Review of Mob Psycho 100 II
It would have been hard for any series to top a first season as phenomenal as Mob Psycho's. Somehow Season 2 manages to not only live up to the hype but exceed expectations in both dramatic explosive action and heartwarming moments of character introspection. Reigen, who was already a pretty great character, manages to solidify himself as one of my favorites, and the rest of the supporting cast makes this show stand far above most of it's kind. The animation is just as fantastic as it was in the first season, each fight being excellently choreographed and even the most basic actions being overly animated tothe point of excess. You can feel the passion put into each scene and the art style is so unique you'd probably be able to recognize what show it was from just from any single keyframe of animation.
The story of having to take down a big bad organization with a psychic at the top who's powers may rival even Mob's strongest form is great, it makes you question if Mob can really stand up to it right up until the very end and uses each battle to test not just his physical capability but his moral compass and philosophy at every turn. A key message seems to be that everyone has the capacity for good, and sometimes simply being told so is the biggest step toward actually changing.
The episode that explores Reigen's life without Mob after they have some petty argument and "break up" for a bit is probably one of the best in all of shounen. It spends the entire episode breaking him down to his very lowest point, only to have Mob's simple words of kindness bring him all the way back up, hitting you right in the feels with his view that Reigen was always "a genuinely good guy." Even though his actions are self-serving at times and even if it was completely unintentional, Mob sees him as a saint and being told as much leads him to want to live up to that standard.
This can be seen in the final villain's confrontation as well, allowing himself to be defined by some other worldview he chose to live his life in a way that isolated him from his family and led him to becoming a Bond villain with henchmen and an evil lair and everything. Mob didn't just beat him up, he managed to take away that hatred and leave him a man who may believably be able to reconcile with his family. It's such a wholesome message in an era that seems to only care about making heroes darker, edgier, and more like Batman because Batman made a lot of money that one time.
I love everything about Mob Psycho and it's one of the few series I've watched more than once, because with a plan to watch list longer than my arm ain't nobody got time to rewatch anything unless it's really good. 10/10