MOB PSYCHO 100 SEASON 1 REVIEW
So here we are again. My bro Matt recommend me a new anime to watch. And I don't watch it immediately and I put it to the side and sleep on it and then come back to finally watch it and I wanna slap the shit outta myself for sleeping on it.
Don’t trip I already slapped myself for my stupidity. Here we go…. Mob Psycho 100 review.
Don't worry. There's no spoilers.
PLOT
Mob Psycho 100 is about a middle school esper kid with a neat bowl cut named Shigeo Kageyama aka Mob. He has psychic powers like Matilda but like 1000 times cooler and his parents aren’t assholes with annoying voices. He bottles in his emotions to keep his power in check, but when the percentage of his feelings reaches 100, he let’s out the strongest emotion he is feeling at the moment and unleashes the full scale of his powers. Thus the title “Mob Psycho 100.” He uses his powers to exorcise ghosts and evil spirits with his master named Reigen who is nothing but a hustler and phony. Mob is just a kid who wants to better himself and gain the attention from a girl who he has a crush on without depending on his psychic abilities. Of course it won’t be that simple in Mob’s world.
ANIMATION
First thing I noticed is that the animation and Mob’s face was is similar to “One Punch Man” hero Saitama and of course it was created by the same creators. Once you see people with ball sacks for chins like the talking horse from Red and Stimpy you see the relation between the two shows. Where the animation is a bad mothafucka the most is the fight scenes. It’s very unorthodox, fast as fuck and colorful. It reminds me of the final battle on one of my all time favorites “Gurren Lagann.” At first it was throwing me off but it felt like I was living inside of a comic book.
The story overall on Mob Psycho 100 is something a lot of other anime need to take notes on. The balance of it is remarkable, makes sense, there wasn’t a moment where I thought "I could’ve came up with this shit." With the story you initially think this shit about to be the same ol same ol shit and then it switches up on you. It does it 3 times for me in this season and each time it switches up I was like “Damn fuck work. I’m calling off. I gotta finish this shit now.” It left me wanting more and the suspense was killing me. The story is super strong, it’s not forced, and has a lot of messages in it.
CHARACTERS
Strongest part of the show is the characters. No fucking doubt about that. All the characters play pivotal roles and they’re not placed in the anime to waste everyone’s fucking time. You know how some anime has characters that contribute nothing to the fucking story and basically they’re a night of Mexican food without margaritas? Translation, they’re fucking pointless. Not on Mob Psycho 100. All the characters help make the story dope as fuck and the characters do one key thing….. THEY ALL SHOWCASE GROWTH!
SHIGEO KAGEYAMA AKA MOB
Now you would think someone with the nickname “Mob” has thrown a few mothafuckas in trunks of cars, slapped bitches for sport, and has the confidence of Ric Flair but our protagonist is the complete opposite. Mob is a kid with extraordinary power but has the personality of a toilet paper roll and the athleticism of an orthopedic shoe. Despite that he’s the most intriguing character because he actually tries to improve those weaknesses without using his psychic ability. He literally could be popular by just flaunting his powers but he doesn’t. He works the old fashioned way to better himself. The girl he likes is not impressed by his ability so he joins a club in his school called “The Body Improvement Club” to get muscles and I guess that also helps him to be more social also.
The way they balance Mob’s strength and weaknesses makes his character relatable despite the fact we don’t have psychic ability. Well I can smell tacos 2 football fields away but that doesn’t really count as psychic ability. Despite Mob having these powers he kinda feels useless because he isn’t able to obtain what he desires with them which is the girl he likes. Mob’s kinda looks at his powers as an handicap instead of a blessing. He could be bullying people or using his powers to be liked but he doesn’t feel
The other amazing thing about how they deal with Mob’s powers is show how his powers play a part in everyone else lives. They don’t just affect him. They affect his friends and family. That was a very important aspect to his development on the show.
The fights Mob are in are basically movie worthy. If the fights were played in movie theaters that shit would literally make people piss on themselves. The sickest thing about his fights are that they're not wasted. Every fight you see has high stakes involved and there isn't action for the sake of having action. The underrated aspect of Mob's fights are that they all challenge his personality and ideals. They are challenging to him mentally and not just physically. To see his powers go to unthinkable heights due to the different emotions he has bottled in his body is very creative because we all feel like that sometimes whether good or bad. When you keep it bottled in and it explodes, it’s a sight to see. Mob is basically The Incredible Hulk of psychics.
RITSU KAGEYAMA
Ritsu is Mob’s younger brother who is super interesting also. You know how we all wish we were rich and famous but rich and famous people wish they can be normal again like us? That is exactly Ritsu and Mob’s dynamic. Ritsu wished he had Mob’s powers and Mob wishes he had Ritsu’s personality and looks. They both envy each other but both fail to realize what makes them unique. They have this sibling rivalry (More on Ritsu’s end) that grows more intense as the episodes progress.
Jitsu’s character development is such a roller coaster of emotions. There’s times you love him. There’s times you hate him. It’s so up and down and that’s what makes him compelling. He is Mob reversed but more edgy and angry.
ARATAKA REIGEN
He’s the hustler of all hustlers. He’s a con artist that pretends to have powers but really is a masseuse parading around as an exorcist. He uses Mob’s ability to keep his business going and Mob is too unaware to see through his master’s bullshit. Mob looks up to his personality and his people skills. But here’s the crazy part. Reigen is someone very vital to Mob’s development as an Esper. He teaches Mob a lot things morally that he needs to hear like instructing Mob not using his powers on people. He is Mob’s conscience. He did tell Mob some bullshit about “Running away is a good thing” or something to that effect which is completely dumb as fuck but everything else advice wise Reigen is usually on point. Reigen really is the most mentally strong person on the series despite his lifestyle of deceiving people.
Reigen is majority of the comic relief and all of it fits the story. Reigen actually matters to the story and that’s a big deal.
CLAW
The villains of the series are some of the most self absorbed sociopathic and sad Espers you’ll ever see. They all doubt themselves so they use their psychic abilities to cover up the wound of not being good humans and their doubts of ever becoming good humans. Translation, they have the self esteem of a kid who shit themselves in the 5th grade and everyone found out. I don’t wanna give too much away about them but they are an interesting bunch.
This show is just about bettering yourself. It shows we all have weaknesses and we’re flawed and all we can do is either improve on them or accept them as they are. Mob Psycho 100 Season 1 was a masterpiece.
5 outta 5 fruit snacks.
Peace.
