I always saw One Punch Man as an overrated gem. The action direction and comedy execution are almost flawless, but I'm very picky with anime and OPM gets no more than a 8/10 from me because there wasn't a very strong focus on the story aspects. I'm a huge fan of Hunter x Hunter, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, Attack on Titan, Deathnote, among others; that's the kind of anime I enjoy. Ones with captivating plots and character development. It strengthens my connection with the anime and helps me relate to the material.
When it came to Mob Psycho 100, I was expecting it to be no more than a carbon copy of OPM, but I wanted to watch it for the comedy and action sequences, since I am a sucker for well-animated anime battles. As I skimmed through the episodes, I noticed a major change in its style. It ended up hooking me from top to bottom. The main idea of the anime is almost very similar to OPM, but executed in a nearly polar opposite fashion. It concentrates heavily on character development, and gives viewers some of the most fluid anime characters I've seen in a long time. Mob was an insanely relatable character, mainly for teens like me. Most of us don't even know exactly what we want in life, and it's not easy to find out. Mob represents that common life decision that can manipulate a teenager's mind to become interested in such a character, and the people around Mob enhance it, creating a very straightforward and strong plot device.
Its novelty areas are what I call "classic ONE quality." In other words, expect something badass. The art direction and design is very rough and simplistic. It looks like a child's first good drawing, which many people didn't like about the anime, but I found it amusing since I've never seen this kind of style used before, and it's always fun to see something unique. The animation behind it also lands in "classic ONE quality" and takes up the majority of mind stimulation when it comes to craving something awesome. The animation is so fluid that there are even small details in some aspects that you most likely won't see the first few times. This is a simple but costly aspect that easily makes battles extra exciting, and it's one of the major things I adore in anime. Well-animated fights don't come often, so treasure every epic moment in this anime.
I wanted to make this review short, since there's really not too much to say about it. It has everything you could possibly want in an anime, bar none, and I feel very privileged to take part in one of these rare times when an anime gets this good. Best anime of the year? Not only that, but probably one of the best anime in the last 5 years.
