Mob Psycho 100 – 05

I know buddy, bad hair days make me cry sometimes too.

Awww, poor Mob. He can’t go a week without getting kidnapped, beaten up, or abducted by a cult. I feel so bad for the poor kid.

Coming into Mob Psycho 100, I expected nothing but animation porn. Admittedly, the show still has a shallow plot, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how it makes up for this by having deep characters. Plotwise, this episode was a contrived fight between Teru and Mob due to a bunch of punks having a petty yet complicated feud. Everything is really just a set-up so we can explore different facets of Mob’s personality each week, which I don’t mind at all. It’s nice that it isn’t all just mindless action sequences – there’s some great characterization going on for Mob (and now for Teru and Ritsu).

Mob Psycho 100 is a nice contrast to One Punch Man, where Saitama was a very one note character who never really grew in a big way. He was already at his maximum power level and he had no qualms with using his abilities when he could. Everyone in that show was already confident doing their thang. In Mob Psycho 100, we have teenagers who already have enough stress passing history class, let along grappling with how to fit in as an esper. They don’t have that confidence in their powers and what they mean to them just yet. There’s a much bigger personal dilemma here with “I have so much power that if I don’t learn to control it soon, I might actually kill people (which is bad)” than “uggghh, I’m so strong that everything is boriiiingggggg”. Even Ritsu’s false confidence is an interesting take on how one deals with being given a special gift in a world full of judgemental teens.

This is the first time we’ve seen two real psychics (sorry Reigen) together, so it’s the first time Mob can have Real Talk about issues only other people with powers would understand. However, Mob and Teru have opposite approaches to coping with having earth-shattering mind powers. Mob prefers to not abuse his powers. It’s just unfortunate that having that much mental restraint is so taxing that every now and then he lets himself go and the results end up worse than if he’d just used them in the first place.

We learn that part of his complex is from a childhood memory where he accidentally hurts his brother (and some bullies) using his powers. This isn’t entirely accurate, as Ritsu says he was actually the one with violent psychic powers. Now, it’s hard to tell if that’s true or not, but if it is, it looks like he has even less control over it as Mob does. It seems he can only activate his powers when under duress, so we have some dark foreshadowing of him accidentally unleashing a wicked force later on. The good news is that he doesn’t seem particularly pleased with the idea of causing mass destruction, so he won’t be turning evil just yet. At least, not on purpose.

It may be interesting to see Ritsu and Mob try to learn to control their powers together. For now, Mob’s in this alone, and he has to find his own way to deal with the cards he’s been dealt. Mob’s current strategy is to hold in his powers, but we see that this doesn’t work. In fact, he’s completely dismayed when he unleashes his powers twice (a ???% explosion and a 100% explosion), in a series of events that destroys the school and then puts it back together again. His fight against Teru makes him realize that no matter how much he lifts weights, he won’t become strong. He’ll never have a talent other than his psychic abilities. He’ll always be a boring kid who will constantly be tempted to use his powers to survive, because he has no other means to succeed in life. It’s a cold, hard reality, but Mob is still trying to resist against this by continuing his friendship with the Body Enhancement Club and limiting his power usage. But just a little, I feel that his confidence in his desired direction of change has wavered. It may be time for him to find a new strategy soon, because this just isn’t working.

Mob isn’t the only one leaving a little different. Teru also is a changed man, and I’m not talking about his hair. The way Teru deals with having supernatural abilities to use them to the fullest. He cheats at tests, tweaks his shots in soccer, and just basically coasts through life thanks to his gift. It doesn’t take Mob long to realize that Teru is a textbook narcissist – underneath the thin veneer of his false confidence is a frail ego. Like Mob, his one skill is being psychic. Strip that away, and he’s just another nervous teenager trying to fit in. It’s something Teru loathes to admit, and this pushes him into a murderous rage.

They both have some tweaking to do with their morals in order to make it through life (or at least high school). Ideally, Mob shouldn’t restrict his powers so severely, because it just makes him prone to explosive outbursts from the stress of holding it in. Trying to change may sound noble, but not if it’s at the expense of denying a core aspect of your being. Teru seems to understand now that he can’t just godmode through life using his psychic powers, although it will take a while for him to find a source of confidence outside of his powers. Maybe he can rely on his looks once his hair grows back. Then people can like the real Teru.

Oh, and I guess Dimple died too this week. Whatevs.

FFFFF—–

About Overcooled

A neuroscience graduate, black belt, and all-around nerd. You'll either find me in my lab or curled up in my rilakkuma kigurumi watching anime.