I feel like episode three fell a bit flat for me. Which was disappointing because it started strong: the opening scene with Tsubomi was great, the bits with Tome and Mezato were solid, and Shigeo’s mom evesdropping on him ✨talking to a girl✨ was really cute.
I think why I found this episode disappointing was mainly due to how over the moon excited I was for the monkey shirt, which IMO is one of the funniest gags in MP100 as a whole. Given their track record, I had high hopes for Bones’ generally excellent adaption skills.
Unfortunately they made some genuinely baffling decisions when it came to portraying the monkey shirt arc.
There are two scenes in particular where I thought the adaption was particularly lackluster: Teru’s “you’re really cool” bit and the shirt’s final reveal. Allow me to explain.
First let’s examine Teru’s bit from the webcomic. I’ve removed the dialogue because it's not very relevant to my point:
90% of what makes this interaction so funny is the framing; it’s incredibly expressive. When I look at this page, I can easily imagine the way it would translate into animation: Fade everything out to a wide angle shot of Teru suspended in black space. He has a moment of dying-inside-surprise, an awkward laugh, a vaguely horrified expression that says ‘he’s serious?’
Cut to a high intensity closeup with a literal energy beam behind him. You can practically hear the SFX that would fit here. Finally, a reverse shot of Shigeo looking extremely average while surrounded by anime girl sparkle. This really drives home what Teru thinks of him: he is amazing and cool and special even if Shigeo may not believe it himself.
I saw somebody say that there’s a sense of desperation here, and I’m definitely inclined to agree. Teru’s desperate to convince Shigeo he really is very cool.
Hilarious, right?
Now let’s look at the way it was actually translated in the anime. Pretend you do not know who these characters are and ask yourself: how does the blond kid feel towards the black-haired kid? What might he be saying to him?
“You don’t like tapioca pearls, Kageyama-kun? That’s okay: we can get milk tea without them.”
This is just Teru being a Cool Guy. Where is the dorky intensity we feel from the comic?
And what’s with the reverse dick pic angle? What emotion is this supposed to convey? What impression was this supposed to leave me with?
Tobias • 4 months ago put it best:
Also, look at Teru’s shirt in the comic. It’s loud. He looks like a washed up 30-year-old on his way to a disco. I understand why the animators made it solid--you’d have to be sadistic to demand they animate Swiss/polka dot fabric--but I feel like there was a missed opportunity here to at least make the shirt an uglier colour than brick red.
This energy difference can be seen again when the monkey shirt is finally revealed:
In the comic we get the sense that Shigeo is walking through the park, and people are turning their heads as he passes. Then we get a full panel reveal from a low-ish angle, and the shirt is awful. We realise that this kid has been has been giving everyone an unobscured, 360 view of this offense against god since he left home. The story boarding conveys movement, and the low angle ONE drew here works because it clearly serves a purpose: to highlight Shigeo’s discomfort and doubt. Decent payoff given the literary/artistic medium.
In the anime, Shigeo partially covers the shirt with a jacket (why?), and he’s already sitting on the bench for the reveal. It’s another static moment where the only real movement is the camera panning down. Shigeo is less exposed overall, and we never actually get to see the entire shirt. The way this is framed actually detracts from the comedy. I remember sitting there thinking, that’s it? All that buildup and this is the payoff? It’s so blah.
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Anyway, that’s all I had to say and I don’t know how to end this rant so have this edited screenshot of the time I made myself laugh because of Reigen’s slurp
“Mob”-Shiegeo from Mob psycho 100 (waering his “I think Im cool with it shirt XD).
my sister started to watch that series and I watched some episodes with her...
and i have to say: Wow. its pretty cool! Everyone who likes Soul eater should like it as well...dont know why but it is similar (a little bit crazy, loveable charcters, tension). The manga is drawn horrible...but the story is really awesome. :-D Try it out if you are bored...*g*
