Josh Dunham

“It’s a peak of anime visual storytelling…”

Mob Psycho episode 11 may very well be the best episode of the series. Of course when the opening shot is a direct homage to Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece, Rashomon, how can you go wrong? Amazing action cuts are backed by a strong narrative, calmer moments exude the overwhelming feeling of cool with attention-grabbing framing, and a dynamic range of artistic style engrosses everyone who lays eyes on it. Episode 11 is a strong contender for my fictitious ‘Episode of the Year’ award – it embodies the very best anime has to offer. And I place the blame firmly on the shoulders of one man: Hakuyu Go.

Funny thing is, we’ve all seen Hakuyu Go, and never realized it. Go did work on some of the most popular works of yesteryear; a post from the Taiwanesse website, Plurk, states he’s a Taiwaneese breakthrough artist in the anime industry who contributed a few cuts to the opening of Ping Pong under the name Boyu Wu. The name Boyu Wu also appears in the Animator Expo darling ME!ME!ME!, (though which cut he is thought to have contributed varies) and personal favorite of mine, Ibuseki Yoruni. In the opening of My Hero Academia, Hakuyu Go was responsible for the cut with Eraser Head (which really reminds me of Atsushi Wakabayashi’s style), as well as some other minor cuts in some pretty plot important battles. Last but not least, Sakugabooru has him listed for cuts on Seraph of the End and Blood Blockade Battlefront. But all that speaks nothing to the style of these cuts.

The influence from Yutaka Nakamura is rather obvious, Yutapon cube like wreckage and debris as well as robust, spare-no-expense animation. But I want to focus more on the Wakabayashi parallel I see. For a lot of people, Wakabayashi is a name that flies over their head despite being responsible for half of the amazing moments in Yu Yu Hakusho and Naruto. Atsushi Wakabayashi is a studio Pierrot veteran responsible for some of the greatest cuts the studio has ever produced. His work on Yu Yu Hakusho alone is worth the 112 episodes (and I’ve been thinking of of writing something on his style alone, consider this a primer). The fight in YYH episode 24 between the Masked Fighter and Shishiwakamaru feel very much like the cut above from 0:12 onward. One great tell is the darting in an out of the foreground, a Wakabayashi tell; another would be motivated camera movement, that is, the camera follows because the action demands it. Now having seen the amazing skills of Hakuyu Go, I can’t help but wonder where he will appear next.

Aside from these two amazing cuts was the perfect inclusion of Reign into the whole mix, and his usage as a narrative tool to juxtapose childhood and being an adult. Often times the camera pans at a low angle, or colors him in such a way that causes him to feel superior to his situation, like a passive, responsible, hypocritical adult. The same goes for Ishiguro, the mysterious head of Claw’s 7th Division, bathed in bloodthirsty reds and a ‘melty’ formless cut that plays on his ambiguity in a Shinra Ohira fasion.

It would also be a sin to forget Miyo Sato’s paintwork. Every time we see her work it floods the screen with texture, but this time her cut was contained within the line art of another artist, creating the perfect visual metaphor of building emotion – distraught blues turn to hostile maroons. This emotion then fills the screen like we are used to, but only before being slapped back to traditional animation by Reigen. It’s a peak of anime visual storytelling, one that should be examined and pointed to as a paragon for years to come.

Mob Psycho is a show about emotions. And just as Mob learns what it feels like to willingly want to hurt another person (although he was provoked) an immediate and sharp consequence is provided. The show finds its voice that speaks loud and clear in the final scene, ‘this is what happens.’ But rest assured, Dimple will be back!