Well to no one’s surprise this episode was filled with action. Though contrary to what the previous episode suggested, the person Mob is fighting is not his brother but instead a mysterious hooded figure. The matter of Ritsu’s power trip seems to be resolved for the most part as his brothers reaction is nothing like he expected. While Ritsu looked to be provoking Mob to deplore him or hate him, Mob merely brushes off his self deprecation and congratulates him on obtaining psychic power. As well as degrading himself on his brother’s behalf to apologize to the people he attacked. This approach to the problem is rather new to me and I rather like that Ritsu’s power trip looks to be a product of teenager emotional angst as his true feelings come out when his brother suffers on his behalf. That is only the first part of the episode however as after is a long battle scene against a member of Claw who came to abduct Ritsu while mistaking him for Mob. They may be the antagonists for the finale of the series as next episode looks to be an assault on their base. The fight that ensues is quite the spectacle.
The fight of this episode was rough and you could feel the impact of every blow with the sound design. What made this fight particularly noteworthy compared to the ones before is that this wasn’t easy for Mob. Finally the distinction between him and Saitama is made, in that Mob can in fact be beaten. In this case his greatest weakness is his heavy reliance on psychic power as his foe makes use of his physical strength and trickery. In the end, Mob with his near infinite psychic power was completely knocked out by a villain spraying a chemical in his face. Kamijou Touma’s villains should take notes from this guy, as when someone can completely negate your powers, maybe it’s a good idea to change strategy instead of throwing more fireballs like an idiot. I really like that Mob’s explosion meter didn’t move an inch after Ritsu’s attempts to egg him into a fight. But when the hooded fellow punched Ritsu it shot up to 100% immediately. Though Mob didn’t reach ??? level which looks to be reserved for special occasions. Claw looks to be the first thing to give Mob real drive to use his powers and Mob almost feels dangerously motivated. His claim to be able to take down claw singlehandedly does hold weight but the problem is that Mob is not accustomed to fighting other espers when Claw most certainly is. They are not going to simply fight Mob with psychic power but instead use anything to counter it. Well assuming they are clever.
I will admit to not haven’t much to add to this episode this week due to the heavy focus on the battle. Quite honestly I find it difficult to truly come up with something to talk about in regards to this and some of the other shows this season. Hence why my posts have sounded a bit too much like an episode summary as of late. On top of being actually late. I have no real excuses in regards to this as I find lately that my time seems to go far too fast, leaving me with not much room for intellectual musing about an anime episode. Or in many a case I really have nothing to add to what’s happening on screen.I am a bit worried I am experiencing anime burnout but perhaps it’s just a lack of enthusiasm for this current season as Re:Zero gets me writing paragraphs. I did express that this season felt weak to me in the preview and while there are shows with merit that none of the shows in the current season has grabbed me quite like Re:Zero…ah perhaps that is it. In face of a strong anime of the year contender, other shows pale in comparison thus my interest is fleeting. For I pine for the sweet reward of an continuation to the show I really want to see. No offense to Mob Psycho of course as I do think it does have greatness, just that it doesn’t quite catch me for reasons I can’t seem to put into words.
I think this show seems like it tries too hard to be outlandish, especially after One Punch. It hasn’t been bad, but it’s so mehhh
I don’t get that feeling from it at all, sure, it’s meant to fill the same role as One Punch (loud, simple action comedy), but that’s really where it ends. I look at it outside of similarities in tone.
I for the life of me dont understand why some people think MP 100 is trying to be one punch man when the first ep should have been very clear that it wants to be its own series. In my opinion MP 100 is doing things in terms of visual direction, visual story telling, animation and art that puts most anime to shame this year but different strokes for different folks
Guess it’s all down to personal opinion because I’m liking this as much, if not more than Re:Zero. Find Mob has better choreographed fight scenes and I love the animation style. That might just be because I liked this episode a lot more than Re:Zero’s episode this week, and I’m pumped for both show’s next episodes.
I guess you DO experience a minor anime burnout, which is understandable because you’ve covered 4 shows this season, 2 of which weren’t your original choices (you did say in both Mob Psycho and 91 Days that you had little to talk about for instance). My suggession is that you write something completely different just to break the writer-block mentality. Is there something unrelated you meant to write but still hadn’t. Write it.
About Mob Psycho 100, it keeps raising the bar it set itself and in a way I think it’s more solid than One Punch Man. Great show in my books.
seems like you are having some anime burnout, happens to me too, i only watch 1 or 2 anime shows a year now. if i can echo SuperMario, write something different.
anyways this episode was fantastic. im really jaded when it comes to anime but this episode woke me up, it left me excited, maybe more from an animation standpoint. the story was really amplified by the animation, as in you can really feel the pain and intensity. not to mention the choreography was interesting. i like it when animation creatives try and push the medium, even if by a little bit.
I saw someone drop Mob Psycho by episode 7. His reasons seems off to me and ending up sounding like lies. But, maybe the answer is as simple as just not liking it? Nothing wrong with that. You could start talking to me about Game of Thrones, and I’m sure it’s an interesting show, but I don’t care about it.
And there’s DEFINITELY a lot to say about this episode.
The realization that Reigen unwittingly shielded Mob from the watchful eyes of esper syndicates by being the obviously fraudulent front man and providing Mob a constructive outlet for his powers.
After years of not displaying his powers outside work, Mob’s pursuit of happiness exposed his presence to dark underbelly of the psychic world, putting his family in danger. It maybe Ritsu’s mess we’re facing on this episode, but it could all be traced back to Mob’s bout with the LOL cult and Teru.
Mob’s inability to read the mood/get a clue hurting his relationship with his bro for years (everytime Ritsu asks if there’s something Mob wanted to talk about, it’s actually Ritsu who needed someone to talk to).
Reigen’s weird moral code (He fleeces both his assistant and clients, but always aim to make sure they leave happier than when they arrived).
All this intriguing to me.