English isn't my native language, so you may find some redaction mistakes; anyway, I'll try to do my best in this review.
- This review cointains spoilers -
Early in the first season (I don't remember the exact episode), it was stated that the basement of the Yeagers house was pretty important, from that moment, throughout the show we have been given some hints about it's importance and how to get there seems to be vital for mankind; each time stronger, each time louder, there has been a lot of talk around it, more and more things pointed out toward this basement, and after two and a
...
half seasons, they're finally there... or well, almost there.
This (half) season begins with the Scouting Legion going to get back the Wall Maria, in a desperate effort, they go with everything they have against the titans inside the wall, the plan is to return to Shiganshina as fast as posible, there they'll stablish a cordon in order to defense the district, so Eren and company can get to the basement and reveal what has been the hope for mankind since the battle in Trost; simple in the theory, a huge chaos in the practice. Shingeki no Kyojin is know for its long battle sequences, taking a detailed look at the events and the impact that these have in the results of each fight; it seems that this whole (half) season will be like this: a long battle in which the fate of the humanity is put in danger again.
One of the most attractive characteristics from this series is its dystopian setting, it's hard to imagine the world worst than how it already is, and eventually it get worst in some way: the titans destroy one of the walls, the titan are trying to destroy one wall more, there are titans infiltrated within the walls, everything has been product of a conspiracy, the titans seems to always have been humans transformed, etcetera; but there's always a hope element which contrast this hopeless atmosphere, most of the times being about Eren and his titan form, which finally helps to bring mankind some victories against their hunters, for a huge price, but something worthy of it. That narrative structure based on contrast is extremely strong here, the premise of the season is based on the idea that whatever be there it will be worthy of risking the strongest soldiers of humanity, that the benefit will be bigger than the cost, but at the end of the first episode this idea is diluted by the strategic movements of the titans, which makes seeming that everything has already been lost; this structure is repeated once and once again through these four episodes, but as it's used properly, it doesn't feel repetitive, it helps to emphasize the weigth of the plot in its stead, or well, till the moment in which Berthold appears and transforms in the Colossal Titan, from this point, the show takes a much more hopeless mood, the things are not going good for them and the chaos seems to have taken control of the situation, each step forward gets closer to be the latest; this reaffirm the setting of this as the most cruel (half) season of the show, where hope seems to disappear and the life of each member can't be guaranteed, where the fight will be for everything or nothing.
Another attractive aspect from this (half) season is its focus on characters, the series has always been focused on how the characters decisions affect the story, giving itself the opportunity to explore their inner conflicts sometimes, this time it's balanced between this two approachments: it's showed how the actions they take move the story to one or other side, but it's also showed the convictions and motivations behind those actions, and how those are questioned in middle of all the chaotic situations; we have a more personal perspective of each character for comprehend better their emotional states and how they're led by them.
In the technical side, Wit has maintained the quality standard we're used to see in this series, and althoguh the CGI Colossal Titan is pretty distracting, the art work is outstanding as ever. The work of the seiyuus is top-notch as we have seen through the other two and a half seasons; the music is still very good even if is not as epic as it was in previous seasons, it fits with each scene and provides them with more emotional power one piece at a time; but in the other hand we have the ending and the opening, which are a big step backward: the ending isn't bad, it's has a melancholic tone and it's mainly composed by piano, but the opening is like a missed mixture of the previous openings.
It has been said till tiredness that this is the best arc from manga, that this will be revolutionary and that all the journey through the story is rewarded here; and I think those staying that are right, at least until this fourth episode, this (half) season seems to be a great climax built from all the previous arcs, it seems that this is the big bet of the show, and honestly, I'm really pleased with it.
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May 20, 2019 Recommended Preliminary
(4/10 eps)
English isn't my native language, so you may find some redaction mistakes; anyway, I'll try to do my best in this review.
- This review cointains spoilers - Early in the first season (I don't remember the exact episode), it was stated that the basement of the Yeagers house was pretty important, from that moment, throughout the show we have been given some hints about it's importance and how to get there seems to be vital for mankind; each time stronger, each time louder, there has been a lot of talk around it, more and more things pointed out toward this basement, and after two and a ...
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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May 17, 2019
Carole & Tuesday
(Anime)
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(6/24 eps)
English isn't my native language, so you may find some redaction mistakes; anyway, I'll try to do my best in this review.
- This review cointains spoilers - Globalization, it's a strange thing: you can learn about another culture without being physically surrounded by it, you can know how a place in the other side of the world actually looks with just searching a little, you can even learn a new language without taking classes, but you can also see more clearly how the world is full of conflicts, you can see how the countries damage their economies in a endless cycle, you can see how an ... anthem that was the pride of a nation now it's a meme (and don't get me wrong, I love this meme), and a looooong etcetera in both sides; it's good and bad at the same time, in other words, it's a tool which its results will depend exclusively in the one who use it. Why I mention all this? Because I remember a friend who told me: "This isn't anime, this feel too much western, it should be broadcasted in somewhere like Cartoon Network", and although I still think he's exaggerating, he has a good point: this is done by a japanese studio, by japanese animators under the leadership of a japanese director which has a whole team of japanese people behind him (yes, there are also some no japanese in the staff), but it feels different, it has another essence, that's pretty clear, but it still has the elements that compose this medium mixed with others it purposes, and it works, or well, at least for me. Carole & Tuesday tells the story of a pair of girls: Tuesday which comes form a rich family and has everything she needs, everything but one thing, a passion, moved for the search of this passion, she escapes from her house to the city, in the other hand, there's Carole, who is a normal girl with some economic problems, in a consistent search for works which could finance her musical aspirations; in a fast but casual encounter, these two girls find that together they could accomplish their goals and then decide to create a duo, now they follow a path in order to fulfill their dreams. That's basically the story... of the episode one, it's surprising how fast the things were established, but it was well done, not too fast for missing important things but enough to move directly to the show's focus: the music. The world setting is interesting, we are actually in Mars and mankind has been there around five decades, the technological advance has been huge and now practically everything is done by IAs, it's a wonderful setting but it hasn't been explored enough, we know just the basic and it's fine, this is a music show with a sci-fi background, so I understand they're no focusing on it, but it would be great if they do. Other thing about the world is that Alba City, and Mars in general (at least what we've saw), has a strong influence from American culture: graffitis, brick facades along with huge and modern crystal facades, the Brooklyn Bridge style in the bridges, carnivals, pubs... it seems that New York has been reconstructed in Mars, just more futuristic; it's a beautiful landscape that the city creates and gives a more 'universal' atmosphere, although sometimes this atmosphere it's too much "in your face", but this responses more to the plot than the setting. The characters are likable and memorable but not too much explored, at least not yet, because we have been given some hints about their past, being Gus an retired star the clearest example, from where they can make the characters take a path of growing, in this aspect there's a lot of potential where they can move them in one or other direction, I hope this will be well exploited. One thing that got me with a big question in mind is the importance of the supporting characters, let me explain, Carole and Tuesday are the protagonists, there's Gus and Roddy which are part of their team I suppose, but we have seen a parallel story about a singer named Angela, this plotline serves very well as a tool for worldbuilding, showing her conflict between natural and made by IAs work, an interesting story with a good plot but that doesn't add too much to the story, at episode 6, Angela's story hasn't make contact with Carole and Tuesday's one, and I've wondering how and when will be that contact. Allieds? Rivals? Enemies? I'm anxious to know it. In the technical side, Bones have done a gorgeous job with the animation, the designs are pretty good and very variant with this semi-futuristic style in the characters, stronger in some than others, the animation has a beautiful colour palette and, although the CGI is visible and there some freezed frames, it's a very good job; the work in the opening is the best by far, with a painting alike style, in the ending the work is good too but not as in the opening. The work of the seiyuus is good but I have problem with it, the show changes the voices of the characters when they begin to sing, the singers are good and the songs are attractive, but the change is very noticeable, specially in the first episodes, I got used to it but it's still distracting at times; the music, as I said, is attractive and it's well done, it's more a taste question because it has a strongly defined style, there's acoustic, there's pop, there's dubstep, there's a bit of rock and that's all, the opening and the ending are also in this range, I like it but I would understand if someone complains about it; the other music, or rather, the score is good, with a group of melodies which are captivating and a good instrumentalization, it accompanies very well the scenes and does it job effectively. This has been a series with an interesting premise, well executed but with a huge path in front of it, with a great amount of potential that if its well exploited, it will be the born of a classic; this is one of the hidden gems of the season, good at everything but still with a great posibillity of going further on, let's hope to see how will develops it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Apr 27, 2019
Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai
(Anime)
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(4/13 eps)
English isn't my native language, so you may find some redaction mistakes; anyway, I'll try to do my best in this review.
- This review cointains spoilers - What's the meaning of the word generic? First thing that comes to my mind is about something that doesn't purpose absolutely nothing new, something built in a controlled space without any risk involved, something constructed with a formula; some people have no problem with this while it be entertaining enough, others simply doesn't like it and prefer to don't give it their time, the most famous example is the MCU: everyone knows that most of its movies follow the ... same formula, in despite of this fact, these movies tend to be in the top of the box office rankings, which demonstrates that it has a certain grade of appreciation from the public, but in the other side, there are people who got tired of the same formula repeated once and once again, getting them fatigued of this tool, till the point of provoking the hate from some of which in the past where the fans of the franchise. I mention this because it can be applied to the harem genre, it has its public which hopes every season for the new show from this genre, but it also has a huge amount of people who are tired of one of the most formulaic genres: takes place in school, there's a childhood friend, there's a tsundere, there's a kuudere, the male protagonist is too insecure and socially awkward, its ending is as ambiguous as posible in hopes of a second season that probably will never come, and a long etcetera. For me, being generic isn't necesarily equal to being bad, it is possible to follow a formula and finish with a good product anyway, and I think this series is an example of it; there are some which states that it's generic, and they aren't wrong, but that doesn't mean it's bad, it follows the rules that the formula it uses has stablished and doesn't make something we haven't seen before, but it still manages to give us an interesting series. The story turns around Nariyuki Yuiga, an average school student who dreams with joining a good university, but he hasn't a good economic situation, which obstructs his dream; when the director of the school offers him a recomendation letter in exchange of being the tutor of two other students he accepts, but he's hugely surprised at the moment of knowing their names, Rizu Ogata and Fumino Furuhashi, the two famous geniuses of the school: Rizu is extremely skilled with maths and science while Fumino is with literature, but the problem is that they're trying to better in the other's subject and joining an university specialized in those areas; Nariyuki's work is make them better in those areas, but soon he'll learn that in despite of their position as geniuses, this won't be easy, and things only will get more complicated as they become closer and other girls appears in his world. If that premise sounds familiar is because it's very common, as it serves as a believable excuse for surrounding the male lead with their female partners, but it actually works, it's believable and well structured, one detail that proves it is the fact that he isn't their first tutor, there have been some before him which finished stopping at one point. From the moment he accepts to be the tutor of Riza and Fumino the plot follows a path that we could expect from a harem: the protagonists are confused about certain things, they stablish a plan, the plan doesn't work and things become harder, they stablish another plan, in the process they share some significant moments, the third girl appears, the blushes begin and the compromising situations appear, they become even closer... That's the path this and practically every harem show follow, but here we have some interesting things: the story is pretty basic, it musn't have a theme and if it have it, it must be really subtle (I don't know, effort maybe?), but it's plot is well writen, it works and keep things going further, it follows the 'harem' formula but uses it in a correct way, even sometimes try to be creative; as most harem shows, it's ligth-hearted and focused in a comic tone, the comedy also follow the formula with its compromising situations, but doesn't abuse of it and these are well justified and funny, at least for me, furthermore, there are some pretty smart jokes, with good construction and timing; it's fanservice could perfectly not exist but at least it isn't obstructuve, and sometimes is used as a nice excuse for some good jokes. When we talk about characters we talk about the strongest point of the series, they follow archetypes of the harem genre and anime in general, but works with it in a functional way and leaves space to develop them, not too much, but at least there's development, each one of them is well defined, they have strengths, they have debilities, they have goals and dreams that defines their actions, some receive a better treatment than others, but they all are interesting and lovable; for example, their motivations: all are understandable but some are more relatable because they're more specific, the best example is Fumino vs Rizu, Fumino's motivation to study sciences is her deceased mother and how through the stars she thinks she can stablish a conection with her, childish and inmature, like her, but completely reasonable and even touching, while Rizu's motivation is much more ambiguous, she wants to study literature for comprehend better the people around her and their behaviors, still strong but less powerful than Fumino's one. Nariyuki seems to be your normal harem protagonist, insecure and socially awkward, but he doesn't follow that rule excessively as other harem protagonists, he has this characteristics in a non-annoying level, along with others which help to define him better, for example he's smart, pretty smart, enough for realisticaly dreaming about joining a good univeristy, he's also direct, although he's a bit shy, he won't stop when he considers necessary to say something, sometimes cruel, sometimes dumb, sometimes correct, no matter, he will say it. Another character that follow an archetype is Rizu, she's a kuudere and fulfil the most common characteristics of this archetype: she's smart, she's quiet, she's short, she has short hair, she uses glasses (I mean, if she would be flat she would be a redhead version of Yuki from SHnY), you got the idea; she follow strongly her archetype but it works because her interactions with others are organic and show some minor details that give her a bit more of depth. Fumino doesn't seem to strictly follow an archetype, the closest one would be the moe, because she's sweet and moe means (in a summarized version) adorable; as I mentioned before, she's childish and inmature, she doesn't seem to have a real notion about her actions, she's very relaxed and she's a bit clumsy, but she has a strong determination and she's pretty sincere. Uraka Takamoto is the third girl in order of appearance, she's energic, she's strong, she's highly skilled physically, she has an easiness in sports, she's spontaneous and she's very determined, but she's pretty dumb and extremely shy when we talk about love; for instance, she's the childhood friend of the show, but the twist is that Uraka isn't Nariyuki's childhood friend, Nariyuki is Uraka's childhood friend, and her shyness hadn't let her confess her feelings after an unknown number of years, and even if she see an oportunity for expressing their feeling or making an advance in her relation with Nariyuki, she will finish letting it go for her insecurity. There isn't too much supporting characters with actual relevance, but till I understand there are two girls left, one would be one of the anterior tutors of Rizu and Fumino, and the other I don't really know where will come from (I'm an anime only viewer); one thing that I found interesting is that there are two characters that could fit with the tsundere archetype, but none of them belong to the main cast, which is really surprising, one is Mizuki, Nariyuki's sister, and the other is Sawaka Sekijo, the Science Club's President. In the technical side, the animation comes from Silver and Arvo Animation, two studios from which apparently no one heard before; their job is good, the character design is attractive, I specially like the art in the eyes, simple but very good, the color palette is soft and borderlines the pastel color often but it doesn't stand out to be fair, where the animation shines is in the facial expressions and the reactions of the characters, you know, this kind of face: (o_o), it uses this style that everyone in the community knows but also goes further with more detailed frames and a wider group of reactions, especially with Nariyuki; the work of the seiyuus is very good and gives much spirit to the characters, the music is good but is pretty limited to work for the scene, to complement the other elements and never really stands out, anyway, it's beatiful sometimes, the opening is the typical harem opening with a 'feel good' mood, the ending follows the same path, they may be catchy but dubiously memorable, although being fair the artstyle in both is pretty good. As you've seen (or read I should say), this series has potencial to go further, but surely it won't, who knows?, maybe it finish focusing on the characters and its development, or maybe not; anyway, actually this is a good show and it's pretty entertaining and funny, even if it can be fairly called generic, I would love it to go further, but I'm happpy with what I've got in this 4 episodes.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Feb 12, 2019
Kimi no Suizou wo Tabetai
(Anime)
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English isn't my native language, so you may find some redaction mistakes; anyway, I'll try to do my best in this review.
- This review contains spoilers - As you can see, a good part of the reviews (maybe most of them) are negative, and the most prominent criticism is it's lack of originality, that everything you're gonna see here you've already saw it, that is full of clichés and that it's simply generic. Honestly, I have to differ, because I see it in other way; yes, this movie isn't very original, but I think that this movie is a good example of the statement: "It's not ... about what you do, it's about how you do it". The movie tells the story of Haruki Shiga, a solitary student which life is shaken by a casual encounter with a classmate, Sakura Yamauchi, a very happy and popular girl, there's where he discovers that she's diagnosed with a terminal illness in her pancreas, apart from her family, Haruki is the only one who knows about her condition; after this encounter, they begin to become closer to each other, and in the process, they start to change throughout the experiences they share. First thing I though when read the synopsis was about two posible options: it was gonna be a movie where the protagonist suffers along most of the movie for finding a cheerful end after all that he has happened, or it was gonna be a movie where he goes through a cheerful travel of emotions for finishing with a shocking end; surprisingly, it was kind of both, following more the second formula anyway, but instead of a cheerful travel, this is a bittersweet travel. We witness how this pair go through a variety of situations, sharing time as work partners in the library, visiting any kind of restaurants, traveling, playing games, relatively normal things; here we see how their relation grows and how each one of them know more about the other, in that way, they learn about their strenghts but also their weaknesses. That's basically the story around three quarters of the movie, reason for which it borders the narrative of the slice of life genre, where we see an almost quiet story but an constantly moving plot (don't confuse these two terms, if you want to clarify the difference between them, google it); furthermore, something interesting about this film is that it seems to have a different structure, the most common one is the 3 acts structure, but this movie seems to have a 4 acts structure; honestly, this is a superficial impression, I'm not gonna lie, I know some things about writing, enough for perceiving some elements but not enough for ensure that my interpretations are completely rigth, so maybe this appreciation be wrong, or maybe be rigth, so it can be taken more as a perspective than as a truth. The story is told from Haruki's point of view, anyway, his remembrances are what we see in most of the film, this narrative tool let us know pretty well our main characters, Haruki and Sakura, but limit us from knowing to the small supporting cast, where the only character we get to trully know is Kyoko, which is a blame because we could get deeper treatments for the rest of the characters, instead of the superficial approach we got, but the work done wih the three character before mentioned is really done. Our protagonist, Haruki, is an unexpressive character, he's pretty silent, quiet and reserved, he doesn't anything that he doesn't consider necessary, and that includes socialization, a person with a cold perspective of the world; all his thoughts are challenged by the colorful personality of his partner, Sakura, and with the time, his way of thinking and his personality begin to change as a consecuence of the experiences with Sakura, till the point where he has becomed into a still quiet person, but much more expressive and with a more optimist perpsective of the world. The other protagonist is our female lead, Sakura, a happy, energetic and frisky girl, she has no fear of express what she thinks, she shines whenever she is and she's able to transmit all that energy to others, a person with a optimist perspective of the world; but that's one side of her personality, the more open side, that which everyone can see, in the bottom, she's a girl afraid of her inevitable destiny, who just wanna go ahead with a normal life which can maintain her far from that fear, which can give her a break of all that destructive reality, she uses Haruki for this purpose, but with the passage of time, he finishes caring about her, and finish seeing this other side of her personality, this side full of fear; after the half of the movie, she begins to accept her reality and, consequently, begins to leave that fear aside, she begins to change, but is there when she gets stabbed and dies, letting her path of change incomplete by her abrupt finish. The other character with a development is Kyoko, Sakura's best friend, she seems to be a rude, cold and cruel girl, but she's described by Sakura as someone too emotional, which makes perfect sense with his treat to Haruki; we doesn't see her too much time in screen, for the same reason explained before, besides this, we can see that the motor of her actions is the same than the one from Sakura, the fear, she's aggresive with Haruki because she's afraid that Sakura could get hurt by this cold guy, she may get it too far, but it has a very good motivation; after Sakura's death and after she understand the whole situation which make them be together, she finishes for showing a more kind face to Haruki, still a bit cold but definitely more kind. One of the central themes of the movie is the fear, and how it can makes people ti take some decisions, questionable or not, but make take decisions; it's the fear to death which motivates Sakura create a facade and don't tell anyone about her illness, it's the fear which motivates to Kyoko to be preventative about Haruki and his relation with Sakura, and it's the fear to losing to her close friend which finally motivates to Haruki to accept to Sakura and begin to change himself. The twist at the last part of the movie where Sakura dies stabbed by a serial killer is pretty divisive, you love it or you hate it, but at the end it is the detonator for Haruki to understand the central message of the film and, in the process, show it to the audience: "You must treasure those moments with those you care, because can be the latest; also, if you have the opportunity to do something today, do it, tomorrow that opportunity may be gone". This is the first standalone work from Studio VOLN in a movie (or at least that's what I've heard), and it's pretty good for a first attempt, although it's noticeable that this was a risky production for them, there are some scenes where we have one frame per each 3-4 second, and it looks like a budgetary decision more than an artistic one, also, for a production nowadays, the animation is a bit robotic, it has less frames than what we are get used to see in a movie or even in a series; but all the things mentioned are beaten by a very good color palette, an outstanding artistic style, an interesting and attractive character design and a really beautiful cinematography, also, although there's a lot of CGI in this movie, it isn't invasive and it fits pretty good with the other aspects of the movie. At the other side, the music is very well done, even if it shines by its absence, it's predominantly pieces composed by a light melody in piano accompanied by a group of violins, and as mentioned before, it's not as recurrent as expected, but this is an aspect that was a pleasant surprise for me, the musical silence and it's use, mainly for stablish a quiet atmosphere but sometimes for construct tension, a very well used of an element that is very underused nowadays. This movie was a rollercoaster, from emotions like happiness to rage to sadness, a very entertaining experience with a strong powerful and a nice narrative, I'm surprised for this simple but potent stroy, and as my score says it, I consider it as a very good representative of anime films.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Feb 8, 2019
Mob Psycho 100 II
(Anime)
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(5/13 eps)
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English isn't my native language, so you may find some redaction mistakes; anyway, I'll try to do my best in this review.
- This review contains spoilers - ¡Wow! That's everything I have to say after 5 episodes. Ok, that was all for today, I hope my review was helpful... Letting the bad jokes aside. Seriously, this 5 episodes have made a really impressive job, have taken all the elements built up in the first season, have understood some of the problems that had in the past, and all this is added to some new elements; in that way, they're have been able to better the elements they were carrying ... from the first season, along with some new things which complement them really fine. Just with the first episode we were able to see that things was going in the rigth direction, with a few new elements introduced and some which was already established, the series gave us a great scene: the end of episode 1, the novel scene, where we saw to Mob letting flow his feelings and taking actions for those whom his cares, a great scene where we saw character development induced by a new element (Emi) but using an old element (Mob's insecurities). This goes the same way in the rest of the season till today, where the center of the story is Mob's internal conflict about what are the correct things to do, one example of this is in the episode 3, where he has to exorcise a death family but only thing they want is to rest in peace, here his morality is challenged and, with the help of Reigen, he finish deciding that the correct thing is to let them live. In episode 4, we see the case of Minori Asagiri, a girl who is possessed by the spirit of a corrupt psychic, Mogami Keiji, who used his powers for own benefits in life, here we see two interesting things: Mob, for first time in the whole series, is already beaten in a psychic battle, and Keiji implants the idea that they aren't too diferent, that in similar situations they would make the same things, and for proofing it, he decides to manipulate Mob's mind to make him pass for bad situations, here begins the epiosde 5, where we see a miserable version of Mob's life, where he finishes for losing the control and hurting other people, but although all the bad things, and with the help of Ekubo, maintains his thinking about the psychic powers not beeing used for personal achievements, reaching this challenge and finishing the exorcism. As seen in all the season, his morality was challenged, this time was forced till extreme but he stayed in his principles; a really good treatment for his character during this 5 episodes. Without a doubt, the character development is the strongest point in this season, although it has been mainly centered to Mob, we have saw just a little of it in the other characters, but there are still 8 episodes forward, so maybe it's just question of time to see a treatment in the rest of the cast. The story has been simple, as in the first season, but it has worked outstandingly, first episode was really good for introducing themes and questions and the 4 episodes after it have worked very well with those established elements; besides, the story this time is darker, we still have some pretty good comedic moments, but the atmosphere is much more dense and it's in its heaviest moments that this season shines. In the technical side, Bones has done again a great work, the animation follows the same style, even if this time isn't as various as first season, with great scenes like the figth in the farm, the novel scene or the psychic battle against Keiji. The music is exceptional, using some pieces from the first season but also some news, I have been repeating the melody of the novel scene in my head since it was aired, simply beautiful; furthermore, although for me aren't as good as the firsts, the opening "99.9" and the ending "Memosepia" are really catchy songs which fits very well with the style of the show. What we've got from Mob Psycho 100 II has been enough for consider it as an excelent second season, I hope it maintains the quality it has had in these episodes or, why not, reach it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Feb 8, 2019
Mob Psycho 100
(Anime)
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English isn't my native language, so you may find some redaction mistakes; anyway, I'll try to do my best in this review.
- This review contains spoilers - Mob Psycho 100 tells the adventures of the hustler Arataka Reigen and his student Shigeo Kageyama, know also as Mob, who has psychic powers while his master says he has but he doesn't, the story is set in a world where some people has psychic habilities which can be used for interfering both: the spiritual and the material dimension. It seems simple, and it can be considered as that, but the show's soul it's in the internal conflict of ... our characters, and when this is well done, it makes something that seems simple special, and that's the case of this show. Mob Psycho 100 is a slice of life, consequently, the story sometimes is very soft in a narrative way, a good part of the series bases it's plot in seeing Shigeo day a day, his life in the school, his life in the house, his life in the job, you got the idea; it's in this slice of life section that we can get an approach to the conflict that Mob tries to reach: although he is really (really) powerfull and has no problem with his psychic jobs, he's really insecure, he's shy and socially clumsy, furthermore, he is prudent with his powers because he knows that, when unleashed, those powers are dangerous. Based on ths conflict, the story puts Shigeo in a variety of situations, most of them with a comic tone, where he is compromised by his insecurity and absence of confidence, but these situations are prretty normal, something that practically everyone has had to be in front of; this is a curious aspect because, altough he has this rare power and is very good with it, he's a normal guy, someone who has a normal life and who consider his psychic powers just as one hability more. But when the story wants to go further, it does it with a very good level, it can easily pass from a comic moment to a dramatic and vice versa, one example is episode 5, when Mob has to confront to Teruki, in this episode we pass from some jokes to action to dramatic moments to tension, etcetera, and it does it with a good rhythm and a nice use of transicions. The slice of lice aspect is very strong through the series till episode 8, at the end of it begins the Claw Arc, here we left aside the slice of life and we get already in a linear story, this is an interesting twist but the transition between the anterior arcs and this one feels a bit rushed, but after it begins, it goes in a nice way and finish with a good note. As mentioned in the anterior paragraph, Shigeo as a characther is built around a conflict, the balance between his normal life and his psychic life, meanwhile he is completely overpowered as a psychic, he's relatively normal as a guy, even it could be said that he's a bit behind the average, so through a great part of the series Mob is in a search for getting normal habilities as physic resistance or sociability, motivated by the thinking that his powers are just an hability as any other; this is the center of the Shigeo character, but the rest of the characters have also some interestings treatments. Let's begin with Reigen, he's a hustle, he states that he has psychic powers and he's the best that anyone could find, but he's a normal guy, he uses this lie as a fount of money, the jobs he does he does it for money, and he's not cheap, instead, he's really expensive, this reveal a vague morality, he doesn't care about lying to everyone in his seeking for money; but he has also some principles, for example, he was the person who teached to Mob that he must be prudent with his powers and musn't use it for damaging other people, in addition, although he uses Mob as a tool for getting money, he cares about him and people in general, a good example is in episode 1 when he is worried for Mob's integrity and yells him to leave the job, he was disposed to loss money for guarantee the life of Mob. In conclusion, he's someone avaricious, with some vagues concepts of morality, but someone who is disposed to don't hurt to anyone and protect to their close people. Another characther with a great weigth in the series is Ritsu, Shigeo's little brother, he is a nice guy who works as a support for Mob, but who is also afraid of what Mob is able to become when his powers are unleashed, although this fear to Mob's powers, he has wanted to have them since he was a child, he also wants to be a psychic, and when he finally get it, he loss the control and is consumed by the power; another aspect is that he sometimes won't worry about making unmoral things to get his objectives, although he's a nice guy, he's also cold and calculator, and if necessary, he will make aside his principles for get what he wants, one example would be the case in which he and the council's president conspired for blame to Onigawara and take him out of the equation, another one would be when he decided to join the psychic investigation with his brother's identity. Instead of the image of nice guy that he has, he take some questionable actions for his own good, but with the time he learns to redeem himself and fix the problem he caused; that's basically his arc in this season, someone who seems to be a good guy but who makes unmoral things, and after some kind of events, decide to redeem himself and leave aside his personal pretentions. The rest of the cast has different treatments, like Ekubo, this spirit who was introduced as an enemy but decided to stay beside Mob; or Teruki, who begins as a complete opposite to Mob who thinks that his powers are everything he needs, but finish as an allied; or Tome, this strange girl who don't see anything special in him, but ask him for help, after knowing that he's a psychic, in the seeking of making reality her strange wishes; or the body builder club, who don't see any potential in Mob but decide to make him part of their club anyway; and a lot of supporting characters with a great amount of differences among them. I can say that all of them are interesting and pretty good, being for me the strongest point of the show: it's characters. One of the points that I've saw more often, sometimes as a negative point for this show, is a comparison between Mob Psycho 100 and One Punch Man, two great works from author ONE, the similarities are obvious at a first look, but the differences between them are more than the similiraties; the most prominent resides in the main conflict: Saitama wants to feel more emotions because he feels that his life is too monotonous, while Mob wants to suppress his emotions because they can become him in a danger for the people around him; a simple difference but an important one when we talk about character development and execution. Along this one, there are much more differences which make each one of the shows to have an identity for itself, even if it's origin as works from the same author is visible. In the technical aspect, Bones gave us a very good job with the animation, a great work which use an amount of different styles for emphasize the ideas it's presenting in the moment, all this below a style which is pretty recognizable and a bit psychodelic, giving it a more abstract atmosphere in addition to the supernatural nature of the story, maybe it has a little dye of cartoon style, but it manages to give it a good essence to the series. The work with sound was equally good, the OST is, as the animation, characterized by an amount of diferent styles, going from some instrumental pieces to a more synthetic melodies, all of them working together to give a sound that fits very well with the style of the series; the opening song "99" is pretty catchy, the animation has a psychedelic style and is very well done, to count from 1 to 100 never had been so exciting, personally, although it took some episodes for get me, this opening has become in one of my favourites; at the other side, we have the ending, "Refrain Boy", a good piece of rock which is pretty catchy also, accompanied by a really outstanding animation which has a unique visual style; the work of the seiyuus is excellent and give to the characters all the personality that the script has required from them. All the aspects mentioned before let us enjoy this series without any major problem, the conjunction of all these aspects give us a series that is very enjoyable and, very probably, will let you hoping for more. A great experience through this twelve episodes which gave me a sunrise at the end of the journey.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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