Welcome everyone, to what I hope is the latest Mob Psycho 100 post you will ever see. Sincere apologies for this. There was simply no motivation to write this week, for various family related reasons. Still, the show must go on. So lets see if I can get this out before the next episode!
Overall, this was a pretty simple episode. Much like SpyXFamily, Mob Psycho is giving us some much needed time to rest and destress after the big emotional rollercoaster that was the Divine Tree arc. However where SpyXFamily largely uses that time for Anya gags, which are still fun don’t get me wrong, Mob Psycho uses it to explore it’s cast of side-characters. In this case, the Telepathy Club. This is an interesting choice, as these guys really haven’t been relevant since the first season. They’ve been in the background, Tome appearing here and there. But they haven’t really been what one would call “characters”. So Mob Psycho picking them up and deciding that now was the time to change that is really interesting. The question becomes though: Is it time well spent?
My initial impression of Mob Psycho’s story here is that it’s interesting. I like how a filler arc about a bunch of do-nothing nobodies is focused on precisely that: How they haven’t actually done anything. Despite how eventful this year has been for Mob, from fighting evil organizations to joining the Body Improvement Club, these guys haven’t done anything. And with graduation coming up Tome, their senior and president, is starting to feel that. This club wasn’t just an excuse to laze about all day, she really cared about psychic power and telepathy. Maybe she didn’t have a great idea of how to go about it, but she clearly wanted to actually do something. But when she realizes she’s the only one who does… She leaves. And the others? They want to give her the experience, the memories, she clearly desires.
As for their plan of how exactly to do that, I’m sure absolutely nothing can go wrong with telepathically contacting aliens up on a mountain. Lets just completely ignore where the Divine Tree floated off to at the end of the last arc, as well as the obvious implications of it all. Nope, no danger here. If I can quit with the humor for a moment though, I actually expect this to be really thoughtful and wholesome. While it’s not really my thing, this season also has Yama no Susume’s 4th season airing, a show all about cute girls climbing things, those things being obvious metaphors for… whatever, I don’t know, I’m not watching it. The point is, a wholesome climbing episode all about introspection and making memories with your friends with absolutely nothing ominous happening actually sounds really on-brand for this season.
The last thing I want to mention is Takenaka’s return! What, you don’t remember Takenaka? That dude who ran out of the Telepathy club all the way back in season 1? Seriously though, I was not expecting this guy to make a return, not to mention even having a name. I think taking an old “character” we had almost forgotten and introducing them as a “new” character is really clever. It gives us a small bit of attachment, of history, to him before we’ve ever even really met him. Combine that with his own struggle of finding a place to belong, of not limiting himself and valuing human connection over his power, and he makes for a really interesting parallel to Mob. I’m really curious what Mob Psycho is going to do with him and just how important he might end up being.
All in all this was a pretty chill episode for Mob Psycho. While I’m not usually a big fan of this kind of stuff, I think it makes for some valuable time to decompress after a big emotional climax. So long as this sort of thing doesn’t go on to long, the entire show doesn’t become a Slice of Life style Iyashikei, it can be very healthy for a shows pacing. As for the subject chosen, I like it. I kind of wish it was the Body Improvement Club, but only really because I miss those guys. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the Telepathy Club getting some screen time, especially if it’s going to be this effective. So yeah, decent episode, nice relaxing way to head into Thanksgiving.
