Mob Psycho 100

The Show That Captured My Imagination (Again)

Man, it’s been a while since I’ve sat down to watch an anime. I’d forgotten how much fun they can be. I first watched Mob Psycho 100 when season one was released, back in 2016, but I never got around to watching season two. With the release of its much anticipated third season on Netflix, I thought now would be the perfect time to binge-watch the show. 

It should probably come as no surprise, I didn’t remember much about season one. The only thing I could've said with confidence about the show was how much I loved its animation. That holds true even today.

 

Mob Psycho 100 boasts some of the best action sequences in anime that I have ever seen, and I’ve watched a significant amount of it. The creators know how to take advantage of the medium they’re working in. 2-D animation allows for experimentation, and Mob Psycho pushes those boundaries. It plays with angles, movement, and tempo to great effect. Its fight scenes are characterized by an explosive dynamism that makes the viewing experience quite breathtaking. Fans of animated films like Spiderman into the Spiderverse will also appreciate how much they play around stylistically. The lines drawings often take on new forms to drive home themes and conflicts, growing from neat lines to rough bold sketches to beautiful watercolour slides. 

However, while the animation is great, it is not the heart of the show. That is our protagonist 'Mob' or Kageyama Shigeo(Setsuo Ito). Blessed or cursed with psychic powers, Mob Psycho 100 is ultimately a story about a schoolboy learning how to safely engage with his emotions, all while being bombarded by spirits, psychics, and con artists. Mob is naive, and his desires are painfully ordinary. He just wants to be cool, to have friends, to be accepted. For all his powers, Mob doesn’t think very much of himself at all, despite how much you wish he would.

Of course, he’s joined on his journey by con artist extraordinaire himself, Reigen Arataka (Takahiro Sakurai), who lies about his psychic abilities (or lack thereof) but teaches Mob about surviving in society. Reigen should be extremely unlikeable, he's taking advantage of a young child's trust after all, and yet, despite his flaws, you can see he cares. He might be using Mob to keep his business afloat, but when push comes to shove, he comes through. His whole speech about everyone ultimately being a member of society, a piece in the puzzle, regardless of whether they have psychic powers, drives home the line Mob Psycho 100 walks between hilarity and serious, dramatic moments. And that is what I think the selling point of Mob Psycho 100 is.

For all their eccentricities, everyone can find a character or storyline to relate to. Mob presents us with a character struggling not only to emote but also with his identity as the protagonist of his own life. Reigen, for his blustering struggles, to feel important. Ritsu (Mob's younger brother) is perfect on the surface but, is constantly bogged down by feelings of inferiority and insecurity about his brother. And that's just three members of the cast. 

Now you're probably wondering, well okay, but where does that leave us? 

Well, if you're already a fan of anime, Mob Psycho 100 has all the features of a good one. What are those? 

Great animation? Check. 

Action? Check. 

Relatable characters? Check. 

Plot? Check. 

Comedy? Check. 

Oh, and great voice acting? Check.

And if you're someone who doesn't consider yourself an anime fan, think of it this way. Mob Psycho 100, while an anime, is ultimately just another story. Better yet a story about characters with whom you can empathize and for whom you can root for, which is more than you can say for a lot of other content currently gracing our screens. 

So say no to the naysayer within and give it a watch?