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Shigeo Kageyama, also known as Mob, is the main protagonist of the manga and anime, Mob Psycho 100. He's a regular middle schooler who possesses psychic powers and tries to navigate his life while dealing with his supernatural abilities.
Why He Rocks
- Shigeo starts out as an emotionless, insecure young teenager, but as the story progresses, he develops into a more confident, open and driven young man.
- Shigeo is incredibly well-written, and his character development is both realistic and heartwarming.
- Shigeo manages to stand out from several Shonen protagonists in a number of ways and subverts many Shonen protagonist tropes.
- Whereas most Shonen protagonists start out weak and unskilled with their powers, Shigeo is already incredibly strong at the beginning of the series and can defeat most enemies without a problem.
- He doesn't want to be a big flashy hero who uses his powers for justice, but instead prefers to live a regular life and not have to rely on his powers to solve everything.
- Despite having incredible power, Shigeo is not at all popular and really doesn't have many friends at the start of the series.
- Shigeo prefers not to use his powers to hurt others and never looks for strong opponents to fight, always opting to settle things peacefully and befriend his enemies.
- Shigeo starts out as meek and insecure instead of brimming with confidence and optimism like regular Shonen protagonists.
- Shigeo isn't a handsome boy but instead just a regular-looking middle schooler.
- Unlike most Shonen protagonists who only focus on becoming stronger, Shigeo instead spends the story working to improve himself in other ways beyond his psychic powers.
- Shigeo doesn't have any grand ambitions or dreams like other Shonen protagonists, and his only real dream is to confess his feelings to his crush, something which isn't commonly seen in most anime protagonists who're usually completely oblivious to love.
- Unlike many other characters, he actually learns from his enemies and takes their lessons to heart, choosing to grow from his time in Mogami's world and even taking his advice.
- Whereas most protagonists end up getting the girl they like or have many girls fall for them, Shigeo is never pursued romantically and he ends up getting rejected by his crush.
- His fights are amazing, and his explosions to 100% are always filled with tension and action.
- He is the strongest character in the series, and whenever he enters his ???% state, he always obliterates his opponents.
- In seasons 1 and 2, Kyle McCarley did a good job voicing Mob as he brings in the lovable charm to Mob. Setsuo Ito throughout the series also did a good job voicing Mob.
- He develops throughout the series from being entirely dependent on his master, Reigen, to eventually deciding to stop visiting his master and develop his own thoughts and opinions independent of Reigen.
- Even after being put in a mental world by Mogami and psychologically tortured for six months, nearly being driven to insanity, he doesn't give in to Mogami's influence and allow himself to become corrupted, instead saving the girl who'd been bullying him.
- Shigeo is unbelievably kind, never holding grudges against others and forgiving them very quickly. He forgives Minori despite her having mercilessly bullied him for six months, actually going so far as to say he was glad they could meet. Shigeo is even capable of crying for his enemies. Hell, he's even ready to die alongside Toichiro Suzuki, the boss of Claw, just so he wouldn't be alone in his final moments.
- He always tries to find the good in his enemies and manages to redeem many of them in a realistic way.
- Even though he's kind, he's still not afraid to make sacrifices, and is capable of killing his enemies when necessary, but only as a last resort.
- Shigeo is an incredible role model who teaches people to show kindness to others and work towards improving yourself to become a better person.
Bad Qualities
- In season 3 of Mob Psycho 100, Jason Liebrecht did a poor job voicing Mob, as he lacks the charm that Kyle McCarley has for Mob and just sounds like a generic breathy teenager.
- Some people might think of him as too similar to Saitama from One Punch Man, another manga written by ONE, since they're both the main protagonists and possess both overwhelming power and an emotionless demeanor.
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