Review of Mob Psycho 100 II
TL;DR: Season 2 evolves the basic coming-of-age of season 1 into a breathtaking journey of Mob’s rapidly growing maturity and relationship with those around him, in a way that perfectly matches the increasing stakes and spectacle of the show. I was worried going into Mob Season 2. Mob season 1 was a story all about letting go of ego and rejecting spectacle, ego and pride, in favor of personal relations and self-improvement. But those things, that’s what shounen is all about. Shounen is about powering up, big displays of strength and willpower, loud proclamations of ideology and ideals. It celebrates chuunibyou. That is very anti-mob. Andthat was my largest gripe with the ending of season 1 as well. The over-the-top fight scenes, while very cool, seemed to directly contradict the thesis and heart of the show, by celebrating the violent flashiness which the show simultaneously mocked the villains for embracing themselves. How would season 2 raise the stakes and creep the spectacle, without being diametrically opposed to what ONE’s masterpiece is all about?
My worries were unfounded.
Where Season 1 was concerned with Mob fighting childish egomania, personified by claw, Season 2 sets Mob even higher demands on his maturity. He must not just realize he is not special, but also learn to care about others, find out what he wants and work towards it, protect the ones he cares about and fight the ones that want to ruin the lives of others. While, in season 1, the action represented the childishness mob had to abandon, the action of season 2 is the struggle of the adult world, which he has to embrace. Season 2’s flashiness is then not the flashiness of childish naivety, but of adult responsibility and struggle.
This can also be seen in how the animation has subtly shifted. While, as last season, the animation and art style are both technically stunning, its ethos has changed a bit. Season 2’s animation and art are more physical and tactile and also more willing to portray bombastic action frequently, whereas season 1 had a lot of experimental and psychologically expressionist styles, like the use of painted animation. This fits the shift in narrative, which is much more concerned with Mob “living in the real world”, than season 1’s emphasis on his psychological state. The exception is in the Mogami arc, which dips into fairly psychedelic animation, reflecting how Mob in many ways is subject to similar conditions during this arc as he was in season one.
The character writing in this season is off the charts, both for Mob, but also for the rest of the cast. Especially Reigen is allowed a lot of much-longed for fleshing out, which has arguably made him one of my favorite anime characters of all time. Again, this reflects Mobs growing real interest in and understanding of other people, beyond anything superficial.
All in all, this show delivers the only natural development of Season 1’s ethos, departing in style, for the sake of consistency. It is absolutely brilliant.