What They Say:
In a world full of spirits and the supernatural, the only ones who can deal with them are those with powers known as psychics. Self-proclaimed psychic Reigen Arataka operates as an exorcist for a living but in reality, possesses no powers at all. His apprentice Kageyama Shigeo, otherwise known as “Mob” on the other hand, is an incredibly talented psychic, but has difficulty controlling his powers. Together the two of them battle against the supernatural while Mob remains none the wiser to the fact that his master is a fraud.
The Review
Content (warning as portions of this review may contain spoilers):
Welp, it looks like Mob Psycho managed to subvert my expectations quite a bit this week. Where I was expecting a potential brawl between Mob and Ritsu, based on the last episode’s events, what actually foes down between them is a lot more subdued and mostly helps to set the stage for an even bigger event. In some ways that makes some of what happens here is a little worrisome, but it also lays some exciting groundwork for what’s to come
After hearing from Teru that someone’s been going around using his identity, Mob goes after the perpetrator and discovers Ritsu. His reaction upon learning about Ritsu’s abilities, though, is surprisingly relaxed as it turns out that he’s actually happy for him, and doesn’t seem too bothered by his misuse of them. This takes Ritsu for a bit of a loop, and he decides to confess the truth about all the years he’s endured living in fear and envy of Mob’s powers and claims that whatever admiration he showed towards him was a facade to protect himself. Though now that he’s obtained powers of his own, Ritsu believes he’s been freed from having to ever concern himself with Mob again, but while Mob acknowledges that Ritsu’s feelings of resentment are quite real, he can also tell he’s lying about wanting nothing to do with him.
Things take an abrupt turn when a mysterious esper with an interest in Mob mistakes Ritsu for him and tries to take him hostage. Mob tries everything in his power to get Ritsu back, but finds himself outclassed, and even when he eventually goes 100% the psychic manages to outsmart him and takes Ritsu away. Mob later learns from Teru that the kidnapper belongs to a group of espers called Claw (feels weird hearing that in fiction without a THE in front of it) and that they’ve been manufacturing psychic soldiers in an attempt to cause some kind of world-wide revolution. Ritsu and the low-level espers from the Awakening Lab are their latest victims, and now Mob and Teru must prepare to mount a rescue.
Well, the confrontation between the two brothers certainly didn’t go the way I expected, it does go a long way in contrasting them. It’s interesting to see that despite his apparent obviousness, Mob’s understanding enough to accept Ritsu’s frustration and resentment towards him over his powers and not be particularly phased by it, while Ritsu views Mob as an invincible monster and doesn’t think someone with his abilities would even begin to have problems. In that sense, Mob turns out to be a bit more mature I gave him credit for, and certainly more than his younger sibling who’s a lot more caught up in himself, but given their obvious similarities in how much they hold themselves back, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed by how this turned out since I was hoping they would go head to head. Still, the scene more or less accomplishes what it needs to and with a few episodes left, it’s always possible that a bigger clash between the two could be coming a little later down the line, so suppose I’ll hold out for that in the meantime.
Although while I’m a bit mixed on how things happened with Ritsu, I’m definitely a lot happier with the show going the route of introducing actual antagonists. Given how OPM’s core gimmick was Saitama being invincible I really appreciate that this episode went the extra mile in demonstrating that this isn’t quite the case for Mob (percentage meter non-withstanding), and putting him up against actual threats should make his development a lot more interesting. I’m a little worried about how tightly the show will be able to maintain its themes while dealing with an ongoing threat considering how Mob’s confrontation with Ritsu was cut short, but it worked out pretty well and the show’s been consistent so I’m confident it’ll work out. At any rate, now that there’s a larger danger to be had, I’m curious to see how the remaining episodes will work out, and just as interested in seeing what it can accomplish.
In Summary:
The confrontation between Ritsu and Mob takes an unexpected turn, as their meeting doesn’t result in much of a clash and instead paves the way for a new group of antagonists to make an appearance. While I’m a little disappointed that the former didn’t result in something a bit more explosive, the latter managed to more or less make itself work and gives the show a bit more to work with compared to OPM. It’s hard to say exactly where the series is going to go with all this in regards to its themes, but with how consistent it’s been, I’m confident it’ll be a smooth ride straight through to the end.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
