Mob Psycho 100 II

One Punch Man was an anime that pushed the boundaries and broke the limits of animation while also humanizing its characters with picture-perfect tone control. So, when I watched the second season of One Punch Man, I noticed how many issues it has; not-so-good animation, average voice acting, and many more. So, before watching the second season of Mob Psycho 100, I was a little bit worried. I have to come clean with that one.

The first season was terrific, almost perfect, and highly successful, so I didn’t want to damage the image I have in my mind of an anime like this one. So I prepared myself and watched this second season, and let me tell you this: It was even better than the first season. It blew my mind and made me realize that ONE is a natural-born genius. So, this time, let’s review this second season, so let’s begin.

The plot is almost the same and starts where the first season finished. Shigeo, or just Mob due to his forgettable character, balances his life between his school life, his part-time job with Reigen, who continues being Mob’s mentor and friend, and his everlasting quest to get Tsubomi’s attention, his childhood crush. Mob, in this season, is still trying to keep his emotions in check to avoid losing control of his strong powers. Still, when he loses control and reaches 100%, things go Hollywood, and you witness something incredible.

Mob is still working with Reigen on various supernatural cases. But after being more successful than before, Reigen’s ego skyrockets and starts being blunter and more cynical towards our boy Mob. This causes Mob to take a break from this work, leaving Reigen alone. After a public humiliation, both of them reconcile and start working again.

Mob has two chances to impress Tsubomi; the first is when he is convinced to run for president in the school council elections. Later he has another opportunity to impress her, succeeding at the annual school 5km run. But Mob’s personality isn’t suited to public speaking, and it doesn’t end well.

Despite mainly staying the same with the plot, the show perfectly balances slice-of-life, ghostbusting, comedy moments, and action scenes. The ending of episode 8 delivers a fantastic cliffhanger, and I love cliffhangers. I prefer a plot twist, but a cliffhanger like this one was jaw-dropping. And without spoiling the finale, prepare yourself because the last four episodes lead to an incredible climax and a great battle.

As I said, the plot is delightful and fills even better than the previous season. You understand Mob more than before and feel more empathy toward him. Also, he develops into a much better lead character. New characters appear, and old characters reappear in this season. The only letdown is the OVA set after the end of the season. You can’t do a “normal” OVA after a fantastic climax.

The performance of the voice actors in both Japanese and English dub is excellent, they perfectly capture the series' unique tone, and you clearly can notice that they are having a blast while recording their voices for the anime. Mob’s voice actors, Setsuo Ito and Kyle Carley (in the dubbed version), do a great job delivering a perfect voice for Mob. But again, the standout pair is Takahiro Sakurai and Chris Noisi for voicing the great Reigen; they do an ideal job conveying this fake Esper. The actors also deliver the humor of this anime so well that the Western audience can genuinely enjoy it.

The instrumental OST of this season has good tracks, to be honest. The instrumental OST is genuinely enjoyable to the point that you can play any video game with the OST in the background. When there are some profound moments in the anime, you can notice the creepy music that plays in the background at that moment, and when there is a battle happening, the anime uses different themes to fit the moment.

Mob Psycho 100 Season 2’s opening theme is “99.9,” again performed by Mob Choir. This opening follows the trend of having excellent, psychedelic, and colorful animation and is as catchy as the previous opening theme, “99”. It carries a lot of energy, and let me say that it provides even more insane and trippy visuals than the previous one. Those visuals set the strange adventures you will see in the series. The ending theme is “Memosepia,” performed by Sanjou no Hana, and is a more heartfelt and calm song with more simplistic yet charming animations. It is just like the calm after the hurricane.

Mob Psycho 100, just like One Punch Man, is widely known for its top-notch and critically acclaimed visuals that can mesmerize even those who are not fans of anime. It has the style that made ONE famous; a straightforward manner balanced with colorful and explosive fight scenes full of dynamic camera angles and movements. The art style for the characters is simple but in a perfect way.

When there is a battle or a destructive moment, the animation goes berserk, just like Mob, and you witness something incredible that is hard to find even in current anime. I’d like to say that this anime, along with One Punch Man season one, the last seasons of Shingeki no Kyojin, Kimetsu no Yaiba, Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works, and the Heaven’s Feel trilogy, are the anime with the best animation you can find.

The second season of Mob Psycho 100 is a unique trip that you have to experience. You may like the first season more than this one, or vice versa. But this season is fantastic, and you have to watch it.