Okay this gonna get a lot of hate and I know full well I am in the minority, but imo IMO Mob Psycho does not deserve such high ratings and popularity. And I say this after watching all 3 seasons. Here are a few genuine reasons why I do not like Mob Psycho (I don't hate it, I don't like it, it's just meh/ok):
1) There are no stakes. Around the third fight of S1 I started to realise that Mob is simply going to win every single fight ever. And I hoped that I would be proven wrong, but nope. Not a single time has Mob lost. Even when he did "lose" it's always a matter of "but I didn't want to fight you so I held back". The complete lack of stakes and tension just makes this a straight up failure of a shounen for me. And this is a fact. Although, this doesn't make it a complete failure of an anime.
2) The characters are ass. Or to be more precise, this entire series suffers from such a copious amount of extreme exposition that the credibility of the characters weakens. I don't know if anyone has noticed this pattern but the characters do not evolve at all. Not to say that they don't have character development or progression, but rather that they don't "evolve" as characters. Besides the basic character traits/flaws that are necessary to enhance the plot and move it forward, we don't actually get to know anything about their personalities or interests beyond what is needed to trigger/end a huge psychic war.
Essentially, the characters are one-dimensional. All of them are basically treated as one-word labels with a singular trait (Dimple - the scheming clown spirit. Hanezawa - the reformed bully. Mob's brother - ...Mob's brother) and they are never truly fleshed out. And this is obscured by the illusion of character development which is somehow only brought about when Mob kicks their ass. Every single time. Repetitive enough, no? If Mob wasn't part of this anime, literally none of the side characters are compelling enough to carry the show.
The only exception is Reigen, and he is the only reason I stuck with the series.
I don't expect much from characters from shounen animes, but the problem with Mob Psycho is that it chooses not to take the traditional shounen route with power systems and suspense element and tries to go for a "coming of age" type of anime. But while going for that approach, it completely fails at the core of "coming of age" animes - which is the characters. They don't feel real because their "character growth" is caused purely by dialogue and exposition, rather than circumstances and actions.
On top of that there is no consideration or doubts or psychological struggle that the characters have in the process of changing themselves. It's just a cycle of "I have a single character flaw" -> "I fight Mob" -> "I lose" -> "Mob must be right". Character development isn't about getting from Point A to Point B, it's about the JOURNEY between Point A and B and I don't see it because it's just blatantly rushed over every single time and hurriedly covered up with exposition. And the amount of times they've repeated Mob's backstory with exposition is just insane like ok buddy I get it. This show has zero subtlety and assumes that its watchers have zero deductive and inferencing ability, which is just sad.
Personally, I cannot find myself invested in any of the characters besides Reigen, and it's not because I hate loner-type MCs. Mob was just not convincing or compelling enough as a character for me, not because of his personality, but because they never tried to add anything more to Mob beyond the one-dimensional loner-MC label. You want to find relatable, believable characters in a shounen anime? Jujutsu Kaisen is better. Because even minor characters have relatable and understandable traits that are easier to empathise with, and these traits aren't there solely for plot reasons. (Eg Miwa being poor).
I'm totally okay with anyone who loves this show though, because honestly staying for Reigen alone was worth it. The comedy is good, the action is good, the pacing is good, the animation is a hit or miss but I personally think it's fine. However, the writing and extreme exposition (and thereby the lack of emotional attachment) is just a hard no. Overhyped anime. |
