*This is a translated article by QooApp under the permission of SPICE. Reproduction in any form without permission is prohibited.
Mob Psycho 100 began its life as a humble webcomic by ONE that initially ran from April 2012 to December 2017. Officially serialized on the Ura Sunday website, the manga series quickly gained traction being turned into a cornucopia of media ranging from TV anime, live-action films, stage plays, and many more. The series is gearing up for its third anime season, going by the title “Mob Psycho III”, where the series will be reaching its penultimate climax.
Amidst the simmering hype, the Mob Psycho III Exhibition commenced on December 2 to Christmas on December 25, 2022. The art exhibit enclosed animation stills, alongside sets meticulously replicating various locations seen throughout the series. In this hands-on report, we’ll be taking a look at some of the key spots featured in the exhibition!
▍Partake in the Psycho Helmet Cult Seen in Mob Psycho III
Before entering the premise, everyone is handed a Psycho Helmet mask, which also happens to be the exhibition’s admission ticket. The sight of every guest carrying around the face of the mysterious entity born from the Divine Tree was a sight to behold.
Visitors were also able to pick up a business card of the members of the Spirits and Such Consultation Office. Though they don’t actually have watermarks, they certainly do have a certain weighty feel to them, just like any high-quality card.
The entrance of the exhibition greets its guests with a striking illustration specially made for the occasion. Among the character profiles on the right, we can also see the projecting signboards for the Spirits and Such Consultation Office alongside the signage for the cafe located right above Reigen’s office.
The panels displaying each of the major players in Mob Psycho are complimented by a detailed summary of all that has happened in the series right up until the end of the Divine Tree arc. These explanations definitely help any proverbial viewers catch up with the story so far for the anticipatory 3rd season plot of the anime.
Don’t forget to check out the special screening of the full opening for Mob Psycho III in all its grandeur!
▍Spirits and Such Consultation Office Recreated
Moving further inside, we enter one of the highlights of the art exhibition, the interior of the Spirits and Such Consultation Office recreated in a 1:1 scale. Guests were free to walk around the set and even sit on the furniture strewn about the agency office. Every detail is replicated here, down to the tiny Haniwa clay figure perched up in front of the TV!
Sitting right in the seat where Reigen would be in the Mob Psycho anime, we get a few that looks like this. As a bit of a surprise, the office phone on the desk also rang out on occasion, as the guests were encouraged to pick up and answer! These phone calls feature special comments from the voice cast of the anime. So every time the phone rang, visitors would eagerly grab the handset to see whos on the other side of the line.
▍A chance to wear THAT shirt
Walking into what looks to be an alley with haphazardly pasted-on posters of the Psycho Helmet Cult, one can take a look at the humourous details of how the posters mistakenly write SAIKO in their praises for their questionable deity. That’s not all this alley has to offer as we take a step forward with the monitor placed here…
Walking up to the monitor, you can take a look at yourself covered in a psychic aura! As seen in the picture, we can also find the editor putting the mask-shaped ticket to good use.
The aura effect isn’t all that happens here, as it dissipates and changes into the iconic balding monkey t-shirt Hanazawa recommended Mob wear on the day he confesses to Tsubomi Takane. Care to show yourself wearing this eccentric fashion to your friends?
▍Retrace the Many Iconic Scenes in the Show
Heading deeper inside, we encounter a green-lit room covered in tree trunk-like formations lining the walls. Surely replicating the inside of the Divine Tree, the atmosphere here is much more ominous. Here we see some key moments from the show featuring God Dimple, after his dramatic power-up and his various fight scenes.
The next area shows an impressive series of anime stills and keyframes straight from the production studios. Each frame shows the different directions and advice that must have been forwarded to the animators who would breathe life into these stills in the final animations! Keyframes and manuscripts detailing character/fashion designs, sure enough, had various annotations likely by the director telling the artists to “go nuts” with the designs.
The two floating box-shaped contraptions were mini theaters where visitors could stick their heads inside to see videos. One would show the promotional video for Mob Psycho III in all of its dynamic splendor.
The other box would show the pencil-drawn-style animated shorts that would show up before and after commercial breaks. Both mini theaters holistically give a preview of the humorous side as well as the more serious tones one can expect in Mob Psycho.
▍Till We Meet Again
The final area of the Mob Psycho III Exhibition dedicates itself entirely to Dimple, the evil spirit. Here, Dimple would occasionally utter different dialogues and gags that would also subsequently change his facial expressions accordingly. Dialogues were specially recorded for this exhibition and acted out by his voice actor Akio Ōtsuka!
To the left of this session, we see a broccoli-shaped panel where visitors could stick their own messages on a post-it note (that also happens to be shaped like Psycho Helmet!) handed out when entering the exhibition.
One of the post-it notes covering the giant broccoli was written by the original manga artist ONE. Messages from the many staff members that took part in the production of Mob Psycho III can be seen here too, offering snippets of insight into the show!
Mob Psycho EXHIBITION took place in Ikebukuro Parco, inside the Parco Factory throughout December, during which the department store hosted a collaboration event. The collab saw the Parco store decorated with special illustrated Christmas-themed visuals of characters from Mob Psycho and featuring in-store announcements by Shigeo Kageyama and Dimple. Truly an event for all-die hard fans of the series!
▍ Mob Psycho 100 III Exhibition Details
Exhibition Period: December 2, 2022 [Fri] ~ December 25, 2022 [Sun]
Business Hours: 11:00 ~ 21:00 (Last Admission: 20:30)
↳ Final Opening day business hours: 11:00 ~ 18:00 (Last Admission: 17:30)
Venue: PARCO FACTORY, Ikebukuro PARCO Main Building, 7F
Ticket Fees (including tax):
Reservation Ticket: JPY$800
Same-Day Ticket: JPY$800
↳ Free admission for customers under primary school age
↳ Shareholder Benefits non-applicable
Venue Official Website: https://ikebukuro.parco.jp
Exhibition Official Website: https://mobpsycho100.com
Exhibition Official Twitter: @mobpsychokiseki
Event Organized by: PARCO
CO-planned by: “Mob Psycho 100 III Exhibition” Production Committee
Supported by: TOKYO MX
The original article was written by Mika Kosugi (小杉美香) and published by SPICE, which can be found here: https://spice.eplus.jp/articles/311648
