Reigen was ascendant in this week’s Mob Psycho, making the most of his reentrance from the first minute to last. I was very curious about how he’d actually fit into this arc, and having him start off by accidentally winning the loyalty of all the Claw also-rans was a pretty great start. This episode also had plenty of Mob Psycho’s usual pleasures – some visually creative reactions, some truly gorgeous highlight cuts, and a light sprinkling of emotionally satisfying reunions and conversations. Mob has really grown into a great character by now – I was skeptical for a while, but at this point, he can easily sell moments like his genuine relief on seeing his brother okay. Earned character warmth is an extremely valuable dramatic quality.
You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below!
Reigen arrives!
We open with a memory of Mob and Ritsu, where Ritsu demonstrated his strength to Mob. Nice animation here, and just an endearing scene in general. Mob and Ritsu’s bond is so key to this show’s appeal
And their reunion. So good
“Unlike me, who can’t do anything without psychic powers, he can figure anything out and solve any problem”
“Even without relying on powers”
“Everyone at HQ hates one another. I feel at home here”
Reigen using his one reliable weapon: confidence
And once again, demonstrating how those at the low tiers of society act naturally subservient to those they consider above them
This is a pretty great fundamental concept
“When underlings get too obedient, they’re nothing but trash”
This episode essentially demonstrating both Reigen’s power and the fact that the idea of power is power itself
Ishiguro, the Seventh Division leader
Reigen accidentally acquires a cult
Reigen just catching up to the fact that there are other espers than Mob
Oh man, Reigen stepping up to defend his student. Great stuff here
Reigen sees these guys as what they are – children who failed to grow up, talking about taking over the world
Reigen is framed as demonstrating the greatest strength, pulling Mob back from the brink
For me, this was the best episode of the show to date, packing an emotional wallop that I hadn’t felt before.
Mob’s connection to his brother was laid fully bare, as was Reigen’s true influence on Mob – and both were truly beautiful in their warmth and intensity. Until this point, I had felt this show was gorgeous, but pretty barren of anything but shounen power games and related jokes. If they can just maintain the depth of feeling from this episode into the finale next week…
Even though we’ve gotten normalized to the idea of superpowered esper battles throughout the series, I feel like Reigen brings a touch of weirdly ‘non-shounen’ realism with his priorities: it’s more important for Mob to grow up into a well-adjusted adult than for him to defeat some evil organization. I imagine we’re going back to action-Shounen land next episode with that cliffhanger, but it was an interesting touch imo.