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to be honest when i first watched the show i thought it was the greatest thing ever, except for the last arc which was noticeably frustrating. this show definitely looks amazing and the animation/colours used give it such a unique personality that it distracts from the rather choppy and sometimes downright aggravating writing.

this show feels like it’s trying to be lupin iii meets serious crime drama, and while it has some traits of both, every part after the first case ends up being more disappointing than the last. while i do like the characters’ personalities, and their backstories feel right in concept, they’re constantly overshadowed ... by dialogue that is supposed to be mature, but ends up coming off as fanfiction-esque.

i won’t go on a rant about the last case, but for what it’s worth i think it summarizes my problems with the show perfectly. your story is not good just because it has a twist the audience was not expecting. that twist must make sense, otherwise it comes off as lazy and/or arrogant writing instead of smart and witty. the first case is near perfect because it all made sense, and in hindsight there were things the audience could’ve picked up on to figure it out. but as the show progressed it all toppled like that building at the end: Looks great, but ultimately will fall apart if you poke it with a stick.

that’s not to say there aren’t good qualities to this show other than it’s good looks, Great Pretender has a lovely and thrilling soundtrack that is a great ode to jazz and of course that ending song is such a classic, i am a huge Mercury fan. when the story isn’t spitting in the face of the audience wondering why we couldn’t see through their 5 layers of inconsistent character writing with their main protagonist and not properly punishing the crime syndicate members that have been shown to have done deplorable things, the chemistry between the main cast is very enjoyable, and Laurent and Edamura are a very entertaining duo.

in conclusion, Great Pretender is great at pretending it’s something smart, but damn if it isn’t pretty to look at/listen to.

(Contains spoilers for the mp100 webcomic)
General review:
I was expecting this to be centered around reigen, but honestly it was more about Tome Kurata. By all means I’m not complaining though because ONE’s writing is always enjoyable in both quality and comedy. The artwork is very typical for mob psycho, and the character interactions between everyone feel like a nice addition to the overall story. ONE’s growth as an author is on full display as it actually gets more dark and realistic in certain snippets. Made me curious to see what mp100 could’ve been like if it was more of a seinen. Nevertheless seeing both creepier ... artwork combined with the callbacks to older characters showcases the development of the author and the story overall.

Specifics:
It was really nice to see Mob again at the end, and how his character has changed since the conclusion of the webcomic. The commentary on social pressures when Tome is trying to open up about her interests hit home and fits right in with Reigen coming clean about his scams during the finale. The comedy was subversive and recognizable, especially the bit with the manga girl running with bread in her mouth which was quite funny. Also the ending when Reigen took on the curse to save Tome was very endearing and sweet.

Overall a worthwhile and fun read for those fans who wanted a side-character epilogue for mob psycho 100! :)

Really interesting world that’s been built here, definitely made me want to read more. For a oneshot the story was paced very nicely and the art (especially the full spreads) was very nice to look at. The plot felt a little generic to be honest, it lacked something special story-wise outside of the interesting setting. That being said, Tao and Alma have some really rad character designs, their personalities are very believable and work well with one another.

The whole story felt like a piece of a much larger world, and while I’m sad this is only a oneshot, I think the author did a ... wonderful job making such a believable setting in such a short timeframe.

Overall a very enjoyable read! Definitely recommend:)

This is one of those shows a lot of people have seen but nobody seems to remember. That may sound like a bad thing, but in this case it’s good because it means I can rewatch it and it’ll still be entertaining as hell. It’s not super smart, amazingly animated, coherently plotted out or even internally consistent, but damn if it ain’t funny.

Saiki is a character I thought I’d hate, but surprisingly even though there isn’t much plot, you get attached to both him and the supporting cast. The jaded asshole archetype can be terribly annoying to watch, but Saiki doesn’t fall into that trope ... as much as I’d initially thought. Not only that, but the comedy actually made me laugh for once which is not something that usually happens when I watch comedy anime. I really ended up growing attached to these characters, and their chemistry mixes very well altogether.

I definitely recommend this one for people wanting something funny to watch.