Hello, and welcome back to another episode of Mob Psycho 100! Apologies for missing SpyXFamily last week, had a bit of a family emergency. But that’s all resolved and I’m back in the saddle now, so lets dive into this weeks best episode!
Starting off, Mob Psycho looked fantastic this week. It still hasn’t dropped the animation bomb we are all looking for, and for some that might be disappointing. But barring that, this episode was filled to the brim with great character animation incredible storyboards. Just look at Tome’s segment in the opening shots of the episode, how her whole body moves with her gestures, and how the other club members express their confusion with her. Or how the atmosphere of the episode slowly grew more and more oppressive and uncomfortable as it progressed, with the color green slowly invading each scene. Omnipresent, always watching, waiting as it took over the show and the characters within. It was tense, almost horror-esque, with it’s uncomfortable closeups, silent wide shots and stark lighting. Once again we learn that even without sakuga, Mob Psycho is one of the best visual experiences airing right now.
Getting into the episode itself, lets jump right into the big reveal of the week: Dimple! Looking back, it should have been obvious. The voice alone is a dead give away. And yet, I felt it was to obvious. It had to be a red herring right? After all, Mob Psycho wouldn’t make Mob fight and exorcise one of his close friends, someone who has been an ally for one and a half seasons… right? Wrong. Dimple has become a threat that cannot be ignored. Not only is he slowly destroying the town with the Divine Tree spreading its roots, he’s even mind controlling the entire population. It’s the same scheme he had back with the Smile Cult, only on a far grander scale. And this time instead of just some random nobodies, he’s also caught Ritsu, Reigen and Teru in his grasp.
Knowing that, we have to ask: How hard will Mob actually be able to fight? Will he defeat him and let him go like he has before? Or has Dimple gone to far this time? And if Mob does try to get rid of him, how hard of a fight will it be? Dimple has Ritsu, Teru and who knows who else on his side now because of the mind control. Can Mob do what needs to be done, fighting and possibly hurting them, to defeat Dimple? Or will his softer nature prevent him from doing so? Because, and I’m sure Dimple would agree, Dimple doesn’t stand a chance in a straight fight. I don’t care how much power he takes from the tree, Mob is without question the strongest character we know of right now. Dimple better have some plan to deal with him.
That of course assumes there will even be a fight. As expected, Dimple knows he probably can’t win. So what’s his plan? Just avoid a fight at all. He’s going for some pretty clear “deal with the devil” type shit, offering Mob everything he’s wanted. Popularity? Money? To belong? He’s even willing to back down and play 2nd fiddle, or at least share the limelight, with Mob if it means Mob joining him. And the weird part? I can’t rule it out working. Not with how Mob has been recently, focusing so much on popularity and finally having “his” moment. I suspect Reigen and Ritsu will be the line in the sand, and should they break free they will tell him to stop Dimple anyways, so it won’t work. But I love that Mob Psycho setup Mob’s mental state before this conflict, rather than during in a flashback.
So yeah, all in all I think this was a fantastic episode of Mob Psycho. A bit of a shorter post this week, as it’s pretty straight forward in what’s happening. Most of the cool stuff is really more about Mob Psycho’s presentation, the storyboarding and coloring, than the actual narrative. The experience of slowly building tension and invading color green as more and more characters fall under Dimple’s sway. It’s not something that can easily be explained. So instead, just go watch it if you haven’t already. I don’t know why you’re reading this post if you haven’t, but if you haven’t, just go. Shoo. Go watch the best anime of the season. You’ll thank me.
