Thread by @SakugaRelux

Mob Psycho 100 III #05

As the action ramps up for the penultimate episode of the ongoing Broccoli conflict, expectations rise with it. While not a major spectacle, Mob 3x5 delivers an effective and enjoyable adaptation of its source material. Time to analyze!

(1/22)
#mobpsycho

Katsuya Shigehara is this week's storyboard artist and episode director, which is the perfect selection on paper. Shigehara has been a core participant in Mob since the beginning, handling episodes 3 and 10 of season 1, and episodes 2 and 10 of season 2.

Each of those episodes can be considered pretty exceptional, even by Mob standards. While 3x5 is definitely very good, I wouldn't say it quite matches his previous work, and there are a number of reasons why that may be. I'll be talking about that later, in a different thread.

Adaptation-wise this one is a straightforward affair. The start of this episode to the end of the Broccoli arc is actually a single long chapter, so finding the right place to split it may have been challenging. Using the shirt gag and 100% as a cliffhanger was a perfect choice.

The conflict takes us throughout different sections of the broccoli itself, with each of these areas having its own unique look for the sake of variety. The pleasant blues and greens of the upper layer contrast nicely with the uncomfortably fungal reds of the depths.

Shigehara's storyboard doesn't take many liberties, but its delivery of the content at hand is quite solid. The interior of the broccoli feels claustrophobic and unnatural, and Mob's internal and external struggle is depicted adequately.

There wasn't much time for original action, as most of the episode is inundated with important dialogue, but I did enjoy the way this sequence was framed. Rotating the camera to return the viewer to normalcy adds a 'cool factor' to the way Mob casually jumps down later on.

Vincent Chansard is one of the most prominent names in animation right now, and many of his traits are visible in this sequence. It's not as polished as his usual work, so I suspect he was too busy at the time to clean up his own layouts. Very cool either way.

I managed to conclude that this was his animation back when the original PV dropped, and that was mainly thanks to this bubble-ring pattern. It appears many times in this episode and is a consistent indicator that Vincent or one of his friends was involved

https://twitter.com/SakugaRelux/status/1534944242669346817

It's a short cut, but any contribution from Miyo Sato is a welcome one. Paint-on-glass is the perfect medium to convey the horror of Psycho Helmet, so I'm glad she got to work with it.

Nobuaki Nagano is a common but always welcome sight on Bones productions. His work is characterized by Kanada inspiration, featuring snappy timing and complex impact frame/effects shapes. The majority of these cuts should be his work, although some are unclear.

This section of the episode made me realize how difficult it must be to animate the broccoli-Mobs. The texture on their bodies is highly detailed, so I suspect some compositing tricks were used to reduce the workload. The design is quite demanding, regardless. Nagano impacts here

Much like last week, the eyecatches provide a good dose of horror.
The simple contrast reminds me of the ones from 2x4, which are still my favorites in the series.

These impact frames still don't have a credited artist, and the credits themselves don't contain any known Yutapon fans. Still, these cuts also serve as a nice reminder of how satisfying the texture used for Mob's powers is. That, and the now-iconic sound effect.

The MVP of this episode's animation would have to be Jordan Rear, who animated the 2 most impressive sequences. The first of which is this beatdown, which includes some of the strongest effects-work I've seen from him thus far. The whole thing is very satisfying to look at.

As soon as God Dimple appears, so too does chief animation director Yoshimichi Kameda, who seems to have been unable to leave this design alone. His touch can be felt in nearly every cut it appears in, and it makes the last chunk of the episode feel extra stylish.

I won't point out what I'm referring to here, but Kameda's priorities have evidently not changed. That's quite the upgrade.

While fairly economical in approach, Dimple's Godly Combo is quite well executed. God Dimple's posing is consistently sharp and dynamic, likely thanks to Kameda's influence. It's hard not to think of One-Punch Man while watching this part.

Jordan Rear's 2nd sequence is probably the most impressive of the episode. Dimple's character acting feels heavily influenced by Kameda, but the effects are once again where Jordan's work shines. I love the choice to make the beam shift between colors, it's very appealing.

Jordan's approach to drawing smoke is unconventional for anime, and thanks to that I've been able to identify a PV cut that had me stumped before. I'm excited to see more of his work down the line, as I found this episode to be his best yet.

One more likely Kameda-corrected scene later, the episode reaches its end. It was great to see his work so clearly here, as it was only the occasional correction prior to this episode. There will be no shortage of Kameda next week either, you can trust me on that.

By all means, episode 6 should be one of the season's biggest highlights. It's the climax of the arc and covers some of my favorite content from the series, and it seems to be the directorial debut of a strong animator based on Twitter activity. It's time for a really big one.