#did you know i love the mogami arc with all my heart

[fixa-ryeter]

you know what. thank you to @rovercat ‘s post (sorry for the ping, but i would like to express gratitude) for reminding me of the Mogami Arc essay (slightly loose term) i had written (turns out it was fully written already LMAO) and abandoned because i forgot about it

so here’s the thing in full. apologies for the lack of pictures and the over-abundance of words ,,,

okay.. i know i always throw around the fact that i love the Mogami arc so much and when people ask usually i’m like LMAO BECAUSE ANGST but genuinely? there’s another reason.

there’s just something about being pushed down to rock bottom and being on the brink of becoming what you think is the lowest of the low… and having your perception of morality altered from there.

like listen. Shigeo’s rule of Never Use Powers Against Others is set in soft stone by none other than Arataka Reigen, and it’s reinforced by the alleyway incident with ??? emerging and hurting Ritsu in the process. up until this point his entire theory of how to be a good person like Reigen told him to a few years ago is… do not use your powers. the only exception he’s made is for his brother and it was a pretty reasonable,,, yk,,, his brother got beat up and kidnapped,,, like i would excuse myself for that too.

but enter Keiji Mogami who Challenges that rule. Shigeo has been able to adhere to that rule in his reality because he’s surrounded by good people who will support and defend him, so he has no reason to do it himself with his powers… now Mogami’s world treats him to a whole 180° where he doesn’t have powers, but practically every single person there is such a goddamn piece of fucking shit toward him that he starts wishing he had the power to defend himself. to fight back. to teach them a lesson, even. and when Mogami grants him that power after 6 months of hell… like come on. he’s fourteen. of course he’s going to get influenced. and he did—he had already made the decision to hurt Asagiri. 

「僕があんたらに何をしたっていうんだ？さっぱりわからない。でもわからなくていい…どうでもいい…」

“What have I ever done to you? I don’t understand at all. But it’s okay if I don’t understand. It doesn’t matter…”

yeah i don’t know about you but to me that definitely sounds like a kid ready to succumb to using power 

but then comes Dimple, who snaps him out of it, and he never truly lays a finger on Asagiri… but he’d already made the decision that it would be okay to do that, before Dimple stepped in. Shigeo has already lost to Mogami…

not really.

Mogami thinks the world is abhorrent. he’s had his own spoonfuls of poison that give him this view: the world is full of malicious humans who do bad and get away with it, so why not punish them? they are the people who should suffer the negative consequences, and it’s not wrong to wield your power to give them those consequences. they deserve it. it’s necessary, essential to punish wrongdoers. he wants Shigeo, one of the most powerful espers in the series, to empathise with his view. and he does. Mogami influences Shigeo to hurt someone. But it’s Dimple that influences him not to carry through with it, and here’s what i really want to expand upon.

influence is a powerful thing, but it’s not about winning or losing to influence; to me, this arc is (at least partially) about what influences you. what shapes you to be the person you are? what experiences lead you to bad deeds? what events lead you to good actions?

Mogami and Shigeo have both touched on this; it’s partially up to luck to decide whether you’re surrounded with good or bad people, and whether you grow up with good or bad influences… and those will shape you as a person. you don’t put all the blame on a person for their actions, because there’s another question to ask after ‘are their actions good or bad?’—‘why do they do this?’

reality is chock full of these examples, big or small. as a child who had great expectations (Dickens!) put on him, i grew up to be a person conscious of my achievements and how others perceive me; many of my actions have the purpose of keeping up an impression i want to withhold of myself.

but let’s shrink back from reality to anime—Teruki Hanazawa, a boy unlucky enough to have absent parents who don’t give him the love he needs, abusing his powers for a perfect world where he is acknowledged, praised, worshipped. Katsuya Serizawa, a man unlucky enough to be given powers he doesn’t know how to control, shutting himself in his room until he is manipulated by Toichirou Suzuki and dragged out of his room to become a terrorist. Fuck it—Yusuke Sakurai, who never experienced the good of society as a young child, feeling the need to put himself in an organisation who claims to be above society, to take over the world because to absolute hell with a society who’s never treated him well. They’ve all got their backstories, the things that shaped them into what they became in their futures. And each of them were also influenced by others to become better versions of themselves: Teruki and Serizawa by Shigeo, and Sakurai by Reigen.

it’s easy to put the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ labels on people, but i think that the Mogami Arc is against doing this so simply. the ability to empathise with one’s environment and experiences is the most important thing here. it’s what Shigeo learns from how he has been influenced by the people around him, but ultimately, Mogami, someone who had managed to make him a ‘bad person’ who was willing to hurt, even if only for a short while. it’s also why i think that the Mogami Arc is integral to how the World Domination Arc played out—Shigeo empathises with Toichirou. he offers to be someone to talk to, and up until 100% Resignation, attempts again and again to make Toichirou see that there is a way out of the lonely world both of them have seen and lived in, to make Toichirou willing to turn over a new leaf. and even after that, how he tries to absorb Toichirou’s energy to let him have a chance at apologising to his family, to become a better person by righting his wrongs… how to use his empathy is something that Shigeo learns from this arc, i think.

the Mogami Arc is also a testimony to Shigeo’s kindness. 

「まだ最低な浅桐さんを助けてないんだから。」

“I’ve yet to save that horrible Asagiri-san.” 

she’s been a horrendous character to him. Shigeo knows this full well, and yet he still tries his fucking hardest to save her. when he’s met with a vile personality like Toichirou’s, he displays remarkable insistence of trying to talk to him, to empathise with the world he lives in, no matter how much Toichirou hurts him in spite of his kind intentions. (if only he could grant himself this kindness earlier.) 

like, shit. the world sure can be horrible. but the bitterness that Mogami carries doesn’t fix shit; it’s Shigeo’s faith in the power of influence and relationships between people that does. by being a kind person, he’s able to influence others to change, at least a little, for the better. Asagiri and Toichirou are good examples of this. it’s also neat fucking proof that people rely on each other, because influence comes from each other!!

so in short: i fucking adore the Mogami arc because of how it explores empathy and kindness, and ties them together. how Shigeo can change others with his kindness, and how we learn that we’re capable of changing others for the better, so why not try do to that? 

[wheezingdog]

Skip Beat! Manga Spoilers

This is just a rant, so feel free to ignore it. I just wanted a place to sort out my thoughts and feelings.  So I read the entire manga after the season ends, just before the Katsuki scene that Ren has to preform, and the thing that I feel, leaves me feeling upset, is the whole arc with Kyoko’s mother. I’m rereading it and I ended up catching back up to the arc where her mother makes an appearance, and I already know how it’s going to go, but at the same time, it bothers me.  The thing that bothers me about Saena Mogami is that... she hates her daughter to such a degree, that she didn’t show her any sort of affection growing up. The emotional and mental abuse that Kyoko suffered, as a child, was absolutely heartbreaking, because this woman hated her existence. This woman despised her the moment she knew she had her. Now, before it steps on anyone’s toes, I’ll explain that I completely, 100%, understand the reason WHY she hates her daughter. But I can’t... I can’t stand that. I feel so awful for Kyoko. I truly do. Never knowing why her mother hated her, ever since she was a child. Wanting the affection of a parent so much, that when she’s shown actual parental affection, she is so utterly overwhelmed with happiness, she cries in the middle of her acting. She’s so traumatized, that doing something, like reaching out to Kuu (Ren’s father) makes her stop and relive her trauma, expecting him to slap her hand away and look at her with hate. So much, that when he looks at her, she is so pained and lost, he feels for her before trying to get her back into reality. I just... UGH. It bothers me.  Even more SPOILERS just in case you’re skimming by.  Saena Mogami is such a complex character. I understand that her mother was conned by a man she fell in love with. A normally reserved woman, focused on her work and awkward, fell in love with a man that seemed to really love her company. Enjoyed being around her and she enjoyed being around him. That man not only destroyed her heart, he destroyed her career and the career of the man in charge of the Law Firm she was at. I fully understand why she’s like the way she is. The heartbreak. The loss of a major case that took years of hard work had the law firm she worked at completely crumble. The pregnancy that she didn’t know she even know about. I don’t remember, but I think she even tried to commit suicide or was suicidal, I’ll edit this when I reread it all again, was awful. I FEEL for her. I truly do. I honestly feel for her, because she’s such a tragic character that I sympathize with. I truly feel awful for her as well.  HOWEVER!  That’s not a reason to treat your own child like that. I understand that this child, the child you never wanted, is a mistake you hate to be reminded of. She’s a product of what was supposed to be a happy point in your life, only to end up being a reminder of how you failed. But SHE isn’t a failure. Kyoko didn’t deserve the be treated like a failure all her life. She didn’t deserve all your hatred and frustration. She didn’t deserve the emotional abuse. I can’t tell if there was even physical abuse, but there might have been. Maybe not to an extreme degree, but possibly a bit. To hurt your child, to hate your child, to the point where her existence is such a burden on you, it makes me think as to why you kept her in the first place. Why did you put yourself in a position where you didn’t give her up for adoption. I can almost be certain THAT would have been an option. Not what you put her through.  I just hate that Kyoko was so hurt by her words when Saena said that she never had a child on TV that she was feeling utterly lifeless and dead. I hate that she went to hear her mother’s side and still felt a desire to be accepted by her. I HATE that she was forgiven by her daughter and even told that she (Kyoko) would still be working hard as an actress to be praised by her at least once. I understand that Kyoko is just that type of girl, that she may have had her heartbroken and said she wouldn’t love again, has so much love in her heart. She cares for people and works hard. I hate... that Saena was allowed to never make the effort to change. I HATE that she is allowed to continue to think “I probably won’t pet her head like she wants” and it’s supposed to be ok. I just... I understand that it’s very realistic. I understand why Saena is the way she is, but it leaves such a hollow, bitter taste, that Kyoko is willing to forgive her mother and work hard to get her approval, even when her mother will hardly make the emotional effort to try and support her daughter.  Just because you were forced to talk to her, heard her out, and let her have her passport, doesn’t mean you made an effort. The passport thing, she didn’t have to do, but she was tricked into talking with her and only accepted listening to her because of her friend who knew what Saena was going through. It’s not satisfying, but it is realistic.  All in all, I just feel like I understand what she did, and I do feel incredibly sorry for her, but I don’t like that she didn’t make more of an effort to be forgiven by her daughter. That’s all. If you somehow read this rant, then... well thank you. I just felt like I needed to sort out my feelings. 

[katyatalks]

Mob Psycho 100 II - Kameda Yoshimichi’s Character Design Notes

With each blu-ray/DVD volume of MP100 II Character Designer Kameda Yoshimichi gives some notes regarding his process designing each character. Here are all his notes for S2 in the order they are presented, regarding; Shinra Banshoumaru, Emi, Mogami Keiji, Joudou Kirin, Asagiri Minori, The Urban Legends, Shimazaki Ryou, Hatori Nozomu, Minegishi Toshiki, Shibata Hiroshi, Suzuki Touichirou & Serizawa Katsuya.

SHINRA BANSHOUMARU

My highly recommended character from season 2, Shinrin Maruo! … that’s not his name, it’s Shinra Banshoumaru!! I super, super love Shinra to the point where it’s unbearable, and I even put him into season 1!!! Do you know where, though? These lovable, chubby characters - they’re lacking in recent anime, but I figured I’m in the position to change that!! I made him bigger than he is in the manga and upon drawing his rough design, Director Tachikawa told me I was going too far and had me draw a retake. I was like a bulldozer - ‘That’s so stupid!’ - so I managed to save his nice body (laughs).

After episode 2 he doesn’t appear at all, but please be sure to love Shinrin!!! How about a spin-off!? “Shinrin Psycho 100”, how’s that!?!?!? Ah, Shinra, actually. Sorry.

EMI

The amount of people who wanted to see this story animated!!!! Since it usually ranks either first or second place in polls that assess the most popular story in the Mob Psycho 100 manga, we figured we’d have season 2 start with it, and since it’s such a popular part, there was an agreement that I’d be animation director for it! Which I was enthusiastic about, until - huh? Episode 2 has Shinra Banshoumaru? Then, I’ll do episode 2! And with that, I left episode 1 in the hands of Yoshida-san! It’s a story with drama at its heart, and that’s what Yoshida-san specialises in, so I was happy with that!!! I’m pleased with Emi-chan’s hair colour. I made it a caramel-pink. My type 100%.

MOGAMI KEIJI

Truth is, work on Mob Psycho 100 II began from Episode 5. Because of that, the first of the fresh new characters to be drawn was Mogami. Just before getting to work on Mob Psycho 100 II I’d been working on something else where the proportions are quite short, so I kept in mind that I had to make sure that didn’t affect my designs here - as a result, for the first rough draft for Mogami, I had him with full on shoulder pads so he’d look taller, in a Saeba Ryou kinda vibe (laughs). Well, maybe not as far as Saeba Ryou. As expected, following a check with the director I was told the balance of his body isn’t Mob Psycho-ish!  And now his design is as it is. And yet… maybe it would’ve been nice to have his shoulders be raised, just a little?? In the manga he’s quite a handsome man, but my Mogami isn’t that handsome… that’s regrettable.

JOUDOU KIRIN

I have Joudou-sensei wear a kesa [Buddhist priest’s robe] in the anime - it’s pretty cute, isn’t it? Something I paid attention to was the lines from where his kesa ends to his tip toes! He appears in episodes 4-7 and more so than Mogami does, but he’s fun to draw. His deformation in episode 4 was super funny, so we included more of those (laughs). However, the wrinkles on his forehead and his hair barcode are a bit of trouble, and he’s got three rosaries on, and vertical stripes on his kesa… a lot of lines, and animating all those lines is a delicate matter. Also, he has huge eyes. They must get dry easily, I’m sure that’s tough for him.

ASAGIRI MINORI

We get three design variations for Minori - the one in the bed, the one that’s possessed by Mogami, and the one wearing Salt Middle School’s sailor uniform. Her chipped nails while she’s lying in the bed are an anime original. I wanted something in her design that’d counter her cute face. Above everything, what stands out in her design is her hair colour!!!! Her final design has her with purple hair, but at first I imagined her with a cute pink, like Minky Momo-chan. However, the pink hair didn’t really match with her skin colour and overall ghastliness when she’s possessed by Mogami, so after a revision, I went for purple. The way she is now… well, she’s cute, but I think pink hair would’ve been reeeeeeally cute! There’s not many illustrations in the manga where the characters are given colour, so it was very fun getting to choose colours for the anime!

URBAN LEGENDS

With the characters that appear in the Urban Legend Arc, it was super fun to envision how they might move around, and what details to add and/or remove!! Regarding Wriggle Wriggle from episode 1, in order to give a sense of scale in comparing its height with Mob’s, on its character sheet I drew it with an extreme use of perspective. An angle similar to that image gets used in the anime.

In episode 2, Red Raincoat is as he is in the manga, but The Dragger dragging her dolls behind her is an original design. I gave the three dolls she drags a sense of individuality & a ghastly feel, then thought about wetting her clothes and skirt with mud and rain, deciding to make her simple. The dragger has very long hair, which appeals to my 80s-anime-loving taste. I guess when it comes to original designs I always drag out something that I’ve been stocking in my own drawers (laughs).

On the other hand, with Dash Granny all we see of her is her running blurry form, so even on her character sheet her references are all smeared - kinda like me declaring, ‘right, I’m the animation director for episode 2, so let me handle drawing the granny.’ (Laughs).

Season 2 is filled with a lot of deep stories, so if we get to continue the Mob Psycho 100 anime, I’d like for us to do more light-hearted stories where cases related to urban legends are solved like this!!

SHIMAZAKI RYOU

The member of the Ultimate Five who gets the most time in the spotlight, Shimazaki - easy to draw, isn’t he?? His eyes are lines, the corners of his mouth are a little lifted - just draw that and there you go! Shimazaki! He fights with Teru-kun twice -  episodes 9 and 11 - but I’ve been told that the jersey Teru-kun wears from episode 10 onwards is quite perplexing (laughs). In the manga it’s a black jersey… of course I know that. It’s just… he fights Shimazaki, who has a black colour scheme, and then Mob and Sakurai also have black colour schemes… Suzuki is more or less the same, as is Koyama, so to say. Way too many characters with a black colour scheme. Having all these characters with black colour schemes in one scene? That’s a No, Thanks from me. With all that blackness, you wouldn’t be able to understand who’s who!!!!!! Huh? You’d understand because Teru is blonde? W-well...

HATORI NOZOMU

You noticed, right? Hatori’s very cute pigeon [hato] crest!! A crest I highly recommend! … and yet, Hatori doesn’t appear much, does he… plus, the pigeon really didn’t stand out at all either (laughs). As much as I could, I’d leave the style of clothing that each character wears in the manga more or less the same for their anime design, then apply colour, then add a design that matches the character - designing their clothes was fun! Teru-kun’s jersey has a seagull, and Koyama’s hoodie has a spiral-like design - I think it’d be fun to search for these designs!! Actually, why does Teru-kun’s jersey have a seagull on it, you might ask?? Well, flip the seagull upside down… and you get someone standing… pigeon toed!

MINEGISHI TOSHIKI

I felt like the kinds of plants Minegishi manipulates would be of a carnivorous nature, so I ended up learning a lot of stuff when I was doing research! When thinking of carnivorous plants, what immediately springs to mind is Rafflesia! Even when reading illustrated encyclopaedias as a kid, I thought Rafflesia plants looked pretty scary. I’d read something about ‘man-eating plants’ and thought to myself, man, I want that to be about Rafflesia - I looked it up and it was! It stinks, so it’s as if it eats both humans and insects! I feel sorry for it - it’s just a stinky flower. Also, I made a big discovery!! Seems like you can drink the digestive fluids of pitcher plants!!! *gags*. Apparently you can only drink it before they catch insects, but it’s close to being germ-free, so please, drink without worry! Also, in Malaysia or somewhere like that, it seems they put rice inside the mouth of a pitcher plant, then steam and eat it, like bamboo chimaki [Rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves]. ...In a pitcher plant… really…? *gags* *gags again*. With venus flytraps, too, people put minced meat in their mouths and grill them or something… those of you who own carnivorous plants; please, give it a go!! But the result is your own responsibility!!!

SHIBATA HIROSHI

He brings the pressure in episode 10 - when I read the manga, I felt this incomparable atmosphere when Shibata transforms and roars noisily around. I think the anime was amazing in amping that up! Looking at the manga, when Shibata’s on his rampage, he takes on more of a swarthy tone. So when I came to choose his colours for the anime, I first had his skin tone be pretty dark, but I felt like that didn’t give the same impact as it did in the manga, so I proposed giving him a scarlet tone as if he came from the Asura realm! And I’m glad I had the sense to! Actually, speaking on this now, he’s kinda like The Hulk (laughs). I guess it would’ve been funny if I made his skin green.

SUZUKI TOUICHIROU

Truth is, I’d finalised Suzuki’s design during season 1. Only because he appears for a split second during the final episode, though (laughs). But, while working on the main story, something I noticed with my design that troubled me was that alongside being slender and baby-faced, his height left something to be desired… so he didn’t look like a boss character in the slightest. After I finished work on the final episode, I thought it’d be good to make his face a little longer, ie. more mature. To make him appear more aggressive, I tried to make his eyes smaller, but then his design strayed too far from his manga self. Of all the things that caused me grief, the worst one of them all was his hair - does he have a jagged hairline because he’s brushed his hair back, or is the jaggedness there a very short fringe due to him having short hair? After I finished work on the final episode, I unexpectedly had the chance to see ONE-sensei, live, drawing Suzuki - from there, my problem was solved!!! Jagged hair (laughs). (It’s due to him having short hair, right?) I apologise for never grasping the true form of his hair, right up to the end.

SERIZAWA KATSUYA

Translated previously here.

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Twitter crosspost here.

Season 1 notes here.

[grandmasterreigen]

do you have more mp100 fic recs?

I have so many you have no idea 

I’m gonna try to stick to my absolute favs so this listdoesn’t get out of control, and for the same reason any that appeared on the reigen&teru list(which you can find here) aren’t gonna be repeated. 

Temporary Accommodationsby Originia (T / 48k words / completed)

basically, mob’s body gets kidnapped but his soul ends up inreigen’s body. it’s been a couple years since I last read it so I don’tremember a lot of the details, but it was one of the first mp100 fics I readand I remember loving it so much. there’s some really good hurt/comfort, it’ssuper well-written, and I am therefor the great reigen&mob content. it’s tagged with manga spoilers but I don’tremember if it’s post s2 spoilers or not, sorry!

Mob Boss by esama (T /6k words / wip)

a mp100/naruto crossover where reigen somehow ends up in thenaruto world, but doesn’t realize it. it’s. so. funny. I was dying the whole time I was reading it, and I’ve rereadit several times since then. you don’t even really need to know anything aboutthe naruto world to enjoy it. it’s crack of the best sort, and it makes mereally sad that it’ll probably never be continued.

tomorrow isn’t always anotherday by suitablyskippy (G / 18k words / completed)

this one’s also really funny! reigen and mob end up stuck ina time loop. it’s a pretty lighthearted fic with a lot of hijinks &shenanigans and a really good sense of humor. the reigen&mob friendship isgreat, too!

Sure As the Setting Sunby bunnyscribe (G / 66k words / wip)

a mp100/boku no hero academia crossover set in the bnhaverse! it’s super well-written and I always look forward to the updates. normallyI’d think a crossover where mob is enrolled in the hero course would end upwith him being kinda ooc, but the author did an amazing job at making sure heretained his values and stays true to himself. I love his and midoriya’sfriendship.

Opposites Attract byJanekfan (G / 7k words / completed)

in which reigen wakes up with psychic powers. it focusesalmost exclusively on reigen/serizawa and their budding relationship and it’sreally really cute! there’s a good balance of fluff and angst.

Live & letghost (the dying of a star) by Tyranno (T / 11k words / completed)

I’ve been following this fic since the first chapter droppedand it’s so amazing!! it’s an au where reigen dies before ever meeting mob, buthe wakes up as a ghost instead. it’s very angsty, but has a good amount ofhurt/comfort to balance it off. I’m a little afraid of saying too much becauseI don’t want to spoil anything, but check it out – don’t let the majorcharacter death warning turn you off from reading it!

Actions Speak Louder ThanWords by Hino (T / 4k words / completed)

this fic is set immediately after the mogami arc and dealswith the fallout – where mob goes mute. there’s definitely a bit of angst (itwould be more surprising if there wasn’t considering when it’s set) but thedad!reigen vibes in this fic are so great. I’m really in love with the “reigenknows sign language” headcanon.

Half of what you think of meby piperita (T / 4k words / completed)

reigen gets hit by a truth curse. it’s angsty in the bestway with some really good reigen&mob interaction. it deals with reigen’sself-esteem issues in a way that feels very real and not like something thatcan be easily fixed, and I think about it a lot.

When Life Gives You Lemonsby Frecklefrog (T / 3k words / completed)

there’s so much I want to say about this fic but I don’twant to spoil anything, so I’m restraining myself here. I was almost cryingthis fic made me laugh so much. it’s shou&teru-centric, which was reallyfun. it’s ridiculous and I love it.

wake byamaranthinecanicular (G / 8k words / completed)

the 2nd-person pov (mob’s) threw me for a loopwhen I started reading this fic, but it’s one of those that does it really,really well and it’s stuck with me. please don’t let it turn you off!! it’s anageswap fic with an adorable young reigen and a really nice teru/mobrelationship, a lot of angst and an ending that made my heart really happy.

Serizawa Katsuya vs. TheWorld by sofia_estrella (G / 6k words / completed)

it’s technically a serizawa/reigen fic, but this one focusesmostly on serizawa and his interactions with all the protective children whowant to vet him before he can date their pseudo-dad. it’s so cute and fluffyand I love everything about it! all these kids looking out for reigen is just tooprecious. it’s set during/after the reigen manga, so spoiler-alert if you’reanime-only!

I know I didn’t get nearly all of the great fics I’ve readand would rec, but hopefully this gives you a few to start with! make sure toleave kudos/comments on any that you enjoy!

[snailythefan]

a few days ago i found really old sketches that i did back in 2016/17 of my take on the ageswap au, and i wanted to redraw them! So, here they are- new and revamped~

my hcs about it under the read

for me, this au is “so what if Mob hadn’t had Reigen while growing up?” and also playing around with character dynamics. So that said! I imagine the setting being more or less this (beware, this is more.... fanfic-like ramblings than anything):

Mob wasn’t able to come to terms with his powers and how to deal with them, even less how to properly connect with others, so he just grows up into an awkward adult trying his best. He still doesn’t want to hurt others, but he has failed to do that in the past, so he has sort of isolated himself to prevent more... Accidents from happening. He works exorcising spirits, he believes it’s the only thing he’s good for and it allows him to keep a low profile. 

Reigen is pretty much a bratty teen that loves the supernatural and getting into trouble all the time. He does this to get attention, since he notices that everyone around him is special in some way or another but he... is not. He feels conflicted as to what to do about it, but one day he decides he’s going to become special by awaking his own ESPer powers and becoming the greatest psychic to ever live. He tries to awaken them by doing stuff like going to haunted places and trying to communicate with the dead. It’s on one of those occasions that he meets Mob by chance after being saved from a Real evil spirit, and then insists on becoming his student.

Serizawa is Reigen’s best (and only) friend in middle school. He’s a shy, anxious boy that goes along with anything Reigen says. He hasn’t awoken his psychic powers yet, in fact he doesn’t believe he will, but when he does he’s distraught by not being able to control them and starts isolating himself from everyone. [I like to think this development would mirror Ritsu’s arc in s1 as in, he starts without powers, then he gets powers, and that causes conflict between him and (in this case) Reigen until they can solve their issues]. 

Mogami has made a name for himself by exorcising evil spirits for a local ghosthunting tv show in which he appears to be a charismatic psychic kid. In reality he’s cold and bitter behind cameras, mostly because he’s dealing with his mother’s recent death in all the wrong ways. He has started to believe the world is an unfair place and slipping into a really dark mindset. Reigen is a fan of his show and really admires him, so when they meet he tries to befriend him, but it goes wrong, and of course Mogami makes fun of him for thinking he’ll ever be a psychic like him saying something like “the world isn’t a fairytale in which you get the things you want just because you wish for them with all your heart” [then rada rada, shit happens, he gets a haircut and actually ends up befriending Reigen. I still haven’t worked out that part lol]

Toichiro is a cold and pretentious kid with only one goal in mind: becoming more powerful than his father by any means. For this, he founded the ESPer club [a mirror to the Telepathy club] and started recruiting members, but only those he deemed worthy to join his cause. Reigen learns of the existence of the club and tries to join them, only to be rejected since he doesn’t have powers at all. After Serizawa awakens his powers, Toichiro feels impressed and personally goes to recruit him, doing the whole umbrella scene etc. He also tells him he doesn’t have to be “Reigen’s lackey” anymore since he’s a “powerless wimp“, and with that he makes Serizawa join him. Serizawa calls him “Sempai”.

okay since Shou’s and Toichiro’s roles are reversed in this, let’s say that against all logic, Shou still has the motivation of “I have to be powerful in order to protect myself”. And so Shou grew up wanting to be become a powerful man --> Bam! now he’s a really, really powerful yakuza that practically controls all of Japan (people don’t know this, but he rose to the top thanks to his psychic powers). He still has that confident and optimistic attitude, but he’s intimidating as hell when he wants to. His choices in life lead him to grow apart from his son (this is where Toichiro’s grudge comes from) and to consider himself the most powerful man alive. He’s in the process of trying to grow his influence outside of Japan. [Also I like to think his version of the “ultimate 5″ are the kids from the awakening lab but with their powers up to 11 lmao]

Oh Ritsu, dear Ritsu. He grew up scared of Mob and never really let go of his grudge against him. It also took him a while to naturally wake up his powers without help from Dimple, so his fear of Mob only grew more and more. Anyway, by chance he met Shou around his highschool years and since they both shared a mentality of  “I have to be powerful in order to protect myself” they just. became inseparable. It’s just after they meet that Ritsu’s powers awaken and he decides it’s time he stood up to Mob. So he fights Mob, all that bitterness towards him finally going off, and it all goes wrong because he causes one of Mob’s explosions and gets injured just like when he was a kid, except this time Mob leaves a scar on his face. After that, he just runs away from home and never comes back. He joins Shou’s mafia as his right hand man/bodyguard, all the while training to become more powerful than his brother in the hopes of one day finally defeating him. He doesn’t want to be scared of Mob anymore.

Teruki and Mob met in exactly the same way, however this time Mob did try to fight back, especially since Teruki was trying to asphyxiate him. It didn’t end well, at all. He was the one that got asphyxiated instead. Teruki ended up becoming an evil spirit, his uncontrollable ego unable to accept his death. After all, he was supposed to be the protagonist of the world. As the years passed, his spiritual powers grew, and so did his grudge against Mob. Mob, on his side, has never forgiven himself over the incident. [I like to imagine they meet again in this au’s version of a mogami arc, but the whole time Teruki shows up in an adult form, and only until his soul is put at peace he shows up in his real form: just a kid that used to be afraid of not being special]

Anyway, there’s many points of my take on the ageswap au that i haven’t “solidified” yet, but i feel like Reigen learning that he doesn’t have to be special to matter would be the focus of the story. 

God this was super long but i still wanted to write it down before forgetting my ideas again, hoping that in the future i can have more time to do small comics/straight up write a whole fanfic about this. I mean, hopefully lmao. If you read all of this then jfc congrats man, this was A Lot, and maybe hit me up if you have any comments about this?

[nie7027]

HEAVY SPOILERS AHEAD

Okay, first of all HOW COME NOBODY TOLD ME MOGAMI WAS GONNA APPEAR AGAIN? HOW COME IT NEVER CROSSED ANYBODYS MIND TO TALK ABOUT HOW MOGAMI WAS GONNA BE IN THE BATTLE? Jeez, i had to take a break after that! It was too much EVEN MOB WAS SCARED who has the time to care about the super5 when you have to make sure mogami doesnt kill everybody in his path? And he just dissapeared after that??? Just like that? After giving some stern advice to mob? that he took to heart because even after everything that happened how cant he listen to him, at least now he can analyze it and decide how much it would affect him so does Mogami... Im glad he and mob are now on equal terms and they listen to each other even if they are still on opposite philosophies but poor Minegishi...its no wonder he turns to good after that traumatizing experience and it makes me wonder what would have happened if shimazaki was who encountered mogami? Mob and reigen(LOL sorry, i need to stop and laugh at this) were enough to make him stop and give up once he realized the difference in power but he was still his shitty self. If he had encountered BOTH MOB AND MOGAMI aka the two most powerful beings what would he do? He would have stopped but that wouldnt be enough cuz mogami would have seen clearly throught him realize he hasnt changed and decide he doesnt deserve the opportunity and not even mob would have been able to stop him and whether mogami stopped there or continued...that would have been ugly (ven more that it is already) so in hindsight i think it was better that way, besides that way only those who were in the mogami arc saw him and mob could get to keep that little secret from the others (teru and ritsu would be terrified at meeting someone who could subdue mob)

Teru i really love you more with each episode and i was so proud that even shimazaki deemed to take you out first as his main priority. And i loved that this episode showed that not only teru is a good physic but that he is good at actual physical fight and planing a strategy whereas even shimazaki isnt. And that the lab kids really are way better now after your training even havin different techniques.

Ritsu was incredible too! being able to follow terus line of thought and deciphering shimazakis weaknesses, obviously his lack of experience at battling was what handicapped him but he managed better that expect WHICH WAS NOT MUCH YOU SELF SACRIFICING BASTARD if it not were for teru and co appearing you would have been dead (i thought it was gonna be mob saving him after seeing the beating that he took from shimazaki like in 100% hostility )

The 7th division were awesome, they did become stronger and are better at working as a team...and still look up so much to reigen (sorry but shimazakis is right and mob and reigen are founding an organization)

Reigen...you had very few scenes but they were priceless, from your secret techniques that i dearly missed to you susshing ekubo so mob doesnt hear you lied to him. As always the dad (along with ekubo) noticing how determined and changed mob has become(unknowingly to reigen after another interaction with mogami) to the point of being strict to his friends(that wasnt what mogami meant but im glad he decided to take it like that)

Shou...i know you have been working hard but sadly it honestly doesnt look like much compared to your father and it breaks my heart that serizawa stopped mob from interrupting the beating that your father is giving to you ...specially because it does sound like seri cares for you and your growth but still helps your father do this to you ( shous opinio of seri was treated like comedy but i can see the conflicted feelings that will arise)

As you can see im hang up on the mogami thing, it was really unexpected and amazing. His complex relationship with mob is fascinating. Mob trying very hard to listen to his actually wise advice but not letting it poison his heart in the subtle ways only mogami can.

Thats everything so far from this episode, i was gonna make a pd but ill do it once i remember what it was gonna be

Edit: I JUST REMEMBERED the pd was bout noticing how all of the 7th division finally has appeared except for the gravity old man and phyrochinesis guy...so oits official, teru killed that guy

[gurguliare]

... It is, uh, rare and out-of-character for me to say this, but I do disagree pretty much across the board with everyone’s criticisms of this episode as an adaptation---or rather, I get where the backlash is coming from, I think the story in the manga is excellent and lots of minor and major grace notes got lost here, but I also think splitting it across two episodes (or 4 and 5 across three episodes) would have been unworkable. The ramp up-resolution ratio needed to be what it was to communicate the strangest thing about the Mogami arc, which is its double-jointed climax: it’s not interminable (as with world domination), but every time you’re sure the end is close, it opens up a new frontier. Like most nightmares it finally breaks, rather than cresting down to a recognizable finish. Mob has his big moment of reclaimed identity, and then... he has to keep going! And through much of it he moves as kind of a disdainful sleepwalker, there’s this perfunctory 1-2-3 tempo to his process even while he questions himself about what he’s doing, who he’s saving, and why, which absolutely feels mechanical and dancelike in its compression. A timesaving move, but one which also happens to capture the constant disjunct between his reasoning and the lagging, overblown emotional reality that it takes all his energy just to participate in. IN THIS WORLD, EVERYTHING I SEE IS AN EVIL SPIRIT. I HAVE TO EXORCISE THEM ALL. Mob can’t stop destroying himself + his preconceived ideas, but his internal narrative is starting to catch up to the fact that that’s not always negative. Sometimes you just have a ton of baggage to shoot lasers at (and a ton of temporary selves to let fall apart.)

Things I missed:

Minori with the box cutter

the explicit “what do you want?” / “power” exchange

“it’s not fair!” Mob wail re: the cruelty of the world, some depth from his reactions there in general, although to be clear I think the anime version is internally consistent and interesting in terms of shifted emphasis, and I’m glad to have both

how brutal “Mogami and Asagiri-san taught me that people can change” is: some of this is communicated, I like in general how they draw Mob’s face in the last scene because it’s appropriately fisheyed, flat, and opaque, but I think the music kind of smooths over the neutral, double-edged starkness of Mob’s chosen takeaway. Like, yup! People can change! People are changing all the time! From some perspectives it’s an incredibly bleak thing to stake your developing moral worldview + optimism on, in good old Pratchett fashion. Of course it’s also lovely, it’s just... you know, in a story that’s very much about the bigness and unmanageable complexity of the everyday, and what you have to learn to keep up with it, “people change” is such a fucking... kicker to the hope that you’re ever going to get on top of shit. You’re not! You have to keep running alongside the giant crusher wheel!

Other notes:

I actually did not like Minori blushing, which is unusual for me since I love “blushing while crying” as a piece of awkward bodily realism that tends not to jive with the scripted atmosphere of many fictional breakdowns. But I thought that for most of the episode (and with Minori’s apology!) they did such a good job of keeping her ugly, banal mannerisms consistent, it was a shame to then bust out something that looks, even superficially, like a transformation.

However they made up for it with her fucking hospital bed flouncing in the post-credits scene, I loved that SO MUCH. GOD. MINORI.

In general I’m ambivalent-to-positive on the toned-down violence and the cat’s survival; yes, I think the scene loses a bit in terms of directness of storytelling, but I also think there’s a corresponding gain in terms of... the closeness of Mob’s nightmare and actual realities, the very thin margin of normal social support that separates him from this boring, insignificant hellscape. I don’t know that it makes as much of a difference to Minori’s portrayal as I’ve seen people claim, and I also don’t see that it makes Mob’s forgiveness less pointed, since Mob, while dumb, has enough of a clue to distinguish between ringleader and lead. (Plus it helps highlight the distinction between Minori and, say, Teru, as like, an existential threat from the world of normal shitty influencers vs psychics who at heart are all children who want to brawl. Not that Minori isn’t also a child who wants to ... do others injury, with her own two hands if she’s feeling spooked enough. But. The weird thing about losing Minori and the boxcutter is I would say it makes her less sympathetic, or at least, less aligned with other sympathetic child characters who we see do terrible things out of a mixture of fearful impulse and habit. It’s definitely a change, but not one that breaks the logic.) 

But yeah, the point of Mogami arc is and it isn’t “Mob is made of such extraordinary stuff that it takes all this abuse to break him”: there’s an element of that, Mob is a special person, but it’s also supposed to be about how plausible all this continues to feel to him even after he “wakes up,” and how hard he has to work to convert Mogami’s lessons into something usable, rather than just discarding them out of hand. It’s not that I think any of that doesn’t work in the manga, but I like the even more tightly narrowed scope here. Both are at least functional, and given other constraints on time I can’t think what I would have sacrificed to get more back-and-forth in the confrontation scene with the bullies. Maybe SOME particle physics could have been cut. 

I surprisingly wasn’t in love with the ???% starscape. My favorite thing about ???% in Mogami arc is how it’s simultaneously the showstopper but also a lot more incidental than it is in other arcs where it appears/looms in characters’ minds, so I was a bit “shrug” on visual attentions paid, even though I like the more sublime/cosmic! take on everyone’s favorite eldritch horror.

seriously could we not get a second longer and the slightest glowup on the flower 

100% COURAGE NOT ENOUGH OF A SPARKLY, OVEREXPOSED EYESORE. THOSE WERE LIKE. DARK-PALETTE SPARKLES, WHAT THE HELL

... and that’s about it, honestly, I loved, loved, loved most of the other specific choices, from Reigen and Dimple’s animation outside to the spirits racing the long rays of Mob’s power. “I still have to save that awful Asagiri-san”: music to my ears!! Can fiction even have enough contemptuous dutybound rescues. I love................... anime. And Mob. 

[the-nysh]

As an anime only who was 100% ready to suffer I ended up thinking the episode felt rushed and that maybe everybody was overreacting to the arc so I ended up checking the manga and although the cat and the stabbing were upsetting ( I knew it would happen so I didn't feel the shock) what really made me uncomfortable were the instances where mob was being pressured before getting physically hurt, such as minori pressuring him to present himself properly and such, I wish they'd kept that in :/

Ah! I’m glad to hear your thoughts/impressions as an animeonly, who then became curious to check out the manga for those particularscenes and important feelings that were missing from the ep. (Thank you forthat extra care and effort!) Because one of my initial concerns from my mixed ‘hmm’reaction was whether or not the ep could leave viewers with an accurate enoughexperience that’s representative of ONE’s vision. I honestly wasn’t sure howanime onlys would receive it, as limited/condensed as the anime’s narrative andemotional presentation was, or if the original messages (the very heart andhumility that made his works unique in the first place) could still resonatethrough intact. So I’m glad to hear your input.   

While there’s much universal praise for the animationquality for sure, already I’ve seen other reviews from people who’re onlyacquainted with ONE’s works through the anime mediums (opm included), who’ve startedto generalize and misconstrue that prevalent flashy action/sakuga sequencesand therefore weaker handled narrative elements directly reflect the extent ofONE’s writing skills. …Uh oh, there might be a problem/disconnect here. Tothem, based on what they’ve seen presented and prioritized in the animes, they’vecome to assume that flashy style and poor substance = just another mediocre/shallowwriter. Which, *facepalm* oh no. That is a huge disservice and terribly unfortunatemisunderstanding for them to conclude and take away from only limited adaptations of his works. For one thing,the directional decisions made by the anime staff (for better or worse), forthe purpose of celebrating his works,do not reflect ONE’s creative skills as a writer at all. The choices made bythe anime production committee are not his fault/responsibility either. Ifviewers can genuinely feel satisfied and entertained by just the anime, thenthat’s great! But if it leaves a lingering feeling of confusion and discord,unfulfilled for many and others left with the misunderstood impression that ONE’sworks (especially mp100 here) are only valued for their impressive feats of action…then there’s an error in faithfully translatingbetween media somewhere. 

I can confidently assure however, there wouldn’t be so much genuinelove poured into the adaptations of his works (including the blood, sweat, andtears from Murata’s opm manga), if the only thing of value and substance in hiswriting amounted to the shallow end of a gag. (Which is one of my biggestpeeves with how some people categorize opm by the way.) Instead, ONE presentsthings that resonate on a much deeper and personal level than that. And inmp100, arguably even much more so. 

For example, when recalling the words ‘Mogami arc’, what isthe predominant feeling that comes to mind or lasting impression left behind? Afterviewing it from only the anime’s perspective, experiencing it in full in themanga, or both? This is what I’m unsure about, because I can’t know how muchanime onlys will take away or remember from what the episode chose to deliver.Because for many manga readers (including me), the arc was something deeply jarringand unforgettable that impacts the rest of the story going forward. A favorite turningpoint for many for how emotionally raw and cathartic the payoff was afterenduring so much sustained mental torment. Finding the inspirational innerstrength to counter and overcome all that oppressive/horrific negativity withsomething positive and hopeful. Towardseven further self-realization, forgiveness, and growth. Because as in all of ONE’s works, no matterhow dark and cruel things can get in all their explicit glory (which are not justthere for gratuitous sake), there is almost always a silver lining andsatisfying solution to come out of it, even if it’s something so unexpectedlyhumble and relatably human. Delivering that kind of message is one of the areaswhere ONE’s heart truly shines, and it’s something I personally value withinhis works too.

Can I honestly say I felt the same way reading as I did watchingthe ep? As much as I enjoyed and was stunned to jaw-dropping silence by the incrediblevisuals, that answer is no. The original feelings that gave the ‘Mogami arc’ itsunique identity and made it a painfully unforgettable experience in the firstplace…were unfortunately not met. What lingers is a sense of visual awe and animationappreciation definitely, but for a lasting impression? Should the anime be rememberedand lauded just for its feats of animation/action(following/competing in areas opm already does) when the point of the originalwas about emotions so much further beyondthat? The manga’s –ONE’s– version of the arc is therefore still the definitivevision that comes to mind that I would recommend.

So now, just as the episode’s title mentioned it would bringdiscord, viewers have choices too. Toenjoy the merits of the ep on its own, as a standalone love-letter or sample tributeto what more of ONE’s manga has to offer too. I suppose it is one success if the episode piqued many people’s curiosity to finallycheck out the original manga. (As many animes are designed to do anyway.) But…afterexperiencing both now, recall what moments made you feel that upsetting levelof discomfort and building pressure (taut tension which is another one of ONE’sskills), endured and suffered right alongside Mob, to really feel what ONEwanted to deliver in the first place over what BONES chose to do. Which isstronger or more effective? Which approach permeates and invades the mind as atestament to Mogami’s evil? And in turn, showcases the strength of Mob’s mentalfortitude? Choices and subjective opinions can be made, but I surely hope many viewers’lasting impression of mp100 is not one of another high octane, well-animatedbattle shonen without much else to offer. The emotions displayed in the othereps, like for example the ghost family, were so well done, so here’s hoping theemotions in the next arcs will take similar precedence. Because if the animecan succeed both visually AND emotionally, it has the potential to become anunforgettable classic for sure.  

[owletstarlet]

ritsu from mp100!!!!

What I think about this character:

For this, I’m just gonna straight-up copy and paste a post I made about Ritsu a couple weeks ago, because it sums up how I feel about him pretty well:

“I really wanna write something about Ritsu, because boy howdy do I remember a thing or two about being 12-13 years old, sitting on my own pile of corrosive and self-sabotaging mental illnesses that I had no idea about, with none of the adults around me suspecting anything was off because I was one of those goddamn gifted-and-talented kids who was a diligent student and nice to people. 15 years later and this is still Quite The Mood for me—”

(Important to note that his issues manifest themselves way differently than mine ever did, with all the anger and spite just bottling up until they exploded outward at everyone and everything. As to my own issues, they manifested a lot more like Serizawa’s did, with a buttload of paralyzing fear and hiding from the world.

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

Really only with Shou, but I gotta note that I am a person more than twice Ritsu’s age who teaches junior high schoolers for a living (I see their birthdays in the school computer and marvel at how these lil goblins were all Just Born Two Seconds Ago), I gotta say the concept of romantic shipping for the majority of the mp100 characters is a little weird for me. It’s more important to me that Ritsu has good friends and people supporting him. And Shou is definitely that for Ritsu. He’s the first person to tell him frankly and objectively how much potential he has to become a strong esper, and continues to tell him that, and comes to him for help because of it, and I know that means the world to Ritsu. But more importantly, of course, I think he immediately sees what kind of person Ritsu is without any of his bullshit pretenses he puts on for everyone else, and he genuinely likes him for it. I am all for Shou sending him terrible memes to make him smile if only at how stupid they are, and inviting himself over for video game tournaments and marathoning awful animes and Perfectly Average And Sweet adolescent pastimes that they both really need to engage in for their own sanity and healing.

People I ship non-romantically with this character:

I’m super charmed/amused by the idea of him being friends with Teru. I do think their personalities would grate on each other a bit (a good 80% of that is Ritsu being annoyed with Teru just for Being Himself), but there’s a lot to be said for them being the heart of the support group of People Who Said/Did Horrible Things To Mob And He Forgave Them Immediately Anyhow And They Still Feel Shitty About It. They’re both actively trying to become better people and I kind of want to see them supporting one another in that, even if it’s mostly unspoken. I also wanna see them sparring with each other, to practice/improve/blow off steam. (Also: “I swear to god I’ll reshave your head if you ever try to take my brother clothes shopping again—”)

My unpopular opinion about this character:

I’ve not interacted enough with the fandom to really know what’s unpopular, so it’s shameless headcanon-listing time! Fun ones first:

I think he likes cats, a lot, and the more hateful and standoffish the cat is the more he loves it. He’s probably too self-conscious to go around petting strays all time, but he’d really want to and would probably do it if he was with Mob or Shou.

I think he’s seen Breaking Bad at least five times. *whispers* He is the Danger.

I think the only meme-speak he will deign to use in regular conversation, much to Shou’s delight, is “Then Perish.”

I think he’s actually pretty terrible at board games, especially shogi or chess or something strategy-based, because he’s canonically prone to making crappy snap decisions, and the more he wants to beat the person the worse his game gets. He’s never played Reigen at anything because his dignity would not be able to handle the guaranteed loss.

More Serious Headcanon is that he’s got sensory issues—which is shameless projection of my own neurological disorder onto a character I love but I do not fucking care. The way Sensory Processing Disorder manifests for me is physical pain/serious discomfort and certain touches and sensations (it can be completely arbitrary what sets it off and what doesn’t), pain or tingling around your spine at certain pitches or volumes of sound. Even stupid things like needing a billion blankets on you to sleep so you feel weighted down properly or clothing tags bothering you way too much. And the big one is not being able to maintain physical contact with someone for very long/avoiding it when you can, which people can easily take personally. This would work really well for Ritsu, I think, who probably the least touchy-feely person in the series, and who spends so much time alone. Being sensory-avoiding is isolating in itself, and it’d give a believable extra layer to the things that already make him feel isolated. (Also, the canon fact that he almost never listens to music—headphones can be a bitch sometimes for SPD because if you’re not careful your own music can hurt you because of the pitches in your ears.)

One thing I wish would happen/had happened to this character in canon:

Here, have three:

A proper, cathartic conversation with Mob after the 7th Division arc—in other words, let this child have a good long cry, not just the 5ish seconds/single page of it we got in canon.

Ritsu figuring out something’s seriously wrong after Mob comes home at the end of the Mogami arc. I’m of the mind that Mob probably didn’t ever tell anyone what happened in his six months of Mogami-hell, because he didn’t want to upset anyone or make it their problem, but damn it I wish he had, and I think if Ritsu were to figure out something was up that it’d be when Mob’s going around thanking everyone like he said he would. It may be wishful thinking that either of them would be good enough at communicating with each other for a conversation like that to get off the ground and actually be healing for Mob, but I want them to have fumbled through it and tried.

And finally, I want him to have some actual meaningful bonding time with Reigen. Ritsu may not like Reigen as a person, but you can’t tell me that somebody who’s chosen to make a living out of deceiving people doesn’t know a thing or two about self-loathing, self-sabotage and hopelessness, and how to identify it in others. It’d be a tall order for him to get Ritsu to sit down and listen to him, but it’d it be so goddamn good for him to feel validated by an adult who genuinely understands and wants the best for him.

Anyways, @fmobbu, I’m sorry I’m wordy, but I hope you enjoy anyhow! Thanks for giving me the chance to ramble about the spoon child ;)

[miserabull]

I wanna ask what you think about Reigen, Shou, Shinji Kamuro and Minegishi :D

Thanks so much and sorry in anticipation for how huge this ended up getting! To tell the truth, I don’t blame anyone if nobody ends up reading through it, I just have lots of thoughts and a big love for meta. for this meme

note. I changed hotness level to cuteness level for the children, uh

REIGEN

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life

hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type? | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang

…I don’t know, I think on a conventional beauty scale Reigen would be neutral-to-meh, but he’s charming on his own way

hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff

he falls close to slytherin I think, but the hufflepuff side is stronger

best quality: Reigen’s loyalty and commitment to his role as Mob’s father figure is astounding. I mean, we know he has loose standard when it comes to the law and deceiving people and he’s not the most put together guy, but the length he’s willing to go to protect and guide this child is amazing and  makes him a big hero in my book.

worst quality: The worst for me is that he tends to talk out of his ass, like, his words have a really big effect on Mob and I understand what he’s going for but being so adamant about the kid not using his powers against people ever was…not ideal I think, considering  circumstances. Also, due to his own personal failures his lessons sometimes are not the best or just hypocritical(but it still means a lot that he’s trying).

ship them with: Serizawa, and Dimple though that one is a little harder to work logistically, can you even smooch a ghost?

brotp them with: If mentor/father-son relationship type counts, MOB(and to a lesser extent, all the esper kids). Dimple.

needs to stay away from: uuuh…Mogami? but everybody does, really.

misc. thoughts: I think Reigen is one of the best handled characters in the story and I don’t talk about him enough or draw him or just appreciate him as I should. He’s precious and I’m really glad Mob has someone like him, and also the funniest, most extra guy ever.

—

SHOU

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life

cuteness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type| pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10

he’s a cute kid who is going to be a handsome little(yes) man someday.

hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff

to be honest, I kind  of want him to be a slytherin and he has the cunning and tenacious part down, but he also has a lot of gryffindor(brave, brash) and I think in a hogwarts AU Toichirou would definitely be a slytherin, so when his own turn on the sorting hat came Shou would never accept being the same.

best quality: Hm, strong morals and sense of responsibility is a big one(I mean, it would be understandable if he wanted to take his dad down just out of personal grudge, but he’s clearly disgusted by his philosophy and arrogance. unlike Toichirou, he has a good heart and shows concern and interest on other people’s well-being). But well, I guess, most of all, I just love how spontaneous he is? How he says what’s on his mind for good or bad and is creative and quick on his feet, willing to innovate/take risks and make the most of whatever is thrown his way. He’s independent, unapologetically rowdy and free and I love him for it.

worst quality: The negative of being so spontaneous, too impulsive. Facing his dad head-on like he did was noble, but ultimately a very bad strategy and really reckless. That combined with his complete lack of awareness on how to deal with people and a one track mind also makes for a dangerous and fiery combination. …I also love him for it, to be honest.

ship them with: RITSU. Yeah…and Teru, a little bit, but mostly I like them being buddies that at one point made out but decided to not go that way. …in fact, I like thinking that Teru is Shou’s first kiss somehow. Just, out of curiosity and solidarity, you feel me?

brotp them with: Ritsu, but if I have to pick another then, well, Teru. They would get along so well and be a force to be reckoned with… I also would very much like for him to have a strong bond with Serizawa, but would understand if he never completely forgives him for standing by his awful dad for so long.

needs to stay away from: Crystalware and stuff that he can easily break, which on second thought, with his power, is most things. And on the opposite end of that, Toichirou, of course.

misc. thoughts:  WHEN WILL HE COME BACK? He has so much potential as a character both with his past and what he’s doing now and he has so much to contribute and he JUST DISAPPEARED without even a proper goodbye. If he’s not back before the story is over I’m going to be really disappointed, but my hope is strong. I love this wild punk kid so much, and I desperately want a confirmation that he’s happy and doing well, and it would melt my icy heart to know that he’s still in Ritsu’s life after everything.

—

SHINJI KAMURO

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life

cuteness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10

well I wouldn’t want him to actually get away from me and he’s a child still, but I like to think he’s pretty greasy and not pleasant looking.

hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff

bordering on slytherin. He’s very focused, somewhat academically successful and knows how to work rules, but he’s also cunning and plays by his own set of morals.

best quality: …well, it would be a lie to say I like Kamuro primarily for his qualities, but that said, he does have them. He’s a kid and he’s learning and struggling with a very toxic home environment, and even though he literally had to have his senses knocked onto him to correct his path he ultimately did and isn’t a bad person.

worst quality: The bitterness is too strong on this one, and he’s unscrupulous. His frustration at a bad situation and self-loathing makes him want to hurt others to feel that he has at least some control over things. Unfortunately, along with that he also has actual power, which ends up being a really bad combination for Salt Mid School.

ship them with: I don’t know. Tokugawa maybe? Why not.

brotp them with: Ritsu and Tokugawa. Now that I think I feel like most of my responses to ‘ship with’ will inevitably show up as brotp too, hm.

needs to stay away from: His piece of shit brother. He may have changed or something, but as far as I know, him, yeah

misc. thoughts: I’m really fond of Kamuro! I tend to pick favorites who are villains or at least very morally ambiguous, and I kinda feel like Kamuro could be up there if there was more of him. Breeding negative feelings and acting out due to frustration and trauma or feeling helpless is a thing I relate with and I tend to feel close to characters that have this kind of thing going, be it in a way that makes me feel like they’re something I should strive towards being like or the complete opposite. I think this ends up being one of the main reasons I love Ritsu, the main difference here being that we keep following his story along with his brother’s and getting to know him better while Kamuro fades into the background almost completely after the big clean up arc(…but he’s still relevant in my heart).

—

MINEGISHI

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life

hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang

More like, maybe kind of too creepy to be traditionally good-looking, but SO ELEGANT. Graceful. Ethereal. Don’t judge me

hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff

my slytherin kindred

best quality: He’s changing into a kind and nurturing person, and is willing to grow. Remember to support your local weird psychic plant person on their path to redemption.

worst quality: He’s pretty selfish. Willing to go along with Toichirou’s plan as long as it would put him on the theoretical winning side, and only making a turn when he felt like he owed Mob personally. However, as I said before, he’s growing to be better and we’ve seen him be somewhat caring now.

ship them with: Nobody really, but I can roll with Shimazaki as I’ve seen some people shipping.

brotp them with: The big 5, especially Hatori and Shimazaki(because they’re all so different and it’s funny).

needs to stay away from: Toichirou and Mogami, as everybody should. But to be completely honest, I don’t mind him staying away from Shou as well, but that’s for the kid to decide what he’s fine with.

misc. thoughts: I’m getting used to non-binary Minegishi and I really like that fanon, so I was unsure about what pronouns to use here, hahaha. They were my favorite from the super 5 since I laid eyes on them and I’m really glad they’re still around, I’m a sucker for atoning ex-villains.

[autisticteru]

this is completely unprompted but i just feel like sharing my first impressions of mp100 cuz why not i made this blog to infodump i can do what i want. 

and honestly i read the whole thing about a year ago with very very little spoilers directly after watching the teaser for the anime so a lot of my reactions to the series were very raw and uninfluenced by anybody else’s opinion. i didnt even liveblog it i just read it. and im very glad that was how i read it and im just. reminiscing on that because im grateful that i did that back then.

mob

i first ever saw mob in some fanart that was tagged mob psycho 100 like. a good few years ago tbh. i figured it was some anime or manga i didnt get the time to read but mob first looked to me like he was a delinquent or something. the title and the way i thought abt the word “mob” in my head def had something to do with that, but also he was a straight faced boy who just seemed really seirous. i remember reading in an interview abt one punch man a bit over a year ago that ONE described saitama as stoic and mob as emotional. that. surprised the hell out of me and got me interested but i only read literally EXACTLY right after i saw the first teaser trailer for the anime

when i read the manga i fell in love with the boy right away. it didnt take me long at fucking all. he was great and wonderful and i loved him and i related to him big time and i wanted to see him grow more and more.

and my feelings are pretty much the same now except more complex. but im remembering the first time i got to the end of the world domination arc. i think that line “that’s why I will help you” really impacted me a lot for some reason. mob was, very special to me. he felt very much like me. i could relate to him a lot

reigen

i first saw reigen in some fanart but i thought he was some teenager at first because it was just some kinda cartoony fanart that wasnt very detailed. i guessed that he and mob were a duo or something like saitama and genos were from one punch but i did not guess that it was going to be a master-discible relationship

i hated reigen at first gonna be completely fuckin honest here i was a bit annoyed with him like yeah he was funny but he was also kind of rude??? and i didnt like that he was tricking mob because i loved mob 

by the end of the read he really did grow on me. but ive always been a bit hard on the poor guy, but thats just because hes an adult i suppose. even during the separation arc i have to admit.....i wasnt all that sympathetic toward him until the VERY VERY end. IF IM BEING ENTIRELY HONEST I WAS KIND OF GLAD BECAUSE I WAS GLAD THAT MOB REALIZED HE DIDNT NEED HIM AND THAT REIGEN REALIZED HE DID. also i felt he did deserve at least some of what he got from that arc, all things considered. dont get me wrong, i love him now but it did really take a while for me, probably longer than anyone else i know. now im love this greasman with my whole heart (but i still wish he would pay mob more. preoblematic fav for that reason only)

dimple

i knew that dimple was sort of the mascot character but i hoped he wouldnt be one of those annoying ones but i didnt think he would be since i had some faith in ONE’s writing abilities. he seemed like a ghost and i knew that mp100 had ghosts so yeah i thought it was cool to have a ghost character why not

lots of ppl were irritated by dimple at first but. ehhh i could never hate him. i only mildly disliked him before i realized he was That Guy. anyway i had been mostly neutral on dimple but by the mogami arc i actually really started loving dimple a lot because he saved mob a bunch of times and i support mob having friends i dont  care who they are i want this good boy to have friends

by the end i absolutely did love him i loved him and reigens interractions at that point but i didnt know if it was like. socially acceptable to ship him with reigen. i wouldnt have done it with sg dimple because i had no idea that was even a thing. i forgot abt that dumbass security guard he wasnt even a person in my mind honestly the first sg dimple fanart i came across i was so confused  i was like. who is this. who is this man dimples possessing. took me forever to realize it was that security guard who he possessed for probably less than an hour and that confused the hell out of me but then i realized. oh. u guys just want to make him hot. okay

ritsu

ritsu was probably the character i knew the most about, but i knew very little. i only saw him in opm/mp100 fanarts where they compared mob and ritsu to tatsumaki and fubuki, and i guessed that ritsu was the fubuki with the inferiority complex. and i was right but it wasnt it quite the same way. but overall he seemed interesting in that regard since i loved fubuki at the time so he was a character i was looking forward to.

ritsu was...it was love at first sight??? yeah. i loved ritsu so much right from the start i loved how he was introduced i loved his character arc i loved the whole way it was presented if the teru arc just before that hadn’t already hooked me then his arc sure as fuck did. 

the last line i ever saw ritsu utter when i finally caught up with the manga was the famous “hnn...the loans” line. perhaps one of the best lines of all time??? i loved ritsu and since i knew fuck abt shit wrt what was going to happen in the scar arc i was literally about to cry when it was revealed he might be dead god. i was SO STRESSED IN THAT WHOLE FUCKING ARC I DONT THINK I HAD EVER BEEN MORE STRESSED IN MY LIFE.

teru (oh boy)

i first saw teru in the first teaser. i think that was actually the thing that made me want to read it, mostly because the animation and movement in that scene just was so. good. and flowing. he seemed like a villain to me, or some sort of rival. but a harmless one. one that couldn’t fucking touch mob. it sort of reminded me of the thing w/ saitama vs sonic in opm. he seemed like an asshole, but for some reason in my heart when i saw him doing that shit there, i felt like i would like him. i had no basis for this. but i cant believe i was right

when i first saw teru in the manga i was gettin all excited because “hey this looks like the esper kid in the teaser!” and i was excited to see a new character like that introduced. i at least wanted to meet another esper. and teru seemed like the type of villain who would get his ass handed to him in the worst of ways and realize that mob was much much stronger than him and maybe hed even gain some respect for it and i fucking called it i cant believe it i called it in the first page i saw him i fuckign CALLED IT. and i was screaming throughout his whole arc. every second i found myself absolutely falling in love with him and. actually. unfortunately understanding exactly where he was coming from. and once mob went on the whole “you’re just like me” speech, that was probably the defining moment. 

but it didnt stop with that arc at ALL. every gotdam second he was on screen after that i was honestly thinking in my head “stop doing that ur gonna be my fav if u keep doing that!” but he kept doing that and wound up being my fav and i loved how much he believed and supported mob and i loved how different and yet how similar he was from the first time we see him and. i couldnt help myself hes my Type. i was destined to fall for him from the start

shou

I HAD NO PREVIOUS INTRODUCTION TO SHOU BEFORE I READ THE SERIES. HE WAS NOT ANYONE TO ME. HE WAS NOTHING. which was why so much of the claw stuff surprised me tbh. but yeah i had no idea who this kid was i had not been introduced to him

when i first saw shou i disliked him for beating up ritsu and capturing him and mob and i also disliked him for calling mob a coward and THEN i disliked him for burning down mobs house and possibly killing ritsu and his family in fact by that point i was seeing red i wanted that fuckr DEAD. but then it was revealed that everyone was safe but i was still a bit peeved that he did what he did to mob just to leave a “fuse” but i was also projecting a bit because shou almost gave me a fucking HEART ATTAKC and i was NOT GOING TO EASILY FORGIVE. i did forgive tho. eventually. after my poor heart calmed down and i saw him get beat up by his dad and his hubris 

at the end i shipped ritshou because obviously i shipped ritshou i mean how can u not i mean theyre just really good i shipped it 

so like yeah

[whentvsfly]

5, 13 & 37

5. Share one of your strengths.I think I’m good at getting feelings across to the audience? How a character feels, or reacts to things. Making characters Relatable ™

13. What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever come across?There’s probably so many I don’t think of because I’ve taken them to heart, but the best one I can think of right now is “said isn’t dead”. Using too many action-y based words during dialogue can upset the flow, and it’s ok to use ‘said’ because its accurate, and not at all distracted.  I’m glad I was taught this after middle school tried to convince me otherwise.

37. Talk about your current wips. Oh boy…Uhm! Lemme scroll through my googledoc and see what I even have started hah!Ok so there are a lot more than I realized, and some I haven’t worked on in ages, but I’ll put ‘em here anyways! I’ll organize them by how much I have written for them. (it’ll be “title (as they are in google docs. probs wont be actual title for most)”. fandom. description.)Just a rough idea (no words, only outline)(most ones here were thought up as me and @pundeserving​ texted):1. “Disney”. Mp100. Where Teru just really loves Disney movies and gets Mob to watch Bambi with him but its Sad so Teru has to help Mob not reach 100% sadness. It would be real cute n kinda gay2. “Emojis” Mp100. A short hc based piece about how Teru would use So Many Emojis and Mob would only really use ascii emotes (teru: 😎😆😭 mob:  :) :0 ).  He basically uses them as punctuation at this point. After his Gay Awakening he gets worried that it seems too extra or flirty so he tries to cut back on using them but Mob picks up on that and gets worried like “why isn’t hanazawa-kun using as many smilies? is he sick? is he mad at me?” He mentions it to teru and teru is like crying internally cause holy fuck?? he noticed smth so small like that???3. “ritsu is an ok mom friend” Mp100. Spawned from that “when a group of friends is formed, the mom friend emerges” post. It was decided that Ritsu would try to be the most responsible of them all and thus the mom friend. (Teru does his own thing, Mob wouldn’t wanna ruin the others’ fun, and Shou…is Shou). Also spawned from a hc that, in short, is Teru and Shou would be Those Friends who would be real competitive and egg each other on and, if unsupervised, would be Bringers of Destruction). He has confiscated many “Bad Idea Materials “.The story would just be Ritsu tryin to keep his friends safe heh. Direct quote from outline “”ritsus always like! how the fuck! my guy! just stop this it’s like ur trying to get urself killed!!teru and shou just “we are” simultaneously and ritsu rly cant tell if its a joke but hes mildly concerned for a week after”“. I think the part I really wanted to write is Shou sayin he had a Good Idea (read: bad idea) and then stops texting and Ritsus like “holy fuck did he die” and panics and Mob helps him calm down and they go check on him together and it turns out Shou just passed tf out because he is bad at sleeping like a normal human at normal human hours.4. WoY. I don’t speak of it to anyone and therefore it doesn’t exist. What fic? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 5. One that i have only written in my head, not even in googledocs yet. Mp100. Ritsu trying to be there for his bro throughout the arcs. After the teru fight, the mogami incident, etc.6. I also have a few in-my-head Mp100 ones based on the sexuality headcanons of mine I posted about the the other day. Really wanna write those tooPartially written ones:1. Su. It was gonna be one where Steven went to Centi and ranted to her about all the Shit that has gone down. That was a few steven bombs ago tho I could make him rant about Even More.2. “possible sewuel to long fic“. UT. A sequel to ‘There Are Worse Things Than Being Alone, Like Being A Little Too Late”. It is a whopping 3 paragraphs, compared to its prequel’s 30 pages (20,000 words). I lost motivation, although I still do have scenes of it written in my brain.3. “pidge post season“. VLD. My idea of where Pidge may have ended up after S1. Completely pointless now, although I’m still wondering if it would be something interesting to post as a ‘what if’. I’d have to finish it though and I am not particularly motivated since S2 came out. I just kinda wanted to make a cool fic about Pidge being lost on a water-based planet and trying to get their lion functional again with whatever was around so they could meet back up with the rest of voltron (also I wanted to make another nonbinary pidge fic for the tag cause those fics Give Me Life)4. “shou u little fucker open up“. Mp100.  A loose sequel to “My Parents Should Have Taken Me Back for Repairs Before the Warranty Ran Out”. Snippets of Shou bein relatable and Depressed and Ritsu helpin him out as he can. Written so far: depression meals aka being too down to go to the kitchen for food let alone going to the petstore to get your hamster more food so you text your best bro to get hamster food for you and tell him to feed ur pet for you and bein discrete enough that he thinks youre out of the house otherwise he might not do it cause theres no way in hell youre telling him you didnt do it yourself cause you didnt have the energy to get off the couch for like 20 hours5. “Awakening“. Mp100. I realllly wanna finish and post this one. Its based on those lines those claw guys said. “HQ sent an awakened brat” “What? A kid went though that?”. Shou doesn’t know how bad his dad is, he is young and loves his parents. He admired his dads powers. He wants to be like his dad. He doesn’t know what it costs. (He is weak in power, and his dad wants him to be strong, an heir, so he takes him to a branch and has him tortirued to awaken his powers fully).Fully written (but in need of revision/I’m uncertain of whether or not to actually post it):1. “Ritsu worries for Shigeo, Shigeo worries for the cats“. Mp100. A post Mogami arc fic. Ritsu knows nothing of what his bro went through, but Mob has a new habit of feeding any and all cats on their way to school. One day two of the cats are fighting and mob stops responding and goes to break up the fight but he’s already losing himself to his powers so Ritsu has to help him back down. He is more confused than ever.2.”Instinct, and the Training of“. Mp100. A fic about ???%, or about Mob’s powers, personified. Whichever the viewer themself wants to read it as, I left it ambiguous on purpose. Personally I like to think of it as ???% but I won’t make others read it as that. Every time ???% happens, or nearly happens, or is implied to have happened, from the pov of itself. Written in such a weird style, I just need to reread it and see if it sounds ok and other last review things before publishing. I’ve been too lazy to reread it and post it though.aaand thats it! hooo, that was a lot sorry hah! Thank you for the ask!

[katyatalks]

Otomedia April 2019 - Itou Setsuo [Mob] & Irino Miyu’s [Ritsu] Interview Translation

Here’s Itou Setsuo [Mob] & Irino Miyu’s [Ritsu] interview from April 2019’s Otomedia! They’re given in one section so I’ve put them both into one post, making this a long one. Contains some lovely meta on character relationships (Mob & Reigen and Ritsu & Shou respectively), some Shimazaki meta, and some nice insight as to how fans helped develop the tone of season 2.

ITOU SETSUO [Mob]

Q: Season 2 has been full throttle since the very first episode, hasn’t it.

A: Episode 1 felt natural in the way that it picked up from where season 1 left off, and in terms of content it very much felt like “Mob Psycho 100”. But, we see glimmers of Mob’s growth because we knew who he was in season 1. Since there weren’t exactly any scenes in season 1 in which he uses his powers in public or uses his powers of his own accord, episode 1 leaves an impression. As an introduction episode I’d say it scores 120 out of 100.

Q: Where do you think season 2 has powered up the most, compared to season 1?

A: One place in which it’s had a power up is the way the story has progressed, leaning into something more serious. The matter of Mob’s growth has begun, leaving the audience in a state of anticipation. Actually, Mob’s growth is, in itself, the number one power up point. He questions things, thinks for himself, and then arrives at a conclusion - different to how he was back in season 1, when he simply did as shishou said. It’s a level of growth that reaches high enough to touch the sky, I’d say. What we see in episodes 6 and 7, ie. “Mob’s daily life without shishou”, is something that I think wouldn’t have been possible without Mob’s growth. For Mob, having fun with someone after school, enjoying a normal school life… him doing those kinds of things is a pretty dramatic change in itself. 

Unexpectedly, from the get go we see Mob move as a separate unit to Reigen in season 2. In episodes 4 and 5, the two are separated by the fake world and the real world, and then after that they do their own things, until they finally recombine in episode 9. Of course, up until now we’ve seen a lot of conversations between Mob and shishou, but compared to season 1 I feel those conversations have fallen considerably. I feel like as a result of Mob and shishou’s relationship temporarily breaking, it has bounced back into something that feels more complete. I think they’ve truly come to be able to trust one another - their relationship has evolved into that.

Q: Until now, are there any scenes or lines in particular that have left an impression on you? 

A: There’s plenty. I remember the end of episode 1 well, in which Mob confesses to Emi-chan - “I’m an esper” - it really felt like a final episode kind of scenario! Then - this line was in the PV, too - “This power, that I thought would never be of use to anyone… I’ll use it to save someone’s life!” from episode 5. That’s a line that I put effort into, so it really left an impression on me - I’d like it to leave an impression on everyone else, too. And, from the end of Whitey Arc (episode 7), “a good person”. Those three things left an impression on me.

Q: We’ve had new characters appear one after the other - which of those characters has piqued your interest?

A: I like Shimazaki. How to put it; he’s someone who’s attached to Claw, but emotionally I don’t think he’s really attached to anything... so he pretty much just does what he wants. I think it’s probable, as an esper, to feel that you can’t fit in with others. Also, quite simply, I think he’s cool! The power to teleport and read your opponent’s movements… needless to say, that’s cool. We get to see the power balance between all the espers when it comes to Shimazaki, in wondering how to defeat him. I think Shimazaki and co. could be described as rulers with which to measure powers by.

Q: Turning toward the climax of season 2, please tell us the highlights.

A: The fight with ‘Boss’, a formidable enemy. I think the fight scene between him and Mob is a highlight the whole way through. The visuals, the performance, the battle… Also, the growth of the characters around Mob, and the way the relationships between them change. Mob isn’t the only one fighting - there’s various fights and problems happening around him, too. In that sense, no matter how many times you watch the climax, I think you’ll make a new discovery.

Q: Finally, a message, please.

A: From here on out it’s a straight path toward the climax, so please stay glued to the show and enjoy. Mob’s growth, that we’ve seen throughout season 2… if you could please see it through right the way to the end, I’d be very happy.

--

IRINO MIYU [Ritsu]

Q: Where do you think season 2 has powered up the most, compared to season 1?

A: From the start I’ve always thought of Mob Psycho 100 as a work that has its strength in the fact that the colours, movements, and direction all work together to make it seem as if it’s a different work to the manga it’s based on. I think season 2 powered up when it comes to style. I think the response to season 1 was amazing for the production team - Director Tachikawa specifically springs to mind. The reaction from the fans was amazing - we ourselves looked at it all and went, “wow”. With self-confidence within us, we plunged forward, thinking, “right, let’s do what we want,” and as a result I feel the season 2 we’ve ended up with has turned out as something more fun and stylish than season 1.

Q: In what ways do you think Ritsu has grown or changed in season 2?

A: In season 1, I think the Ritsu we see can be defined with the word “insecure”. He appears to be the kind of guy who can do anything, but at his core there lies a swirling mass of complexes. I found that fascinating about him, and story-wise it really helped accelerate the fun. Those complexes are allowed to rest, and consequently he appears at ease in season 2. How to put it; he’s come to be able to distinguish between “what I should do” and “what I want to do”, and is able to recognise what is important to him in his life. So, I think the growth he shows us in season 2 is in the way that his thoughts regarding powers have changed, and the peace of mind that has come to him as a result. With regard to Mob, I feel, as well, that he’s put into practise trying to not come to his rescue so much, and respecting his will.

Q: Until now, are there any scenes in particular that have left an impression on you?

A: The parallel world that we see in Mogami Arc (episode 5). First off, the design is amazing, really leaving an impression. When I saw that episode, I truly felt from the bottom of my heart just how amazing Mob Psycho 100 is. The uncomfortable tone leaves you speechless… as a whole, it has a refreshing feel to it. It makes you appreciate the fact that, usually, Mob Psycho 100 is quite different. The show has the power to make you feel it all - there’s a texture there that you can touch, a smell that you can appreciate. I didn’t perform in that episode, so I didn’t know how the episode would be until broadcast. So, when I saw it, I was incredibly surprised - “what IS this!?”.

Q: What are your thoughts on Shou, who Ritsu meets once again in episode 8?

A: Well, he’s done a good job not being brainwashed. He walks down the path that he thinks is right, which I think is amazing. But - well - the way he chooses to walk that path can be a little overbearing, I think (laughs).

He’s also got complexes when it comes to family, and he’s still in the middle of fighting them. His objective - clearing his pent up emotions - he thinks there’s only one method, and that’s to defeat his father. In contrast, Ritsu no longer antagonises his older brother, having already resolved that. So, Ritsu looks at the way Shou pushes on, and is able to say, “I understand you”. Shou and his father… I think, given Ritsu and Shou’s circumstances being the way they are, that topic will come up as something the two of them will talk about in the future.

Ritsu’s clever, so he’s able to get along with someone while only half-trusting them. He’s able to calmly talk with Shou, and also recognise somewhere in his heart that Shou isn’t a bad person.

...Well, also, given the situation (laughs), he can’t do anything but work together with Shou!

Q: Finally, a message, please!

A: I’m glad the response has been so great - I was able to feel it even while recording. From this point on there’ll be a bunch of new characters appearing, and it’s a point where everything is going to heat up and be more fun, so please pay attention!

--

Twitter crosspost here.

Otomedia April 2019;

ONE’s special interview here.

Sakurai Takahiro [Reigen VA] & Itou Setsuo [Mob VA] joint interview here.

Kokuryuu Sachi [Shou VA] interview here.

Itou Setsuo [Mob VA] & Irino Miyu [Ritsu VA] interview here.

Character Designer Kameda, Eye-catch Team Kenja, Series Co-ordinator Seko & Director Tachikawa's interview here.