Review of Mob Psycho 100 II

One thing that you should know about me... I, am trashy. I hate people, I steal ice-creams from children, I'll eat the last burger at the BBQ and I'll go out there and give an anime 10/10 simply because of one moment near the end that gave me chills. On a completely different note, I only watch dubs (as close as the sentences are together, I should iterate that I don't think its trashy. But I'm here to watch TV, not speedrun a manga). I bring these two things up because Mob Psycho 100 II made me completely betray these two statements. This animehad me so far on the edge my seat I was tasting armrest and watching the sub simply because the dub was 4 weeks off finishing. I have NEVER done that before, not even for the other 10/10 shows I have on my list.

Mob Psycho 100 II (MP100) is both the sequal and a dramatic improvement to its predecesor. One criticism that I could have of its inconviently named author "ONE" is that he seems to struggle with creating a protagonist that can justifiably struggle. You might be tempted to say that that's the point, after all, Mob, much like Saitama (from his other work One Punch Man) is already the strongest there is, without question. However everyone has their weaknesses; regardless of how good they may be at doing one thing, there will always be something they are utterly useless at. Saitama would probably make a very poor motivational speaker, for example. However, where OPM (and even MP100's first season) seems to avoid any circumstance where this might become a problem, MP100 II dives into it head first. There have been some touches of Mob not being "the perfect being" in season 1, the body improvement club was, however, little more than a joke, and similarly, his pacifistifc ideology comes into play only a couple of times; they we're always B line plots, an excuse for dialogue, the occasional gag and most importantly, a way to stretch the plot out (the whole "oh I'm just choosing not to win cause using powers is wrong" thing).

MPS100 II doesn't really do what I just described, not because its core focus is elsewhere, but because it doesn't need to. There is so much emphasis on the psychological impact Mobs experiences have on him and it carries all throughout the episodes, up until he meets his antithesis. The incident with the spirit family was really the tipping point for my opinion on whether or not I liked this shift from a comedy centered show with morals to a moral centered show with comedy. For those of you who are slow, I absoloutely f*cking LOVE this shift. Contradicting my initial statement, ONE has probably executed the best psychologically centered series I have ever experienced, and demonstrated the absoloute weakness that comes with absoloute power. It's brilliant. And it doesn't stop getting better.

Now, fake people that I'm making up like to criticise the fact that season 2 has gotten a lot darker and upsetting than season 1. And while it certainly has, I would disagree that the show is worse off for it. For starters, I wouldn't say that it's lost any of its comedic or borderline insane elements. The colour, the flashes and the perfectly placed humor is still there (I must have watched that Riegen - "I was in the volleyball team" gag around 8 times); If you need any further persuading of this, the intro is right there at the start, carrying on that almost meaningless onslaught of "psychodelic overdose on film" that caught many of us off guard upon our first watches.

Furthermore, the personality that the first season had is still going strong, if not stronger. Reigen still comes out with his special moves, Mob's still gunning for popularity and all of the supporting cast are... well... actually, they're kinda missing.
Yeah, I found that weird myself actually. The brother, the blonde fucker and the weird kid who just so happens to be the bosses son are mysteriously missing throughout most of the season all the way up to the final arc. In fact, the only thing that felt off is that literally every character from last season gets roped into 'team good-guy'. Now that I think about it, some of the characters from the very fights that are taking center stage switch to 'team good-guy'. I feel like MP100 knows how to do these kinds of things right as there is one fight, that isn't really even a fight, at the end (with the shut-in) that serves a perfect narrative purpose and is executed very well. However the rest of them feel like a quick excuse to get rid of characters you're not really too sure how to otherwise get rid of.
It's not too much of an issue, because MP100 has never taken "fights" at all seriously, but, as someone who's watched fairytail, the whole "beat em into being your friend" thing doesn't hold up very well in the long term. I suppose then, its fortunate that the show doesn't intend on being hundreds of episodes long - or more than a few seasons long. In fact, I'm completely willing to brush it aside because of the absoloute masterpiece that every other part of this show is.

Speaking of masterpieces, lets talk about Reigen. The only character in all of anime that inspires me to want to be a funny person despite a diagnosable absense of talent. His humor is on point, his character is marvelous and I did not know how much I needed the arc that goes into depth about his life and character outside of Mob and their psychic scandles. I have never laughed harder at jokes, connected more with honesty, sympathised more with tragedy than I have with a character like Reigen. I truely believe that so much of this season is built out of this character and its so utterly perfect because of it.
The fact that in so few episodes, you can build up a characters ideology, to the point where, in the last episode, you can make him contradict that ideology (with the gun) without any emphasis, delay, double angle or conversation. And for it to still be so momentarily shocking, is a testament to pure quality. The event lasts seconds but could be discussed for hours.

This is floating well past 1000 words now, so I feel I should wind it down. Lets close on talking about the darker elements of the show. As I said, they've met some scrutiny, but they don't feel out of place and the characters don't react unrealistically for the dynamics that the first season put them in. There is a real emphasis on how Mob's prime weakness is ultimately himself, and this is brought into fluition when he meets Mogami. And later, when his pure opposite faces him. There is nothing so wrong with this show that I can't find an excuse for it. It is probably my new favorite. One of the few anime that can center its moral story around friends and not be cringy; the only anime that can be funny and tragic; light hearted and dark; can emphisise trauma and positivity. Its the perfect story about a good person with no reason to be good. . It is absoloutely worth your time to watch. I could not reccomend anything more.