LogFAQs > #971407831

(This write-up wound up being pretty long, my apologies. I'll try to get up early enough to post the final ranking in the morning before I go to work)

BONUS. Mob Psycho 100
https://myanimelist.net/anime/32182/Mob_Psycho_100
Summer 2016 (12 episodes), Winter 2019 (13 episodes), Fall 2022 (12 episodes) plus 1 OVA
My Score: TBA, MAL Score: 8.49/10 S1, 8.81/10 S2, 8.75/10 S3
Best Character: Dimple
Recommended by: @Sheep007

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw-5Lka7gPE

Premise: Kageyama Shigeo, also known as Mob, is an incredibly powerful psychic. He works part-time with a fake psychic, Reigen Arataka, in order to learn how to control his powers.

The Good: Mob Psycho 100 is an action comedy about over-the-top battles between psychics with crazy powers. It mostly follows Mob, a boy who has been suppressing his abilities and has a pretty dull personality as a result. Sometimes emotions get the best of him, however, and then his powers erupt. Theres also a large cast of colorful characters, including the con artist Reigen and an evil spirit named Dimple. He wound up being my favorite because I liked the visual of a little green ghost dude hovering around, plus he got some good development in one arc. Tome, the girl with an interest in espers, was a fun character too even if she was minor. The anime followed the daily adventures of Mob, which included a lot of stunningly well-animated battle sequences. I imagine the sheer spectacle of this anime is a big reason why so many people love it.

The Bad: Mob Psycho 100 is another work by the creator of One Punch Man, and its becoming increasingly clear that his style just isnt for me. That author is a big fan of a few tropes that I dont enjoy. One of the big ones is setting up what appears to be a dangerous battle only for the hero to instantly win with little effort. It was funny in OPM (for most of one season, at least), but I didnt like how it was handled in Mob. Itd be like if Saitama needed to psyche himself up before he could deliver the one punch. It wouldnt really change the flow of the battle, it would just stretch it out a lot.

Almost every big battle started with other heroes fighting the bad guys and getting beaten back. Then Mob would show up and start fighting too, but his heart wouldnt be in it. Then, finally, his emotion counter would hit 100% for one reason or another, and only then would he instantly win with little effort. I know this isnt literally how every battle played out, they usually had a slight variation on the formula or took a detour for characterization purposes, but as a general rule I think it holds. Rather than basking in the sheer spectacle of the animation, I often found myself simply waiting for Mob to show up or for his counter to max out so the fight would finally end.

I know that opinion isnt fair. It would be like bashing OPM because Saitama wins every fight in one punch. Mob being insanely powerful and held back only by his emotions is literally the point of this story, and the battles are all about him coming to terms with some aspect of himself and growing as a result. I understand that. Like I said before, though, it just wasnt my thing. I think the reason is that I dont usually enjoy such insane power levels. Mob didnt appear to have any defined limit on his abilities, and most of the people he fought felt like they could do almost anything too. Mob would do a big psychic blast, destroying a barrier the bad guy had summoned. It was always amazingly animated and looked spectacular. I just couldnt get into it because its not like Mob has limited energy capacity, so that blast didnt cost him anything. And the bad guy can always just throw up another barrier, assuming Mob isnt in 100% instant-win mode. I guess what Im trying to say is, Im a big fan of battles where the fighters have clearly defined strengths and limitations. Mob Psycho 100 simply didnt have those types of battles.

I also wasnt a fan of a lot of the characters or their development. Reigen was a big miss for me. Sometimes he was a scummy idiotic con artist with zero morals. Other times he was a genuinely intelligent leader full of good advice. The two halves never fit together for me. Mobs crush on Tsubomi felt incredibly flat, too. Most of the other characters had goofy one-note personalities. Mob himself mostly felt flat and boring. It seemed like this anime was stuffed full of things that would be charming for people who were into it, but I just wasnt that into it. Also, one big battle destroyed a bunch of skyscrapers in the middle of the city and within a day nobody seemed to care. Again, that reminded me of OPM, specifically the episode where the meteor destroyed a bunch of the city and, again, nobody seemed to care. Its comedic and zany, and I understand why other people would enjoy it, but that narrative style just isnt for me.

Overall: The quality of the production of Mob Psycho 100 is certainly undeniable, especially the animation during the fight scenes. It was also full of charming details and creative ideas. Sadly, the whole thing wound up not being my thing. I prefer battles where I know what everyone is capable of so I can follow the back-and-forth while trying to predict whatll happen next. By contrast, Mob Psycho 100 focused on nebulous abilities that kept reaching newer and crazier heights. Aside from Dimple and Tome, I didnt love any of the characters either. I wont claim this anime is bad or anything. In fact, I can easily see why so many people love it! It just wasnt for me. Still, Im glad you recommended it, Sheep! Even if I didnt love the shows overall style, those fights scenes were all damn impressive and I was happy to watch it for that alone. This is also another case where its probably a good thing the show wasnt designed to appeal to my tastes. The sheer popularity of Mob Psycho 100 shows that theres a big market for this kind of thing, even if Im personally not part of it.