blog好き

Sep 13 2016

Categories: episodic review
Tagged: mob psycho 100

1 Comment »

Mob looks pretty stylish in that blue grid shirt.

If there is a central theme for ONE’s works, it’s that he doesn’t like to draw detailed pupils. The second much less important theme is underestimation. If ONE had a job as something other than a mangaka, I would assume he would be a car mechanic. “Well, I did give you a quote for $500, but I didn’t expect to find oil in the carbonara sauce. But I’ll give you a special discount, so with labor and parts, your new tires comes out to be $15,532.” One Punch Man had villains (and heroes) alike constantly underestimating Saitama. And with the clarity of Handa-kun, I can finally explain One Punch Man clearly. Saitama is Handa-kun, a guy who isn’t what others think he is. Saitama has his True Believer in Genos whiles Handa-kun has his in the Handa Force and Eraser (cue “ERASER!”). There’s one “straight” man in One Punch Man who sees Saitama for what he truly is, Silver Fang, much like the one normal person who isn’t infected with Handa-itis in Handa-kun.

For Mob Psycho 100, Mob himself serves as the straight man. Everyone around him either underestimates him or follows him, but Mob himself thinks of himself as normal. He doesn’t underestimate his psychic abilities because he is terrified of what he can do. Yet because of his persona, everyone underestimates him.

The Claw goons underestimated the ability of Ritsu and his fellow captives to escape. By the same token, Ritsu underestimated the ability of the psychic user without a scar, who is most likely the special subject sent by HQ. Interestingly enough, this week’s episode of Alderamin on the Sky features the bizarro version of Solork who has white hair instead of Solork’s black, who doesn’t sleep instead of Solork’s constant napping, and probably is into guys considering Solork’s heavy affection for the ladies. But that bizarro Solork was introduced as the random guy sent by HQ. Maybe the random young guy who flip mirrors the protagonist is the new anime trope of 2016. I’m going to go on a limb and guess the HQ guy in 100 has the 100% ability too.

Dimple’s battle was just one underestimation after another. The Scar underestimated Dimple’s sneakiness while Dimple underestimated the Scar’s Batman-esque utility belt. If there’s things in life to never underestimate, I would say put Batman’s utility belt, Saitama’s punch, Kyoto’s ability to moe, and the bill from your car mechanic on that list.

(The way the test subjects were put under severe torture and duress in tiny chambers to bring out their latent powers… that’s the plot to the Deadpool movie.)

The fire dude underestimated Ritsu. Ritsu underestimated Sword Scar. I’m totally not remembering any of the villains names.

The Doll Scar and Female Ivan Drago both underestimated Mob. I just watched Rocky IV over the weekend, and the way Female Ivan Drago punched Mob reminded me a lot of the real Ivan Drago laying into Apollo Creed. It was supposed to be an exhibition! AN EXHIBITION!!!

(Unfortunately for Female Ivan Drago, Mob is definitely not Apollo Creed. Nor is he Rocky Balboa. He’s Saitama.)

I know this was from the last episode, but I loved this joke. “Hey, you could use a powerful ally!” “I’ll go ask the Body Improvement Club.” Fantastic. I love the understated humor of ONE. Always comes at the right times. One thing 100 is doing very well is pacing. The story moves along briskly with plenty of opportunities to catch a break. They let the big moments set in with periods of relative calm.

HOLY SHIT. I’m guessing Reigen called Mob earlier, and when Mob didn’t pick up, he sensed something was wrong, so he decided to go in. He probably conned everyone into thinking he is Venom “Punished” Snake. Or maybe Reigen is a superpower psychic leading a group of murderous psychics. Or it’s Reigen’s twin brother. Who knows? But I want to know. Next week… next week…

Three MVPs…

1. Spinning Dog. Probably the best OP of the season, since Orange‘s OP became too hard to watch. Every time I watch Orange‘s now, I am reminded of how beautiful the show once was. Anyway, 100‘s OP– 99— is still fantastic. I think I notice something new each time I watch it.

2. ONE. Guy really enjoys sneaking his name into his manga titles. One Punch Man. Mob Psycho One Hundred. I can’t wait for his upcoming manga, Someone X.

3. Bones. Animation still top notch. If this is the animation that we can get if we simplify pupils, I’ll all for it.