Mob Psycho 100 II
a review by Byorne
a review by Byorne
Let's begin with the technical parts and more precisely with the animation, which is always so great, even more than in the first season: its quality appears more in the everyday life parts, while elsewhere (especially in the battles), we assist to very impressive techniques like in the 11th episode where there is a big number of elements moving on the screen along with a succession of variations of the camera angle — a truly visual delight.
The transitions are also great: given a lot of care, they offer nice very nice visuals. Different for each episode, they are sometimes just a visual play, sometimes they are helping with narration (like showing what happened during an eclipse) or showing the story in a different concise manner, like in the episode with the possessed girl.
In comparison to the first season though, the drawings are displaying less different techniques. I suspect that this is due to a lesser presence of comedy, which was something in which the abrupt change of drawing played an important role.
Speaking of change, the most important one for this season is Mob's character. Mob undergoes a strong evolution — especially so because the situations he has to deal with become more difficult, what requires him to change the way he does everything: how he resolves problems, how he communicates with other people, and of course how he deals with his feelings.
In this view, the other characters repeat throughout the show that Mob has changed — maybe too much honestly: we've been knowing for many episodes that Mob has changed, why are people still getting surprised? At some point, we are beginning to be surprised as well and wonder if Mob's surprisingly fast development precisely isn't too fast, if it couldn't have been more paced. I mean, at the end of the show, Mob really feels like a moral god-like being, which ironically another character tells him.
Otherwise, the other characters are nicely treated with more consideration than in the first season. Reigen himself is given an entire arc — very emotional arc — in which all lights are on him, his story, his feelings, his life, his change.
The characters who have already evolved per se are nonetheless also given exposure, which allows us see more what they think and how they interact with others: Hinazawa working with teammates, Ritsu's views on his life, how the President and the Body Improvement Club feels towards Mob.
That brings me to my last points for this review: the themes. For sure, emotions still retain a very important place, but there's less focus on them since Mob can control them more easily. That being said, there's an emphasis on the consideration of these emotions (that is, think about them and what they mean), what Mob says differently different times.
Besides emotions, another strong theme is the human bonds and their importance, which is the strong focus of this season. Not surprisingly, the antagonist himself is in that regard the very opposite of human connection, viewing everyone else around him as tools to accomplish his plans.
Finally, the maybe most important theme of the show: the fundamental dependence on others. No matter that you have psychic powers or not, no matter how are smart you are, now matter how rich you are, you can't accomplish anything without the help of others — beginning with your own self.
To sum it up, this second season is the season of development, a development that we follow with attention and admiration. 『 Mob-Pyscho 100 II 』 is a piece of work which, at a wonderful level, communicates to its audience admittedly simple messages, but of even greater importance for fundamentally human.
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