Mob Psycho 100: Reigen

Shigeyo “Mob” Kageyama may be the star of “Mob Psycho 100,” but there’s no denying the appeal of his boss Reigen Arataka.  A conman with a surprisingly strong moral center, Reigen’s only weapon when it comes to fighting off supernatural forces (and angry clients) is his keen wit that can see through to what’s really going on.  So it’s not surprising that creator ONE decided to do a spinoff series in order to give this character the spotlight he deserves.  Unfortunately, “Reigen” is the kind of spinoff that doesn’t actually put a spotlight onto the character in question.  What we get instead is a new character, Tome Kurata, a highschool girl obsessed with the occult, who wants to work with Reigen as he battles supernatural forces.  Reigen, being a more responsible adult than he lets on, knows the dangers inherent in his occupation and keeps trying to get Tome out of his office and to leave him alone.  The problem here is that even if the title character has the best of intentions, the supernatural is everywhere in this world and it’ll definitely find someone who wants to go looking for it.

There are seven chapters in this volume, and the best involve Tome, Reigen, and company dealing with an actual supernatural threat.  Sometimes it may involve something scratching at a senior citizen’s wall during the night, while a couple revolve around a malevolent cursed ground, whose influence actual psychics have been chipping away at for a while now.  Those stories in particular are genuinely creepy, while also showing that Reigen can muster genuine courage when the situation calls for it.  Tome may come off like a pretty generic character, but her lack of psychic power provides a different perspective for interacting with the title character than Mob.  So the end result is that we do get some new insight into Reigen’s personality along with decent stories as well.  This spinoff may not have the “Level 131 Max Spirit Power” that its namesake does, but existing “Mob Psycho 100” fans will likely find it to be a satisfying read nonetheless.