Tag Archives: Mob Psycho 100

Summer 2016 – Week 8 in Review

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Dear lord it’s week eight. We are almost three quarters of the way through the summer season. August is practically over. What the hell is going on.

Well, anime is going on. Outside of our communal existential dread at somehow being yet another week older, things haven’t changed much in anime land – Aqours are still doing their best, Urobuchi’s puppets are still being delightfully ridiculous, and Tsumugi is still hungry for new snacks. This was another placeholder week in anime, with its various low points being balanced out by some unexpected highs. So let’s start with the good news then, and get right into Love Live Sunshine’s big episode!

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Mob Psycho 100 – Episode 7

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Mob Psycho finally had a weaker episode this time, after a fairly consistent streak of excellence. The way this episode was weaker makes me think the show is trying to hit some later arc in the manga, but either way, it resulted in a somewhat unsatisfying middle phase of Ritsu’s current arc. ONE isn’t the most insightful of social scientists, and speeding up his stories only emphasizes that – Ritsu and Shinji were both shortchanged by this episode’s pacing, and the conclusion suffered for it. Hopefully we’ll be back on track next week!

You can check out my full review over at ANN.

Mob Psycho 100

Summer 2016 – Week 7 in Review

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We’re in the settling now. Shows have established themselves and fallen into comfortable rhythms, massive narrative changeups are either far in the past or waiting in the last act, and most productions are just doing their best to pretend scheduling and creating twenty minutes of animation is just as easy the seventh time as it is the first or second. There are highs and lows, but they’re smaller bumps – Love Live has a somewhat weaker episode, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure tries on a new style hat, etcetera. These are the dog days of summer, where we’re all more concerned with the fact that global warming is now a lived reality than we are with which waifus most recently prevailed. But anime endures, and like a barnacle on that great cartoon vessel, so does the Week in Review. Let’s run ’em down.

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Mob Psycho 100 – Episode 6

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Ritsu got a focus episode this time, and what an episode it was. Ritsu’s feelings are even more intense and self-focused than Mob’s, and between that and his generally more analytical personality, I was getting mild Flowers of Evil vibes all through this one. I was also impressed with how well the show is making use of its secondary cast – I’d figured characters like the delinquent or body building dudes would just be one-off gags, but they’re actually turning into endearing people I want to see more of. Nice work, Mob Psycho!

You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below!

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Summer 2016 – First Half in Review

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It may be mid-August, but the summer anime season is convinced we still have half a summer to go. I appreciate that kind of optimism, and appreciate even more just how sunny this season has been in general. While this summer has lacked a character drama with the poignancy of Rakugo Shinju or a message show with the complexity and spirit of Concrete Revolutio, it’s made up for that by being stacked with shows that are just damn good entertainment. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and Thunderbolt Fantasy are both excellent camp-action spectacles, Mob Psycho 100 is consistently elevated by solid writing and terrific execution, Love Live Sunshine is consolidating everything that is fun about Love Live, and Sweetness & Lightning is a consistent dose of heartwarming family moments. It seems silly to rank a set like that – they’re all so different, and all such positive experiences, that classifying them as “better or worse” than each other seems pointless and inherently jaded.

Of course, I’m gonna do it anyway. That’s what traditions are for! As usual, I’ll be ranking the summer’s shows for the first and only time here at the halfway point, where it should be inescapably obvious that any sort of ranking is an entirely meaningless gesture. Like a series that makes its point in the first season and then just sort of staggers on through mediocre renewals for a while, the halfway point season rankings will proudly continue. Let’s start at the top and RUN ‘EM DOWN!

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Mob Psycho 100 – Episode 5

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Hoo boy did Mob Psycho ever hit it out of the park this week. The show’s visual execution was actually maybe a bit more conservative than usual, but that was more than made up for by this episode’s buffet of thematic meat and sharp character writing. The confrontation between Mob and Teruki turned into a bitter, mutually destructive meditation on each of their insecure positions in life, ending in tears all around. I really didn’t expect this show to be the emotional highlight of the summer, but a couple more episodes like this, and it’ll easily be one of my favorites of the year. What a ride.

You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below!

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Summer 2016 – Week 5 in Review

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Oh god how are we already nearing the halfway point what the fuck. Soon enough we’ll be past that and entering the final stretch and I can’t even imagine how I’m gonna handle Why It Works and preview week at the same time what the fuck have I done to my life. It’s all out of my hands. I can’t hold onto it anymore. It’s slipping away and I can’t write fast enough and I need to sleep but when I sleep I fall behind and then I wake up and it’s all there again and what am I going to DOOOO.

Hey guys! Wednesday again. You know the drill. LET’S RUN ‘EM DOWN.

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Mob Psycho 100 – Episode 4

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Mob Psycho was as consistent as ever this week, offering plenty of unique visual highlights while also further exploring the sad contradiction of Mob’s character. Mob’s insecurity is the heart of this series, and the fact that we now have a foil who basically represents everything Mob cannot be is a nice complement to that. Mob Psycho is just damn good entertainment – like Love Live, it’s the kind of high-quality popcorn I’d be happy to munch on every season.

You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below!

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Summer 2016 – Week 4 in Review

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This was a week of mild but pleasant surprises in anime land. Over in the Sunshine Islands, Love Live demonstrated that this season might actually have a better handle on its own drama than either of the first two, nailing Hanamaru’s introduction without giving up on the physical comedy that makes the show great. And down in Mob Psychoville, Mob proved himself to be just as strong a character as his show is a visual showcase. With everything else performing pretty much as hoped, this is looking to be another surprisingly sturdy season of anime. My preview chart was short, but nearly everything on that chart has ended up impressing, leaving me with a fine lineup all around. Let’s RUN ‘EM DOWN!

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Mob Psycho 100 – Episode 3

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Mob Psycho 100 actually managed to up the ante this week, by coupling its usual visual splendor with a far more focused and incisive look at Mob’s insecurities. The new-age cult backdrop was a perfect setting for a story focused on peer pressure and the meaning of fitting in, and Mob’s feelings helped him feel constantly vulnerable in spite of never actually being in danger. Mob Psycho is pretty much everything I’d want from a concept like this – yeah there’s some stupid humor, but Mob’s powers are consistently grounded in an absolutely human place, creating a sense of tension regardless of how strong he is. Damn good stuff.

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

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