These days you can’t move for films or TV shows about people
with superpowers, whether it’s characters we’re already familiar with, or
obscure comic creations being adapted for new media, the story remains similar
throughout, worlds where strange and new abilities emerge when our characters
reach puberty or experience a life-changing event, learning to carry on their
lives whilst coping with these changes, maturing through their experiences and
becoming a better person.
Well Mob Psycho 100 is kind of like that, we’re introduced
to 14 year old Shigeo “Mob” Kageyama, Shigeo is an esper, and an incredibly
strong one at that, capable of tremendous amounts of psychokinesis, however,
from a young age Shigeo found his powers were linked to his emotions, and if
not kept under control, strong negative reactions could cause people to get
hurt, so he keeps himself to himself and his emotions in check.
His only real outlet is his after-school work at the Spirits
and Such Consultation Office, under the guidance of the self-proclaimed
"Greatest Psychic of the 21st Century" Arataka Reigen, Reigen is a
fraud, whose only real skills lie in conning people, and the odd therapeutic
massage, Mob does the grunt-work, exterminating and exorcizing the evil
spirits, whilst Reigen pockets the majority of the fees, but despite this, the
two are friends, and Reigen helps Mob keep it together, teaching him that his
abilities don’t make him better than anyone else, and above all, they should
not be used to harm others.
However, a chance encounter with a strange cult and their
mysterious leader sets Mob down a path there’s no coming back from, pushed to
his limit, Mob’s rage reaches disastrous levels and his powers explode, soon
the town is awash with whispers of his abilities, making him the focus of
attacks from other espers eager to fight a worthy opponent, and after a case of
mistaken identity, Mob’s younger brother Ritsu finds himself the target of a
kidnapping plot by a criminal organization bent on world domination.
As you’d expect from the same creator as One Punch Man, we’re
presented with a unique story and world, a hyper-real universe not too
dissimilar from our own, but where special abilities, or in the case of OPM,
Monsters, exist, and the world has come to accept this as the norm, a tale
where bad guys want to destroy and/or control, life is at peril, and it’s up to
our protagonist and friends to stop them, but what sets it all apart are the
characters that inhabit these stories, differing from the standard manga/anime
stereotypes, there is a much greater weight and depth behind our heroes’
personalities and motives.
Shigeo simply wants to be popular, preferring to be
regarded for himself, and not his powers, his work with Reigen gives him the
opportunity to vent, but despite Arataka’s dubious practices, manages to
provide an excellent moral compass for Mob, his tutelage setting an example for
maintaining a healthy emotional balance and being a good person, Mob’s
determination and reluctance to use his abilities, often at the frustration of
others make for a character who you really root for, keen to prove his doubters
wrong, and hoping to lead a better and happier life for it.
It’s not all save the day, moral of the story, after school
special adventures however, much like its sister-series, Mob Psycho 100 is
capable of some very funny moments, Mob’s often obliviousness to the most
obvious of things, Reigen’s elaborate cons, and the irascible Dimple, an
all-but exorcized evil spirit with delusions of grandeur who follows Mob
around, in the hopes of using him to his own advantage, here is a story that
wears its heart on its sleeve, but isn’t afraid to subvert expectations and
bring us something a bit different.
Visually Mob Psycho 100 differs from your regular anime
affair too, whilst One Punch Man was very neat, MP100 is far from it, but in
the best way possible, rough outlines, simplistic expressions, and basic
backgrounds increasing in detail depending on the emotion of the scene, the
many confrontations are some of the best I’ve seen in any anime, faces and
bodies contort, usually-inanimate objects float and fly all over, and multiple
buildings are damaged or decimated as the violent-ballet plays out on our
screens with a liquid smoothness, characters move gracefully, and their over
the top telekinetic attacks glisten as if being shone through a kaleidoscope.
Compared to the visuals, Mob Psycho 100’s soundtrack is
fairly subdued, haunting and mystical, a mixture of traditional instruments and
electronica, each main character and event is suitably themed, Mob’s appearance
on-screen is often accompanied by the use of the disturbing robotic ‘Seamoon’
instrument, I advise you Google it, with Reigen given what sound like a Shamisen
lute, and Tsuzumi hand drum lending him an almost bewitching charm, with
everything ramping up when the action kicks off, thumping bass and techno
adding further gravitas to scenes of peril or conflict.
All very telling from the composer of such soundtracks as
the original Ring movies, the Death Note live action adaptions, and even
classic anime as Patlabor, Devilman, and Ghost in the Shell, coupled with the hugely
talented Bones animation studio, including key animator, Yutaka Nakamura, all
responsible for Soul Eater, Fullmetal Alchemist, and the phenomenal My Hero
Academia, there’s a pedigree behind the scenes that knows how to tell a
compelling story, whilst also treating us with superb action and hilarious
situations.
With the second season currently airing, and already
inspiring a live action Netflix drama and stage play, Mob Psycho 100 is one of
those few special anime that emerge once in a blue moon, it relishes in its own
absurdity and is all the better for it, with an almost experimental feel, telling
a classic story of childhood angst and acceptance, but flipping it on its head,
turning it inside-out, and spun around in a centrifuge, it’s the anime equivalent
of a meal served by Heston Blumenthal, it’s egg and bacon ice cream, edible fairy
lights, and snail porridge, looks weird, tastes amazing.
Mob Psycho 100: Season 1 is out now on DVD/Blu-ray Combo