kageyama Shigeo), Reigen Sensei, and Kageyama Ristsu (the brother). But then there's also Dimple, and even later interduced Teruki. Mob seems like the normal socially awkward boy, and the fact he doesn't talk much makes it harder to see what he really is thinking sometimes. He acts relatively emotionless until flustered. He's revealed to be dense and can even stubborn, but can also possess a dry sense of reality if he's not talking about himself. Overall, he's very passive in dire situations, and even his sense of morality can be easily shaken when he's stressed-something that will be addressed throught out the whole story. Overall a lot of the characters turn out to be angsty teenagers that have inferiority complexes (I can think of at least 3). What's even more interesting to think about is why Shigeo tries to suppress his feelings, and consequently how each of his 100% outbreaks vary based on his feelings at the time. You can also tell he has a slight inferiority complex, but that will pale in comparison to his brother, which was given a really nice chunk of time to be fleshed out from the one dimensional 'nice younger brother' cut out. Dimple is one of the most crafty next to Reigen, but turns out to be rather kind hearted and almost innocent despite his rude character entrance. Reigen is a con artist on some levels, and manipulitive of Mob. However, he is also shown to be extremely wise/useful at somepoints while still remaining dense. At first I thought I would find him annoying, but he actually helped mentor Mob in some ways while still clearly being flawed himself. Teruki, who is introduced later, has a complete turn around as a character, but his violent tendencies show up again near the end of the show with him urging Mob to defeat the enemy with his powers--that it's the only way. There was also a low voiced narator that would explain thoughts in characters' heads, which was pretty funny sometimes as he sounded stark serious. The rest of the characters were rather simple, and didn't get as much time, but many of them were also interesting in their own way. Tsubomi, with little screen time was shown to be that prissy popular girl and not actually the 'perfect' girl due to a flashback Mob had about her. The body building club, school delinquents, and the president of the student council all had entertaining personalities as well, with an extra quirk or two. Overall 8/10:  For twelve episodes it was very entertaining, despite a relatively simple plot and characters. If you enjoy things like a supernatural/psychic theme, some extreme action, an OP MC, or a few psychological vibes you might enjoy this show.

legas Jul 12, 2016

6.5

*spiler free revie* Mob is an anime series by Bones studio, that is on good track this year after some succesfull animes such as My hero academia. ONE is the mangaka behind Mob's manga (and the same from One punch man). Story: it's a One punch man kid of anime, having an overpowered main character that can't seem to find a "worthy enemy", and things happen to him in every episode as new characters show up; I have read a lot of people say that's almost a remake of OPM, in my opinion story is way more lineal here, althought it's not developed at all in the first season. What's cool about this one is that it's about some enlightened people exorcising spirits and demons as we've seen over and over, but theese people are not shaman or paranormal detectives like we're used to in anime, theese are psychics, what makes the interaction between human characters way more interesting. For some reason, the studio thought that fighint spirits along the show wasn't that entertaining, and so, as to episode 7, the anime became a comedy shonen in the form of a competition for popularity inside and outside Mob's high school, having the typical clubs, and gangs from different schools. Of course there are some flashy spirit fighting, or duels between kids with psychich powers, but theese aren't the main flow of the series. But, in the last episodes we finally get a glimpse of who the real antagonist that Mob and his friends will face is. To sum up, the story has little interesting points, not very creative or exciting. Animation: pretty cool in my opinion, main reason I was hooked by this anime in the first place. Mental powers skills are drawn in a perfect cartoonish way. It has a lot of color, and some funny drawings for the humor scenes. Evil spirits look sick, kinda like monsters in OPM. And characters can be well told apart one from another, the important ones have pretty unique and recognizable faces, studio animators don't have to put blue or violet hair on two characters to make them look different, as in a lot of other series. Fighting scenes are super fun to watch, and I think this is the strongest point in the anime. Sound: okay, nothing to remark here. Good opening and good ending. Pretty hilarious voice acting. OST isn't great, it could be way better to match the good scenes at least, IMO. Characters: The main character is the unpopular kid, the outsider with no people skills, no sports skills and no sense of humor. His little brother is the 10/10 person that's looked up to, being good at sports, being liked by the girls and participating in the school council, but he is deeply jelous of Mob because of his psychic powers, this character will have almost as much relevance as Mob in the show . Mob's master is a fake, using Mob to make the exorcising jobs for him, but at the same time inspiring his every step with his philosophical perspective of the world and the people; he is also funny af. The way characters interact directly and indirectly is one of the strong points in the show. Secondary characters will probably be better developed in the next season, or at least that's what I hope. Conclusion: this anime is pretty entertaining, but it's not as good as I was expecting before its release. I still recommend it.

ThatAnimeSnob Feb 18, 2017

5.5

Mob Psycho 100 gained most of its fame thanks to the success of One Punch Man. Very few would know and even fewer would care about it, if it wasn’t piggybacking on a completely different series by the same mangaka. It was essentially selling on name, just like Aldnoah Zero became famous simply for slapping Urobutcher in the production team. Just like One Punch Man, it’s making fun of typical stories about superpowers by throwing in some drama to make it seem smarter than it actually is. And just like One Punch Man, it’s not doing much with it as it’s almost entirely a satire of the power creep stereotype instead of a deconstruction or a character study.The premise of “being the strongest in existence from the first episode not being enough to make you happy” is a nice catch, but it’s treated in a silly way and thus has no gravity. Saitama is too bored to prove how powerful he is, Mob is a coward. Both of them can achieve anything they want in a few seconds, but constantly procrastinate for the sake of satire masking as psychological issues. I mean, there is nothing wrong in characters wanting to improve themselves and helping their society in the process. It’s just that the bad guys are constantly presented as omnipotent and impossible to tell if they can be defeated, only for the hero to kick the crap out of them without even trying. It’s fake tension in its purest form. Holding back all the time for the sake of letting the villains gloat about their crappy ideology while laughing like maniacs, is only making it disappointing when you know they would have never won because they never posed a threat from the very beginning.And I get the logic behind all this. Your fears are your worst enemy, not some external conflict you can solve with violence. In a way even the villains defeat themselves when they realize their ideology is not as awesome as they thought. Delaying the obvious outcome is only done for the sake of giving the viewer enough time to see the mentality of every character. It’s not about the fighting, it’s not about whose powers are the most broken, it’s about who doesn’t give up. Making the protagonist predictably unbeatable, does not matter. The theory is fine; the problem lies in the execution. The message of the show comes off as very hypocritical when you have the hero doing everything from a point of authority. If power is not everything and he doesn’t want to be defined by his psychic abilities, why is he solving all his problems with the thing he doesn’t want to be defined by? It’s like watching a movie with a clear message of “guns are bad” and all the hero is doing in that movie is gunning down anyone holding a pistol. How is fighting fire with fire while insisting fire is bad, not hypocritical?Furthermore, the method the hero is using in the show will not fix his issues. Just like Saitama joining the hero association did not fix his laziness, Mob joining the fitness club for buffing his body will not fix his insecurities. Yes, the irony is part of the joke and what makes it tragic at the same time. But it doesn’t make it deep or meaningful; especially when the hero doesn’t eventually realize it. Everyone else gives up and joins his cause when he kicks the crap out of them, but not him. Thus the only character without any character development in a story about self-improvement is the protagonist. Get it? That’s the joke.Furthermore, what’s the point of self-improvement in a setting where superpowers can have any effect you like? Mob can do anything he likes, so why is he training at all? If he wants muscles for impressing girls at his school, he can use his powers and poof, now he has muscles. Also, it’s impossible to believe he can’t impress the chicks with all the crap he can do. He can become a body builder and no girl will talk to him if he doesn’t even have the guts to look at them. Aka, he’s mentally challenged. And so is everybody else in the show if not a single person bothers to tell him something so simple. And I might as well point the obvious. What’s the point of self-improvement when abilities can be gained and lost at the drop of a hat? Mob can give his powers to someone else and any normal person can become a psychic by permanently keeping some of those powers. That’s exactly what happened with Reigen at the end of the show. First they make it seem like he’s dead although he is not, which means fake suspense. Then he comes back super powerful and talks down on the villains because he can by being super powerful, thus more hypocrisy on part of the theme. And even when the powers go away he can now see spirits although he is not a psychic, thus disproving the importance of training and self-improvement. There goes the big message of the show.Also, it’s impossible to take anything seriously when there are no physical repercussions for whatever they are doing. I mean, many characters have the power to blow up city blocks but it doesn’t matter. At one point Mob blows up the entire school and a few seconds later, he rebuilds it as it was before. Nobody ever dies and heavy injuries are magically healed in a second. It’s like nothing really happens in the real world and it’s all in their minds, like delusional chuunis. In conclusion, Mob Psycho 100 is just a superficial satire that procrastinates as much as it can while babbling about a message that means very little. It’s an ok time waster if you have low expectations and you really care about pretty colors which don’t mean anything besides being pretty.