Mob Psycho 100 Season Two Review

This season improved upon the first season in many accounts from its characters, to animation, and it’s pacing. While this season only had 13 individual episodes and an OVA that isn't critical of the story, it feels as though a lot more happens this season. Similarly to the first season, it is focused on the growth of the characters more than the action but it still has given us some of the best-animated sequences. this review will go over the main areas of this season I feel are improvements from season 1 and how it addresses some of the main problems I had with it.

Mogami Arc:

One of the most interesting characters introduced this season is Mogami. This is due to his direct opposing views to Mob and how the world can corrupt a person. Mogami was an Esper like Mob, who originally used his powers for others to gain money to help sick mother. He started to use the black market to gain money, this where he was hired as an enforcer.

After his mother dies from her illness, Mogami snaps and becomes an evil spirit. He possesses the daughter of a rich businessman that hires multiple exposits. Mogami is one of the first forces to overpower Mob mentally, to remove Mogami from the girl's mind he must become a spirit leaving his body in the care of Reigen and Dimple.

Inside the shared mind, Mogami makes a prison for Mob that lasts 6 months mentally. The prison takes away Mob's powers and forces him to live an isolated life without friends or family. Mob’s mental strength is highlighted through this, as it takes him 6 months of torture to snap and begin to destroy everything. This is before Dimple calmed him down.

This arc has one of the better animated scenes in the show with Mob’s power breaking space inside the fake reality, you begin to miss the colour the show is known for with most of the arc being desaturated to match the tone of the arc. This arc fixes one of the main problems with this show and it helps Mob mature and become more independent, which leads to his confrontation with Reigen.

Regien’s Downfall:

This is one of the best parts of the season, with Reigen finally getting the comeuppance for using Mob. The arc starts with Mob having to be called away from his friends to help Reigen with an exorcism where Reigen tells him his friends are just using him, but this was the last straw for Mob who leaves Reigen to work on his own. This shows a split in the story as it shows Mob enjoying life more while Reigen starts to spiral without him.

We start to see Reigen’s backstory where he was normal and decided to do exorcisms as a change of pace. When he met Mob, his life changed as he saw a kid who needed help and a way to keep his own business running. Reigen begins to make an active effort to better himself where he takes on tasks he can do without Mob and eventually is successful.

Then he is invited to do an exorcism on live TV. This is set up by another exorcist that Reigen embarrassed earlier on in the season, leading to Reigen being called a fraud. You think it would be fulfilling until you see how much it breaks him. In the conference he talks directly to Mob and apologises, this causes all the cameras to fly into the air. In the conversation where Reigen asks Mob if he knew that he was a fake, Mob said he always knew. But also says he is a good person as they continue a more equal partnership.

Final battle:

The final arc of the season is the final fight against the organisation ‘Claw’. Something I like about this arc is that it incorporates most of the characters, even former enemies becoming allies. I found it fun to see how the character interact outside of battle. It is also good to show of the former scars of Claw have matured and how through Reigen’s intervention he has improved their lives.

The organisation believes that espiers are the more evolved people with most members being artificially made into one. With the upper echelon being made of naturally powerful people. While being a generically evil organisation some of the characters are genuinely interesting. This is because we get to witness how their lives have been affected by their powers. This ranges from a blind man who can teleport to a shut-in due to his uncontrollable powers.

While the final fight between Mob and Toichiro Suzuki is the only scene that the two share; they are good parallels to each other. The two represent a mirror ideal with one only relying on himself causing his wife to leave him and the other seeing the value in other people.

Toichiro Suzuki is the first villain to be able to physically overpower Mob leading to some of the best animation in the season, while still highlighting the character’s struggle. Unlike other fights they each influence how the other thinks with Mob becoming more brutal and Toichiro becoming more open in his final moments.

I like how this fight ends with a quiet moment while Toichiro starts to overload in his powers and Mob stays with him to try and help by absorbing the energy and redirecting it leading to an explosion.

Conclusion

I enjoyed this season more than the first mainly because of the character development most of the characters go through. It shows a more natural progression in the ideals of the character and how Mob can mature thanks to the increased responsibility. Mainly due to being a medium between the spirits and humans.

The animation has improved since the first season, with most of the big moments being smoother and more fluid; especially hand-to-hand combat, while the sound tract got better for some characters.

One of the main things I disliked about the season was how Teru and Ritsu have been side-lined compared to the first season. I originally thought they would have larger roles due to their spotlight in season 1. The other thing I didn't like at first was the cutting of some content from the manga, but I accepted it due to the good pacing of the season. It still managed to pull off the main story without anything feeling off or rushed. Overall if you like the first season you are going to enjoy this one just as much.