When watching this I really cannot help but draw comparisons back to One Punch Man whether I like it or not. I can see that Mob Psycho is trying to be it’s own thing but when I see the members of Claw gathered around a table I am instantly reminded of the S class heroes of OPM. The Claw members are equally as diverse a set of characters. The big shots of the organisation are referred to as scar’s and this seems to correspond to the scar each member has. The scars themselves were inflicted by the leader of the organisation and it appears the number of scars corresponds to the number of times that member has challenged him. It’s debatable if we shall see this boss in this series or if he is someone who will show up in a sequel which is uncertain to exist after this. This episode for the most part is inbetween time before Mob and Teruki take on the group in earnest.
As the two make their way to save Ritsu, Ritsu himself is dealing with imprisonment within claw as they attempt to brainwash them into working for the organisation. Ritsu looks to have lowered self confidence due to his dose of humble pie and without dimple he isn’t certain he can control his powers as well as he could. It’s nice to see his ego trip end and him move on but I really must question were all that dark personality went. He’s practically a completely different character now as he’s putting faith in the members of the awakening lab who previously he looked down on. Though it’s nice to see he’s not simply sitting back and waiting for his brother to rescue him.
I was greatly surprised with just how easily Mob wiped out the man he previously fought. Before Mob essentially had to go super saiyan to fight with him yet here he easily just pinballs him around the room and calls it a day. Mob makes a comment about not having time to waste, suggesting he wasn’t using his full power on him before but this doesn’t really make sense. Mob was very emotional before when fighting him and it didn’t seem like he was holding back there. Yet the man still managed to withstand it and steal his brother. If Mob could so easily do away with him like this, it begs the question of why didn’t he do it when the man was taking away his brother? It could be a matter like Terada’s first encounter were the two boys simply took him down when he wasn’t ready. But Koyama most certainly looked like he was giving it his all. I’m a little disappointed as this person was the first to give Mob an actual fight and show that he wasn’t as overpowered as thought. This however seems to suggest that Mob is as strong as the situation calls for. The plot needed his brother to be kidnaped so he struggled against this guy.
However here we need to get to the real fighters so Mob can just snuff him out in a second. It’s a little too convenient for my liking. Dimple appears to have taken a position of good guy now as he tags along with Mob and Teruki in the body of a claw member. My guess is that even with his dubious morality, he’s going to be an ally for now on much like how villains turn over in a shounen series. This episode was a weak one for the usual standard of the series but it does provide buildup to what could be Mob’s best battle yet. Still even though this series has be particularly noteworthy it appears to be overlooked by the anime fanbase. Many are citing it’s unconventional artstyle for turning most people away though that may be only one part of what makes this series overlooked in this season. Personally I never saw this series reaching the heights of popularity of it’s predecessor but it is rather unfortunate that it be passed over like this.