#mp100 analysis

[exilepurify]

Studio Bones’ and ONE’s masterful work with the extremely nuanced and allusive facial expressions in Mob Psycho 100 adds so much subtext and subtlety to scenes. Like there’s a rich world of emotions behind the text of a lot of important scenes—stuff said only through furtive movements and charged looks. It’s very fun to go back through the context of the anime or the manga and really pay attention to the details. People who won’t watch or read MP100 because of the art style are really missing out

[halcified]

teru & socialization

i've posted about this before but something ive been thinking about a LOT is mp100's themes of loneliness (and eventual connections). i think this is an aspect of teru's character (in particular) that gets left out because it's not as explicit but i've been wanting to do a deep dive on it for a while and i finally sat down to do it. just a warning, this post is gonna be LONG.

these two panels are from chapter 16 of the manga (which i'm using for my evidence because i. dont want to scrub through the anime LOL). initial sentiment: teru uses his powers to cheat having friends/a good social life and wouldn't have that if he tried earnestly. this is a fair interpretation of the scene. with what we know, at this point of time (as in within the teru-mob fight) teru would not be able to connect with other people earnestly, due to his mindset. which i think is a fair interpretation, HOWEVER:

(from chapter 17 ^^) the first panel shows teru's expression to be strained and the second is visibly unhappy. this puts the first set of panels into a different context, that maybe underneath all of this, teru doesn't WANT any of this life that he's built. keep in mind that i'm analyzing this with teru's possible autistic tendencies in mind & you dont have to believe he's autistic, im not your dad, but i do find this a pretty meaningful indication of masking if he were

(note: yes, the strain can definitely be read as comp-het, and i would agree but that's not relevant so go read this post on that instead)

even if the rest of these panels show teru content with his life, i think these expressions are pretty vital to how we read his life especially because we know so little of it. think about it, if you were a kid desperate for affection because you couldn't get it anywhere else, especially not in a way that would come off as "mature" or "unaffected", wouldn't you also look for validation in your popularity? even if it aligned you with people who you consider fundamentally different to you? my point here is that teru can't not stand out-- it's in his nature-- and we are shown how he tries to blend in & receive attention in the only way possible to him; which is to say that he molds himself into something that is palatable, likeable, and superior to other people. if he's nothing, like mob, he has spent his entire life covering up for it. if he fails socially, like mob, he has to be good at everything (even if he cheats to do so) so that everyone else can look past it.

(side note for my teru angst enjoyers: this is a panel of his mom. the mom who he hasn't seen in years. doesn't it make sense that, if he hasn't heard his mom say he's proud of him for literal years, that he would overachieve in response? not related to the autism thing i just have the teru bug. also don't be misogynistic in my notes both his parents suck we just get a singular mention of his mom)

so if teru couldn't meaningfully have friends before mob, that could very easily be because of his past mindset, right?

...except, we don't.. really... see him make other friends afterwards.

but, the awakening lab, right?

(ok i lied to you sorry there is one anime screenshot and thats because it stood out to me while i rewatched it earlier this month. sorry.) id like to bring attention to this screenshot during the cultural festival because the awakening lab can definitely be seen as a direct contradiction of this and i'd like to point out a couple things:

1) in this scene the shiratori brothers are in another room 2) them and the other three are friends with ritsu (or at least close enough acquaintances to want to see him).

considering this is one of the only times they appear together for Fun i am more inclined to believe this is an encounter where they went together because they all would've gone separately anyway. this isn't to discount the possible bond that these characters might have, but thats the thing. we... aren't really shown that they're friends and enjoy spending time together outside of this screenshot, where two out of six of the members are not even present. not to mention that teru is still placing himself in a role separate from his peers. despite stripping the superiority away, teru is still the awakening lab's mentor, not friend. teru still views himself as fundamentally different in a context where his psychic powers don't make him that way.

...except with mob. i bring this placement of power up because where he is the awakening lab's mentor, teru declares mob to be his rival, or, in other words, teru is just like him. he is accepting that mob and him are the same. (and if we view mob from an autistic lens... so on and so forth)

as if to hammer in that point even further-- in the summer vacation omake, teru explicitly states that "summer break is just a super long, super boring stretch of alone time." i'm not sure of the timeline here, but guessing from the hair, we're at least post season 1. which gives us explicit confirmation here that teru is spending the break alone despite his relationship to the awakening lab. his connection to mob is a lifeline here because mob is one of the only people who can intuitively understand teru's isolation without judgment

(also, on that point of teru's autistic tendencies: teru does and says a LOT of things that would raise other peoples eyebrows and doesn't seem to notice.

here we get teru actively admitting to his home life, right in front of reigen, WHO COULD CALL CHILD SERVICES ON HIM? this genuinely made me rethink this character entirely. teru's filter is... minimal. he isn't constantly volunteering information and generally minds his own business, but if you ask? Well.

teru is a social person, but to say he is proficient in understanding social situations seems... wrong. teru views his loneliness as boring because, despite being fairly open, does not actually allow himself to think about his own feelings and how they affect him. this loneliness is boring because he doesn't have enough of a reference to realize its not

if we are taking pre-mob teru to be a version of himself who is masking, or at the very least someone who is faking a lot of stuff in a less autistic sense, the fight with mob changes teru to the point where he no longer hides himself. in the same way that mob was able to shake teru's fragile superiority complex i think the change in appearance marks the end of the self teru had built up. from this point on we see him become a lot more... Him. his appearance and his fashion choices are, presumably, completely normal to him and we get no indication that he believes otherwise despite the reactions it gets-- which is... well, i wouldn't be writing this post if i thought it was one of his most neurotypical traits.

in fact, he seems... pretty oblivious to what other people think of him. which is an interesting distinction to make considering the intelligence we Know he possesses (which is not to say that you are unintelligent if you don't pick up on social cues, just that its common for media to depict it that way.) these traits are made pointedly, even if unintentionally, separate, ESPECIALLY when you note the amount of characters who Do ruminate on or stare at teru's appearance.

some examples. i don't even think this is all of it-- case in point.)

[exxaltioras]

Something about Mob Psycho 100 I truly adore is how beautiful and real the platonic love is. I know this has been said again and again but as a younger brother it just slaps me in the face sometimes. I feel like casual platonic intimacy between people who care about each other is so undervalued in media in general, and the way Mob loves people unabashedly and with open tenderness is so important to me.

His open adoration for Ritsu, despite the hurt underneath. My sister and I have hurt each other like breathing over the years, but there is no one on this Earth I would give my life to protect like her. No one else knows me like her. And I see that in Mob and Ritsu.

Mob’s deep love and appreciation for Reigen. The way Mob sees his own loneliness reflected back in Reigen. The way Reigen is the only person who can tell Mob it’s going to be okay and make him believe it. The way Mob collapsed into his arms when he said his family was okay, even when Reigen was lying through his teeth. Not even Dimple’s word was enough. He finally felt safe enough to sleep. How Mob disrupted and terrified an entire room of reporters on purpose, when he’s already scared of his powers, so Reigen wouldn’t have to look so sad and cornered and alone anymore. Remembering his birthday, even when they’d been apart for a long time. Reigen always crouching down, hand on his shoulder, eye-to-eye; mutual saviors. They both entered each other’s lives at the perfect time to say, “You’re going to be okay.”

Even Mob’s love for the ones who have hurt him. His unwavering resolve to help Toichiro Suzuki apologize to his wife and his son—to see them again, to make amends, to build a better life than the one that saw him wandering the world for years and years alone, looking for something more. To channel his vision and his drive into a future that Shou deserves. The way he embraced Serizawa when he felt his fear and his pain and welcomed him into a better life without a shadow looming over his shoulder, accepted him as a peer and a friend that he never had. How Shou burned down his house and nearly made him destroy the world in horrible grief for his family, but still he was roused with anger to defend him from his father’s hand. “I’m sure you have a lot going on. I mean, look at what your own father has done to you.” Look at what the pain has done to all of you. What has it done to me?

Mob and his heart full of love, and the story of how, eventually, that loving heart learns to love itself. God. Shit.

[lavendertrash39]

Hi there. I want to talk about Reigen's depression, specifically in the outro of season one.

I just want to start this by saying that Reigen has by far been one of the most accurate and absolute gut punch of a representation of depression that I've ever seen... especially if I got into him having ADHD and depression... but maybe that's for another day.

I've finished the show now, but even from the beginning, I kept saying that there feels like there's just this sense of something being wrong or off in the outro. It truly feels like the morning routine of a depressed person who's just... continuing to go through life. Because that's something that makes his depression so important to me-- that it never feels like a plot point that comes up whenever it's really intense. It's just... always there. Lingering. Changing how he views the world.

This can be seen in the stylization of the outro. It's all black and white, and everything is shaky, hazy almost. As if he's not fully there.

Everything's so quick to fade. It's so apathetic. He does this every morning. Makes himself look presentable, gets the hit of stimulant from the nicotine in his cigarette, and then everything fades again.

Then there's the commute to Spirits and Such. He leaves his apartment, and it still has that same shaky, hazy feel. It very much feels like he's not fully present for that walk. Literally, it'll jump/fade between different parts of his walk. It's like there's a fog around everything he's doing, but he'll remember the little things that stuck out. The little things that broke his routine (the people running, the cat).

Then, finally, he sees Mob. This is kind of an obvious thing to point out-- but at the end of all of that routine, Mob is the one who brings color into his world. I think it's also interesting that we never see Reigen's actual face in the outro. We see him from the back, and we see him smoking, but that's the closest we get. He's at a distance, everything hazy and disconnected.

This is how depression is when you've been living with it for so long.

Reigen still has to go to his job, still has to "be an adult", so it's caused him to just live with this depression. It's that feeling of emptiness that's so hard to describe to anyone who hasn't been depressed. Like you're just going through the motions, unable to connect with the world around you. You don't even know anything's wrong, because this is just how things are. Living life becomes apathetic. I think that's what stuck out the most about the outro.

[bandtrees]

mp100 is a very very kind show, i love how compassionate it is and how forgiving it is, but i also love how hard it hammers in that there’s no such thing as a perfect person with endless bounds of patience and forgiveness, and that living your life only to please others isn’t living much at all.

the confession arc is very special to me for this reason, and below the cut is some analysis as to why! obviously, this contains spoilers for all three seasons of mp100.

the confession arc takes mob, this very kind loving sweet person who’s compassionate and has been able to see good in and treat with kindness people like mogami, touchirou, etc, and tells you... hey! this kid actually has (reasonable) building resentment and unresolved issues from being constantly people-pleasing and forgiving and not really acknowledging peoples’ flaws!

and no, it’s not a case of mob having this evil dark side who hates everyone, it’s just a case of mob... being human! expecting him to brush off the way reigen treats him and the way he and teru met and the danger to his life shou and touchirou were, as compassionate and mature as he is about them, isn’t realistic! because no human person is just a walking well of love and forgiveness, and for as mature as mob is, he’s still only a kid!

mob, as ???%, is very violent towards teru and reigen, and i choose to interpret this as how intensely he’s repressed his unresolved resentment for them that he swallowed down in favor of forgiveness and being the bigger person - the wider theme of mp100. we never really see mob express any discomfort around teru for nearly killing him, or around reigen for lying to him and generally treating him like trash sometimes, or around shou for burning his house down... and while i can’t express enough how important the messages of compassion and forgiveness are in this story, i think it’s also equally important to see, in ???%’s rampage, it’s not some evil side of mob or some shadowy separate personality in his body who’s deciding to hurt teru and reigen, it’s mob himself, because he never unpacked his conflicting emotions towards them, and now, when he can’t control himself, they’re running wild.

and this isn’t me saying teru and reigen are horrible people who never earned mob’s forgiveness. of course not! they’re very important people to him, he cares for them a great deal, they help to bring mob down from his violent episode... but as we hear in the mogami arc...

mob, kind as he is, isn’t some all-forgiving, forever-loving kid, and the same goes for his relationships with others. he cares about teru as a friend, he has resentment towards him for what he did that he never unpacked until now - these things coexist!

and there’s the ultimate catharsis when reigen tells the truth about himself, revealing to mob that he’s a complete liar who’s been using and exploiting him from the beginning. he lied to him from the day they met, and those lies ultimately led to the disaster in seasoning city that we’re seeing now. it was mob’s honest belief that reigen was a strong, powerful adult who had everything figured out -

- that led to him being unable to accept the contradictions within himself, and so reigen laying those bare, the fact that he’s a liar and an exploiter, that he too, this person mob has admired and learned from for the whole series, has a part of himself he hates for how it thinks of other people, is what’s able to let mob finally accept himself. 

reigen being a liar doesn’t make him an evil monster who deserves nothing but mob’s resentment - and in turn, mob destroying the city and trying to kill his friends doesn’t make him a violent, hateful murderer. it makes him and mob flawed humans, whose relationship couldn’t ever have healthily continued if those things weren’t unpacked - if reigen never honestly confessed about who he was, if mob kept forgiving reigen without looking inward to ask how he felt. at best, it would have been shallow and dishonest for them both until the end, and at worst... well, mob wouldn’t have been able to repress his emotions, dangerous as they are the more he hides them, forever...

this is why the scene of mob breaking down and crying is so important to me. finally, he feels safe expressing ugly, crude, selfish emotions. until now, when we see mob cry, it’s either tasteful tears running down his face, not changing much of his actual expression, or the complete opposite direction in exploding and bawling his eyes out with 100% sadness and 100% rejection - either mob’s emotions are pretty and subdued, or soul-crushing explosions he has no control over.

(sidenote: 100% rejection is one of the coolest explosions in the series to me and i wish it was talked about more!)

now, though, with the reassurance that he can cry, full-on cry, and it won’t hurt anyone, that he isn’t some selfish evil for being a middle school boy devastated he got rejected by his crush, that he’s allowed to feel broken up and miserable and have it not be an explosion that destroys the city... he cries! he feels all those negative emotions he’d held back, and because he feels safe expressing them, they’re not dangerous at all, they’re just... again, a middle school boy crying because he got rejected by his crush.

mob’s emotions, on their own, aren’t dangerous. it’s his refusal to express them, and the violent outbursts that leads to, that is.

something i love so much about mob psycho 100′s ending is that it’s not an ending at all. it’s just the beginning - finally, after three seasons, mob can actually feel and safely express his emotions. he can be on even footing with teru, reigen, all of them. he can start balanced, open, communicative relationships with those around him, showing that the compassion mp100 preaches goes far deeper than simply forgiving those who hurt you, or giving people chances.

mob’s kindness is so, so, so important to me, and where season 2 was about extending kindness to others, culminating in mob sitting down with touchirou after deciding that letting him die alone would only have been needlessly cruel and reinforcing the man’s worldview that he needed nobody, and that extending kindness towards him was what he needed to properly change - season 3, culminating in mob confronting the parts of himself that may have wanted to leave touchirou behind, is about extending kindness to yourself.

[yaraneechan]

Lemme talk about Serizawa and Reigen's slow burn relationship actually, because there's something cool about how they met each other at the right time when it comes to their character arcs and the way they grew as characters fit together (1.8k words)

So from the very beginning, we see Reigen's main character flaws in telling Mob to come to work on short notice, ignoring Mob asking him to stop.

And when Mob tells him that he's worried he's wasting his youth, Reigen encourages him to stick with going home club, says Mob doesn't need to have a life outside of work cause just learning how to use his powers from Reigen is enough. Because If Mob has no other commitments, then he has more time for his job at spirits and such. for Reigen, it's half about the money half about Reigen wanting company

he's not intentionally malicious, but he's isolating Mob and is in the way of his growth.

Mob doesn't go by his advice and joins a club anyway.

other times Reigen does have a positive influence on Mob's growth when gives good advice otherwise and takes responsibility. (See after lol cult arc, after teru fight, end of 7th div arc)

In urban legends arc, spirits and such starts getting more work because they got more famous. Reigen ends up getting Mob to stay overtime till it's night and didn't even have time to get him soba. the arc ends with him realizing he fucked up. Mob is growing up and is trying to understand himself, and he's losing his sense of self in how he feels distant from both spirits and humans, they time they spend hanging out is much more important than jobs, then they do go get soba.

then Mogami arc happens: 1) Mob experiences being all alone and says he will appreciate the people in his life more. 2) back in lol cult he refused to acknowledge humans can be bad and that it wasn't Tsubomi who was mean but it must've been an evil spirit. in Mogami arc he accepted that Minori was really bad but people can change.

So in separation arc, 1) when Mob again tells Reigen not to call him on short notice (again) cause he was hanging out with friends, Reigen felt threatened. he's losing his monopoly on Mob. He tells him that they must be using him (he's projecting) and that he should should cut contact with them for it (this comes back to bite him)

2) Mob recognizes Reigen has said something bad and needs to change. the theme of recognizing someone can say something terrible and can still change carries over from lol cult arc to Mogami arc to separation arc and he stops coming to spirits and such.

at the press conference, Reigen realizes he was holding Mob back from his growth/ experiencing the world, and realizes that he should acknowledge that Mob has grown instead of being in his way.

Afterwards, Reigen did change and have a character development. he even lies about having free time so he can help out Mob practicing for the marathon (an anime added detail shows his calendar mostly booked)

now lets talk about Serizawa

Serizawa works for Touichirou, and while Touichirou is helping him with using his powers and gives motivating advice that helps him be more confident, he's still isolating him, preventing him from experiencing the outside world so he can stay reliant on him. The umbrella both helps him go outside but is also an extension of his room. He just wants Serizawa's loyalty and he wants to use him as spare battery. He tells him he needs to not hold back on using powers and that he can be stronger by being arrogant and self centered like him (this will come back to bite him)

when Serizawa protects Reigen, he has grown within Touichirou's advice and ideals, so Serizawa tries to tell Touichirou that he's grown and gotten more couragous thanks to Touichirou's support, that he did it in good faith and that they all are on the same side. but Touichirou didn't actually care about Serizawa, and because Serizawa gaining courage/ Serizawa growing means Touichirou can't unconditionally use him anymore, Touichirou considered Serizawa's action a betrayal.

at the end of wd arc, Touichirou had realized he was in the wrong. and to cleanly break off their relationship, he tells Serizawa that he only saw him as a tool, so he shouldn't feel indebted to him for anything.

Touichirou's last advice for him, an advice he intentionally didn't give him when he was using him, is to not to let others take advantage of him.

So after wd arc, Serizawa starts working for Reigen at spirits and such, now the manga goes right ahead to Serizawa's first job at the office, Reigen calls out Serizawa for not telling him there's a curse and Serizawa is still confused what he's supposed to be doing and the dynamic and etiquette at the office. But the anime has the ova events happen before this

In the onsen ova, Serizawa has done his research on how to be a good employee and even has notes in his sleeve. one of the things he learnt from it is that he's just supposed to follow boss's orders (which honestly I'd say he should've already figured out why not to do that, but the ova is more or less filler (aka has character development constraints). but anyway this caused the miscommunication between him and Reigen about the whole spirit trapped him in a never ending train thing. Reigen explains that he appreciates and even needs for Serizawa to have his own thoughts and to voice them.

this genuine and equal relationship-literally same eye level- contrasts with Touichirou and Serizawa's relationship and is similar to Reigen and Mob's relationship.

later, Mob has to fill out a future prospects form. at first Reigen tells him not to worry as he can just keep working at spirits and such.

Reigen had grown because of his separation arc experience. when Serizawa and Mob talk about their worries about their future, Reigen assures Mob that he doesn't have to keep working for him. And Serizawa was there for this conversation.

soon after, Serizawa tells Reigen he will start taking night classes so that he doesn't have to rely on Reigen all the time. He has the courage to do so after dealing with the client who worried he wasted his life and after seeing Reigen support Mob's choice even if he leaves spirits and such.

he is also taking Touichirou's advice, because if he has different things going for him it would be harder for him to get taken advantage of. he's not putting all his eggs in one basket, if he's going to keep working for spirits and such, it'll be because he wants to and not because he's trapped there as he has no qualifications for anywhere else.

and Reigen isn't offended or threatened by this. he recognizes that Serizawa is improving himself, is supportive, and adjusts the work schedule even though its inconvenient. he doesn't brush him off or tells him that he already has a job, the same way he used to brush off Mob thinking about joining a club or wanting to hang out with friends.

When Serizawa and mob talk about their lives....Reigen feels lonely, but he's not going to lean into old habits to pressure or guilt them into spending more time at spirits and such just because he's lonely. but instead, he uses an I statement, acknowledging that he feels bored instead of telling them to spend more time in the office, dissmissing their lives and trying to keep them from growing so that they stay close to him. My guy went to therapy!

he does regret it immediately because Mob tells him he's getting popular and Reigen is like "okay that's cool thanks for telling me you can leave now no I'm not jealous or anything" but baby steps lol

broccoli arc happens, and we Reigen relapses, in the anime, it happens with similar framing as separation arc.

and like Reigen putting Mob down is separation arc saying he's just being taken advantage of and doesn't have friends, here Reigen is putting Mob down by pointing out that psycho helmet is doing something Mob can't do, leading people- a jab at him thinking he's getting popular.

Reigen tells Mob he's not going with him to the divine tree, expecting Mob won't go where he doesn't, assuming that he can hold Mob back.

Because broccoli arc is about how someone can get carried away and about empty relationship through brainwashing/idolization/worship and inability to be honest with someone and call them out on them getting carried away.

on that note there's Reigen wanted to be special but getting carried away in isolating mob and not accepting that Mob has his own life, Touichirou saw himself as main character and put down Serizawa (shoutout to Dimple calling Serizawa's dependency on Touichirou brainwashing), and finally Dimple controlling everyone to believe in him as a god.

though the theme applies to all of them the story focuses on Dimple and Mob in this arc and how you can't have a genuine relationship with the idolization power dynamic and that's lonely.

Mob can and had already called Reigen out back in separation arc. Serizawa was less direct about it but he stood up to Touichirou too when he had protected Reigen.

It's interesting how we don't see Serizawa in broccoli arc....

after that in alien arc, Reigen asks Serizawa to go out together for drinks. Serizawa refuses saying he has plans with friends.

I know this scene is famous as a serirei rejection BUT It's important that Serizawa can say no without worrying about Reigen's reaction. the point is that Reigen doesn't brush off Serizawa's choice to go out with friends. because that was a character flaw of his that was called out when he had brushed off Mob's friends in separation arc. It's a test and Reigen passed.

luckily for Reigen he does end up not spending new years alone cause Mob and his friends needed a ride, funny how that worked out.

in confession arc, after gave advice and Serizawa gave love advice to Mob (noting that Serizawa told him than his feelings are true if they'rethe same no matter what anyone tells him, and Reigen's advice is to be honest to her), Reigen asks Serizawa about relationships and Serizawa says he'd never been interested in anyone. Reigen tells Serizawa that he hopes to be a partner in a relationship where one doesn't distort the other.

IT'S ABOUT THEM. this whole time they've been subtly establishing their boundaries and figuring out how not to fall into their past mistakes and they can be partners in a healthy relationship where they don't distort each other.

Finally here's a translation note about Serizawa saying he drifted towards this job in the REIGEN manga

[almondpants]

I just realized that when 99 was playing,,,,its basically Reigen's own counter when he was getting closer to Mob

[ygodmyy20]

Opps this post got forgotten! But if I don't post it today when will I!?

Okay so, I've been thinking for awhile on the question: why do I like terumob and why did it take over my brain? What is it about it...what caught my interest. As someone who was very NOT into ships when i first got into mp100, why did I crashland into this one?

This post has been in progress for like....weeks now? Nearly a month? 3 months? Yea.

Okay so. Here we go. THOUGHTS! On terumob and why the fuck I like it. Below the cut.

Like I mentioned, when I first finished Mob Psycho 100 in June of this year I wasn't into any ship. I was actually REALLY NOT into ships. I really liked gen. I wanted to explore the characters and I loved the complex relationships between everyone but I didn't want it to be overshadowed by romance. I purposely steered clear of any and all ship art.

But then I started to see some TeruMob fanart and I was like "Aw man, they are so cute and squishy." And I started to like them....just a lil bit. ONLY A LITTLE BIT.

BUT then I read more Teru-centric fics, read Teru analysis' and then I was like. Oh shit, Teru is 100% so into Mob it's like....this kid has it bad. He has a major crush. And even on the rewatch I am like WOW yep, confirmed in my brain, Teru has it bad. The subtext of his pinning is JUST so there for me. I didn't even have to look hard for it. I suddenly was very in on the Teru-one-sidded part of the ship.

But here's the thing, I'm not a big fan of ships like that... feels too unrequited. Hard for me to really like it. I need to have some level of something from both sides. Just how I am.

So that still leaves the question.

When and how does Shiego liking Teru work? Is there any subtext for that or am I just making it all up because I want the ship to work for me?

(which also is fine ya'll, no judgement if you ship two characters that barely interact, thats the fun of fandom stuff!)

I mean, all things considered, Shigeo likes Tsubomi. Scratch that, he REALLY likes Tsubomi. Shiego loves very strongly, like all his emotions. And he definitely likes Teru, they are good friends, so I kept thinking: where and how does that cross into a crush to me, for these characters?

Teru cares a lot, he adores Shigeo—Shigeo is kind, he is powerful, he is everything Teru wants to be. But are there places where I see this same level of intensity from Shigeo?

Annnnnnnnd then I got to their fight in season 3.

Everything Shiego did to Teru was so pointed. So raw and angry. Like I said, I think Shigeo feels his feelings very strongly and, I don't know, just the fact that he PERSUED Teru to humiliate him EXACTLY in the same way again, tells me that their first meeting had an intense impact on him. We don't see a lot of his feelings on his meeting with Teru, besides the brief ??? in that episode. After meeting Teru, it's just...life goes on as normal for them. But deep down I don't think Shigeo ever really tackled his complex feelings about Teru and their first meeting.

So it all comes out, its all be stewing for AGES, and what comes out is mean. It's aggressive. It's almost sarcastic? It's what happens when we let things chew us up inside and comes out all twisted.

Teru evoked such a strong reaction from Shigeo, even if Shigeo didn't admit it or express it, that I can't help but think, after things have settled, after he has spent more time adjusting to his whole self...after they both take time to really examine themselves and grow....

....that Shigeo wouldn't develop stronger feelings for this boy who also turned his world upside down. Who made him feel such strong emotions, who changed his world too.

Teru was forever changed by meeting another esper his age.

I think Shiego was too.

And I think where I started to love them was after the finale, after Teru's acceptance of Shiego for who he was.

I don't want to pigeonhole any of the espers into only being able to date other espers. But I also....yes, Shiego is a normal kid, but he is also Shiego.

Teru is a person who understands the strength it takes to keep that power, who has seen Shiego at all sides. His best and his worst.

But gosh this scene....

OUGHGGH

JUST THROW ME IN A RIVER WHY DON"T YOU

Yeah this whole scene just.....just yea. OUGH.

But yeah I just feel like Teru's crush would only grow after that. He would see Shigeo as a person over an all powerful esper.

While I like to think Shigeo's would develop over time and them smack into him like a runaway freight train. Because Shigeo FEELS so strongly, for all his emotions. He feels sadness strongly, he feels love strongly, he feels anger strongly—he just feels everything SO strongly. That is why he is powerful, that is why he is who he is, that is why ??? became what it is.

Anyway. My thoughts have ended and that's all i got. Thanks for coming to my ted talk of rambling mess that has been in progress for months that I realized whelp with the anniversary of the end of S3 nearly here, mind as well post it.

[hellolulu]

Serizawa is really the best partner for Reigen, no doubt. Like, this man sees Reigen's true self, and he just accepts it, because he's extremely perceptive and empathetic. Because they both are.

What I mean by him accepting it is that, rather than going along with his ruses/lies for the sake of "the flow", he's been able to watch Reigen closely and learn that people don't actually have their shit together. He's been able to see that he didn't waste as much time as he'd thought he had, being an adult shut-in - and that by going to school and working with s&s, he's actually been able to live a pretty normal life.

Reigen started out as this Big Boss to anxiously impress - to the point of hiding note cards in his sleeve and feeling unable to criticize him - and he was constantly way-too overly impressed by the things Reigen does as part of his work. But Reigen becomes more and more just another normal person to him as the story progresses, and despite how Reigen feels about people knowing his true self ("they'd reject me immediately"), Serizawa treats Reigen's normalness as a positive thing!

He's not thinking of him in a "he's lying to everyone" or "he's just another face in the crowd" way, but he sees him as someone like him, who just happens to be better at acting like a normal citizen. And as someone who has a hard time feeling normal, it's comforting for him to see that actually, Reigen's working just as hard as he is. In this way, he sees him as a true friend and equal - which is also touching because Reigen wants nothing more than for everyone in the world to realise they're all equal at the core.

And of course, he's still always amazed and impressed when Reigen shows intense maturity and understanding of the world, because this is something he can learn from, even though Reigen is actually younger and oftentimes just as lost as he feels. Regardless of the setting, Reigen is someone he can look to. He doesn't look up to his displays of power, like he had been encouraged to do in Scar, but he sees firsthand his ability to see the world, and others, in a way nobody else can. He looks to him for support, and to grow, and in doing so, has been able to help Reigen grow too.

[mitsrii]

I actually love this tidbit of Touichirou’s character development. After all the things Mob tried to show him last season and all his efforts, he was actually right all along.

Mob proved Mogami wrong, that people really can change, and create change in others in form of a ripple effect, and now all it takes a is cry from his son Shou to remind Touichirou that there truly are people who care about him, as equals, and that he should consider their feelings more too as they are important to him.

And this time, he chose to be a good father, instead of self-sacrificing for the world.

[loquaciouscat]

I wanted to talk about this one thing people are skipping over. Reigen's feet scene. Read this first before judge me and laugh it off!!!

It is funny and it made me giggle as well, it became a meme really quickly. Yet it's actually a symbolism that is easy to miss unless you are familiar to Japan symbolism.

CW: discussion of s*icide. Please read at your own risk!!

To me, anime wasn't able to capture the seriousness of the situation.

Reigen was getting prepared to die.

Barefoot suicide is really a thing and also is a common TV trope in Japanese media. Many people believe it's because people don't want to track dirt and such into their ethereal destination, or to imply it was their choice to die. Apperantly as it got more commonly inspired by real life situations, abondoned pairs of shoes have became a symbol for suicide. Feel free to search yourself as well.

You can see in the manga panel, there was a literal hurricane going on in the place. All the people that have faced with Shigeo so far were all very powerful espers, yet got severely hurt. Reigen has no powers to protect himself, never had one. You can literally pinpoint the moment he has decided to go for it, and you can also how terrified he is.

He is ready to die to save Mob, yet he is still so scared. He goes for it anyways.

Considering seriousness of the situation, it was indeed a suicide mission for him. I believe the repeated scenes and focus on bare foot was to show Reigen was ready to risk everything to protect his young brother figure.

Everything Reigen had in his life, it was because of Mob's influence on him. This goes for both ways, we were shown how much Reigen affected Mob yet didn't fully grasp how much Mob affected Reigen. This was shown beautifully in the seperation arc. I believe we can see a similar situation going on here.

When he started S&S Counseling, he was an adult lost in life. He wanted to "become someone", (which I believe it's roots comes from his family dynamic) and Mob helped him achieved that. But it was built on a lie. And they both knew it, yet didn't talk on it. Mob didn't share about his hidden feelings much either.

At some point, understandably, it exploded. All the repressed feelings came to surface. Reigen risked everything he had left, including his life, to assure Mob that it was okay to struggle with his own identity, and it doesn't make him less or more of a person. We never really see Reigen being this vulnerable, so it was so refreshing to see. He didn't just assured Mob it's okay to struggle with self-acceptance, but he also admitted he struggles with it too. And it makes me cry whenever I think about he was willing to die to help the kid he raised.

I just can't help but adore the strong bond they have with each other. And I'm so glad the manga (and the anime) just ended with the most amazing way of showing self-acceptance.

I will always appreciate One's storytelling so much!!!

[exilepurify]

It’s okay to run away and save yourself!

Master has saved me so many times.

But remember, the one who always saved me was me.

Noticed a fun little parallel but it’s actually kind of ripping me apart like a mountain lion. Shigeo is literally taking Reigen’s place here, like physically in the composition. Because when Reigen saved Mob in that episode, it was actually Shigeo saving Mob. Because it was Shigeo’s power that enabled Reigen to do what he did. Otherwise, he would be maimed or dead and they would all be fucked. he DID save himself.

[halcified]

left some tags on @/ahmobbu's post here but wanted to expand over on it separately, particularly on this scene because this bit of dialogue during the teru and mob fight FASCINATES me

the thing is that teru... did this himself. he is the reason why mob is unconscious here, and, like ahmobbu's post points out, he also asks to move out alone. this is not a singular instance of pushing other people away. teru does this over and over and OVER. fighting mob here was as much as a show of power as it was a desperate act of selfishness, to find another esper his age who evaded claw and LIVED. mobs speech doesnt make it through to teru because teru, at this point (and arguably throughout the rest of the show), isn't able to view his life critically without falling apart. this kid is allergic to asking for help to the point where his apartment is torn to shreds and he (presumably) stays there overnight anyway. he figures out his city is being brainwashed and instead of turning to people he Knows could help him (like, you know, mob?) he fights psycho helmet himself and pays the price for it terus hyper-independence is as heartbreaking as it is because it WAS necessary. no adult has been reliable to him and that is why watching him demand that kageyama, the only other esper hes known, fight him is so telling; his life has demanded violence and its only when hes shown kindness in mob that things start to break apart. when he distances himself (particularly from his parents) he blames himself for it even when we can tell thats... Not really his fault and it only incriminates his parents further for acting so indifferent. but teru NEEDS to blame himself, needs to push kageyama, because if he can blame himself hes still in control of the situation. and this need for control is present everywhere-- he wants to be black vinegar's shadow leader, he wants to be part of claw's fall, he wants to help the awakening lab kids. teru is not content to sit by the sidelines, its just that post-mob, he (tries to) put that energy to good use. but... in this scene its different-- hes still blaming the world for everything but where it has Actually failed him. its only when hes standing over the only possible ally (and friend) he could've had, does he acknowledges his loneliness in the only way he knows how-- to someone who cant (or wont) hear it

[thekagepro24]

MP100 Divine Tree Arc analysis (yet again): Dimple and Honesty

ok so divine tree arc is my favorite mp100 arc bc of the intricately-written miscommunication and understandable character motivations on both ends, and it's written in a way where i've watched its episodes easily 20-30 times and STILL notice new things!

(long analysis under cut)

So I've noticed that there's a mistranslation in a line in episode 5. Mob asks Teru to "snap out of it" / "come to your senses", but Dimple's response got mistranslated to this:

When I'd initially watch this, I wouldn't listen to the spoken line closely enough to notice the translation was faulty, and would always think "but...you ARE controlling him with brainwashing. why lie like that?"

What he says would translate more accurately to, "Unfortunately for you, Hanazawa is sane." I'm fairly sure he says it this way in reference to his previous line about how "Their personalities won't be any different". He's telling Mob that Teru's acting in a way he normally would, which is then emphasized by Teru insisting 'this is just another important thing in my life'.

And you might wonder why I'm so particular about this mistranslation! It's because making Dimple say "I'm not controlling him" would be a lie! Even if he's not controlling him as if using a remote control, he is brainwashing him, so that would still count as control! It would be a lie for Dimple to say this!

And that specific distinction made me realize something!!!!!

Throughout the conversation Mob and Dimple have in episode 5, Dimple never flat-out lies. What puts Mob off is that Dimple isn't being entirely honest, but Dimple never lies about things, instead he omits the whole truth.

Despite the 'carried away' conversation in episode 3 ending poorly, Dimple makes the offer again within the broccoli that he and Mob should achieve this godhood goal together, but Mob is so focused on getting Dimple to stop that he doesn't notice that this is Dimple's attempt at working together with him. (Mob himself notes this in ep 6: "You could've achieved it by yourself, but you asked me to join you. You trusted me before i trusted you")

The problem here is that Dimple is overly prepared for things to turn into a fight. He knows that Mob could easily erase him because of the difference in their powers, so he specifically waits within the broccoli and uses its powers to his advantage in this encounter. Even when talking to him, Mob's upset that they aren't talking face-to-face, unaware that Dimple's hiding specifically because he's scared of Mob's rage. Dimple even ASKS "If you don't agree with me, won't you resort to force in the end?" to test the waters, and when Mob replies that he will, it turns into a fight.

And when Mob realizes this after more of Dimple's hiding behind powers, he asks if Dimple's scared of him only to be met with silence.

Dimple doesn't lie by saying he's not scared of Mob, he instead just conveniently doesn't talk until he thinks he has the upper hand. Only when Mob finally collapses and notices his powers are being absorbed by the broccoli does Dimple chime in, because now he thinks he's winning this fight.

He brings up Tsubomi and tells the truth about his perception of her, that she seems like the type who wouldn't accept a confession from Mob if he were to try it. It's a genuine observation from him, it's Dimple's honest thoughts, he's not lying. The problem is that he uses this observation to segue into the Psycho Helmet point, and offers a faulty solution to Mob's worries by suggesting he just rely on power. (Similar to how back when Mob ran the marathon with the goal of confessing to Tsubomi if he got at least 10th place, Dimple offered to cheat and possess him when he wounded his leg.)

This then causes more tension and the two start fighting again. And yet again, Dimple is omitting some of the truth. He thinks to himself about how powerful Mob should be at this point, and how to win a fight against him if things have to come to that. Usually Dimple will give his thoughts on a risky situation out loud, but here he keeps it to himself.

Just like earlier when Mob asked if Dimple was scared of him, Dimple conveniently stays silent here instead of being upfront about his apprehension.

Mob is offput by Dimple's insistence on the Psycho Helmet goal, and says that 'this isn't you, it doesn't suit you'. Dimple realizes later on that he doesn't feel fulfilled by this goal, but in the moment he's horribly upset by the way Mob jumps to the extreme of saying 'everything he's doing is fake'. Dimple has wanted this godhood goal this whole time even if it started waning, so to be told something like that feels like an insult to his efforts and ambitions. ("Don't go casually denying the thing I've been wanting this whole time!")

Dimple attacks, but on instinct tries to ask if Mob is ok, but upon seeing Mob's rage flare up again, shrinks back and says that he's been trying to use Mob this whole time.

It reminds me of the conversation Reigen and Dimple had when Mob was in the Mogami mindscape. Reigen was able to identify that Dimple is not the type to openly admit that he's starting to care about Mob's well-being seperate from the ulterior motive of the long-term godhood goal, so he spoke to Dimple on his own terms, by implying that he'd miss out on the chance to selfishly manipulate Mob from the shadows if he left now. Even though Reigen briefly points out that he knows Dimple feels odd about being trusted (a wink and a nod kind of way of saying "I know you care about Mob's safety"), he focuses the main point of his persuasion on this dishonest "yeah sure but you want to manipulate him right?" question.

Dimple fucking SUCKS at admitting he cares for people. The closest he gets by this part in the story is hyping Mob up, but that's because he can easily hide that behind "Well I'm just thinking of the long-term godhood goal, if I hype him up, he'll want to be a god more!". Even in the Mogami mindscape, Dimple reminds Mob of how much everyone ELSE cares for him! He'll worry for Mob's well-being and advise him against getting into dangerous situations, but will never flat-out say "It's because I care about you as a friend, I genuinely have gotten to the point where I want you to be safe outside of this goal". And so in this scene, he lacks the insight to realize he cares, and falls back into "...Well I've been manipulating him, I know that much.".

And so then we finally have the monkey shirt insults. It can be easy to misunderstand this as the first instance Dimple's 'been honest / stopped lying' since Mob entered the Divine Tree, but that isn't right! Dimple has been honest about his godhood goal and his intent to team up with Mob to achieve it, but he had also been omitting the truth to get to that goal. He stays quiet about how scared he is of Mob's powers, and Mob's realization that Dimple's being dodgy about something makes Mob doubtful of Dimple's true intent in turn.

When Dimple offers to team up with him, the fact that it has this immense power attached to it deters Mob.

When Dimple says that Tsubomi likely wouldn't be interested in him, it's followed by the offer of this immense power as a solution.

But when Dimple insults the monkey shirt, there's nothing attached. He's JUST disgusted by the shirt. Instead of something that can give him some sort of power, he speaks honestly about something mundane. (If anything, it's something that risks him getting hurt due to Mob's bad mood.)

And THIS is why Mob says this line:

What's threatened to drive this wedge between them, what's caused Dimple to become dodgy about his thoughts is this potential immense power the Divine Tree can give, as well as Mob's immense power he wields being seen as a threat by Dimple.

Mob entered the broccoli with intent to force Dimple to stop this plan entirely, and so it took him a while to notice that his power and anger had made Dimple feel like he had to prepare for a fight.

Dimple hid behind these new powers and tried to persuade Mob that they're amazing by doing things like showing off his new God form and its powers. But his initial refusal to ask himself why his godhood goal had been feeling empty made it so he tried to insist to Mob that these powers are great (Basically like a sunk-cost fallacy. It's what he wanted this whole time and what he'd put so much effort into, so it has to be worth it, right?).

So it's only when Mob realizes that powers are in the way of the conversation they're trying to have, do they begin to both look inwards and realize how their miscommunication had gotten so extreme.

And so from then on, Dimple is able to speak honestly without any ulterior motives.

(From here I'm tempted to get somewhat side-tracked and mention how the Divine Tree is a perfect symbol for immense power, and how it perfectly represents how Dimple had been trying to persuade Mob to abuse power initially in the series. He kept insisting powers are all-encompassing and can do ANYTHING in the beginning, and then his abuse of the tree's power leads to the Psycho Helmet entities trying to EAT everything and turn EVERYTHING into fuel for its own power. Power for nothing but power's sake. Some translations + the ENG dub somewhat skews their dialogue, but the Psycho Helmet entities speak in a very fragmented way, and don't ever refer to Mob as a person or with any person-related pronouns! They ONLY refer to Mob once and it's as "that." And so there's a horror there that this tree will consume ANYTHING for power. It's the epitome of the flawed ideology Dimple had at the very beginning of the series turned physical, so Dimple has to fight against it, and realizes the error in his ways in the conversation after said fight. So he is then sacrificed in a way to use his new immense power for a GOOD cause, to get rid of this threat. It perfectly puts that flawed ideology Dimple had at the beginning of the series to rest.)

...but this post was meant to be about observing the specific point that Dimple never flat-out lies in episode 5's conversation. A really subtle touch to the character writing in this arc, the fact that he's not just "evil again", but rather feels the need to prepare for a fight with underhanded means. He's not lying, he's omitting more of the truth than he usually does.

[fuyuu-suru-uzuki]

out of the 90 or so panels that ONE devotes to the mental fight between shigeo and mob in mob psycho 100's confession arc -- from mob's conscious awareness of shigeo's presence to shigeo's eventual dissolution and assimilation of mob -- just seven show us that the child can actually be heard arguing with himself from the outside.

since the anime concluded its run last year, i've had those panels on my mind. studio bones only animated the largest one and relegated shigeo's speech on it to internal dialogue (much more on that decision here). they're so compelling that i decided to redraw them in my own style.

this is the seventh and last of them. it occurs just before shigeo smacks reigen in the head with a chunk of fallen city in hopes of scaring him off (it doesn't work).

its text reads:

｢他人が”僕”を飼い慣らすことはできない。モブの本当の姿を知ればあの人は僕を開���するよ。」 tanin ga boku wo kainarasu koto wa dekinai. mobu no hontou no sugata wo shireba ano hito wa boku wo kaihou suru yo. 'no one else will be able to tame me. now that he knows mob's true form, that man will set me free.'

ONE's original panel below the cut.

この一連の他の絵 kono ichiren no hoka no e other drawings in this series panel 2｜panel 3｜panel 5｜panel 6

[yaraneechan]

This is a small thing but its interesting to compare Reigen and Mob's job at a field and Teru vs Dimple's fight

Mob uses his powers on the scarecrow, thinking he exorcised the spirit successfully cause he assumed it was possessing it.

it turns out the scarecrow-and the plants- are being controlled remotely.

Teru also thought he finished the spirit off by using his powers on broccolimob, letting his guard down and started thinking what that was. Then was shocked it regenerated (it was more clear that Teru was shocked in the anime than in the manga) , because dimple is controlling it remotely.

Also wanted to mention the psychics considering killing minori to also get rid of mogami, felt its related world building wise

other comparisons:

-Mob wonders if he can control the plants/living things like the spirit does and considers it an evil spirit thing. Teru, talking about the brainwashing, says "I've had enough of you fools trying to control people through power, no matter how much you try, you can't be god. neither can you be the protagonist/a star"

mob and teru are both relating to the idea of using power to control others.

-Wriggle spirit was draining the farmer's plants to feed on their energy vs Broccoli tree was also feeding on the plants energy and draining them (minegishi noticed) and the tree's roots are spreading to get more energy which is causing damage to the buildings and the city. The cats looked tired in a shot in the anime so the tree might be draining their energy too