Mob Psycho’s second episode turned out to be nearly as visually compelling as the first, and did great work in polishing Mob’s sympathetic character. Mob Psycho’s visual strengths are very obvious, but I’m really happy to also see Mob and Reigen gaining texture over time. I dropped Space Dandy because it was visual experimentation with nowhere to go – as much as I appreciate strong art design, I need to care about what’s happening. So far, it seems like Mob Psycho is going to fit that bill.

You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my episode two notes below.

The show has infinitely dynamic, creative layouts from top to bottom

And of course the animation is great. Reigen’s enthusiastic salesmanship is sold through his wild animation, and his insecurities sold through the angles by which he’s portrayed

Even western animation beats, like Reigen pulling his dropped jaw back up

Mob is worried he’s wasting his adolescence at a part-time job

Tome Kurata, the telepathy club president. They need a member

Great montage of them seeking a member, set to an energetic new song. Really diverse genres for the music

Reigen saying the telepathy club sounds shady. The show is full of very loud and immediate visual gags, but it also has humor that builds over time

Using the visual line marker of the phone conversation to represent the course of Reigen and Tome’s argument, with each of them trying to push the other out of the frame

Mob feeling insecure getting insulted by high school girls. Mob is a very real middle schooler

He becomes competent and confident when it comes to esper stuff

The high-pitched, warbling strings for Mob’s big moments are excellent. They don’t create a sense of “badass,” it’s more unease and the sense that Mob is also very dangerous

“Are you living every day to the fullest?”

“Do I have something I really want to do? Does everyone else have something?” A very good moment