Review of Mob Psycho 100 II

If you are coming back to the second of Mob Psycho to once again experience the series, then I do have great news for you. It's maintained the level of quality it has presented in Season 1 and it has continued to develop on the themes it has been presenting so far. If you were satisfied in the past by Mob Psycho, it is very unlikely that this season of Mob Psycho is gonna be any different. If you're on the opposite side of the spectrum, I haven't seen Mob Psycho change its approach in any way that would cause someone to consider the seriesany better than they had if they have gotten an initial negative response from it. So if you consider giving the series another shot, there was nothing done to quelch your prior displeasure as everything is consistent.

To go more in depth, the series follows the absolute same formula the previous season had, in the sense that it starts with a bunch of more comfortable situations that do not have a lot of high stakes for the world at large or even the protagonist himself, but eventually situations that force him out of the comfort zone take hold and force him to have an emotional response. In other words, the protagonist stoically endures every situation thrown at him and then has an outburst that displays who he is by the emotional response that has been triggered by the event. During the same battle and events leading up to it, he endures the immoral indignities that are placed upon him, and through enduring them, he showcases that he is the more moral man in the end. Ideally, every fight he endures fighting shows that he has become a better person and the fact that he endured that situation displays what the correct moral path in their life would've been for the aggressor. The animation presents the same level of care and detail it has always done and the OST at this point feels very familiar. Everything about the experience at its core has been the same, even if the execution has slightly improved.

Mob's motivation has not changed in the slightest. He still wants to become a better person so that society and the people around him would actually want to be around him. He seeks to become a person that is worthwhile to have around by making other people appreciate and respect him. What is a person's worth, if all you seek is to entertain yourself by proving your superiority, and you end up unwanted as a result? Who are you gonna measure up to once you are alone, when everyone thinks you are a monster and despises you? Power is not something that helps Mob in the slightest, because it cannot make him feel better about himself, about how the world at large would just not interact with him, and power has only ever been a detriment in achieving that goal. Thematically, it tries to touch upon that a person's worth is not decided by themselves, and everybody is useful to somebody else. From the very beginning, that never changed. His feelings and situation continue to adapt around this theme.

Every praise you have probably given Mob Psycho for the things it has done is gonna be maintained as valid because the show is gonna be experienced in the exact same way and really in order to not reiterate every praise the show has been given so far, I've described exactly what the show has done and seems to continue doing. The decision of whether or not to watch Mob Psycho should be a simple one if it was pleasant or unpleasant in the past. But I believe there is some validity in having a healthy amount of doubt. Here's exactly what has been bothering while watching the second season.

Mob cannot win.

What do I mean? I mean that, every single time that Mob sets a goal for himself, he is forced into a situation that he has to endure that completely overshadows the thing he set for himself to achieve at the start. This also applies when Mob earns something that he would be capable of calling an accomplishment towards getting towards his goal. The series, outside of showcasing that the people around Mob appreciate, respect and want him, does not seem to want to showcase how Mob became more adept as a person. The only thing that I seem to observe that people are generally more open about who Mob is, and react positively to his attitude. But his attitude does not bring him any tangible results. Mob does not seem to be stronger or more physically capable. He does not seem to be better suited to attracting another partner. The very thing he set himself to do. In other words, as a result of his intense work, Mob achieves nothing tangible, not even on a small scale. Even if this growth should at least be proven and some result should be displayed, the only thing really shown is that Mob's relationships improved.

I understand that the primary point of the series and to Mob as a character is not to achieve a great feat after displaying an intense amount of perseverence and dilligence. But I consider that he at least has to receive some credit and proof that his efforts pay off. As far as Mob is concerned, what he's doing and what he endured has indeed caused him to change and the people around him notice that. But none of this seems to put him any closer to the goal he set for himself, at the very least in his eyes. He has no tangible proof that he has gotten better and that he would be able to finally impress the person he has strived to the most. It seems like all these efforts do not pay off, and all that Mob gets as a result out of them is appreciation from the people around him. Which given his character, it is a satisfying result, but ultimately, the person he wants to impress the most is out of reach and every time he tries to move onwards towards that path, he is sidelined by another event that forces him into yet another emotional outburst.

Mob deserves to win. And when I say win, I don't mean that he is provoked into a fight he never chose to have then fights back or that he was forced to step in because the circumstances of the entire ordeal will harm his close ones. I mean that Mob has to set a goal for himself, minor or major, and then achieves that goal and gets what he wants. Without being sidelined and without any outside interference interfering with Mob's goal. He is constantly being held from moving forward, yet his attitude adjusts so that he would be able to. And none of adjustments seem to bear any fruit. It is starkly clear that Mob has become a better person since the start of the series and that the world he is surrounded by appreciates him better. I just sincerely wish that Mob would be given an opportunity to prove to himself that he's become a better person and as a result, he'd end up appreciating himself more too.

This lack of apparent growth hinders me from considering Mob great and if anything would be done about this, I'd definitely start leaning towards that direction. Simply because Mob endures every confrontation he is forced into, as long as he is not proactive, he will not move further to achieve anything, and despite the brilliant presentation and well thought out psyche of Mob, the series is gonna be boring me while it stagnates. For once I'd enjoy Mob taking initiative and moving towards something he wants to do on his own without interruption. Hell, you can even have him have an emotional outburst during it if that is a demand. Because as it has been proven, positive emotions can also overwhelm Mob, you could cause that reaction from Mob and not rely on him having to endure the world falling on his shoulders to feel overwhelmed and start acting.

I believe that this concern has risen out of the fact that eating the same type of food a second time does not have the same impact as the first. If you plan to keep every element that you used in the series prior to this season, you need to add something that adds to the experience. Sure, I genuinely did want more Mob Psycho, but I didn't want to experience a rehash of what I've already experienced so far. Some other ingredient should've been added to the food so that its taste would be a new experience. Perhaps the ingredient that I wished for is just something that would've changed the taste enough for me to enjoy the food's flavor even better. But the familarity of the taste was still welcome. But that does not mean that me or other people won't want new ingredients added.

Despite all this, I believe the series has remained consistent and presented Mob Psycho enthusiasts with more Mob Psycho, and it has accomplished everything a fan would seek from the series. I am concerned about how Mob will grow as a character as given the approach portrayed he might stagnate or the changes he might experience will feel unrealistic. But for what the series is currently, Mob continues to deliver on its theme, it is as much of an worthwhile experience to have as it has always been, and it still continues to deal with personal growth quite well. I wish I would have more details on how it is different and what changed, but the series deals with the exact same themes using the exact same techniques within the exact same structure. The only thing that I experienced in this season that I did not in the previous is that within this season Mob has displayed a lot of growth, but I could no longer consider it personal because Mob Psycho hardly presented how his growth has impacted Mob's life. But I do not mind it as much now, as I can see it becoming a problem in the future.