This Week in Anime

How Can Mob Psycho 100 Have 3 Perfect Seasons?

Reigen, it's such a pleasure to have you here with us. Let's begin with a softball question: in an age and society increasingly defined by fragmentation and manipulation, where the gossamer border between truth and fiction is dissolving before our eyes, what do you make of Elon Musk's purchase and rapid deconstruction of Twitter, both as a company and as a social media concept? And do you think this will make it easier or more difficult for you to win more Sexymen competitions?

Oh no, he's stormed off the set.

Nick, are you telling me this isn't the ideal male form?

We'll have to agree to disagree there, but luckily for both of us, the third season of Mob Psycho 100 is stuffed to the gills with various examples of masculine perfection. Some of them are more metallic than others.

I'm merely an objective observer reporting the facts as I see them. And this week, I saw Dimple absolutely double-cheeked up on a Wednesday afternoon.


Should change his name to Dumple.

You're out of luck then because there aren't any other adults in this show. Everyone else is my child, and I love them dearly. Especially the perennial goodest boy, Mob.

That's where we find Shigeo at the beginning of this third (and final) season, and though he's still a tiny bowl-cut full of anxiety, the premiere invites us to reflect on all the connections he's made and the growth he's undergone since the start of the show. He has a long path in front of him, but he's come a long way too.

Seriously, at least for me, an essential step into adulthood was the realization that broccoli is an S-tier vegetable. Drizzle a little oil on those bad boys, roast them, and maybe add a little lemon. Mmm, good stuff. Though I must admit, some recent episodes have been doing my vegetable appetite many favors. Unless you're cooking for Cthulhu, your plate should not look like this.

I guess I really can't argue with THE internet sex symbol himself.

Per usual, Mob Psycho 100 doles out its thoughtfully considered reflections on Living In A Society with equal parts sentimentality and shitpost energy, all wrapped up in a spectacular, singular creative package. We're at the point where it feels redundant to call the anime "good" because, of course it is. It's been firing on all cylinders from the beginning. We get meditations on loneliness at the same time that we see Reigen freaking out over roaches.

You're telling me! I'm the guy who's gotta pull an episode review out of his posterior each week! By the same measure, though, Mob is a treat to watch, think about, and—eventually—put words to. It's an adaptation in a league of its own. Where else do you see an ending animation done with oil paints on glass? Tons of unique creative decisions like this, enacted by artists at the top of their game, add up to Mob.

Testicular mandibles are a risk you're always going to take with ONE writing things, but I think it's worthwhile.

It also makes it hard to choose favorites, but out of the season so far, I have to give my nod to episode four, with storyboards that sharpen the story's sense of paranoia to a mesmerizingly unsettling point. Seriously, all hats off to Naoto Uchida for crafting such an oppressive atmosphere.

Psycho Helmet himself also has such a great, uniquely creepy character design. Not sure I ever would have asked myself what Moe Howard would look like if he were made of plant matter, but now I have my answer, and it sucks so hard.

In Seasoning City, broccoli eats you!

That was also my worry going into this arc. At this point in his narrative, it makes sense for Mob to confront somebody he's close to. However, Dimple's mainly served as comic relief and a dry, cynical foil to Mob's naivete. Asking us to take him seriously as an adversary is a pretty big request. Though, again, impeccable direction and animation do wonders for that cause.

You can't win 'em all. But yeah, if I can repeat the phrase I tossed out in this week's episode review (because I like it), Mob is a series where farce walks hand in hand with finesse. And this arc works because we see how much it affects Mob. He is mad! He is upset. While Dimple might not be much of a character on his own, he means something to Mob, and that's enough.

I also like the way Dimple reverts to his scummy cult leader days, with the narrative even more acerbic in its treatment of him this time. Lots of great jabs at the moral vacuum inside cult leaders of all types and lots of overt connections drawn to stuff like politics and mob mentalities. Sadly, these subjects have only become more relevant since the series began, so it makes sense to be this loud and exasperated about it.

Yeah, and homing in on the weakness and, ultimately, the humanity of Dimple also segues nicely into the eventual resolution. Which, like pretty much everything in Mob, is so impressively thoughtful. Like, the show dismisses the idea that violence is always the wrong answer because Dimple deserves to be taught a lesson that only fists can provide. But the actual resolution comes from Mob and Dimple hashing it out with words because of their relationship and history. In lesser hands, this would feel flimsy and inconsistent, but it works here. And I attribute that 100% to the show never shying away from the dumbest punchline imaginable.

Just the most brilliant way to instantly defuse the situation. It's as if I were locked in mortal combat and the other guy suddenly told me my favorite anime was shit. I'd have no recourse except to agree with him and hug it out.

It also helps when the villain is a giant Oscars statue with rosy Pikachu cheeks. Another great example of the show taking Dimple's blowhard ambitions—and thus the ambitions of all the Dimples out there in the real world—exactly as seriously as they merit. Which is none.

Haha, what a loser. Dimple may be forgiven by Mob, but he still has to pay some cosmic comeuppance for trying to enslave the entire world. I can't say I don't think that's fair. But if I ever have to go out in a blaze of glory, I certainly hope it comes with the distinction of having Yutaka Nakamura painstakingly animate my bare bubble butt.

It may be a midseason finale, but craft-wise, it's anything but mid. It reminds me of how insane the second season's fifth episode was, and I'm sure we haven't even seen the peak of the third season's prowess yet.

Yeah, it's only gotten better and better with time, and it began as a gold standard for transformative manga adaptations. Something that captured the spirit of its source material and used it to fuel pure manic cartoon goodness. Something that, by never taking itself too seriously, manages to be more humble and heartfelt than the vast majority of its peers. Mob is a treasure.