***Spoiler Warning*** This review may contain some to no spoilers. You have been warned.

Background Information And Introduction

Mob Psycho 100 is originally a webmanga series created by a mangaka, which means a person who makes manga, that goes by the pseudonym ONE.  It is a series that was adapted into an anime by a Japanese animation studio called Studio Bones. It originally aired from July 12, 2016 to September 27, 2016 with a total of twelve episodes and no announcement for a second season as of writing this post. ONE is known for the hit series One Punch Man, which also had an anime adaptation that aired a year prior to Mob Psycho 100 and has been announced to have a second season without an available release date. Speaking of which, the first season of One Punch Man is currently available on Netflix. I really like both of ONE’s series, however I am only going to be elaborating on why I enjoy Mob Psycho 100. This series is personally one of my favorite anime series that I have watched as of recent years and the reason why I am doing this review is that I do not think it gets as much attention as it deserves. Throughout this review I will be covering what Mob Psycho 100 is about, what I like about the series, its animation, and why some people do not give it a chance even though they should.

What Mob Psycho 100 Is About

Let us start off with what Mob Psycho 100 is about. The series revolves around middle school student Shigeo Kageyama, nicknamed “Mob”, who has psychic powers. He is what people would call an esper and he is a very powerful one. Although he is a powerful character, he still struggles with mundane everyday hurdles. He is just a boy that has a hard time expressing himself and is determined to try to live a normal life. However, his powers are somewhat linked to his emotions, so he has to try to subdue them by keeping his emotional level below 100%. If it reaches 100%, his power goes out of control or Mob “explodes” as the series refer to it. Speaking of percentage, throughout the series they show a percentage of what the emotion Mob is feeling that could potentially cause his power to “explode.”

Aside from the dangers of losing control of his powers as a result of his emotions, Mob uses his powers as he assists a self-proclaimed psychic named Arataka Reigen with exorcism jobs. These two have a have a mentor and student relationship. One thing to know about Reigen is that he is not an esper like Mob or even a real psychic. He is a normal person with many random skills that he demonstrates throughout the series. When starting the series, the first impression you get of Reigen is that he is a con artist that seems to be using Mob for his little business. This impression basically true, however Reigen actually cares for Mob and looks after him, while Mob looks up to him. It is hard to tell if Mob knows that Reigen is a fake psychic or not.

If you are wondering if the series is just about Mob and Reigen’s exorcisms at this point, let me tell you that it is not. Let me explain what to expect from this series without spoiling it. The series starts off with episodes that basically introduces each of the core characters and how everyone interacts with each other. Then the second half dives into a more serious tone with more of a story plot with big character developments.

What I Like About The Series

Now that I have covered some details of the series, I am going to be covering what I like about the series. First of all, I really like how to series expresses Mob’s desire for self improvement. Even though his motivation for it is to impress his crush and try to get popular. The series emphasizes how hard he is willing work to improve himself as a person. A good example of this is there are scenes where you get to see how nonathletic and unfit he is when it comes to sports and exercise. Especially his poor stamina, which gets shown whenever he runs. He may be very weak physically, but he is determined to try as hard as he can to get stronger.

Another thing I like about this series is Reigen’s character. Every time he is on screen, he is always entertaining to watch. It is probably because of how expressive he can be. There are points where he his actions get pretty over-the-top and it is funny to watch. He also has some good moments where he gives life lessons to Mob and some of them are really nice and touching to see.

The Animation Of The Series

Apart from expressing self-improvement and Reigen’s character, I really enjoy the amazing animation throughout the series. When comes to the character animations they are so lively and expressive in comparison to the average anime character animations. A lot of times in anime, whenever a character is speaking, the characters appear quite stiff with slight body movements and simple mouth flaps.

Also, when it comes to action throughout the series, Studio Bones continues to prove how amazing their animation can be. The action and fight scenes are really smooth, colorful, and just plain nice to look at in high definition. The fights also have a nice sense of environment by nice sweeping camera angles and interactions with the environment itself.

Not only are the character and action animations pleasing to look at, the opening and ending credit animations are amazing for many things. In the opening theme song, it is filled with mesmerizing colorful animation. There are many things that are moving around and flying through out it, and what is neat about it is that is filled with so many Easter eggs and references from its manga. Also the songs for both the opening and ending credits are pretty great and go perfectly with their visuals.

 

The animation for the ending credits go for a more unique approach without all of the references to its source material. What makes it unique is the fact that it was all animated by an animator named Miyo Sato  through a method called paint-on-glass animation. This method is also used for some of the special effects in the show. This method adds a new uniqueness to the show’s animation, because this is possibly one of if not the only anime that uses that technique.

Why Some People Do Not Want To Watch It

Even though this series has amazing animation, it is apparently not enough for some anime fans to watch it. I have heard and seen some people say that they do not want to watch Mob Psycho 100 because of the art style. There are some people that find it ugly or unappealing because it looks too cartoon-like. This reasoning can most likely be derived from people being used to the usual appearance of anime characters, which tend to be either more detailed, realistic, or have detailed eyes that can be big. It is kind of sad that an art style can prevent some people from watching a good show. Some people just do not know what they are missing.

Final Thoughts And Conclusion

In conclusion, I have covered what Mob Psycho 100 is about, what I like about the series, its animation, and why some people do not give it a chance even though they should. Hopefully after gaining insight about Mob Psycho 100 from my review, you would consider checking it out. When I watched it when it came out, it felt like a breath of fresh air compared to the other  anime I have watched thanks its unique art style and animation direction. By the time I came across Mob Psycho 100, I had already watched One Punch Man and was already a fan of ONE because it, but this made me more of a fan of his writing. If you are interested in watching Mob Psycho 100, you should check it out on either official streaming services or getting the Blu-ray. I am aware of other ways of viewing it, however it is better viewing it the legal way so that you are supporting the series and the anime industry.

Works Cited

“Mob Psycho 100.” MyAnimeList.net, myanimelist.net/anime/32182/Mob_Psycho_100.

Luster, Joseph. “FEATURE: The Story Behind the ‘Mob Psycho 100’ Ending Sequence: Miyo Sato and Paint-On-Glass Animation.” Crunchyroll, www.crunchyroll.com/anime-feature/2016/09/04/feature-the-story-behind-the-mob-psycho-100-ending-sequence-miyo-sato-and-paint-on-glass-animation.