Anime Review: Mob Psycho 100

Title: Mob Psycho 100 and Mob Psycho 100 II
Genres: Comedy, Action, Supernatural, Coming of Age
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

General Set-up: Mob Psycho 100 takes place in a fictional city called Seasoning City, following, at first, two main characters: Shigeo Kageyama and Arataka Reigan. Shigeo, otherwise known as Mob, is a middle school student at Salt Middle School who works part time at "Spirits and Such Consultation Office" run by Reigan. Mob, however is not a normal middle schooler--he has psychic powers. And what happens when he gets to 100%? No one knows.

Characters: Shigeo Kageyama/Mob is a second-year student at Salt Middle School (aka a 7th grader) who was born with amazing psychic powers. He is quiet and shy, but also desperately wants to become popular--something psychic powers can't help with. Also, Mob reasons, if he is popular, he will have more courage to ask out the girl he likes. While his powers are explored in the show, a greater focus is given to his internal growth. After all this is a coming of age story.
                    Arataka Reigan is the owner (and only full-time employee) of "Spirits and Such Consultation Office." He is confident and charismatic--but has a small problem--he doesn't actually have any psychic powers. He uses Mob to help with any job involving actual spirits, while he handles the jobs that don't actually involve spirits (the clients just think that it involves spirits). He is also known for exorcising spirits from photographs using Photoshop!

Plot: I, like many people, was under the impression that Mob Psycho 100 would be a tournament anime like Yu Yu Hakusho or Hunter X Hunter. Or maybe you assumed that this show would be similar to ONE's (the author) other work: One Punch Man. Mob Psycho 100 is  a touching coming of age story. While it most certainly is a story about crazy psychic powers, it is just as much driven by its characters. The content of the episodes changes and it may be about psychic battles, but could just as well be about personal growth--or even both. It is also surprisingly funny with an expanding cast of characters, and you just can't help but root for Mob and Reigan.

Ending (NO SPOILERS): While it has been rumored that there will be a Season 3, nothing has yet to be confirmed (as of 6/3/20). Currently Mob Psycho 100 has 2 seasons (the second being called Mob Psycho 100 II) and 2 OVA's. While the current ending is satisfying, there is still room for plot that can be resolved in another season. Plus, the show is so enjoyable that I could love to see more.

Sound Design: Like many anime, the soundtrack has a very limited number of songs: a battle theme, more emotional music, and background music. However the songs really do fit the mood of the scenes even if they are a little bit repetitive. And when the "battle theme" plays, oh man, am I excited for what will come next.
                        And the dub is seriously excellent and available to everyone on Crunchyroll. The voice actors for Reigan and Mob are especially good, able to capture the emotion, charisma, chaos, and conflict in the characters. While the translator does run into a few problems related to puns in English/Japanese, the dub does fit the overall production and tone of the show.

Animation: The 2019 Crunchyroll best animation award speaks for itself, but because it is go good I am going to talk about it anyway. This show has some of the most stunning animation I have ever seen, easily surpassing One Punch Man in the fight scenes (but that is just my opinion, so please don't come for me in the comments). The coloring specifically is something I wanted to mention as I don't know many shows that play around (well) with color. At first glance the coloring is nothing special, normal tones and colors, but once psychic powers begin to play, the colors change and the animations changes fluidly and unexpectedly.
                  On the surface level the animation is...unusual. Unlike Once Punch Man, Mob Psycho's animation is a lot closer to the author's (ONE's) style. Overall the style is quite simplistic. However the animation really shines with the fluidity of animation allowed by the simplistic style. It is very eye catching in the fight scenes, surprisingly colorful, and I, for one, love it.

Things to Watch our For: There are a couple of bare butts shots and torture is mentioned. Oh, and also a lot of psychic (and non-psychic) battles.

Other Media: Mob Psycho 100 is a manga written by ONE. ONE has also written the manga One Punch Man which is also now an anime. Additionally, Netflix has a live action adaption. I haven't watched it so I can't comment on the quality.

Where to Watch: Currently available for streaming in sub and dub on Crunchyroll. (Free with adds.)