Mob Psycho 100 S2 – 2 [Urban Legends ~Encountering Rumors~]

Hello and welcome to the first outright perfect episode of anime of 2019! Mob Psycho 100 knocked it out of the park this week in every respect, so let’s just jump right in!

Right off the bat, Bones is out in full force animation wise. Everything about this episode, visually, was fantastic. Even in drab, rain-slick scenes they found a way to introduce color to a drab landscape. And that isn’t even mentioning the wholly unique perspectives or styles for animation. Take for instance the straight up street fighter/fighting game reference. Done entirely in Mob Psycho’s style, it was a fantastic gag. Then there was one of my favorite styles, which only appears in Mob Psycho, the paint on glass effects. For depicting other worldly spirits, I think it does a fantastic job of showing that etherealness. Add on to all of this the sheer amount of sakuga throughout the episode, from Dimple jumping between trees, to the flowing sludge of the monster spirit, and you have a feast for the eyes. 2 weeks in and Bones has already won Animation. Wow.

Now, onto the actual story content of the episode. Normally we would be entering the Urban Legend arc for the series, however parts of this were already covered in the first season. For instance, the exorcism at the girls highschool and the Scarecrow from the first episode were originally part of this arc. I think the way Mob Psycho handled those was still good, the Scarecrow was a good introduction and it didn’t hurt the series at all. It just means this arc won’t be as long as you might think, probably ending next episode. That isn’t to say it won’t be worthwhile though, if this episode was anything to go by. In a single episode Mob Psycho established a new psychic, set him up as a fraud only to reveal him as an upstanding citizen combatting spirits. Walking through his character in a single 22 minute episode. Lovely.

His whole “side story”, though really Mob and Reigen are the side story here, was great. I loved how it started with nothing paranormal at all, but hinting it might be. Then revealing it to be just a streaker that could be caught without powers. Until it all culminates in a big supernatural fight with a legitimate urban legend. Each of these with some sort of commentary on society, as the Dragger is fueled by peoples belief and cannot be fought by those who fear it. ONE (the author for Mob Psycho and One Punch Man) really is a great writer. He hits on these topics close to society or personal experiences, but wraps them in a supernatural shell. Removing it just enough from reality that it doesn’t become a direct critique of modern society, but still planting those ideas in the viewers heads.

Take the streaker for example. What started as a simple ass gag in a raincoat quickly turned into a dark dive into a criminals mind. Describing the mentality of the criminals high. How he gets off not only on revealing himself, but on everyone knowing he exists. A sort of perverse celebrity status. We see this in real life all the time with mass murderers, bombers and such. Who want to be known, want their message to get spread by the news media. It was all very dark, yet because of the previous setup with the childrens park, it worked well. Yeah, it might have jumped from jokey to serious a bit quickly. But I think Mob Psycho’s humor, which permeates everything about it, softened the blow a bit.

Meanwhile Mob and Reigen are off on their “side” adventure. What I love about this is that it reinforces Reigens character. We constantly see he is a con-artist, praying on people’s idiocy or troubles. Yet we also see he does legitimately care. Giving them peace of mind, or going out of his way to clean up an old man’s dog. To Reigen no job is to dirty or undesirable to do, so long as he gets paid and someone is happy. In fact we learn from Shinra that Reigen is charging far below the standard psychic price. Most likely it’s unintentional, if he thought he could get more he would go for it. But it reinforces that Reigen is not a prideful man, just one trying to get by on the only skill he really has. His maxed out charisma stat.

As far as the Dragger scenes go, I loved them.The whole sequence was animated fantastically, showing that no one can match Bones when they are their best. So many interesting angles, rotating shots and unbroken cuts. From the closeups of her face to the flowing sludge of the second half, Bones was here in full force. I also enjoyed the subtler aspects of the scene. Such as the water slowly rising up their feet, as the trees sunk behind them. The use of mud splashing against trees and landing in the shape of a screaming face. The tiny dolls themselves and their use in the fight. Simply put, Mob Psycho is probably the best animated of the season and I fully expect it to compete for best of the year.

There was also the narrative aspect of the fight that was interesting. Last week Mob decided to start caring more about his emotions and such. This week tackles his social ineptitude and how breaking yourself off from fads isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It was Mob’s detachment, his individuality, that allowed him to face the dragger. He doesn’t care much what other people think, so the fads and pop culture never really took root in his mind. That of course has its downsides, it hurts his social prospects. But Mob Psycho also shows how it has its perks. Giving him the ability to think outside the box, not tied down by social conventions. To drive this home, right after this, Reigen talks to Mob about paying lip-service in the adult world. At least feigning knowledge of pop-culture, though he did it by yelling.

The slowly growing rift between Reigen and Mob aside, the last bit of the episode was the Dashing Granny. God this was a funny. This grandma gag was better animated than some full on series. All for a joke. In other series, I always reference the Simpsons and their layered jokes when discussing comedy. This is because I think the early Simpsons has some of the most clever comedic timing and writing on TV. Here, we see Mob Psycho displaying the same kind of layering. The joke starts with the running grandma. Then it becomes less of a joke and more a “serious threat” since it can’t be exorcised. Mob can’t run for shit, but the first punchline hits as she just ignores him and runs by in an over the top fashion. Only to throw in one more punchline with Mob’s Body Improvement Club. Layers. Like an onion. Fantastic.

All in all, Mob Psycho is now 2 for 2 on fantastic episodes. They have so much going for them, so many layers in every aspect. The animation is a step above everything else of the season. The narrative is deep and the jokes are snappy. Clearly a lot of love and care has been put into this series. It shows in every frame. If I had to pick something to nitpick about, it might be the sound design/VA’s, but that is really stretching it. Like, nitpick to the point of absurdity, stretching it. I like both and it’s only rarely that something sounds funny to me. So with that all said, I think it safe to safe, Mob Psycho is fantastic and you should watch it.

What do you think though? Am I just a ONE fanboy, gushing over Bones? Or do you see what I see to? Let me know below and I will see you next week!