Of course there’s always a measure of sadness whenever I type that post title. Especially when it’s a long-running series I love, as is the case with Mob Psycho 100. Make no mistake, I’m gutted to see it go. But that’s mitigated by the fact that this was an adaptation with no compromises. It was put in the hands of a great studio and a great director, and allowed to tell its story on its own terms. Sadness is universal when great anime end, but regret is conditional. And because MP100 had to leave nothing in the bag, I can say goodbye to it with no regrets. This is the adaptation every great manga deserves, and all too few get.
As to the ending itself, I would describe it as “unsurprising in a good way”. ONE has been pretty thematically consistent with this series right from the very beginning, so there was every reason to expect him to hove close to that layline in the final leg of the race. There were a few things which had to take place for that consistency to hold, starting with the fact that the meeting between Tsubomi and Shigeo couldn’t be the literal dramatic climax. She’s a minor character – important to be sure, but as a symbol and an influence, not as a presence. If the confession had been the climax (even if it was the episode title) I would have felt cheated.
No, this always had to come down to M0b and Reigen. Not just because they’re the two most important characters and along wiith Ekubo the best (though they are), but because the whole symbology of the series revolves around them. They’re mirror-images of each other in many respects – each of them living a lie and suppressing an important part of what they really are. But the point is, that lie isn’t who they are – it’s just a thread in a larger fabric. Mob has in effect already performed a great service for Reigen in helping reconcile this conflict in himself – it’s only right that now, in his moment of direst need, Reigen should do the same for him.
Tsubomi is a stalwart girl, to be sure. She waits for Shigeo even in the most ridiculous of circumstances, even though she almost surely knows what he wanted to tell him and what her answer would be. We never got to know Tsubomi well – an intentional choice by ONE in order to make her a mysterious and semi-mythical figure to us, just as Mob sees her. But I’d like to know her better – she seems like an incredibly forthright and direct person. And make no mistake, what she did for Shigeo was vital in getting him through the darkest patch (until now) in his life.
As for Reigen, he’s reconciled to the contradiction he is in a way Mob still is not. There’s just no possibility that he’ll abandon Mob here – it’s not even a consideration, for him or for us. Even as Serizawa begs to retreat and falls by the wayside, Reigen plows straight ahead. Out of a sense of gratitude to Shigeo to be sure, and simply out of love too. But also because it’s who he is – the real Reigen is the one who’s fiercely loyal and at his best under the worst of circumstances. Even as ??? dismisses Reigen as a liar, someone who used his powers for his own ends (all true, as it happens), Mob is still drawn to him in his hour of need.
“Mob” is losing this internal battle to “Shigeo”, and it seems as if Reigen’s reach is just a hair’s breadth too short. But then ONE pulls his one major surprise of the finale – he brings Ekubo back into the picture. I can see this being a controversial move, and as I said at the time he disappeared, ” I don’t know if this is truly the end for Ekubo, and I’m torn about that – I desperately want to see him return, but how could a character possibly ask for a better exit than that?” Dimple went out with poetry and poignancy. But he came back in rather poetic fashion, too. I’ve been thinking for weeks how badly Mob needed Dimple in his life at this time, so it’s not surprising Mob was thinking that too. Given Ekubo’s existential nature, it’s rather moving to think of that as a beacon calling him back.
Ekubo’s return allows Reigen to stand at Shigeo’s side at last, but Reigen wants that final moment to be private. Of course what he tells Mob is no secret to him – of course Mob knows very well that in professional terms, Reigen is a fraud. But what Reigen doesn’t understand is that Mob made a choice to stand with him in spite of his false front – it wasn’t Reigen’s persona that Mob loved, but Reigen himself. Everything Reigen gave to Mob was real, and this is the Reigen Mob saw when he looked at him – the one Reigen couldn’t find when he looked in the mirror. In a sense, Mob was for Reigen what Tsubomi was for Mob – someone who accepted them as they truly where, not as they appeared to be.
Accepting ourselves as we truly are rather than constantly judging ourselves is never harder than in adolescence. But for most people it’s a battle that never ends, and it’s one some people never win. Shigeo and Reigen are the proof of both those statements. I think in the end it was Reigen’s courage in admitting everything – even that he despised the part of himself that he shows the world at large – that finally broke down Mob’s resistance. Mob accepted Reigen when Reigen couldn’t accept himself. Mob’s family and growing circle of friends accepted him even when he couldn’t accept himself. If Reigen could finally face the mirror, maybe that gave Shigeo the strength to do it too.
If I would quibble with any part of this conclusion, it’s that the sheer scale of destruction – and Shigeo’s emotional and practical responsibility for it – was glossed over a bit too easily. There was never going to be time to deal with that properly in this episode of course, and it’s not like we were getting another – but still, it’s a minor annoyance. It delivered on pretty much all other fronts, though. Mob seems to have moved on from Spirits & Such, but that was probably inevitable – he hasn’t moved on from being Reigen’s friend. His decision to climb the pole to try and save the cat was interesting – Mob made peace with Shigeo, but his choice was not to rely on him – and things worked out fine in the end.
I can’t ask much more than that from an ending, really. You never want to say goodbye to a character you’ve come to love over many years, but that’s thematically consistent too – life goes on, and you have to embrace the uncertainty of it. We’ve watched Mob grow up before our eyes for three seasons, growing ever-stronger, but never able to make that great leap of self-acceptance. Whatever he has to face now, he’s better equipped to do so – thanks to Reigen’s example. It’s been one of the best character arcs in anime – and only one of several in this series.
As an anime Mob Psycho 100 is an unvarnished success story, and that’s the feeling I’ll take away from it. Sad that the journey is at at an end, but grateful that it was such a rewarding and satisfying one. As we head into a year that sees several of my cherished manga headed for the screen, I can only hope that any of them are treated as well as this one was. Maybe that’s greedy of me – even getting one adaptation like Mob Psycho 100 should be enough to satisfy you – but it sets a marker for future adaptations to aspire to.
Rob Barrett
December 23, 2022 at 2:31 amYou can’t get to 100% Shigeo without 100% Reigen, and that’s exactly why Reigen has to confess to Mob.
I will say that I was underwhelmed with the decision to depict Reigen’s initial pursuit of Mob as a sequence of still shots … until the season 1 OP kicked it, and the production team gave us that glorious sakuga of Reigen free running through the destruction.
What a finale.
sonicsenryaku
December 23, 2022 at 4:26 am“I will say that I was underwhelmed with the decision to depict Reigen’s initial pursuit of Mob as a sequence of still shots … until the season 1 OP kicked it, and the production team gave us that glorious sakuga of Reigen free running through the destruction.”
Yea I feel you on that, although that seemed less of a production shortcut and more of a editing choice to properly pace the episode. Imagine if they animated those shots into an actual cohesive sequence; that would have taken more time from the episode and less time to cover the other aspects that needed as much time as possible to breathe
Guardian Enzo
December 23, 2022 at 8:57 amListen, not every moment of every action sequence has to be wall-to-wall sakuga. There is room for artistic impression here, not just technical merit.
Rob Barrett
December 23, 2022 at 9:11 amI understand why they made that choice–I was just talking about a momentary burst of disappointment based in part on knowing about Reigen’s run from the manga but not remembering its exact pacing.
Collectr
December 23, 2022 at 7:02 amThis episode epitomizes what it means for an anime to “stick the landing.” The whole series feels better to me, retrospectively, as a result of this final arc. And while S3 didn’t have time for a full “afterwards” episode, the surprise party at Spirits and Such as was a pretty nice way to close the show out on a positive and forward-looking note.
Yann
December 23, 2022 at 9:08 amI really loved how they brought back the opening song from the first season (which was always 100% better than all the other ones 😉
For the destruction part, the way he fixes the building in the first season makes me think that he put everything back together. The only question I have about that is wether we’re supposed to believe no one got seriously injured/killed by the destruction. Seems pretty unlikely…
It was pretty sad to know I was watching the last episode of one of my top 5 series of all times. Doesn’t happen every day… But what an end!
JHNSeph
December 23, 2022 at 5:36 pmShout out to my boy Mob!
He technically got the girl.
Orion Taylor
December 24, 2022 at 6:29 amYeah, MP100 is one of the few series that really nails the ending. I thought I’d have more to say now that it’s all over and there is no risk of spoilers, but I really don’t have too much to add onto what you already have said.
In retrospect, the comments I wrote on your Season 2 Episode 5 review were definitely too spoilery, though I didn’t feel that way at the time of writing them. I’m sorry for that.
A few small things:
-The Season 2 ending has the image of Mob holding the single flower, surrounded by rubble, as he’s about to go talk to Tsubomi.
-I really like how much all the characters have grown over the course of the series, starting with Teru/Ritsu and culminating with Mob and Reigen
-I loved that Dimple returns at the climax of the series. It was a perfect moment, and I don’t really think it cheapens his sacrifice in the Divine Tree arc.
-Mob and Reigen’s closing moments have been tee-d up for a long time. The LOL arc centers around Mob being incapable of showing any emotion, with Dimple spending an enormous amount of effort trying to get him to laugh, but here he plays a practical joke on Reigen (in the manga, after Reigen drops the cake, Mob tosses it in his face) and laughs effortlessly. In the Separate Ways arc, Reigen is entirely alone on his birthday, and can’t find a single friend to spend it with (settling for those people at the bar), but here he gets a surprise party and is surrounded by friends. That last moment always makes me tear up a bit.
I really hope they animate the Reigen spinoff series, just so I can see my favorite characters one more time!
sonicsenryaku
December 24, 2022 at 12:17 pmThere have been a lot of great anime this year, some of which have had good character writing; however, out of all of the ones I’ve watched this year, Mob Psycho has got to be the one with the most layers to its character writing. All too often, the actions and choices characters make in this series are contextually informed by prior behaviors and cognitions the narrative has made sure to lay down ground work for, which not only allows the viewer to perceive the logical progression of those choices/character beats, but also makes the multi-faceted characterization that much more insightful. This is a much more superior form of character writing as opposed to the navel-gazing some anime are all too quick to rely on to seem deep and important.
For example, Reigen coming clean to Mob alone is rife with so much emotional context and weight, and this is all because of how ONE gracefully laid out the details and nuances to the character throughput the entire tale. When Reigen confesses he doesn’t have any powers, not only is he finally being honest with Mob, he’s facing the part of himself that he dislikes, and through example (through significant character action), is demonstrating to Mob why it’s important for him to reconcile with the parts of himself he hates, effectively showing him evidence that while this process is scary, it CAN be done. This is fundamentally the reason why ??? (or Shigeo) finally submits to Mob’s will. Through this confession, Reigen is finally admitting how wrong it was for him to pretend he understood the gravity of Mob’s trauma without really seeing it for himself. This is why when he sees Mob in the middle of all that destruction, he starts to tremble in remorse, and in that moment, realizes now more than ever how important it is for him to tell Mob the truth. Reigen being honest with Mob is also him accepting that he is ready to let Mob go, illustrated by him saying directly to Mob, “you don’t need me anymore,” a bittersweet and somber realization for Reigen but one he’s resolved himself to arrive to. And lastly, Reigen confession acts as a new starting point for the character; he’s found the courage to finally let Mob go and find purpose beyond his relationship with him. As he said to Mob, “this is just the beginning.” Now they can be life-time friends through a healthier dynamic.
I think the best part regarding all of what I just said is how simultaneously meaningful Reigen’s confession is both to his and Mob’s characterization, and how in-tandem they work with one another in real-time to emphasize both the themes and critical moments we’ve experienced throughout the story, and with such humanity no less. THIS is what great character writing looks like; its impressive whenever an author can properly articulate the weight behind character motivations through insightful interpersonal action and behavior and Season 3 was the epitome of this kind of writing skill. Sayanora Mob Psycho; it was a pleasure
Aera
December 24, 2022 at 3:53 pmAnd this, is why the entire final arc is my favorite arc of all Mob Psycho’s (incredible) story arcs. Season 3 is my favorite season of Mob Psycho as well, due to its nature of concluding every main character’s loose ends, including and most importantly, Mob himself. This is how you do a conclusion arc.
And BONES did the adaptation so well. I’m still at loss of words and feeling overwhelmed with emotions that I cannot put my words properly, other than immense gratitude for the amazing adaptation, full of love and passion towards the series. Mob Psycho is very blessed to have staffs that truly care for the series, because such a great story deserve a glorious adaptation.
Thank you for reviewing the series from the beginning until the end. It’s really sad to part ways from the characters I truly love for 6 years, but all good things must come to an end. This series will stay in my memories for a long time.
Simone
December 24, 2022 at 11:59 pmIt’s fairly rare to get to see the end of a complete anime adaptation, as it is released, and have it be this great. I can count them on the finger of my hand (FMA Brotherhood comes to mind I guess). Mob Psycho 100 truly cements itself as a classic, stunningly consistent quality from start to finish.
That said I guess I have the tiniest philosophical quibble with the cat scene because, well, I expected it to show Mob finally using his powers in a casual manner, without either letting them go to his head nor repressing them. Instead it seems he’s essentially… still refusing to use them, even in a situation in which they would have been of obvious use. Well, unless he’s the one who telekinetically stopped the cake in mid-air at the very end (with that many psychics in the room it’s hard to tell who was responsible, and that’s kind of the point). The one thing we really see Mob open himself up to is his emotions; he cries and laughs much more freely than we’ve ever seen him do until now. Of course the powers are a metaphor for emotions anyway, but they do exist and have a significant importance as their own thing within the world of the story, so I’d have liked to see that addressed too.
Even that aside, though, 10/10 ending, great show, one for the annals of anime.
Guardian Enzo
December 25, 2022 at 12:19 amApparently in the manga it’s absolutely clear that it was Mob who pushed the cake into Reigen’s face.
sonicsenryaku
December 25, 2022 at 4:50 pmBut that’s the thing: the source portrays it in an ambiguous way as well. I’ve seen people online telling reviewers that the Manga was absolutely clear on this but it absolutely isn’t; which was kind of the point. In the manga, the cake shoots back up into Reigen’s face, then it cuts to a large panel of Mob laughing while surrounded by a bunch of speech bubbles from the other cast, one of which has Reigen asking who threw the cake in his face. I think some readers got the impression that the manga was “clear” about of Mob’s laughing face following immediately after but that moreso feels like a consequence of the medium’s presenting all this visual information on one page of manga instead of it being a direct confirmation of anything. The way the situation was portrayed in the manga still implied ambiguity rather than full-on confirmation, hence why the anime took that direction as well. The manga never shows Mob directly doing anything to the cake or even vaguely making gesture that would indicate him; the final panel is just him laughing at what happened. it’s seems to be easier to assume that it just “had to have been Mob” when following the order of the panels because the next panel after the cake hits Reigen’s face is the final shot of Mob laughing.
That being said, while I think the intent was to sort of keep it ambiguous, I’m sure ONE wanted the audience to think it was Mob. My interpretation is that the story expects the audience to use the context clues of the scene and draw from the closeness of Mob and Reigen’s relationship at this point in their lives, that Mob would probably be the only psychic in the room comfortable enough to make Reigen look silly, ending the series with an ambiguously cheeky punchline basically informing the viewer that; yes, Mob accepting himself also meant he’d be willing to express his emotions genuinely and live WITH his psychic powers. I think the fact that prior to this cake scene, Mob rescues the cat without his powers provides evidence for this, as its intentionally misleading to sort of make you think for a second that the compromise Mob and Shigeo arrived at was to NOT use psychic powers anymore and to allow Mob to live 100% normally. However, anyone who interpreted their final conversation properly and has been following the journey of Mob all the way to the end would be likely to tell that it was he who pushed the cake into Reigen’s face. No longer shackled by the repression of his emotions, Mob can now freely choose however he wishes to express himself. Instead of answering the question directly about whether or not Mob uses his psychic powers, ONE decided to leave it semi-ambiguous while pointing you in the direction of a “yes.”
russenoire
December 25, 2022 at 4:52 am‘If I would quibble with any part of this conclusion, it’s that the sheer scale of destruction – and Shigeo’s emotional and practical responsibility for it – was glossed over a bit too easily. ‘
i’m glad this was addressed at all though — the source material doesn’t even touch it. i wanted to thank you, enzo, for bringing that to my attention last week.