Mob Psycho 100
a review by Nagumo
a review by Nagumo
Mob Psycho is quite jam-packed with an amazing story, animation, comedy, and much more. The story is about Shigeo Kageyama aka Mob, who lacks confidence and cannot make his own decisions, but is helped by his master Reigen. In this world, some people have psychic powers. Also called Espers. They are stronger than normal people but vary widely in terms of how much they have. Mob is blessed with lots of physical powers, but to him, that’s a burden. Something he wishes he didn’t have. He just wants to live his normal life as a teenager, but people envy him because of his powers and want to beat him to get to a higher place within the hierarchy that is created. But he doesn’t want to use his powers against others but is forced to make use of them because of others being violent against him.
His master, “Reigen”, helps him with morals and ethics, tells him what’s right to do and is the one who gave him the lesson, that he shouldn’t use his psychic powers against other people. Only against spirits. But other people who are blessed with psychic powers fall into greed and want power and status and don’t use their powers to exorcise spirits, who pose a threat to ordinary people. “Humans aren’t naturally evil.” None of the villains are naturally evil, they let their powers control them to get status and power.
Characters: 9.5/10
Mob Psycho has a large cast, with everyone being unique and having unique traits. Every character has problems if it is an inferiority complex, being envy, guilt, or rage. Mob has his problems. He has little confidence, but with the help of his master, he progresses and becomes more confident, and finds his own answers. He’s set in a situation at the end, where he has to break the rule that his master gave him. To save his brother, he needs to use his physical powers. He lets his emotions get the better of him in situations when he reaches 100% and his rage controls him, where he's left unable to control his emotions and is in a state of pure rage, but Reigen is the one, who calms him down and helps him.
Reigen, who’s the main side character and is a con artist, helps Mob develop as a character and makes Mob realize people are greedy and want to use him because of his power. He has problems. He uses Mob himself and is a con artist, but overall he plays such a big importance in Mob's character development, and the ending perfectly shows Mob's respect for his master. In the ending, he tried to make The Claws realize that they’re normal human beings and not special beings because they’re blessed with physical powers. The same lesson he gave to Mob.
Ritsu Kageyama, who’s his brother, is filled with envyness because he doesn’t have physical powers and keeps trying to “awaken” them by trying to bend spoons. Ritsu is popular and is in the student council. He does great in exams/tests. Mob envies him for that reason. They both envy each other. The show does a fantastic job of showing his emotions, their envyness of each other, and his character development is phenomenal. Ultimately, he awakens his powers and learns that “physical powers” are not a blessing.
Teruki Hanazawa is a gang leader and he let his powers get the better of him. Nobody can beat him. He’s letting his physical powers control him and his encounter with Mob makes him realize that he’s nothing without physical powers and is just a normal human being. His character development is also phenomenal and uses his encounter with Mob as a tool to help others who are having the same problem.
The Claws are an organization that wishes to control the world with their physical powers and has let their greed get the better of them. They see themselves as special, someone who was chosen to rule the world. At the end, when Reigen borrows Mob’s power and defeats them, they realize how ordinary they are and without their powers, they wouldn’t be special at all.
Art/Animation 10/10
Mob Psycho 100 has a unique art style with bright colors. At first, I was thrown off by the small green outlines of the characters, but after I returned and gave it a full watch, I got used to it. The art style matches the comedic tone of Mob Psycho 100 well whenever someone is in disbelief or sad or, etc. It overdoes the animation and shows the emotions of the characters well.
Music: 8/10
I am not a big fan of the op. The first five to ten seconds of it, is great, especially with its lyrics;
“If everyone is not special. Maybe you can be what you want to be.”
It perfectly describes what the show is about. Nobody is special, everyone is ordinary. The people with physical powers are not special just because they’re stronger than an average human. They're the same as everyone else.
The OSTs are good, they add a lot of value to the fights, and especially “Explosion of Mob’s feeling” is fantastic and adds a lot of value to the fights with insane animation, when Mob reaches 100%.
Whenever there’s a scene with detailed art that shows a lot of emotion, the OSTs always match whatever is happening. If it is when Reigen uses one of his special moves or when the gang leaders are scheming. It always adds value to whatever is happening.
The music that plays whenever Reigen performs creates build-up expectations alongside the incredible art and animation, but then it's hilariously when the music stops playing and it goes back to its normal art style.
Enjoyment: 10/10
I enjoyed Mob Psycho 100. I found the type of humor to be funny. Whenever Reigen destroyed someone in an argument, it was hilarious. Every fight felt like it had a meaning and the world-building was phenomenal, or gang-building. It slowly builds the world more and more up, exploring what if an organization created by people with physical powers wanted to overthrow the world. It explores greed and many other topics through the story, which I enjoyed watching.
Overall: 9.5/10
In conclusion, I will give it a score of 95. A superb action shounen filled with deadpan humor. It never felt slow-paced or boring.
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