Mob Psycho 100

God the animation in this episode was nothing short of incredible.

God, so many excellent moments in this episode. Mogami's return was appropriately brown pants necessitating even knowing it was coming beforehand. And I enjoyed seeing that brief moment where Shimazaki realized just how bad he fucked up when Mob was like 'you did all of this for fun?'

I also appreciate the closing of both Teru's and Ritsu's arcs as characters. Teru's especially was quite poignant.

And really, how can anything else but the SELF DEFENSE RUSH be the highlight of the episode. At least for me.

Honestly, I forgot how much I loved Mob's little bit about 'Could you manufacture this can?' It's a pretty small thing in this maelstrom of holy shit-ness but it is a really good and proper way of making his 'esper powers aren't that special' viewpoint seem more sensible.

Other than that... well, everyone has talked about how sick it was and I'm in agreement. I forgot to mention this before but the way the show handles the teleporting from a visual standpoint is really good at hammering home just how mad busted and wild it is.

 but it is a really good and proper way of making his 'esper powers aren't that special' viewpoint seem more sensible.

Yeah, Mob's speech provides a more physical context for how psychic powers are just another trait, but Reigan's silver tongue has been an invaluable asset throughout this whole series, and that alone provides a great example.

Read though that Reigen spinoff (starring Tome) and god, Reigen is such a dad.

There's some irony to be had: because for all of Mob's belief that powers don't make anyone special...he wouldn't be the person he is or met his friends without them.

I disagree with that. He wouldn't have known Reigan or Dimple, and he would still have some neurodivergence (remember when he told the Smile cult that he was always bad at expressing emotions, ever since he was born?), but he wouldn't be bottling up his emotions to the breaking point, making him more emotionally healthy. His relationship with Ritsu would definitely be better, and Ritsu himself would be much better off (at least initially) since he wouldn't be consumed with jealousy and fear of Mob's abilities.

Mob might still have joined the Body Improvement Club since his desire to be buff is explicitly separated from his psychic abilities.

Yeah, a big part of his social issues are a consequence of Mob constantly repressing his emotions after the incident with Ritsu... that said, the turning point of the Mogami arc was Mob acknowledging he's privileged, in a way, and learning to be grateful for it.

Meeting Reigen is a significant point in Mob's life and when he began to value himself beyond his powers.

Take that away and I couldn't see him being as motivated. He'd probably live a more normal life, but even you said he's always been a bit emotionally stunted and it only got worse after the incident.

But he wouldn't have the issue of only valuing himself for his powers... if he didn't have his powers.

Honestly, Mob's powers, or more accurately how those powers have affected his life and worldview, are so entrenched within his character it would be difficult to see what he would have been like if he had not had them.

One can also think of One-Punch Man when Saitama fights an alien who has telekinetic powers and uses them to throw rocks at him. Saitama says this power is dumb, because everyone can throw rocks ~ while killing his opponent with a rock.

I just read through the Reigan spin-off. It's pretty good, I think it would work well as 2 to 3 OVAs after Season 3 ends, whenever that is.

Cool episode, but that's not even news anymore. This is probably the most standard-shonen part of the story, though. It's a bit strange. The first season ended with Reigen showing up and subverting every expectation, now that gets sort of Double Subverted and it's really up to Mob to solve things with a big badass shonen fight. Can't wait to see how they'll animate everything that's about to happen...

Edited by Cozzer on Mar 25th 2019 at 11:11:21 AM

Me, 7 episodes ago: wow, so this is the climax of Mob Psycho 100
Me, 5 episodes ago: wow so this is the climax
Me, 1 episode ago: wow so this is the climax
Me with this episode: wow so this is the cl-

Serizawa is very relatable, loved all the ways they played around with his umbrella.

My impression of Shou's dad is his character becomes increasingly blander with every episode and uhh I'm not quite sure how to feel about backstory being revealed in the last episode (because there's clearly some more detail with him and Shou that hasn't been revealed yet).

thanks Reigen you did your best, now time to see how this final showdown goes. Can't believe this season's already almost over

Edited by Nouct on Mar 25th 2019 at 3:55:39 AM

Claw boss being a dark parallel to both Mob and Reigen is "mwah!".

@nouct The thing about Touichirou is that this kind of really is all there is to him. He's the ultimate escalation of the same shitty mindset that Teru had. It's just that until now no one has stepped in to correct it because no one could. His ex-wife was disgusted by his eventual cruelty and it is something that he regrets, but it was still something that doesn't have much impact on him until the very end.

In a strange way this really is a mirror match of that early confrontation, especially regarding the implications for both sides. It's just that in this case Touichirou is someone who has what he believes to be enough power to stand up against Mob, and Mob's struggle is to make Touichirou understand without losing control.

Spoilers for the next and final episode of this seasons: Much like Teru, Touichirou has an entire series of OH SHIT moments when he realizes over and over that Mob is still holding back in spite of everything. And Mob reaches a nadir within the fight when he finally gives up trying to convince Touichirou to become a better person, leading to 100% Resignation. Of course right after that is the first time in the real world that Mob uses 100% Courage. And unlike the fight with Teru, Mob ends things on his terms, with his feelings, and uses 100% Kindness to not only save himself but everyone.

I realize I forgot to comment on today's episode. There's not really much to say other than it's been really fantastic as usual. The cuts to some of the content they had to make do make sense, and I thoroughly enjoyed the interplay between Mob and Serizawa. The latter being someone who also had a capacity to be a mirror to Mob.

Edited by Grahf on Mar 25th 2019 at 9:18:24 AM

Oh, and props to Reigen for just shooting the son of a bitch in the face as soon as he sees how much Mob is hurt. It was useless, but Reigen couldn't know that for sure. He was ready to murder Touchirou if he had the chance.

Trying not to read too much of the spoilers, I do agree the parallels work but I still don't find him very engaging on his own unlike Mogami, Teru, or the Scars.

aw this is cute, the Japanese VAs did a little bit of roleplay after the episode aired.

It's weird that Touichiro is basically an amalgamation of every antagonist Mob has faced this far, including Reigen.

I've been re-reading Boss Fight is preparation of the next episode, and one little moment that I really hope they keep is Mob comparing Toichiro's entire life to his 6 months in Mogami's world. It really shows how truly pitiful and sad Toichiro's life has been and how alike he and Mob are.

One thing Mob Psycho 100 does is making the big villains into dark reflections of the main character, except Mob Psycho does it really well and organically, as opposed to something like Naruto, where it comes across as super forced and contrived.

Here's how I think Season 3 will break down:

Episode 1: aftermath of season 2 finale + thinking about careers in the future

Episode 2: yokai and culture festival planning

Episodes 3-5: Divine Tree Arc (episode 3 is the build-up, episode 4 is everyone being taken over to the fight with Teru, and episode 5 is the fight with Dimple to "Dimple was a friend")

Episodes 6-7: Telepathy Arc (episode 6 is the search for telepathic people, and episode 7 is hiking and first contact)

Episode 8: Mob prepares to confess to Tsubomi

Episodes 9-12: ???% Arc (episode 9 is Teru, episode 10 is Toichiro and Shou, episode 11 is the Body Improvement Club, Ritsu, and Shigeo, episode 12 is Reigen, Dimple, and the epilogue)

Edited by PushoverMediaCritic on Mar 27th 2019 at 10:15:01 AM

I'm just so excited for the season finale. I can't wait for "Body Improvement! Fight on! Fight on!" 100% Courage, among many other fantastic moments.

Yeah, it's been a while since I was so hyped for an episode of something. Can't wait to get home from work to watch it.

The final episode's out, and it's fantastic.

I think they could have made the Boss Fight longer to not skip 100% Shame and Compassion and included all of the little cards telling us which 100% form Mob was using, as well as more cards telling us what percentage Toichiro was using, since that was a great little bit of mirroring going on.

That said, they included almost all of the Boss Fight, and they even put in a lot more of the aftermath than I was expecting. Honestly, I think they should have cut back a little bit on the aftermath, maybe end with the broccoli reveal, and include more of the fight, but those are minor gripes about what is, in the end, a fantastic finale to season 2.

Here's to season 3 coming soon and being even better!

Edited by PushoverMediaCritic on Apr 1st 2019 at 11:20:54 AM

Woah. It's all great, but Toichiro's body being literally destroyed by 100% Resignation, and then 100% Courage Mob versus Flaming Head Toichiro, and then the final "The main character of my life is me"... that's some extremely top-tier stuff.

I loved the eerie atmosphere of the denouement too, with the giant broccoli looming over everything. The only problem is how can I wait for the third season.