May 10th, 2021 
Charles Solomon 
Many recent anime TV programs reflect Japan’s daunting socio-economic problems in the post-Bubble economy: An aging, shrinking population; a bleak financial future that makes many young people undesirable as potential marriage partners; growing economic inequality; the persistent trauma from the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident Westerners call Fukushima—and the government’s ineffectual response to it.
In [C] – Control—The Money & Soul of Possibility (2011), university student Kimimaro Yoga works two jobs in convenience stores, hoping to land a permanent position that will enable him to support a wife and one child. The charismatic Akira Takizawa in Eden of the East (2009) is one a special cadre of young people charged with revitalizing the moribund Japanese spirit. Joe, the sullen hero of the hit series Megalobox (2018), rides his motorcycle through the desolate “Restricted Area” of post-apocalyptic Tokyo: The guarded streets of the posh “Administrative District” are off-limits to riffraff like him. His lack of proper identification papers makes him technically ineligible for the high stakes matches he fights.
Two other recent works also suggest the alienation many Japanese young people feel. They haven’t abandoned the world as the hikikomori (willful shut-ins) have, nor are they cocooning themselves in the fantasy worlds of the extreme otaku. But even a superficial glance at One-Punch Man and MobPsycho 100 suggests these shows don’t play to happy audiences across the Pacific.
One-Punch Man (elided in Japanese to “Wanpanman”) began as a 2009 web comic spoofing superheroes by a creator known as “One.” A digital reworking appeared in 2012, and the TV series debuted three years later. The story focuses on Saitama, who got sick of job hunting and decided to pursue his childhood dream of becoming a hero.
Although Saitama says he became a hero “for the fun of it,” few characters in anime history have had less fun. He defeats every foe with a single punch, but his victories don’t excite him. Anime martial artists, from the Z Fighters in Dragon Ball to Deku and his pals in My Hero Academia, use their powers to fight evil, defend the weak and protect people they care about. Saitama lacks that zeal.
Mob Psycho 100, which was animated by the Bones studio in 2016, is also based on a web manga by One. Shigeo Kageyama seems like an ordinary middle school boy–so ordinary, his nickname of Mob (Mobu) plays off a Japanese term for “background character.”
But his nondescript appearance and maladroit demeanor conceal redoubtable psychic powers—Shigeo can subdue a menacing evil spirit without breaking a sweat. Yet he allows himself to be exploited by con-man Reigen Arataka. A self-proclaimed psychic, Arataka woos gullible clients with assurances that he can exorcise malign spirits. But his utter lack of psi powers means Mob invariably has to save his skin.
Although Mob just wants to lead a normal life, he never gets to hang out with his classmates. When Arataka summons him, Mob dashes to the rescue, but it’s not clear why. For potentially risking his life, Arataka tosses him a few coins–barely enough to buy a drink from a vending machine. Deku doesn’t fight villains for money, but his battles give him a sense of purpose. Mob saves people’s lives and property, but his victories generate no more enthusiasm than emptying the waste baskets.
Perhaps Mob and Saitama are the superheroes our disillusioned, post-heroic time demands.
One Punch Man, Season 1
Viz: $59.99, combo pack 4 discs, DVD and Blu-ray
Mob Psycho 100: Season 1
Funimation: $64.98, 4 discs, Blu-ray
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