Uni Blogpost #Sources and Significance (Media Artifact Analyses): 4 (30/10/2025)
(Depiction): Mob Psycho 100 and defining realism.
Mob Psycho 100 (2016) Is an anime series directed by Yuzuru Tachikawa and Takahiro Hasu, based on the 2012 manga series of the same name, created by ONE.
The series follows Shigeo Kageyama, otherwise known as mob, a psychic child trying to discover himself, alongside various side characters, most notably his boss, Arataka Reigen, a con-artist pretending to be a psychic. Throughout the series, we see mob’s growth and development as a character, as he learns more about himself and attempts to achieve his goals of becoming a more fully-rounded, developed person.
The series has seen critical success, with a 90% audience rating on rotten tomatoes (Rotten Tomatoes, NA), being praised for it’s intense action, unique art style and, significantly to me, a sense of realism within it’s story and characters (Piña, V, 2025). This idea of realism being what I will explore throughout this blogpost, as I attempt to identify the ways in which Mob Psycho 100 (2016), an outwardly wacky and unrealistic show, does and doesn’t achieve this idea of realism.
1: Defining realism.
To begin this discussion, we must first define what realism means, and the way’s in which media and art can achieve realism.
Within a broad scope, we can turn to The Aesthetic Relations of Art to Reality (1976) by Nicholas Chernyshevsky, who argues that ‘the first purpose of art is to reproduce nature and life, and this applies to all works of art without exception’ (Chernyshevsk, N. 1976. p.16), with art acting as an inferior snapshot/substitute for reality and the beauty and artistry of life (Chernyshevsk, N. 1976. p.16), serving to ‘give those people who have not been able to enjoy beauty in reality the opportunity to acquaint themselves with it at least to some degree‘ (Chernyshevsk, N. 1976. p.16), being a more universally accessible substituent and recreation of a specific time and place, or idea, within life.
He further argues that art serves to comment on and explain life, it’s meaning and it’s worth, wherein ‘art gives us stories about the lives of men in which the place of factual truth is taken by faithfulness to psychological and moral truth.‘ (Chernyshevsk, N. 1976. p.26), or, in other words, that art both represents and discusses the emotions and mood of a place, object, setting and life.
Ultimately then, he argues that all art, even art which expressly attempts to distance itself from life and reality (Chernyshevsk, N. 1976. p.26-27), are re-creations of life and reality, as even ideas which seek to break conventional reality still require conventional reality to break, Chernyshevsk, N. 1976. 1853 p.26-27). He argues that all artwork is judged, and should be judged, on the extent to which it both accurately represents reality and can further explain, comment or justify itself and reality as it is depicted. (Chernyshevsk, N. 1976. p.20-24). In other words, realism is the primary goal of all artwork, and the main element in which an artwork should be judged or is judged, in terms of how well that artwork captures and comments on the ideas/objects within reality it depicts.
This idea can be seen in the various art movements which surround the concept of realism, most notably realism and naturalism, which grew to prominence in the 19th century, focused on depicting the flawed whole of reality and life, in comparison to romanticism and other, idealistic, art movements, which had sought to create a more perfect, unflawed image. (Meyer, I. 2025)
Both Naturalism and Realism saw heavy focus on depicting both the beauty and flaws of reality, wherein elements like dirt, ugliness, death etc would be depicted alongside the clean, beautiful, alive, etc, in at attempt to create a more accurate snapshot of reality, to better reflect life as a whole. Both naturalist and realistic artwork often focused on the depiction of nature, the poor, the old and the sick within their pieces, in comparison to earlier movements focus on youth and the beautiful. (Meyer, I. 2025)
While they share many similarities, however, naturalism saw a greater focus on the pure, untainted depiction of reality and real objects within an aesthetic sense, (Meyer, I. 2024) seeking to capture every detail and blemish within reality, while realism was focused more generally on the depiction of realistic subjects and life as it was (Meyer, I. 2024), that is to say, on the struggles and beauty of life, specifically that of the poor. (Meyer, I. 2024). Realism was as much about the politics of it’s art as it was it’s aesthetic, wherein the depiction of ‘real’ life, that being the life of the less fortunate, and criticism of upper-class life and traditional social structures, acted as the main avenue in which the art sought to be real (Meyer, I. 2024). Naturalism sought reality through a visual recreation, realism sought reality through it’s content and context.
(the stone breakers, a realism painting. Courbet, G. (1849)
(Punts moored on still waters, a naturalist painting, by Biva, H. NA)
We can see this second idea of realism, wherein realism arises from a depiction of an idea or people within reality in such a way as to feel ‘real’ to the audience, within the magical realism movement, an early, 20th century movement which saw artists ‘attempt to find a new way of expressing a deeper understanding of reality... through experimentation with painting and narrative techniques.’ (Bowers, M.A. 2004, p.7). Within magical realism, the artist’s uses ‘accurate detail' and a 'smooth photograph-like clarity of picture ‘ to represent ‘the mystical non-material aspects of reality.‘ (Bowers, M.A. 2004. p.8.). In other words, then, he argues that magical realism is a style of realism that focuses on detail and clarity within it’s representation on the greater tone, emotions and themes of reality. This was often done through art styles and methods which distort and exaggerate certain elements of reality, highlighting realities flaws, ugliness and it’s most significant details (Bowers, M.A 2004, p.8-9), in hopes of further emphasizing those ideas and emotions, to make them resonate most strongly with people, and thus represent reality more clearly through a heightening of it’s emotions.
(Grey Day, A magical realism painting, by Grosz, G. 1921)
This idea, that realism can arise from the exaggeration or distortion of reality, for the purpose of making a scene and it’s emotions feel more understandable and sympathetic to the audience, is especially significant within the field of animation, wherein the concept of exaggeration, largely for the purpose of readability, sympathy and reality, was recognized as one of the 12 major principles of animation by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston (1981). Thomas and Johnston note how Walt Disney, when asking for realism, ‘wanted a caricature of realism’ (Thomas, F & Johnston, O. 1981, p.65-66), as, by further exaggerating the feelings, actions and tone of a character and scene, it helped build an emotional connection between the audience and characters on screen, thus making them feel more real. (Thomas, F & Johnston, O. 1981, p.65-66)
Ultimately, then, we can argue that realism, in art, is defined by the extent to which art depicts reality, either in terms of it’s pure aesthetic, depicting both the flaws and beauty of reality in as much detail and accuracy as possible, and within the expression of emotions and ideas within the artwork, wherein the art builds characters and stories with a clear sense of method and weight to them and their actions, and wherein the audience is able to understand and feel/take in the emotions and messaging of a work. We can take this idea further, alongside the ideas Monika Biswa, and argue that realism within art is often defined in two, broad categories, ‘representation’, the extent to which a piece of art is able to accurately re-create or describe and capture the appearance/content of reality (Biswa, M. 2021, p.158) and ‘narration’, the extent to which a piece of art accurately ‘conforms to normative ideas of space, duration, causality, character and so on.’ (Biswa, M. 2021, p.158)/ In other words, the extent to which an artwork’s story, setting and characters feel real, in terms of either their design and appearance, or in terms of their actions, timeline, sense of space and the extent to which it feels like actions have effects, etc.
All taken together, we can define realism in art as the various ways in which a piece of art attempts to replicate and build a sense of reality within itself, through either it's aesthetics or narrative, with said realism arising from both the accurate recreation of existing objects/ideas, and an easily understood and emphatic depiction of emotions, ideas and themes, which can arise from both aesthetics and narrative/theming/emotions/writing.
2: The realism of ‘Mob Psycho 100’
Within our discussion of realism, as it pertains to Mob Psycho 100 (2016), we can ignore the idea of realism in aesthetic immediately as, even in comparison to most other cartoons, the show is recognizable for it’s unique art style, which often favors and highlights the simplicity and roughness of ONE’s original manga series (One. 2012).
(A trailer for Mob Psycho 100 (2016), uploaded by IGN. 2016)
(A page from Mob Psycho 100 (One, 2012) taken from MangaOne, 2018)
There for, we must look at the ways in which Mob Psycho 100 (2016) reflects reality in terms of narration, or in other words, how it reflects feelings, themes and ideas, found within reality, in itself, and makes said reflection feel real.
Ironically, perhaps, one of the main ways in which the show builds a sense of reality is through it’s unique, rough aesthetic, by utilizing this roughness for a greater freedom and fluidity within it's animation. Due to the lack of solid construction, the animation is able to utilize more exaggerated movements, actions, reactions and expressions, without the risk of losing the audience’s sense of immersion and belief within the artwork and the world/story it presents.
Within this way, it could be argued that Mob Psycho 100 (2016) is following the animation principle of exaggeration as espoused by Thomas and Johnston (1981, p.65-66). Through Mob Psycho 100s (2016) use of it’s own roughness to exaggerate it’s world, setting, action and character emotions, it is able to build a sense of understanding between the audience and the animated characters, as the audiences builds a connection between the characters and their emotions, as their exaggerated expression better reflects how such emotions feel to the audience as they experience them, and thus causes the audience to empathic towards, or even relive said emotions through, the characters.
In other words, Mob Psycho 100 (2016), through it’s use of a rough, exaggerated art style, is able to further emphasize and exaggerate the reactions and emotions of it’s characters, which helps build a greater emotional connection between the artwork and it’s audience, as the characters within the artwork express emotions in a way which feels realistic, not within the expression of emotions themselves, but in how their exaggerated expression mimics the feeling of said emotions to the audience as they experience them.
(Screen-grab of a Mob Psycho 100 (2016) character, Reigen Arataka, expressing extreme emotions)
This sense of exaggeration is notable within Mob Psycho 100 (2016), as it even extends to feelings of apathy and emotional repression, through the main character of Mob. Mob goes through an arc of learning to express himself more as a person, after years of living with deep social and emotional repression, and the exaggerated/unrealistic presentation of emotions within the show helps highlight mob’s own emotional repression. Wherein other characters will react with large expressions and exaggerated movements, mob reacts to almost any situation with near total restraint, his face and body language rarely breaking away from the bored stiffness he usual conveys. This helps build a sense of understanding between the audience and mob, as, through heightening the actions of everyone else within the story, mob own sense of isolation from the world, due to his own lack of self expression, is clearly highlighted. This also helps make times he does show emotions, even when done in a more subtle way, feel like notable signs of growth and development within his character, helping to make his emotional journey within the story feel more real through a deliberate contrast between the heightened of emotions of the rest of the cast, and mob’s own lack of emotional displays.
(Screen-grab of a Mob Psycho 100 (2016) character, Mob, with a simple expression)
Furthermore, the roughness and abstract nature of Mob Psycho 100s (2016) art style, though separating the product visually from reality, also helps to further build a sense of reality and life into the work through the avoidance of unnecessary details. As discussed by Malou van Rooij, the benefits of animation, in terms of building a sense of realism and connection in their characters, comes within animations own ability to simplify reality into a more abstract, conceptual and focused state, (Rooij, M.V. 2019. p.197-198), wherein characters are designed with their characteristic, personalities, story roles and emotions in mind. (Rooij, M.V. 2019. p.197-198). This helps build on the reality of the characters to the audience, as, by making them more simple and conceptual in appearance, the audience is able to more clearly understand the character in terms of their characterization and personality, (Rooij, M.V. 2019. p.197-198) as it is fully expressed within their appearance. Mob Psycho 100 (2016) again follows this idea, with many of it’s characters designs quickly conveying their intentions and ideas. This focus on exaggerated features within the character designs, though making the artwork less visually realistic, heightens the emotions and characteristic of the series and characters, making them feel more real to the audience in terms of said personality and emotions.
(Screen-grab of a group of Mob Psycho 100 (2016) characters, called the body improvement club. Their designs feature exaggerated muscles to help make them read more notably as strong and athletic characters. Given more stereotypical punk/dangerous hairstyles, to contrast with friendly personalities for comedy)
These various methods of exaggerating a characters emotions and thematic uses, for the purpose of making them feel more understandable, and therefor real, is further enhanced by the stories and messages that Mob Psycho 100 (2016) attempts to tell.
While the series setting is unrealistic, focusing on battles between monsters, spirits and characters with psychic/magic abilities, this fantastical reality is contrasted with a story and narrative which heavily focuses on the mundanity of life, wherein mob struggles with fitting in at school, bettering himself as a person, and dealing with his inner turmoil, self doubt and fear. The fantastical elements of the story are often contrasted with these more mundane elements, not only for the purpose of parody and comedy, wherein the unassuming mob struggles with average tasks, but excels as a psychic, but also to help emphasize the significance of mob’s mundane struggles, which make up the bulk of the stories growth and major character arcs. While the show presents various messages through fantastical conflicts, wherein the stakes and emotions are heightened, these messages are brought, related and re-focused back onto the more mundane and universal messages which the show is trying to present and discuss, which gives these otherwise understated scenes a greater sense of dramatic weight due to this use of contrasts and connection..
In this way, Mob Psycho 100 (2016) can be seen as following a similar approach to that of magical realism, wherein it uses a highly complex, yet simple and abstract, art style and setting, for the purpose of heightening the more mundane and realistic elements and messages of life in which it attempts to present. Though it does not fully fall into the camp of magical realism, in so far as the world it presents Is inherently magical, rather than being a magical representation of reality (that is to say, whereas within magical realism, where the world presented is meant to be realistic, but simply distorted by the art style, the world presented in Mob Psycho 100 (2016) is unrealistic by the nature of magic and spirits.), it still follows the major ideas of presenting realistic, mundane situations within an art style and framing which heightens the emotions and ideology behind the content being presented. Moreover, though attempting to imagine a unique, fantastical world, rather than purely replicating reality as it is, it could be argued that Mob Psycho 100 (2016) still manages to comment and explain life within itself, through the growth of mob and a story which focuses on exploring the message of self improvement and acceptance, meeting Chernyshevsk’s expectations and requirements for realism and quality. (1976)
3: Conclusion.
Ultimately, we can see, within Mob Psycho 100 (2016), the various ways in which a piece of media can and cannot be considered realistic.
While Mob Psycho 100 (2016) doesn’t attempt to portray a world, story or characters with the same sense of grounding or subtlety of which is expected from real life. While the world Mob Psycho 100 (2016) is full of magic and spirits, wherein characters only look like stylized approximations of humans, and display their emotions in exaggerated ways, it could still be argued that the series is realistic, even if not by nature of it’s aesthetics and story trappings, through the sense of life and reality it gives to it’s characters, their emotions and the messages the show conveys.
Mob Psycho 100 (2016) achieves a sense of realism through the depth and weight it gives it’s characters, their personalities, arcs and the themes of the show, with each idea being explored to it’s greatest and worst extent. This exploration feels real, not due to a focus on subtlety and restraint (at least beyond mob himself), but instead due to an exaggeration within character design, movement, and actions. Through this exaggeration of reality, the audience is able to more easily connect with the emotional displays of the characters, connecting how characters react to their emotions to how the audience feels when experiencing them.
We can argue, then, that Mob Psycho 100 (2016) shows us that realism within a work can be achieved, even within a fantastical setting, artstyle and with exaggerated characters, if said work is able to use these fantastical elements to help build a connection between the audience and the work’s themes/characters/emotions. Realism within a work does not require the work to mimic reality in terms of it’s physicality, that is to say, it’s detailed aesthetic and lack of fantasy, but instead can achieve realism through the active heightening of emotions and fantasy within the work, by building a greater sense of character and life to it’s world and characters. This can be achieved through exaggerating characters movements and emotional expressions, and simplifying their appearance to focus on the most significant details, to build an emotional understanding and connection between the audience and characters.
This is an especially useful concept to consider within my own work, not only given how Mob Psycho 100 (2016) is an incredibly successful and popular, 2d animated series and comic, of which 2d animation is my main specialty, and therefore acts as a good guide and inspiration for my future work in general, but also in how it helps display how a sense of realism and sense-of-connection between the work and audience can be built within a work through the use of simplification and exaggeration. Given that, I would argue, the main goal of my artwork, and most artwork, is to build a connection to the audience and create an easy to understand and engage with piece of art, at least in terms of the emotions of the work, Mob Psycho 100 (2016) works well as a source of inspiration, in terms of revealing ways in which I am able to create a greater sense of focus and connection between my work, it's story/characters, and the audience, to help create a sense of interest, reality and life to my work.
References:
Biswas, M. (2021) ‘Realism’, BioScope South Asian screen studies, 12(1-2), pp. 158–161.
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