We”re onto our third season of Mob Psycho 100 now, and I’ve learned to treasure these slice of psychic life episodes. They always get overshadowed by the big action blockbusters, and the multi-episode arcs are what grab the headlines. Those are great, make no mistake. Especially in the hands of Bones in full-on beast mode, determined to make this a signature series for the studio. But I’ve always felt like this sort if material is what ONE writes best. And it’s not as if there weren’t chances for the animators to show off, too…
The story here was a two-pronged attack, starting with Mob’s culture festival coming up at school. He gets drafted along with three other boys (including Inuyama) to design the costumers for the class’ haunted house. The others, being middle schoolers, are keen to buy some white sheets and call it a day, but as ever Mob is constitutionally unable to half-ass anything. This is an interesting tug-of-war between the two halves of his personality – his shy, conflict-avoiding side doing battle with his relentless drive to take things seriously. Meanwhile Ritsu’s class has decided to do a cross-dressing maid cafe – a prospect he finds so horrifying that he tries to use his place on the student council to get it banned.
Meanwhile, a strange visitor arrives at Spirits & Such. Amakusa Harukai introduces himself as a youkai hunter, speaks in a kind of noh theater singsong, and proceeds to thoroughly annoy Reigen in world record time. Hiayama Nobuyuki is having way too much fun with this role – his performance more or less steals the episode. It’s not until Harukai slaps a million Yen wad of ¥10000 bills on the table – announcing that his rich parents subsidize his lifestyle – that Reigen decides he’s interested. Amakusa declares (in a magnificent scene where his tale is depicted on a scroll and he slips into normal speech halfway through) that a night parade of 100 demons is gathering in order to resurrect the Great Demon King, and that he needs Reigen’s help to defeat them.
By all appearances Amakusa is simply a nutter, but with a million Yen at stake Reigen is more than prepared to break the cycle of sadness. So he and Serizawa troop off with the youkai hunter, along with late-arriving Mob. And improbably, Amakusa turns out to have something to him – he can sense youkai energy at the very least. He leads the lads into a familiar abandoned building, and lo and behold there are youkai present. Including no less than the Maou and his four demon generals.
The thing is, even with Nurarihyon (or whoever this is) and his generals present, Mob and Serizawa barely have to break a sweat. In fact Mob is so distracted by his concerns over the culture festival (asking Reigen for advice was his original reason for coming to the office) that he’s quite absent-minded in his despatching of these supposedly powerful demons. Between he and Serizawa Spirits & Such is ridiculously overpowered at the moment, though that’s useful here as whatever spiritual sensitivity he might possess, Amakusa appears to have no combat skills whatsoever.
Also notable here is Reigen’s reaction – one might even say dismayed – to Mob figuring out his problem without his help. Our boy really is growing up, which Reigen will be happy about once the initial disappointment wears off. It’s not as if Mob’s designs for the haunted house exactly shake the bunkakai to its rafters, but for Mob just being able to convince the others to go along represents a sizable step in his social development. As for Ritsu, his social development is the last thing he’s worried about, though he does prove to be quite the hit with the local moms.
All this is building to something of course – it’s always been Bones’ approach to ease into a season of Mob Psycho 100, and this one is no different. The giant broccoli is clearly going to be at the heart of the first major arc of the season – maybe as soon as next week – which means Ekubo is too, as he’s taken an unhealthy interest in the plus-sized vegetable. More Dimple is always a good thing, but so are the sorts of whimsical and character-driven eps we’ve started the season with – I hope we don’t totally leave them in the rear-view mirror for the rest of the series.
sonicsenryaku
October 13, 2022 at 11:14 pmReigen’s slight disappointment with Mob not needing his advice anymore was a development I always appreciated the story for highlighting because it’s such a human thing, right? As a parent, you’re proud to see your kids grow but you also feel a bit abandoned and dismayed that they no longer need you as much; that can be tough to handle for any parent and it’s gonna be interesting to see where the story takes this. As ONE’s writing with Mob Psycho evolved, he began to make the action and slice-of-life/dramatic elements seamlessly blend with one another as opposed to feeling like separate story arcs. The character interactions are the basis for the dramatic action at ALL times this season, something that will become increasingly more noticeable as the season moves along
Guardian Enzo
October 14, 2022 at 9:00 amThe unspoken developments between Mob and Reigen are pretty amazing in this series, which is one of the reasons why I say ONE really excels at this sort of “interior” material. You don’t get hammered over the head with details on their relationship, you infer them from their behavior towards each other.
sonicsenryaku
October 14, 2022 at 11:03 amexactly; I would really love to see more writers understand that this kind of writing approach is what makes characters feel more authentic and human instead of directly their mindsets and internal conflicts all the time
sonicsenryaku
October 14, 2022 at 11:03 am*directly explaining*
Guardian Enzo
October 14, 2022 at 11:18 amLike Bocchi the Rock does.
sonicsenryaku
October 14, 2022 at 2:39 pmHaven’t watched that one yet but I was curious enough to read your first impressions and was dismayed to hear it was heavily-reliant on that kind of writing style, especially since the show’s premise seemed like the perfect kind of story to let nuanced writing and well-paced dialogue flourish. Will be checking it out to see for myself
Guardian Enzo
October 14, 2022 at 2:50 pmIt’s well-made and visually pleasing, and it’s inoffensive. I was just struck by the contrast to Yofakushi, because Bocchi is about an introvert and she keeps up a non-stop narrative telling the audience exactly what she’s feeling.
Simone
October 15, 2022 at 7:29 amBocchi though has the defence that it’s strongly told from the protagonist’s PoV – if it was a novel, it would be a first person stream of consciousness. That’s the kind of writing where introspection is normal, and at least it has the grace of also delivering it in a really funny way. The other characters are seen only through the eyes of Bocchi, or at least so it seems for now.
Ramsés
October 14, 2022 at 5:04 amMy favourite weapon will be the psychic business-card sword from now on. Who said that salarymen couldn’t be powerful warriors?
Simone
October 14, 2022 at 11:03 pmNo one, ask Nanami from Jujutsu Kaisen.
Rob Barrett
October 15, 2022 at 3:54 amThe sakuga when Serizawa runs up the one yokai’s tentacles …chef’s kiss.
Eugene T.
October 14, 2022 at 8:55 amGolden Kamuy vs Mob should be a fun one to watch week by week. I’m manga-only for Golden Kamuy and anime-only for Mob, so no idea how it will turn out, although GK does have some of its best material in store.
The ending sequence for Cobalt is a pretty fantastic parallel to the first season’s Reigen ending.
Simone
October 14, 2022 at 11:04 pmThis episode made me wonder if something’s going on that is able to reflect or materialise the imaginations of people. It seems so weird that a nutter shows up hunting the Hundred Yokai Whatever and suddenly their base is smack in the middle of Condiment City, in a previously exorcised building. I think the real evil presence here might be a tad bit subtler and the Yokai have manifested as such only because that’s what Amakusa *expected* to see.
Orion Taylor
October 18, 2022 at 3:25 amSomething similar happened in the Urban Legends arc (Season 2, episode 2). In it, it’s revealed that the Dragger is manifested from the collective imagination of humanity, and draws power from their fears. Mob was uniquely suited in defeating it because he had never heard of the Dragger before.