This season seemed to have settled into a routine for me, with Dororo consistently delivering the absolute standout moments in any given week. The surprise, of course, is that anything could be competitive with Mob Psycho 100 II, much less surpass it – especially given that MP100 has pretty much delivered the goods as expected. That’s a testament to just how much Dororo has exceeded more than expectations more than anything else, and those are the kinds of surprises you don’t mind a season delivering.
My Tuesdays have been following a routine too – I watch Dororo, blog it, and then see if Mob Psycho can possibly do anything to top it. Most weeks it hasn’t, and today’s Dororo was a superb example of why that show is as great as it is. But as if in indignation, Tachikawa-sensei reached deep and delivered a spectacle of shock and awe the likes of which pretty much only this series and Boku no Hero Academia at its absolute best have been able to offer (that they’re both Bones shows is not a coincidence, though it’s only a small part of the story) since Hunter X Hunter 2011 ended. Mob has been great this season, but only rarely has it been perfect. This week, it was perfect.
Really, I hardly know where to begin, because this ep was such a riot of brilliance on every level. There’s been so much happening on MP100 this season that it’s at times seemed to be moving too fast, but somehow that wasn’t the case this week despite its non-stop action involving a dizzying array of combatants. I could try and describe just how unbelievable the animation and direction was, but, well- you saw it. “Wow” is about all I have to offer. The choreography on all the fights was magnificent, and Tachikawa-sensei was the conductor leading an orchestra of virtuosic musicians – somehow he made that riot of brilliance out of what could easily have been just a riot.
Of course one has to make note of just how lovably GAR Mob was this week, starting with his reaction to seeing several of Claw’s zaku looting the devastated area around Cultural Tower. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – the world of this mythology is lucky the one who inherited such incredible powers is a boy like Mob, because he’s so innately humble. That humility is a weakness at times, yes (as Mogami – yes, he’s back – will point out later) but it’s also Mob’s greatest strength. Who else would Mob would counter the entitled prattling of espers by celebrating the abilities of those who grow vegetables or work a canning machine at a factory? That’s Mob – his perspective is such that he realizes that even a monster like he is depends on countless unseen others in order to survive.
Battles are happening on many fronts here. As Shou leaves Ritsu (who insists, to be fair) to try and deal with Shimazaki while he goes after his father, Mob ends up confronting the plantmaster Minegishi-san, who comes to the aid of the zaku when the boy wonder shows up. Mob being Mob, he’s especially nettled – his anger stems from the way that Minegishi leaves aside the feelings of the plants he manipulates. Mob would have triumphed here eventually but it’s a tough battle, and eventually Matsuo shows up to help – but he proves no match for this member of the Ultimate 5.
Mogami’s return was certainly something I expected to happen sooner or later, but maybe not quite this sooner. Clearly Matsuo has no clue how to control him, and even Minegishi is terrified at what appears before him after one of the shock troops arrogantly breaks the bottle containing the vengeful spirit. Mogami, as ever, cuts right to the heart of Mob’s insecurities as the boy pleads for the man who’s just been fighting him to be spared – it’s Mob’s inability to be hard on people that’s holding him back. Minegishi is no match for Mogami, and he’s uninterested in fighting Mob at this point – so my assumption is that Mogami is certain to turn up again sooner or later.
Shimazaki, meanwhile, shows us more strength than we’ve seen from anyone in Claw thus far. Ritsu is no problem; eventually Teru and the fugitive Scar members show up, but even against the likes of all of them Shimazaki seems invincible. Almost, that is – a sneak attack does wing him a bit but that’s all. He sees Teru as the greatest threat of them all and wisely decides to eliminate him first, but Teru is smarter than Shimazaki gives him credit for. Shimzaki’s weaknesses? His attacks are predictable and he can’t defend what he’s not expecting – but eventually, he manages to unleash what appears to be his ultimate ability, Mind’s Eye. And things are looking grim at that point – until Mob shows up. Mob, and one more…
It’s classic Reigen to show up in the middle of this GAR-fest of esper monstrosity and steal the show in about 10 seconds, but so he does here with his “Self-defense attack!”. Of course Shimzaki couldn’t sense Reigen, that’s the whole point – but he doesn’t know that, and with Scar and Mob (who Shimazaki can sense is off the charts) calling Reigen “Master” he can only assume Reigen is an absolute God. Knowing he’s beaten, Shimazaki first surrenders, then flees – leaving the way clear to the tower and Touichirou. Mob finally shows he can be hard on people here – telling his friends to stay behind, as they’ll only be in his way. Whatever fear he has for himself, this pure soul would be far more worried if the others were in harm’s way. Even Dimple, who knows Mob as well as anyone, can’t help but be impressed by how much our beloved little cinnamon roll has grown up.
We’ll see what happens when Mob faces Touichirou, though he’ll have to get through Serizawa (who Touichirou calls the strongest of the Ultimates) first. Touichirou has still shown us precious little of his real strength, and sadly Shou can draw little of it out. More than anything it’s striking just how ordinary these two superpowered espers are – a vainglorious sociopath who wants to take over the world because he’s incapable of empathy and (the thinks) he can, and a 14 year-old boy driven by the same rebellious parental resentment as most 14 year-old boys. The difference between these two is that without his powers Shou is pretty much normal; without them, his father is still a sociopath…
Hgfdsahjkl
March 19, 2019 at 10:22 pmI Know it’s all opinion but for me dororo is a brilliant idea with medicore to above average presentation on the other hand mob is the pinnacle of anime animation ,an anime with that amount of talents just doesnt happen
Had to let that out,now, can’t wait for the Boss fight and hopefully a s3 announcement
Guardian Enzo
March 19, 2019 at 11:10 pmA wrong opinion, ROFL.
j/k… Though I couldn’t disagree more. Dororo doesn’t do it with flash and spectacle the way MP does, so it’s easy to think it pales in comparison. IMO it doesn’t – it’s just a different approach.
leongsh
March 19, 2019 at 10:29 pmI still contend that Reigen makes this show. He is like that one incongruous ingredient that makes all the difference in elevating a dish to higher heights. Without him, it feels like something is missing. Here, in this episode, he suddenly blindsides Shimazaki (and us too, except if you are a manga reader and knew about it) and has the ex-Claw members and Mob calling him Master in front of Shimazaki who doesn’t know that Reigen is no esper but when an esper like Mob defers to him, it must mean something. It was like the perfect person to sneak up and take out Shimazaki at his most sensitive to esper powers. Reigen’s superpower is this incongruous (there’s that word again) luck that just happens when he absolutely needs it to survive.
Orion Taylor
March 19, 2019 at 10:36 pmThe fight with Shimazaki was a real treat. My favorite parts were:
1. When the camera was put in Sakurai’s perspective trying to take aim with his cursed toy. (For that matter, every single video game inspired moment this season has been great.)
2. When Shimazaki started ramming Shou into all those walls.
It has already been established that ONE + great fight choreography is a magic formula, but today’s episode really exemplified this.
Guardian Enzo
March 19, 2019 at 11:14 pmI knew this was going to be a long one anyway (over 1000 words as it turned out) and I figured if I started picking out individual visual elements that were astonishing, well, I’d be here all night. But yeah, all those are great – among what felt like a hundred others.
Miyu Fan
March 19, 2019 at 11:07 pmYes, this was a perfect episode – the animation, the emotional growth of Mob, Reigen stealing the show last minute – that it’s hard to believe it’s only 22 minutes. You can only sigh in satisfaction in the end. I’m sad that we only left with 2 episodes (well at least we still have Dororo, yay!) and hope that Season 3 is announced at the end. Please don’t let us wait for another 2 years for the announcement.
Guardian Enzo
March 19, 2019 at 11:12 pmSupposedly Tachikawa is working on an original series ATM, so that would imply a delay of a while at the very least. OTOH – an original series from Tachikawa is about as good as anime news could get.
Miyu Fan
March 19, 2019 at 11:28 pmAh then Tachikawa’s booked for a while (please let him get MP100 budget for his original anime). But somehow I felt like he’s a very efficient director and rarely faced any production troubles, like even this season he was able to wrap it before airing. I don’t mind waiting until 2021 if that means no change of staff.
Mike
March 20, 2019 at 2:01 amSame, it’s worth waiting when what we get is this good. Will be raging if they don’t make another season, there’s no excuse not to finish this amazing anime! Especially when the manga is complete… Manga readers, would another cour be enough to cover the remaining material?
A.Sade
March 20, 2019 at 2:20 amDefinitely. If anything I’d wonder if there’s enough material to make a whole cour, but if they take it slow, it should be just great.
Kingwombojr
March 20, 2019 at 4:19 amAn entire cour would be more than enough and amazing to get for the last season. If we get a 12-episode third season there should be absolutely no pacing issues like we’ve occasionally seen during this season.
A.Sade
March 20, 2019 at 12:07 amDororo is always the highlight of my Mondays and I’ll always watch it first before MP100, but damn if MP100 did not blow it out of the park this week. Part of my viewing order is probably because I read the MP100 manga so I know where it’s going narratively, whereas with Dororo you never know what you’re going to get, even if you’re a source reader, but personally I gotta admit that MP100’s execution is edging past Dororo’s right now. It’s not easy to get me to follow an anime after I’ve read the manga (looking at you, TG:re), but the fact that both of these are accomplishing this right now is pretty phenomenal.
Still, I get what you mean by different approaches. MP100 has loads of spectacle and downright brilliant cinematography, while Dororo relies more on silences and symbolism (the use of color in Dororo’s flashback is still wow, and I have a couple theories about that headless Kannon statue, each with breathtaking potential). Maybe it’s cuz MP100 is already joyfully ramping it up, moving from climax to climax like a parade of fireworks, while Dororo is slowly building up the long game like that candle in the ED (can you believe we’re not even halfway done yet? this is how I’m going to survive my final sem).
This got longer than I expected but yeah, great time for me to be an anime fan.
Yann
March 20, 2019 at 1:14 amI can’t remember ever watching an anime episode twice in a row but I did with that one. The second time without reading subs and just taking it all in… That was some next level stuff!! 😀
Dorowhat? Oh yeah… Whoops… I guess I’ll watch that tomorrow 😛
Yukie
March 20, 2019 at 2:30 amI also watch Dororo first, but I do it mainly because I know it’ll likely depress me and I need Mob Psycho to refuel me with positivity.
The two shows are apples and oranges, and both top of their kind. I still think Dororo could’ve been shorter and Mob Psycho could’ve been longer, but gripes aside, what both of these shows have done were consistently surprise me. I had Dororo pegged as a predictable show and a 7/10, but the show completely and, since episode 3, continuously went beyond my expectations. There are elements that are still quite predictable but that’s mainly due to the classic tale it tells. As for Mob Psycho, like everyone else, I had high expectations going in, and I was still surprised by the depth of ONE’s storytelling and the artistry of Bones x Tachikawa (they just keep upping their game).
Honestly, I wonder how I’m going to get through 2019 being so spoiled so early.