Psycho indeed.
The first few minutes of the Mob Psycho 100 premiere are like a drug induced nightmare that I'm glad I got to witness instead of experience. This adaptation of One-Punch Man creator ONE's webcomic is a whirlwind of expressive animation accompanied by quirky characters and creepy spirits.
In Mob Psycho 100, the seemingly fake psychic Reigen Arataka and his actual powerful psychic apprentice, Kageyama ”Mob” Shigeo, exorcise spirits for their clients. It’s not specifically mentioned in the premiere, but once Mob’s emotional level reaches 100 percent (as indicated by an on-screen counter), an “explosion” will happen. It’s annoying that the only way I knew why Mob was on the path to destruction because I went out of my way to read a synopsis, but I’m sure we’ll get more detail on that in the future.
Mob’s emotional level aside, the direction in “Self-Proclaimed Psychic: Reigen Arataka - And Mob” is solid. The episode is filled with great juxtapositions that amplify comedic moments. For instance, the introduction of mythical psychics that protect the world cut to Reigen in his sterile, con man-like office is timed just right. Then, there’s Reigen and his apprentice.
Reigen is an eccentric smooth talker overloaded with emotion. More often than not you can pause one of his scenes and find a fantastically weird facial expression. Mob, on the other hand, is generally unimpressive. He’s the definition of mild tempered, and really only stands out because of how underwhelming he is. Even if he has incredible psychic powers, you can’t help to feel a little bad for Mob as he’s manipulated into completing jobs for Reigen’s exorcism business.
Visual gags are definitely the highlight of the jokes. Like with Reigen’s facial expressions, most reactions from the characters to various paranormal situations are pushed to the extreme. A few were accompanied by lame sound effects you could find in Tom and Jerry, but those thankfully weren’t overused.
Even though it is a comedy, Mob Psycho 100 showed that it’s capable of some emotional depth. A simple heartfelt plea from a soon-to-be-exorcised spirit toward the end of the episode helped to prove that these spirits have motives and feelings. The art style definitely helped push the emotional weight as it seemed to be more defined during the spirit’s confession.
Mob Psycho 100’s animation is meant to reflect the style of ONE’s original webcomic. It definitely stands out against the moe, light style I see in a lot of modern anime, and is better for it. The style features heavy lines and sometimes incorporates other media, like paint, that heighten the impact of the spirit and action scenes. It reminded me of Puella Magi Madoka Magica’s fantastic witch scenes, though toned down. I hope the mixed style is something we see more of as Mob encounters other spirits in the future.
The Verdict
Our introduction to Reigen and Mob is a fun one. The art is wild, and utilizes ONE’s original webcomic style and other media well to push through many of the episode’s gags. The stark contrast in Reigen and Mob’s personalities is great, especially since, like nearly everything in this episode, their reactions are taken to the extreme. Their relationship is going to be an interesting one.
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