So is the reason why you find Mob Psycho 100 more compelling than OPM is mostly because of its direction? (This is not a leading question, btw. I'm genuinely curious why. Mob is arguably more thematically focused than OPM but it's very similar in narrative beats and jokes)
Well, at this point in One Punch Man, I was still a fan of that show - it's still up in the air how Mob Psycho will pan out. But so far, the direction definitely helps a lot (outside of its big setpieces, One Punch Man was pretty visually flat), and I'm also much more engaged with the characters. Saitama's personality was "young adult ennui," and the show never built on that (outside of that one exceptional Mumen Rider episode). Reigen and Mob already seem more complex and human than Saitama, to the point where I actually care about their action adventures, and it doesn't just feel like "stuff happening."
And to get more specifically into the visual differences, pretty much all of One Punch Man's visual strengths were dedicated to one thing - one superhero kicking the crap out of another one. That's fine, but it's not exactly my thing; I generally don't feel that engaged by spectacle like that unless it's happening to characters I already care about. In other very well-animated shows that I /do/ love, the animation is generally dedicated to something other than just visual spectacle - for example, Sound! Euphonium and Idolmaster both use many of their visual highlights to better convey the personalities and feelings of their characters. They engage in visual storytelling with the goal of better articulating the humanity of their characters. Mob Psycho is similar with its direction, in that its visual personality helps elevate the feelings of Reigen and Mob. That makes its existing strengths feel that much more meaningful to me.
And to get more specifically into the visual differences, pretty much all of One Punch Man's visual strengths were dedicated to one thing - one superhero kicking the crap out of another one. That's fine, but it's not exactly my thing; I generally don't feel that engaged by spectacle like that unless it's happening to characters I already care about. In other very well-animated shows that I /do/ love, the animation is generally dedicated to something other than just visual spectacle - for example, Sound! Euphonium and Idolmaster both use many of their visual highlights to better convey the personalities and feelings of their characters. They engage in visual storytelling with the goal of better articulating the humanity of their characters. Mob Psycho is similar with its direction, in that its visual personality helps elevate the feelings of Reigen and Mob. That makes its existing strengths feel that much more meaningful to me.
Liked by:
Aluido
Shahzeb Mangi
GJ Corban
