Review of Mob Psycho 100 II
Seeing this second season of MP100 rank ridiculously high on MAL was a slap in the face to me, mainly considering how the first season ranks all the way back at #101. It’s not that much of a deficit due to the endless amount of anime that are posted here. If I were going by that amount of anime, I would say that the top 300 in the list are must-watch material. The first time I saw MP100 rank much lower than OPM, it kinda disappointed me because, well, I thought MP100 was a mile better than OPM. Not saying that OPM wasn’t a modern-day masterpiece,but MP100 was entirely unique in terms of storytelling. The thing about this, though, is that this storytelling was all hidden underneath its looks and people’s perception of it. I’m guessing people were expecting an anime similar to OPM, which is exactly what I was expecting before watching it the first time. Wacky styling, insane action, and glorious animation; without a doubt, MP100 has all of that, but it also has some of the strongest character development of any anime I’ve ever seen.
I’ve had conversations with other fans of the series, and a majority of us relate to one thing: whenever we recommend this anime to other people, they either drop it or just don’t even watch it at all. I have personally tried so hard to get people to watch this. For Christ’s sake, it’s from the same creator One Punch Man, which is an extremely popular anime. Why wouldn’t this gain the same amount of attention? It’s got the same comic relief, high budget animation, and it even has a better story than OPM. Why does no one care about this anime?
I believe the primary reason why people care less is because of the art. I have practically bugged the shit out of one of my buddies for months to watch this series, at least before the second season dropped. He never did it, and when I asked him why, here’s what he said: “I don’t like the art style”.
It’s easy to believe that I was triggered so hard. Before even watching it, he judged it based on what the anime looked like and wouldn’t even watch it solely because of that. Well, maybe I was off my hinges, because I actually liked the art style. I mean, yeah it looks simple and undetailed, but I personally didn’t care at all because it was different. When it comes to anime, I’m always looking for anything that is unique, when it comes to either art style, animation, story, or just the concept itself. When I see a bad art style such as this one, I become more invested in it. It makes me excited to see what the animators can do with this art style. The traditional kawaii art style is simply so common, that it’s actually a breath of fresh air for me to see something new. Apparently, most anime watchers are still attached to that kawaii art and simply will not give anything else a chance.
Another reason why I think people dropped this anime is because of its story. Yeah, you heard me right. That may sound absurd, because I personally think that MP100 has some of the greatest storytelling in anime history, but I guess I watch this anime differently from others. Along with my conversations with other fans of the series, they’ve also heard that people weren’t invested enough in the story to keep watching. I’ve seen reviews of the first season from people who weren’t as positive about it, with them saying how the story was simply about a school kid who has psychic powers and has to fight bad guys. I was surprised to see that’s all they got out of it, instead of seeing the underlying character development. The anime is not just about a school kid with psychic powers who has to fight bad guys. It’s about a school kid who wants to fit in, learn how to grow up, and take personal matters into his own hands when no one else is around to help. Add in Mob’s awkward personality and psychic abilities and you have the primary conflict of the anime.
Apparently, this structure is boring to others. We were expecting an action-comedy anime, but instead are hit with a slice-of-life series. I agree, it’s quite a slap in the face, but it depends on how you take it. Personally, I liked… no scratch that; I ADORED this turn of events. I love when anime take detours into the unexpected, all whilst not losing the initial strong development in the plot. I love that slap in the face and I encourage writers to use it.
I believe this contributes to the reason why season 2 ranks so high here, because only the hardcore fans were here to stay, watch, and slap a 10/10 on it. I’m also saying all of this theoretically. It’s just bugged me so much why MP100 never got the appreciation it truly deserved, because, frankly, season 2 literally no different from the first. Same excellent storytelling, comical structure, creative animation, and powerful character development; yet, it ranks top 20 in comparison to season 1 ranking at #101. Like I said before, that’s not a massive deficit, but it was confusing.
All I have to say to anyone who hasn’t watched this yet, please give it a chance. Forget the art style. Watch it with an open mind. The bottom line is that this anime is so freaking good, but it’s only good if you actually give it the chance it deserves.