Mob Psycho 100: Just Trying To Fit In

When I first heard about Mob Psycho 100 my first thoughts were “Wow a show from the same mangaka who made One Punch Man. Sign me up!” I quickly found out this is most definitely not a One Punch Man reskin or even a show that is very similar to One Punch Man. The only similarities being that the main character is super strong and their worlds’ have super humans. Other than that, these two anime couldn’t be more different.

The Shonen genre of anime has become one of the most oversaturated in all of anime. We are constantly hit with more and more Shonen each year. Worst of all, most of them are not very good at all. It’s the same story over and over, young boy wants to be the best, has a rival, has no dad and is trained by someone incredibly powerful.

Then there is Mob Psycho 100. Our main character Shigeo “Mob” Kageyama, has no interest in being the “best.” He just wants to be a normal kid and fit in with everyone. He is socially anxious and doesn’t have muscles. He wants to improve upon both of those things so that people will like him more.

Mob doesn’t have any real rivals, often times if someone opposes him, they end up becoming his friend. He certainly has a dad, and a mom too. He has a mentor, but he is so very far from being powerful, let alone even mildly strong. His mentor is Reigen Arataka and he can also be seen as the protagonist of this anime.

Reigen is not exactly someone who has Mob’s best interests in mind. Reigen is actually using Mob for most of the show. He does not help Mob to harness his powers as he doesn’t even have any of his own. However, he does in a way help Mob to grow by giving him the personal growth that he so desires. With this duos synergy we have the core basis of this anime.

Mob Psycho 100 is animated by Studio Bones. They are commonly revered as one the very best studios in all of anime and Mob Psycho 100 not only backs up their reputation but shows them at their peak. The animation in this show is absolutely gorgeous. It is very ironic that an anime with a main character who is a pacifist has some of the best animated fights of all time. I mean seriously, if you are on the fence about this shows animation because it looks a bit strange, find a fight scene from this show online and be amazed.

The music in this season is very great. Although, I much prefer the music in season 2 which I will review later. The opening song here is fantastic and wild. The ending song really has that coming-of-age-90s-movie feel too it and I love it. The themes that play during the episodes are very hype and exciting and put you in the front row of every battle. I really like the music in this season.

Now let’s get into what makes this show one of my very favorites. The first part being the story. The story is amazing and original. It is very character driven and thrives off small heartfelt moments. This anime could have very easily have been a slice of life. It has all the necessary components to be one and it would be a very good one at that. All it would have to do is cut out all the battles, but the battles cannot be cut out. This show is a Shonen and it doesn’t want to be a slice of life

Shonen of course is a genre that is intended for teen boys. Most anime in this genre try to appeal to teen boys love of epic battles. Mob Psycho 100 does this, but more than anything it tries to connect to what it is like to be a teen boy in high school. You could easily sub in the “battles” for roadblocks that a young teen may encounter in their life.

I’m far removed from being a young teen at this point, but it was hard for me not to relate to the story here. If this anime came had came out when I was a young teen, I would have felt like someone had been studying me and had created an anime that I would perfectly connect with. Yet, even in my older age I feel so strongly connected to this anime.

The second part of what makes this anime one of my favorites is something that any fan of anime should value: the characters. This anime has some excellent characters. I mean really some of the very best you can find. They don’t exactly reach their full potential in season 1, but they are so easy to fall in love with even from the very first few episodes.

Let’s start with the side characters like Dimple. Here is someone that you would assume would be a one-off character after Mob beats him in a quick fight. Dimple seemingly becomes Mob’s side kick who, like Reigen, sometimes leads him astray, but also looks out for Mob. There is Mob’s brother Ritsu. Ritsu feels resentful and jealous of Mob because of his rare Esper abilities. Yet, Mob looks up to Ritsu for how well he fits in at school. Then there is Teruki Hanazawa, who is incredibly ignorant and prideful, but after meeting Mob he becomes humble and a loyal companion.

I want to talk about Mob and Reigen again because honestly, I always want to. Reigen on a mere surface level is one the funniest anime characters I have ever seen. I think almost every scene he is in I laugh. It is to the point where I can just see a still frame of the man and just chuckle to myself. His antics are incredibly bizarre and yet he remains calm and loosely calculated.

He is a con man, but slowly as he benefits from his relationship from Mob, he becomes more than that. Mob desperately looks up to him and feels he holds the answers to controlling his power and fitting in, yet Reigen doesn’t even have himself in order. He looks at Mob as an opportunity in the beginning, but by the end he looks at him as a younger brother.

Then there is Mob. If you follow my Instagram account you know that he is my favorite anime character of all time. I think if I only considered season 1, he would still crack the top 10. He is just super loveable to me. I see me in Mob and I can really sympathize with what he goes through in the show.

Mob is someone who has seemingly nothing but good intentions but doesn’t exactly know how to be as good as he can as a person. He isn’t short tempered, but his emotions can take over him and influence him to become a person he doesn’t want to be. In the anime it’s a cool way for him to become more powerful, but in the real world it’s basically a mental breakdown.

Mob focuses so much on improving himself throughout the course of the show that he doesn’t even realize how much his presence helps improves others. That has to be one of my favorite things about him. I feel like it follows the same vein of how comedians are always the saddest people. Mob who betters others be just being around them can’t seem to figure out how to better himself.