maybelle.hickle - 2017-01-24 05:38:43

Webcomic wunderkind ONE has had outrageous luck with anime adaptations of his work. Shingo Natsume and his crew of incredible animators turned One Punch Man into a smash hit, and Yuzuru Tachikawa brings a similarly crack team (including One Punch Man alum) to adapt ONE’s magnum opus, Mob Psycho 100. But while One Punch Man took cues from Yusuke Murata’s redrawn pages in Shounen Jump, Mob Psycho 100 dedicates itself to replicating the source comic’s scrappy, notebook doodle aesthetic with no compromises. The result is not only one of the most entertaining action series of the past few years, but one that succeeds beyond even One Punch Man in capturing the tone of the material. You’ll remember the fast-paced battles and poop jokes, but it’s Mob, Reigen and their oddball crew of slackers who’ll worm their way into your heart.

kassandra.cummerata - 2017-01-12 15:58:45

Mob Psycho100 is a summer 2016 twelve episode series, from the same creator as one of the most popular anime this decade: One Punch Man. The two series have a ton of similarities from the over powered main characters that feel near invincible, to the funny banter between the main character and their partners. But the series does enough different for them to be considered two separate entries, most fans upon watching Mob Psycho might not even know that it and OPM share the same mangaka.

Story:

Mob Psycho100 follows main character and incredible psychic: Kageyama Shigeo also know as Mob. Mob is a shy middle school student that battles with anxiety issues despite being superior to everyone around him. We follows his everyday escapades throughout his school life and his work as a psychic under his mentor Reigen.

The story of Mob is simply enough for anyone to get into and captivating enough to get people to watch the whole way through. The story is rather endearing as well, as it follows Mob trying to get his confidence up and talk to his crush, as well as managing how others see his powers and how he chooses to use them. The best thing about the story is that it explores so much in such a small amount of time; from aspects of school life like the Body Improvement Club, the school council power grab to relationship issues such as Mob’s feelings on his family and his mentor. This focus on more slice-of-life elements somehow does not deterrent from the overall story as the story manages to pace itself really well by balancing the action with the story.

One of the aspects I prefer the most about Mob Psycho is that it isn’t completely episodic, the story focuses on mini-arc’s that span 2-3 episodes. This helps the story’s themes feel explored and developed than in episodic series, and helps the pacing of the series as well. The series doesn’t finish completely as the manga is still ongoing, it leaves enough room for a sequel to improve on whilst not feeling as if the season ended on a cliff-hanger. I do think the story could have had some better writing, as some plot points felt dragged out to far or some elements that I really enjoyed didn’t feel quite as explored as they should have been.

Characters:

Mob Psycho features a great cast of characters, the heart and soul of the series comes from the cast of characters themselves. From Reigen’s helping Mob develop the most throughout the series without him even meaning to, to The Body Improvement Club being so caring over Mob despite him weighing the club down and everyone in between. The colourful cast of characters is where the series shines the most, the characters aren’t anything too deep but they don’t need to be. The cast not only fulfill their roles but surprisingly do more than what most were expecting from them.

The main set of characters go through a lot of character development, from Mob to his younger brother and even in small ounces Reigan. I am somewhat disappointed by the villains in the series, the first antagonist around episode 4 was great, but after that they went downhill. The antagonists seemed more of tools to exhibit Mob’s might rather than genuine characters, it seemed not enough thought was put into them as much as the rest of the cast.

Animation:

The art style here is one of my favourite from recent anime. Studio Bones returned back to old form with this entry, as the art style seemed expressive and fresh. The anime felt like it was conceived by a crop of new animators as some of the techniques that were used and animation choices that were made were new to me. The animation quality still felt consistent throughout the 12 episode run, and the expressive art style didn’t suffer because of it.

The sakuga used here was in my opinion even more impressive than in One Punch Man, since it felt more thought out rather than a studio wanting to show off how much money they have. Since the sakuga was used in the right scenes as during the best moments it maximized it’s effects. I don’t consider myself an expert of sakuga, but Mob really knocked it out of the part for me.

Studio Bones have brought on the most creative individuals in anime to create this series. From employing Miyo Sato to handle the spirits using what I find to be 1 of the most difficult animation techniques I’ve seen: Paint on Glass; to Yoshimichi Kameda the key animator behind Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood to handle the key animation here. This is one of the most creative series I’ve seen to date, that has employed so many different and unique animation techniques in 1 series. These diverse styles somehow combined and mixed well with each other, which resulted in a amazing showcase of animation talent.

Sound:

Amazing OST; the soundtrack was a great addition in every scene it was in without overpowering the scene. The music melded with the scene and fit most of the scenes like a glove. The OP especially was fantastic as is one of my favourite openings in anime, as the combination of the music with the visuals created an exceptional end product.

tl;dr:

To wrap things up, Mob Psycho is a brilliant anime and a did not fail to disappoint considering it coming off the back of a massive anime like One Punch Man. The art and animation are amazing especially how new and refreshing the art felt to me, the soundtrack was well done with the highlight being the OP but at some points I expected it to do more for me. The soundtrack did a lot of things well, but it did not blow me away like how I would expect a Yoko Kanno or Yuki Kajiura soundtrack to sound like. The story was great as well as the mini-arc based set up let it fully explore its themes without them feeling rushed by the amount of time available to them. And finally the characters were the stand-out of the series, as the not only felt genuine but added a lot of soul to the series.

Scoring:

Story: 8/10
Characters: 8.7/10
Animation: 9.5/10
Sound: 8.5/10

[8.7/10]

Enjoyment: 9/10
Overall: 8.85

gaston.heathcote - 2017-01-11 15:19:57

MOB PSYCHO SAIKOU DA!!

Was browsing through anime to watch and I saw this. Finished within 2 days! I could rewatch it again. Funny how I overlooked this awesome anime last year. I don’t really like the art at first but it got better after a few eps. I love laughing at the comedy and Reigen shisho’s act everytime xD

kaia.beatty - 2016-12-17 16:46:30

I hardly ever feel satisfied after finishing a show I really like. There’s something that swells inside me that I can’t seem to get rid of, a burning desire to share my thoughts with the world. This is what drives me to review a great show/game/book/whatever rather than just review whatever. Heck, not even that!

Mob Psycho 100 is the kind of show casual anime fans like me wish would come out every season. There really is little to dislike about a show with such a well-structured story, such compelling and flawed characters, such experimental visuals, and this awareness of itself as a shonen series while aiming to be far smarter than its current peers. Mob Psycho is the kind of story I wish I could write, and I think words can’t do justice to how much I enjoyed this thrill ride.

Mob Psycho begins with a con man named Reigen Arataka who receives a job to exorcise spirits. However, upon running out of options, he calls in his trump card. Enter Shigeo “Mob” Kageyama, a middle-school boy with seemingly unparalleled psychic powers. While he works part-time under Reigen, his life outside hunting the paranormal is actually not as interesting as he would like it to be. The thing is, he’s terribly clueless for someone who has psychic powers. Throughout the show, he gets thrown into new, sometimes life-threatening situations that promote his development as a character, from being a nearly-incompetent, unambitious tool to a respectable person with a greater ability to act for himself and interact well with others.

Mob, as a main character, is far more compelling than, say, Saitama from One Punch Man. Why? Because he’s vulnerable, and has (for the most part) clearly defined goals. His morals are respectable, his actions are understandable given his personality and his chemistry with the other characters is likable. Perhaps the most instrumental characters to Mob’s development are his rivals/allies. First is Teruki “Teru” Hanazawa, a boy from Mob’s sister middle school who starts off with a god complex and then comes to respect Mob after getting the crap beaten out of him. Next is Dimple, a dangerous high-level spirit who initially starts a happiness cult before Mob throws it all out of whack and reduces him to plucky comic relief. Finally, there’s Mob’s younger brother, Ritsu, who seems cool at first but hides a glaring jealousy beneath him that eventually brings him at odds against his older brother.

ONE likes to introduce an onslaught of characters for furthering his stories, which isn’t out of the ordinary for a show like this. However, most popular shonen last longer than twelve episodes, which at the time of this review hasn’t happened to this show. (Considering this show’s popularity is likely on par with its sister series One Punch Man, which is pretty much confirmed to be getting a second season, it seems likely to happen in the near future.) Given that so much story was crammed into the episodes given to us, I feel that some of the characters might have felt wasted at points. Still, I also feel that every character with a clear, defined name served their purpose in the story fairly well. This ties in to the ending of this show, which is one of the most constructive endings I have seen in an anime. New relationships have formed, people we knew only for a short while have found their place in the world, and everything seems to have returned to a comfortable state.

Speaking of which, I noticed a certain theme in Mob Psycho’s story, that of construction and destruction. (Not deconstruction, although that could certainly fit either of ONE’s major works for the shonen genre.) More specifically, I am talking about a theme of moral uprightness over acting on one’s own merits. Mob is, generally, a constructive person. He prefers to see the good in people and often understands that people tend to act on what they feel is right. However, he finds himself at odds with people he knows he shouldn’t be quarreling with, people who wield powers with destructive tendencies and simply seek to gain for themselves. The only answer Mob understands is passive understanding, which only takes him so far. His powers becoming increasingly destructive as he is consistently abused and stressed by people and situations around him, until his pent-up emotions explode (literally).

What Mob essentially learns throughout the course of the story is knowing how to use one’s power responsibly, and when has done enough to help. There is a touch of what I tend to call ‘undeniable, eternal truth’, which is present in every great work, within this moral. Mob’s struggle is incredibly relatable to me as an introvert, who occasionally hides pent-up emotion and urges until I cannot contain it any more. Destruction is an amazing spectacle to behold, but why bank on it if you can achieve something even better? Why focus on your flaws when you can overcome them with your strengths, along with the strengths of others? Construction is a beautiful power, a gift granted to humanity for the sake of bringing people together, making the world a better place. Understanding that when the violent way seems like the only answer that a better way exists is inspiring, perhaps even life-changing.

Speaking of inspiration, ONE’s simplistic yet insane style of drawing is faithfully adapted into animation thanks to studio Bones, responsible for the Fullmetal Alchemist series and Soul Eater, among other shows. Seeing this style being adapted so consistently compared to One Punch Man makes the show strangely mesmerizing to watch. Nothing exemplifies what I mean by this more than the show’s opening, which initially confused me for how utterly bizarre its visuals were, along with the opening theme being slow to catch on. However, the longer I watched the show, the more I grew to like the art style and nods to future events in the series. The opening theme, “99”, is also worthy of the same kind of awesomeness OPM’s fantastic opening theme had. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about the rest of the show’s music, although I’m sure Kenji Kawai did his best with this show’s score even if no one paid any attention to it. ._.

Everyone reads reviews just to understand if a show is worth watching, but with Mob Psycho 100, what else can I say that hasn’t already been said. I wouldn’t have learned anything from this show if I told you that you would be missing out if you didn’t watch it, however. Like Mob said, everyone has their own standard when it comes to things you shouldn’t miss out. So, while I give this show my full recommendation, I encourage you to find something to like (or hate) about this show for yourself. You don’t have to take my word for it, but you should at least find out for yourself what the truth really is. All I can say is, either way, you won’t be disappointed.

Individualized scores for each category (since it looks like Kitsu removed those in the transition from Hummingbird):
Story: 9/10
Characters: 10/10
Animation: 10/10
Sound/Music: 8/10
Enjoyment: 9/10

Total Score: 4.5/5 stars

august.hermann - 2016-10-05 21:30:09

Good for everybody that liked One Punch Man.

Story is more typcal, shounen but the brilliant characters and the humour from the OPM are still there. Studio Bones have done brilliant work with the adaption, which makes Mob really pleasant experience

kihn.paris - 2016-10-02 17:05:23

lubowitz.rachel - 2016-09-29 22:41:56

Mob Psycho is probably my top pick for the season. ONE has perfected his specific brand of surreal comedy and knows how to balance it well enough to tell a story that can still be taken seriously. With the framework in place, the capable hands at Bones did an amazing job creating a uniquely expressive animation style to blend with his creation. It isn't as accessible to a mainstream western audience, or as refined in its style as his previous to be brought to animation, One Punch Man, but it has the charm and emotion I felt was lacking from OPM in mass. Where One Punch Man is very in your face and in the moment, Mob Psycho 100 really sticks with you beyond the simple experience of watching it. It gives you more to think about and has so many in-roads to get yourself really attached to it. The difference, I think, comes in the characters. They have actual depth, development and desires which drive the first half of the anime and make you sympathize with them.

All in all, I can't find much of anything this anime did wrong. It's fresh and unique. The only reason it doesn't get a ten is because it's not knock your socks off amazing. It's just a great show that deserves a watch and I hope doesn't get carried off by the stream of seasonal anime. But only time will tell its staying power.

axel51 - 2016-09-29 15:31:09

Made by the same as One Punch Man, but I actually liked this one even more.

irosenbaum - 2016-09-26 18:00:03

great anime by the same person who created  one punch man wish animation was better but still a great story.

dbernhard - 2016-09-19 23:34:23

Viendo el capitulo 11 de Mob Psycho 100, no es por nada gente, pero me convencio de verme la versión manga y ponerme al día.

Me convencio la serie