xxsarahcaroline Reviews

Mob Psycho 100 (2016–2022)

Greatest anime ever made? Maybe.

[10/10 · 9 November 2022]

And I don't say that lightly. I've been watching anime my entire life and I have a strong comprehension and love for the medium. I deeply love this anime, but I also have some solid reasons why it might be the best anime ever made.

Story, themes, and characters that work together flawlessly.

Characters that you will fall in love with.

An art style that is strikingly unique and full of passion from those animating it. The frames are packed with detail and show true finesse.

Tackles each of its genres: shonen, comedy, slice-of-life and becomes a shining example of each.

Dialogue that doesn't just shine, it makes you look at life in a whole new perspective.

Killer soundtrack.

Masterclass in writing.

And that last point needs to be emphasized. Pretty much everyone in mainstream entertainment is obsessed with things like "subverting expectation" and "deconstructing tropes". And MP100 flawlessly pulls off these two concepts which industry professionals around the world fail to grasp. Because MP100 is a deconstruction of the shonen genre. Need a bold protagonist? No thanks, we have Mob, a shy kid who doesn't want to fight and doesn't care about attaining power. Need a wise mentor? Instead we have Reigen, a con-man who seems like an idiot and turns out to be the wisest, most loveable idiot you've ever seen. Would you like to watch a super-powered hero become even stronger? Nah, let's watch Mob work out and try to better himself as a person. And the list goes on and on. This show flips every shonen trope on its head while at the same time being undeniably shonen.

And that's only part of what it achieves with its writing. Because all of this genre-bending stuff takes place in the background. ONE's true prowess is in character writing and in communicating themes. He can describe a simple life lesson to the viewer in a way that feels profound. Mob's desire to better himself as a person is just that: simple. It's normal to want to get better at talking to people, to want to get fit, to want to be more independent. Simple lessons, but when they come from Mob you feel as if you're seeing them for the first time.

All of that is to say that ONE accomplishes so many things at once. This is storytelling with dozens of layers wrapped in a simple-looking package. At first glance, MP100 looks silly, juvenile. It looks like a fun time, a zany comedy, maybe a slice of life or action anime. It is simultaneously all of these things and bigger than these things combined.

And one more thing: it is consistently amazing across its two seasons. Of all the candidates for Best Anime of All Time, MP100 might be the most consistent. Normally, a single-season anime will have dips in quality throughout the runtime. This becomes even more likely for multi-season anime. Episodes that just don't land. Whole segments that feel slow, aimless. But out of all my favorite anime, MP100 seems to not have these dips in quality at all. If it slows down, it does so with purpose. Every episode is unique and every segment matters. Every major plot point and character moment is a triumphant success.

So is Mob Psycho 100 the best anime ever made? Maybe. And I do mean "maybe". I don't think that declaring The Greatest Anime of All Time is something one can really do. Because everyone thinks differently. This anime resonates with me, profoundly. To another fan, it might just be a fun show. And there will inevitably be people who don't like it at all, or find it overrated, or boring. So I don't know if there is one Greatest Anime of All Time.

But I hope I've made my case for why this one deserves the title.

Note: At the time of this review, season 3 has not completed yet. There's always a chance the new season will bring this show down a few points. But it's my hope that season 3 finishes strong and solidifies Mob Psycho 100 as a timeless classic and one of the greatest anime ever made.

Bo Burnham: Inside (2021 TV Special)

A profound work of art.

[10/10 · 10 October 2021]

I watched this show and laughed more than I've laughed in a long time. I got emotional. I ended it with a strange mix of emotions, both joyful and sad, and thought my viewing experience would end where it usually does. One night, one viewing, with maybe some lingering thoughts throughout the week.

And then, the funniest thing happened.

This special happened to hit right before a very difficult time in my life. It became a place of comfort during painful nights, a way to laugh despite the turmoil around me. And it would not leave me alone. From the incredible music to Bo's raw honesty, this special dug its claws into my soul and refused to let go.

Watching this special the first time, for me, was a strange joyride combined with moments of discomfort. But mostly, it was just a fun time.

But watching this special more than once becomes a cathartic experience. The more you connect with Bo, the more you feel for his pain, and in so doing, are able to release a little of your own pain. I've never experienced anything quite like Bo Burnham's "comedy". And comedy it is, but the word seems so small to describe what he does. Bo's creations make you laugh, they make you cry, they make you think. Sometimes they show you a picture of the world, or yourself, that is brutally honest. And ultimately, you leave the experience feeling somewhat healed.

It's very ironic that Bo starts the special by telling you he's going to heal the world with comedy. To him, it's a joke. He's too critical of his work to actually believe what he's saying. Yet, if anyone could ever heal the world with comedy, it's Bo Burnham.

All that's to say that this special has meant so much to me over the last few months. A work of art that will forever define my 2021. It inspires me to create, to write, to let myself speak my thoughts into the world. It's the best comedy special I've ever seen and probably will ever see.

Numbers can't quantify my feelings for this special, so for now, a 10/10 will have to do.

Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous (2013)

One of the best comedies I've ever seen.

[10/10 · 18 September 2021]

When I looked up Zach Stone (after falling in love with Inside, of course) I saw nothing but glowing reviews. Seriously. Amazon was overflowing with 5-star reviews.

When I watched the show, I found out why.

Zach Stone is one of the funniest TV shows I've ever seen. It's The Office's ADHD child. The stripped down nature of the show makes it feel intimate, like you really are watching this kid make his own TV show and annoy his family to death. And then he makes mistakes that feel all too human and relatable.

One minute, Zach is rapping at a funeral and making you laugh while cringing into your seat, the next minute he's doing a hysterical impression of Gordon Ramsey. The jokes in the show are as hyper as Zach himself, flying at you a mile a minute. You'll be cracking up over what just happened, while trying to keep up with the punch line of the following joke, only to end up dying over the next joke. This show doesn't hold your hand either. It throws media references at you, occasionally dropping an introspective comment on whatever celebrity fad Zach is trying out today, then hitting you with a Justin Bieber joke for viewers that might not get the deeper humor. And there is plenty of easy humor. If you just want to have a good time, Zach's got you covered. If you want to think a little deeper, Zach's got that too.

A show this funny has no right to make me cry as much as it did. Which is why Zach Stone fits perfectly into the body of Bo Burnham's work. To loosely quote Bo, he likes to point out how stupid comedy is while making you laugh and pulling on your heart strings. (A very simplified, Bo-like way of describing the emotional power of his comedy.) And in Zach stone, he has plenty to say in between the lines. Society tells Zach to go to college, but he rejects it in pursuit of his own happiness, even if he has no idea what he's doing. Zach's desire for fame seems foolish, but could it be he's figured out something the rest of us haven't? Then there's the added layer of how meta it is. As far as I've read, Bo chose to perform stand-up instead of go to college, and a few years later he wrote a show about Zach who's so determined to become famous that he skips out on college to do so. So is Bo making fun of himself? No idea, but I love trying to figure it out.

It seems like a show that's actually about Bo's life, right? Except it's not. Bo is not playing himself here, or acting in his stage persona. He's playing a wildly different character than himself, a kid with ridiculous energy who's simultaneously the most annoying teen you know and a spotless ray of sunshine.

This show also achieves the rare feat of having a strong narrative with a beginning, middle, and end. It's an actual story with an actual ending. You'll leave the last episode totally satisfied (and then fall into a depression that there isn't more because MTV was too dumb to see the magic happening right in front of them.)

For anyone wondering about the adult content, the show's humor is fairly edgy but curses are bleeped out. Episode 4 leans towards an R rating but the rest of the show is comfortably PG-13.

I'm glad this show exists. Hopefully you'll feel that way too.

For Those in Peril (2013)

This movie is not what it seems - which is why I loved it.

[8/10 · 18 February 2020]

An artistic character study of a young man, Aaron, (George Mackay) who is the sole survivor of a fishing boat accident that claimed his brother's life. His Scottish village mourns for the dead while disrespecting the living, believing that those who survive such accidents are somehow less noble than those who died. Because of this, Aaron is treated like an outcast and given little sympathy. Alone and unraveling, Aaron determines to go back to sea and find his brother, no matter the cost.

But this movie is not at all what it seems, which makes it a divisive movie. Some people will love it, some will hate it. I thought I knew where this movie was going and when it took a drastically different route I was shocked but I could not look away.

I also happen to love George Mackay and he's the real reason I watched this movie. I honestly wasn't expecting much from the film though. It was pretty slow at times and I expected it to stay slow, but there is a dramatic shift at a certain point in the movie, and well, you just have to watch it to see what I mean. If you've followed any of George Mackay's work, this is a true George Mackay film and his performance is wonderful as always. Understated, subtle, then jarring and emotionally powerful. He won a Scottish BAFTA for this and now I know why.

If you're looking for a quiet indie film about personal discovery and healing, this might not be for you. This film is a realistic drama but it also has an element of folklore and horror. It was a bit of a mind trip too. There were times where I wasn't sure if what I was seeing was real or not. And just when you think it won't get stranger, it does. George Mackay really knows how to pick his roles. His filmography is so consistently good it's crazy. I don't know if I've ever seen an actor this young, this good, and in this many powerful films.

I loved this movie and it's earned its place among George Mackay's most memorable performances.