Mob Psycho 100

One Punch Man’s creator ONE is a man (or a woman, it is unknown) who knows how to create an excellent story. They already did it with the piece of art we mentioned, and they did it again with the critically acclaimed and best anime of 2016, Mob Psycho 100. While this anime already ended in December 2022 with three outstanding seasons, it was so good that we have to do an article about it, right? Mob Psycho 100 is the sole reason we are here, and we will review the first season of this anime, which aired between July 2016 and September 2016. Some people say that it is even better than One Punch Man, but you are the one who decides it.

Mob Psycho 100 follows Shigeo Kageyama, nicknamed “Mob,” an ordinary and timid schoolboy who, despite having an outward appearance, has mighty supernatural powers that can make him invincible in any fight. Still, he doesn’t want to use these powers. One day, he meets Reigen Arataka, a (self-proclaimed) Esper who becomes Mob’s mentor and friend. Together, they deal with many supernatural occurrences that Reigen uses to become famous, thanks to Mob’s naivety.

Still, the thing is that Mob only wishes to have an everyday life as an average person with no powers. Mob also has a childhood crush he wants to impress, so he trains his body. But with considerable strength within him, it was evident that trouble would follow him even when he didn’t want to get involved.

Mob Psycho 100’s plot, at first sight, looks bland, repetitive, and uninspiring; however, the moment you start watching, you can notice how well-written, well-adapted, and well-executed the story is. ONE is a master when discussing how to create a good story.

Despite being two wholly separated anime, both Mob Psycho 100 and One Punch Man have almost the same structure, so it is hard to think of just one without thinking about the other. Both have strong characters, incredible powers, action fights, comedy moments, and a socially awkward lead character, so it is borderline impossible not to compare them. But if you watch both of them, you can notice that Mob Psycho 100 has more depth than One Punch Man.

While the story may not be attractive at first glance, you will get caught watching it non-stop after watching two episodes. It is very balanced; it is simple and easy to watch, and there are a lot of plot twists in the series. A good plot twist makes a story even better.

One of the other things that I like about this anime is that Mob Psycho 100 doesn’t try to impress; this anime has a lot of good fights where Mob goes berserk, but despite that, it doesn’t try to shock you or impress you at every single second which it is good from my perspective.

Talking about Mob himself, he is a shy boy with the ultimate pushover appearance; he has a weak body, a poker face, and a Beatles’ bow haircut, but he is a solid Esper. He is presented as the assistant of Reigen, the deuteragonist and the main comedy star. They met years ago, and since then, Reigen has acted as Mob’s master while he takes advantage of Mob’s powers, but as time passes, Mob becomes very responsible and only uses his powers when Reigen allows him to. Reigen is a mastermind.

The music was composed by Kawai Kenji, who creates an excellent soundtrack for a series like this. Kenji previously worked with Hideo Nakata in films like Dark Water and The Ring, so he perfectly knows how to create the perfect music for any kind of situation in the anime. Parts of the soundtrack would be added to any horror work, and it would fit. The soundtrack may not be that catchy, but it is more atmospheric.

The song is named 99 and is sung by Mob Choir. The music is very energetic, with powerful vocals, and one of the best openings out there, and also the animation of the opening is delightful and psychedelic. Also, the opening is impressive and incredibly catchy, and you can notice how well-executed it is. The ending theme is Refrain Boy, sung by ALL OFF, and is far more emotional than 99; the pencil-drawn animation matches perfectly with the song.

You will enjoy this anime in the original Japanese language, but the Dub version is also excellent. The voice acting is also superb across the English dub and the original Japanese.

The voice actors in both languages do a fantastic job of showing the characters' emotions. Still, the standout pair is Takahiro Sakurai and Chris Noisi with their performance of Reigen. Those two were astonishing as Reigen personified his burst of delusion and confidence. You can tell that the voice actors are having fun while working on this show.

Mob Psycho 100 has some of the most unique and jaw-dropping visuals ever since Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works. The animation is excellent, and the artistic direction is exciting. It looks precisely like One Punch Man, so you can tell by now that the animation would be astounding. The sequences are 100% beyond perfect and incredibly ambitious. These sequences play a big part in why everybody so well receives this anime.

While the action scenes have extremely well-made special effects with rich colors like the ones in One Punch Man, the comedy parts will make you laugh a lot because of its sometimes simple and sometimes extremely detailed funny art. Mob is more comedic than One Punch Man, so you will have a blast watching this.