#(like we see in the mogami arc)

[bandtrees]

ONE: ok guys here’s an arc about mob, in his growth as a person, being confronted with an ideology he’s unfamiliar with, and he has to learn from it but also understand why it’s unhealthy and bad to properly grow from it and choose kindness in the end, albeit in a more nuanced way than before, and this will make mob more able to confront later problems in the season that can’t be solved with mere kindness and require a deep understanding of loneliness and solitude, something he hasn’t had much room to speak on until now. To express mob being shown this villain’s ideology we have a sequence where we see how mogami views the world and by extension how he sees mob, by putting mob in the kind of sad fucked up world he thinks exists, but mob will overcome it with the knowledge that in the real world he has people he cares about and that even the people who make the world bad sometimes can change and nobody is a static evil and kindness and courage when you’re going through hardship goes a long way. despite the darkness this is ultimately a very uplifting experience for him and a show that life is always more than its darkest moments, and also how picking yourself up instead of wallowing in your own suffering and trauma is hard but a very courageous act and what makes mob stronger than mogami

mp100 fans with tunnel vision: Oh so mob was tortured for six months and is sad? He’s literally so sad and traumatized and nobody is talking about this?

[scribefindegil]

"Only in the darkest depths of fear can true courage shine" is obviously about Mob but I keep thinking about it in reference to Dimple's actions in Mogami arc. He was so scared! He started shaking like a leaf as soon as he recognized Mogami and he begged Mob & Reigen to leave, but he STILL faced Mogami head-on in Mob's body as a distraction and voluntarily entered Mogami's mindscape to get Mob out! The trust conversation hits even harder when you remember that this isn't an abstract danger they're up against; it's an entity that Dimple has very specific trauma about!

[zukkaoru]

okay but actually i think one of my favorite things about mob psycho is that. mob is very autistic coded, right? but he's just. he's a normal kid and he has so many friends and everyone loves him!! when he wants to get in the top 10 in the school marathon, no one tells him that's an impossible goal; they all try their best to help him train and encourage him every step of the way! he isn't the butt of the joke, and even when reigen does try to tell him he's misreading things and the people he thinks are his friends aren't actually his friends, that is 1. proven not to be true, 2. not portrayed as a funny haha joke moment, and 3. reigen faces consequences for saying it. mob is autistic coded, and no one treats him any differently for it. it's just one of the many things that makes mob who he is, and no one dwells on it. and it's so nice to see a character who, in pretty much any other show, would be an awkward loner and a loser and an outcast, have so many real friends. mob isn't popular, he's awkward, he doesn't always read situations correctly, he's a middle school boy who has never fit in with his peers. but he has so many friends and so many people who care about him and maybe he's not the most popular boy at school but he has more real friends than tsubomi, who is clearly the most popular girl, and at the end of the day, popularity doesn't matter. being happy does, and mob is happy. like,, it's refreshing to see a school friend dynamic where there's a middle ground between "popular" and "social outcast" and it's also so nice to see a neurodivergent-coded character treated just like any other middle school kid in the show. he's no different because of his autism. it's just a character trait

[toastyghostyhq]

I like to imagine Mob is very mischievous post-canon

Like, the two times we see him show a tangible sense of humor is when he's messing with people (lying about forgetting dimple in the mogami arc, and letting reigen faceplant into the cake). He's a prankster!!! Devious little thing!!

[shigayokagayama]

What are the biggest losses between the manga and anime? I just finished watching mp100 and I'm curious what the manga has!

ok biggest losses are kind of hard to define because like. anime and manga are two inherently different mediums and there are a good amount of cuts that improve pacing and then a good amount of cuts that people sort of argue over the merit of so im just going to go for biggest differences. i would also highly recommend reading the manga just because it is a pretty different experience tonally along with the minor plot differences and cut scenes + theres a bunch of omakes that both flesh out characters that dont get too much focus and have some really good bits in them. putting the rest of this post under a cut bc i ramble

mogami arc

this one is kind of inescapable i feel like but the anime version of the mogami arc had a LOT of things trimmed for a couple different reasons. season 2 already got an extra episode in order to do the fire scene as a cliffhanger so with the way things shook out the director had to choose between a. cutting a bunch of stuff out of separation arc to make it one episode so mogami arc couid stay three episode or b. cutting a bunch of stuff out of mogami arc so separation arc could stay two episodes. imo they made the right choice, whats even the point of adapting mob psycho if you dont get confession arc right, but some of the cuts to mogami arc will be dearly missed and others will be fought over to the end of time. cuts include:

minori being established as a brat in a video everyones shown and the video being part of how reigen deduces shes possessed (reigen deducing her possession in the manga is generally just a lot better done and after you read the manga the scene in the anime feels so awkward because you know whats missing

the psychics deciding to band together to beat this little girl to death to save themselves and shinra stepping between them to protect her and getting utterly thrashed, not by mogami, but his fellow psychics

reigen trying to convince mob to leave without him and call for help while he distracts him which leads to this

the general mogamiland section lasting a lot longer and being more brutal (notably the stray cat mob feeds getting killed in front of him)

mob getting fucking torn to pieces by spirits during the fight instead of ambiguously dying offscreen

generally would recommend if nothing else reading the manga version of this arc and confession arc because i feel like these are the only two where you lose like. a significant amount of the story and themes from the cuts. speaking of....

2. WHY THE FUCK DID THEY CUT THIS I WILL BE MAD UNTIL I DIE

maybe its just because i reread this arc on its own probably 50 times before the anime came out but this is the only arc where the cuts actively piss me off because there is absolutely no reason they had to do it. they cut a bunch of important shit, left in things that didnt need to be there, and added scenes that contribute literally nothing to the overall point. if they just did any one of those things or combo of two of those things i wouldnt be as mad but it feels like they put a bunch of filler in then speedran the actual story

cut #1 that pisses me off: HOMOPHOBIA?????

THERE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A HEART IN HIS EYE. WHY DID THEY NOT INCLUDE THIS. THIS IS THE CULMINATION OF TERUS ARC. THIS IS HIM SEEING THE PERSON HE HAS IDOLIZED AND DEIFIED IN HIS HEAD AT THEIR LOWEST AND STILL CHOOSING TO LOVE HIM, AND THROUGH THIS HE IS CAPABLE OF BEING LOVED EVEN THOUGH HES NOT PERFECT BECAUSE NO ONE IS. WHY WOULD YOU CUT THIS?

cut #2 I NEED WHOEVER CUT THE DIALOGUE FROM THE FIRST PANEL IN PRISON

the lack of inclusion of the first panels dialogue along with the cuts to the mob and shigeo conversation (WHICH WE WILL GET TO) make me think the person who adapted this arc fundamentally misunderstood what was happening. this line. is. THE POINT. THIS ISNT SOME SEPARATE SCARY THING. THIS IS MOB. HE IS CHOOSING TO DO THIS BECAUSE HE IS SCARED AND ANGRY AND HURT BUT HE IS IN CONTROL OF HIS ACTIONS AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN.

cut #3 HE DOESNT WANT TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR HIS ACTIONS

this entire conversation is so good and i was looking forward to watching it voice acted for so long and its just. gone. for me the "i am shigeo kageyama who are you" reveal felt like a gut punch because the opening being "i knew i would be needed" made me go "oh hes like possessed or his powers are sentient or something" and this conversation was the slow unraveling of my view of these as two separate people and instead as a scared, traumatized teenager who has convinced himself that the parts of himself he hates are something else outside of his control instead of an intrinsic part of who he is because if he's convinced that the parts of him that are able to feel desire and frustration and anger and malice are him then he'll lose all these relationships he's worked so hard to cultivate as his perfect, non confrontational self. and of course that isnt true. all his friends and loved ones are making their way to the center of a damn hurricane because they see he's in distress and want to help him. but he cant see that so he pushes them away. ugh. mob. protagonist of all time.

cut #4 WHY WOULD YOU CHANGE THE COMPOSITION OF THIS I CAN LITERALLY SEE HOW THIS WOULD BE ANIMATED IN MY MINDS EYE W

can you imagine how beautiful this would be in motion. just. god.

cut #5 HE WAS TALKING OUT LOUD. REIGEN HEARD ALL THIS

:(

cut #6 the bowling arc

so the scene where reigen takes his shoes off is supposed to be a lot more solemn bc like. taking your shoes off before killing yourself is a trope in japanese media (ive heard it started in media and bled over into real life but i might have it backwards?). reigen knew he was probably going to die. anyway i cant take this scene seriously because of this edit

the bowling arc.

cut #7 WAAAAAAAAAAAA

WAAAAAAAAAAAA *sniff* AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

cut #8 homophobia again

rip pensive fruity tea sip

cut #9 mob threw the cake directly in reigens face on purpose

i literally experienced every stage of grief realizing this got changed. why. its so perfect. why would you change this.

3. World Domination arc

so WD arc is in a very interesting place where it had a lot of scenes cut but unlike the other two most of the cut content youre like. yea probably best not to include that. ill start with the good content that got cut then go into the weird content

serizawa got his power drained by toichiro. i am quite sad this scene didnt make it in because its sorta heartbreaking

teru fighting off the claw assassin is shown and we see that teru can both make shadow clones AND hold a barrier while attacking, he seems to be the only esper with this ability!

the reason dimple could tell mob's family was alive is that there was no sense of grudge at the house which would have been left behind by people passing in a violent manner

mob briefly goes unconscious during the start of the toichiro fight and dimple possesses him and says "shit"

dimple possessing mob shoots shibata with a gun

we get mukai lore.

it doesnt make any sense and just raises more questions but we get it.

toichiro has a team of telepaths to recap where everyone is because this arc took an entire calender year to update

literally everyone shows up to fight shimazaki. i cannot stress enough how many people show up to fight shimazaki. it would be faster to list espers who dont show up to fight shimazaki

the middle school delinquents show up and start fighting the claw grunts literally completely out of no where and this is never brought up or referenced ever again

when mob and ritsu get home ritsu says all their stuff is in boxes and they need to hurry and redecorate the house before their parents get home which implies that shou packed the entire households worth of belongings into boxes and hid it somewhere before lighting their house on fire which is such a funny mental image that i cant even be mad at it. loony toons ass plot point.

4. other random interesting cut things

takenaka is just generally more of a bitch during alien arc. "ah i think they took him" remains one of the funniest goddamn panels in the manga

peak

alien arc overall is a lot funnier in the manga, i have a slight preference for the manga version just bc theres a lot of really good bits that didnt make it to anime but the anime version is so heartfelt and nostalgic it makes me happy

between omakes and small things that got cut or changed for the anime teru just feels way more fleshed out in the manga. like. anime teru is a completely different person. its hard to explain if youve never read it.

the all girls school part originally went right before the ghost family stuff and was the beginning of mob's existential crisis about why spirits and people get different treatment but tbh it works well where it is i just wish it werent. like that.

the scene where ritsu and teru shake hands was teru draining ritsus power which he seems to have learned to do from encountering ???%

teru.

ow

thats all i can think of off the top of my head, im sure ill realize i forgot something some time after posting this but. yeah. read the manga its good

[doctorsiren]

thinking about the moth psycho 100 AU and remembered that we have Mogami taking full control of Reigen’s body when Reigen sleeps (Jekyll and Hyde moment for them) so he can go and like, consume spirits to get stronger and thought that I should draw that :)

Also thinking about what if Mogami doesn’t leave fully after that part in the World Domination Arc and since Reigen can see him now after Mob kicked Mogami out of Reigen’s head, Reigen calls on him to help him when he’s about to go confront Suzuki (i just don’t want Mogami to leave 🥺 /silly)

[da-janela-lateral]

very curious as to what you mean by esper survivorship bias! there’s a couple things i’ve noticed that could be related (like how other than the obviously powerful teru, mob, ritsu the only child espers we see are the awakening lab kids whose powers are so limited that if they’re the baseline most espers would probably never find out they have powers at all) (or how other than the main 4 esper teens and the awakening lab kids and sort of takenaka the only psychics we see are adults that are part of claw) (sorry. my adhdemons)

FINALLY MORE EXCUSES TO TALK ABOUT MY HYPHOTESIS.

I first adressed it in this post, little time after I read some fics focusing on Teruki's relationship to Claw and started wondering about some stuff. After reading (part) of the World Domination Arc in the manga, I got more questions, which I'll explain here:

The Esper Survivorship Bias Theory

Contrary to the norm in works focused on the paranormal, in Mob Psycho 100 society overall doesn't care about espers. This is of course related to the main theme of "nobody is special" and the story's tendency for desconstructing shonen tropes, but it also implies that while rare, espers aren't seen as a big thing. This can be seen in the following details:

While describing Mob's powers, Inukawa treats them as only something unusual.

The Kageyama family, their friends and their acquaintances find Mob's powers ordinary.

Espers are a known phenomena (for an example, Mr. Asagiri looks for dozen of psychics on the start of the Mogami Arc).

Even when people don't believe on psychic powers, they don't insist much on this view after tiny proof (that is, powers are somehow beliavable).

Espers existing at all doesn't change how society works.

For that to happen, there must be a condition: the occurrence of psychic powers is common enough so that people acknowledge them AND usually don't mind their existence. They are like a weird, yet mundane fact.

This may contradict the canon's premise that psychic powers are extremely uncommon, but in the Seasoning City region alone we see several characters with them. Toichiro affirmed Claw has about 700 members and that he had hired international mercenaries, which in turn may mean there is a significant esper population out there. So why are there so few espers in-verse, they take years to meet people like them?

Simple. They aren't as extremely rare as people think. This is survivorship bias.

Most espers on canon are adults over 20 years old, and even a great part of these are members of Claw. The only psychic children we see are the main cast, the Awakening Lab kids and Takenaka. What a interesting coincidence that Claw too is 20 years old...

It's not that young espers are ultra uncommon nowadays, it's that as soon as they're obvious, Claw takes them.

This is not limited to powerful people, as the organization went after the Awakening Lab kids even though Claw either knew they had insignificant powers, or had no information on the level of their abilities at all. Any esper youth that enters their radar is a valid target.

Besides that, it's essential to remember Teruki is an exception to the rule. He survived being hunted down by Claw since childhood, but he also lived in dire conditions and was obsessed with being stronger than the criminals who went after him. Despite their powers, most esper children are normal. They wouldn't have an idea Claw existed. They wouldn't be prepared for a kidnapping attempt. And considering espers tend to feel socially alienated, lonely children have bigger chances to trust the Claw officials if they presented themselves as "someone who understood them".

In other words: espers aren't as rare as people believe. It's that as soon as they show their powers, Claw takes action. This is why there are so few characters under 18 who have psychic powers.

Final comments

Of course, many of the arguments I have mentioned could mean other things. MP100 has a pretty soft worldbuilding after all because psychic powers aren't the main focus, but rather a pretext for developing each character's perspective and inner turmoil, as well as the story's themes. Lot's of things are also played for humor and don't have real relevance. Furthermore, one could mention how the audience's view over MP100's world is limited to Mob's very uncommon life, and how some elements we've seen aren't the standard.

I'm just thinking a lot about the Claw targets' families. What did they know about the kidnappings? What did they do about them? How did the authorities investigate these cases? Have they found any closure? Have they connected the dots about the nature of the disappearances?

And what about the targets in question? How did their recruitments work? What they thought about what happened to them? Did they miss their loved ones? How many of them went on and kidnapped more kids? How many of them survived? Did they get to reunite with the people they loved and have a chance on a normal life?

Some food for thought.

[candyskiez]

Thinks about how genius it was to have Mogami arc and Separation arc happen right next to each other btw. This will be incoherent because I am sleepy.

It sets up how unfair it was to isolate Mob because we just saw how painful the isolation was for him. We also see how hard it is for him to step up and say no or defend himself at all.

Establishes "people need other people" right before Reigen loses the one person he has, realizes he has no friends, and has to realize people noticing him is what he really wanted. He needs people and no amount of fame or surface level shit is going to fill the void. He needs to let himself be known.

Has Mob realize sometimes people are just...awful, genuinely. But nobody is worthless. No one, no matter how bad, is worthless. Other people can be awful and still deserve to be saved. People can suck so fucking hard and it's not just spirits or something supernatural. Sometimes people are awful, even good people. This sets up him being able to go "No. How he's treating me is fucked up. He's treating me like shit. I'm not dealing with this." While also being able to accept that he wants to change.

Mob forms his own conclusions and opinions. Mob is making his own decisions now and is his own person.

The themes of change and how isolation and extreme trauma changes a person.

"I truly am blessed to have the people in my life" (paraphrasing) right before Reigen is a dick about his friends.

Mob comes out stronger than he's ever been and more convicted than ever. Reigens still Reigen. Contributes to Reigens realization *he's the one that never grew up.*

We see Mob grow and be able to accept that sometimes people suck and people also can change and be good, and also the themes align SO well (loneliness, how people change when they're in a terrible situation and what can bring out the worst in someone, people reaching rock bottom and reflecting on what led them there, realizing what they hadn't realized they'd been lucky to have until it was gone, community is what really matters) it's just. Do you get me. Do I make any sense. Guys. Gu

[gallus-rising]

opening this with the obligatory "AUs are fun" and "you can do whatever you want forever" i'm talking about the canon relationship and characterization vs a very common fanon. so without further ado i present:

Dimple Was A Friend: A Friendship Manifesto

the fanon in question is "Dimple as Mob's Dad/Uncle figure". in general i'm tired of the fandomized “Found Family” but in this particular case it totally fucks over an entire series spanning character arc and removes the interesting nuance from Dimple and Mob's relationship.

one of Dimple's big hang-ups is that he thinks all of his relationships have to be hierarchical in some way, but broccoli arc’s whole thing is that he actually wants someone to respect and acknowledged him as an equal.

normal humans can't see spirits at best and are terrified of them at worst. most other spirits we see have degraded to mindless monsters. espers more or less treat spirits as animals, specifically as pests or pets. spirits are dehumanized to the point that Matsuo doesn't seen any problem treating Human Man Mogami like a particularly unruly pet. so if Dimple can't be treated like an equal then he can at least try putting himself at the top of the food chain. no one respects him as a person, so he'll make them respect him.

Mob is in a very special place re: attitudes towards spirits off the bat. he's grown up with the supernatural as a normal part of life and sees no significant difference between humans and spirits. at first is doesn't seen like he's treating Dimple with any sort of respect, but in retrospect it's exactly the sort of thing Dimple wants. Mob doesn't treat him like a pest, he treats Dimple like an annoying guy that's following him around. even as their friendship develops Mob doesn't treat Dimple as though he's become useful, he trusts Dimple like he would Reigen or Ritsu or any other friend in a dangerous situation.

but despite his newfound Friendship Emotions Dimple still hasn't broken out of his old mindset. there must be an inherit hierarchy to the world, and while he can't afford to lose his spot, maybe he can trust someone to be by his side.

Dimple himself repeatedly states in the broccoli arc he wants them to become co-cult leaders. he doesn't want Mob to join him as a subordinate or apprentice or anything like that, he want's Mob to join him as an equal. father/son and uncle/nephew relationships are inherently hierarchical! that doesn't necessary make them bad, but it's not want Dimple wants.

if we accept that Dimple is a father/uncle figure to Mob then the broccoli arc concludes with Dimple realizing he doesn’t want authority over people in a malicious way, he wants authority in a nurturing way. not only is that still an unequal relationship, nurturing is definitely not a word that comes to mind when discussing Dimple.

it also means we must accept that Mob sees Dimple as some kind of authority figure which is simply not true. Mob never treats him with that elevated level of respect and even gets confused that Dimple thinks their relationship is weighted in one way or the other. all in all the father/uncle interpretation is straight up out of character for both of them and downplays mp100’s emphasis on friendship.

and then it creates a second problem. since Mob & Dimple have been shoved into the Family Box that means by order of elimination Reigen is Dimple’s closest friend (or more commonly romantic partner) compared to Mob for most of the mange Reigen doesn't really treat Dimple with the same human-to-human attitude. he frequently makes jokes about Dimple being a like pet, which to Reigen is just normal snark, but probably hits Dimple harder than he realizes for reasons stated at the start.

hell during the separation arc Dimple took Mob’s side and was perfectly fine ditching Reigen even tho he didn’t really have to. he was even mean about it!

during this short exchange they're both antagonizing each other but i feel like it's notable Dimple only leaves after Reigen starts shit talking Mob. Reigen is right that Mob won't use his powers in normal day to day life and Dimple knows he's right. Dimple's been following Mob around this whole time watching life a perfectly average life. and then Reigen, no psychic defenses, charismatic guy with an established following, offers Dimple join him! oh boy is that an easy situation to take advantage of!! (and also of an example of how Dimple's started to lose sight of his "villainous schemes", but that's a whole other tangent lol)

Dimple only reaccepts Reigen into his social circle after witnessing him and Mob reconcile. by downplaying Mob and Dimple’s friendship Reigen becomes Dimple’s closest connection by default which is just not true for most of the manga, but, and i'm about to have a grouchy aromantic moment here, most people are fine with it because Shipping. now Reigen and Dimple can be Mob’s dads together :]

the power of Reigen being a fan favorite typically causes people to elevate him, sometimes even in scenarios he's not all that involved in, but please allow me to point out how amatonormativity plays into this particular reading ��� Dimple Is Mob's Dad/Uncle doesn't always go hand in hand with ekurei of course, but i see it happen often enough to be a trend. even though a family-esque relationship should logically still emphasize their personal bond just as much as a platonic one, in this case it still typically comes with shipping, and by extension Reigen, tacked onto it.

mean aro moment over. if it sounded like i'm dissing ekurei i promise i'm not! i like it just as much as the next guy! it's just that, like all ships in every fandom, sometimes it gets pushed to the detriment of other relationships and even characterization.

but anyways. in closing: guys. they literally call each other friends.

that's it! thank you for reading my rant ❤

if you've made it this far i wanna peel back behind the scenes for a sec (because i've been trying to write this thing for so long orz) and let you know the term "Friendship Manifesto" is a play on ye' olde fandom Ship Manifestos, which i think we need to bring back in new and exciting ways. classic shipping manifestos. friendship manifestos. qpp manifestos? enemies manifestos?? should we bring back the term "drift compatible" or perhaps even the quadrant shipping system???? we're not taking proper advantage of this meta format. we need to have fun and go crazy with it.

[quirkle2]

i'm sad so im gonna talk about dimple in the anime world domination arc and how he makes me a little ill

besides the divine tree arc, bc that's obviously where he rly shines, i think the wd arc is where we see the most Genuine Dimple. we see him just earnestly helping out any way he can during this whole thing, doing his absolute best to keep mob alive and anybody the kid cares about to boot. and Yeah, he has a motive to help the kid bc he's trying to earn his trust to manipulate him, but he Knows mob trusts him already (see mogami arc). he doesn't have to keep this up. i dont think dimple even has any of that on his mind at the time.

there's a couple lines in this arc from dimple that feel like they come straight from his soul and i never stop thinking about them. i'll talk about The Scene in a minute but

when they meet up with reigen and the others in the hideout, dimple does not have to say "let him rest, i'll fill you in," but he does. when mob is unconscious and vulnerable dimple does not have to protect him, but he does. when mob is fighting minegishi dimple does not have to stay—hell, when mogami shows up, somebody that dimple seems very afraid of, he does not have to stay, but he does. and when mob goes up that tower to confront serizawa and toichiro, dimple accompanies him, not rly bc reigen asks him to, but bc he seemed like he was planning on it from the start with that little "i know i know" that sounds so halfheartedly bothered

he doesn't have to do really Anything that he does in wd arc, and yet he's there and helping, and while you can argue that a lot of it might've been done just to keep mob alive and dimple in his favor, i think the majority of it was instinctual and real

mogami arc seemed like a turning point for dimple and mob's relationship, bc mob truly and completely put his life and wellbeing into dimple's hands and dimple's hands alone. dimple cracks some joke abt his uglier intentions and mob simply stares and says "i'm sure it'll be fine," and dimple visibly does not know how to react to this. like reigen says later: this is the first time somebody has put so much trust in him. dimple has No Idea what to do w this, and the sheer kindness of it makes him hesitate to take advantage of the kid

the fact that dimple is able to possess mob at all during wd arc goes against what we've been told before about espers and their mental barriers, which (and i believe this is touched on in the manga w more explanation but i haven't read it) shows just how much trust mob has in dimple. his mental barriers are already off 24/7 for the guy. dimple could probably possess him whenever the fuck he wanted

Something changed in dimple's mind between mogami arc and wd arc, and that's further proven by a line of his in s3. it's been a while since i've watched this part so correct me if i'm wrong but i think dimple says smth about forgetting that his original goal had been to become god. that he lost sight of that somewhere along the way, and just stopped thinking about it. even during divine tree arc, toward the end, he says smth about "has being around the unmotived shigeo caused me to lose sight of my goals and ambitions?" at some point dimple just completely dropped that goal and started being a genuine friend w no ulterior motives. started embracing that trust he's been given, and not letting it go to waste

yes, dimple half-lied to calm him down after the fire, but he tells reigen that he has reason to believe what he said was true. and when reigen comments that mob would hate him if he Knew he lied, dimple's reaction is Genuine Remorse. that face is not one of "damn my evil schemes r falling apart. aw drat" or "ohmy god i'm going to be exorcised" that is the face of a guy who feels real and honest regret and guilt over even the Thought of his friend hating him. that is a guy who shrinks into himself at the idea of mob not calling him a friend anymore

and so.when mob runs to his parents' room and That Scene happens, dimple's first and genuine response is to scream at mob to look away, shigeo! look away! protecting the kid, protecting his innocence, bc no kid should have to look at something so horrible, and dimple Cares about this kid. he doesn't know when he started caring, but he cares now, and in a dire situation like this, dimple's knee-jerk reaction is to comfort and protect this boy, not take advantage of him. do u understand how important this scene is to me.

this rly has nothing to do w the story itself but i am an English Dub Enjoyer and dimple's va is Outstanding, especially when he voices that look away, shigeo! look away! it sounds so panicked, so desperate—there's rly nothing in the rest of the show that sounds quite like it bc it's so horribly despairing and pleading. he just wants shigeo to look away, to not stare at his family's burning faces. it's a devastatingly raw command that burns just like the walls do. that line and its delivery is so haunting to me

[bandtrees]

my opinion on the manga-to-anime mogami arc adaptation changes depending on who im talking to. when it’s people who lament them getting rid of the more brutal parts i have my whole speech about how mogami shouldn’t be this cartoonishly violent strawman who just wants to play dirty and an important part of his character is that, while he’s wrong, he has genuine points that mob needs to hear that help further his development through the season and that’s better expressed when mogamiland is more down to earth and realistic and not just senselessly brutal and knife twisting

however when it’s people who discredit the arc just because of its darker tone and because bad things happen to mob i just go like “YOU KNOW WHAT? THEY SHOULDV KILLED TWO CATS”

[shadowonwater]

Mob Psycho 100 Fanfic Recs

Hyper fixating on Mob Psycho rn and have been reading a bunch of fanfic. So I thought I'd be nice to create a list of some of them.

All fics listed are completed unless I specify otherwise.

Also here's someone else's MP100 fanfic masterpost for more recs: here

Last updated: 9/20/24

Issho by ToastyToaster22

VERY long read. Main character is child Teru. An AU in which Teru met Mob and Ritsu before the incident where Ritsu got hurt. Story really gets across the evil of Claw with them kidnapping kids and harassing the few who keep getting away from them. Story also shows Teru's shitty neglectful parents and Dad!Reigen. Teru goes through the ringer in this fic. Fic takes place over the course of 2 - 3 years.

In general this writer has a lot of great Mob Psycho writing. They write a lot about Teru and TeruMob. Also I really like their take on the Kageyama parents. We may not see much of those parents in cannon but it's clear they do care about their kids. Toasty does a great job on using them as actual characters.

Immoral Support by c_c_cherry

Teru lives alone, and has been living alone for awhile. He's given money from his parents but that's it. He knows how to fake signatures but now the school is demanding to see a guardian in-person. Teru not knowing what to do, pretends that Reigen is his guardian, things go on from there.

The Ties were Black, The Lies were White by generally

There is some sex in this story, fyi. Basically Reigen is going to his sister's wedding and can bring a plus-one. Serizawa wants to go with him. They decide to go as "business partners". They do things such as sharing a bed and dancing as "business partners". Of course they realize their feelings for each other and confess. The sex scene is a bit after that.

Walking Mob Home by CryRan88

A short two chapter story about Reigen walking Mob home after work. First chapter: Mob feel asleep and Reigen gives him a piggy back ride to Mob's house. 2nd chapter: Reigen is asleep and Mob gets Dimple to posses him so he can still walk Mob home without actually waking him up.

Mother by Sunlolli

Reigen's got some mommy issues. His mom dies and starts haunting him. The espers in Reigen's life don't want to get rid of her without Reigen's permission but she's really messing him up and he just wants to get some approval from her. Story is a bit depressing but very good.

In Quicksand by SpiritusRex

Reigen gets possessed and gets sick. Unreliable narrator Reigen. Don't worry, the spirit gets caught pretty quickly, and Reigen ends up fine.

It Takes Time by CowardlyBean

A very short fic about Reigen quitting smoking for Mob's sake. Very cute.

you'll have to make due with a reasonable facsimile by SoliAvi

A short fic that takes place right after the end of the separation arc. Reigen and Mob eat ramen together again and Reigen apologizes. Very sweet.

When you need me by SpiritusRex

A 5 + 1 fic. 5 Times Mob hugged Reigen and 1 time Reigen hugged Mob. 1: Little Mob asking for advise about nightmares. 2: Mob being hurt after the Teru fight. 3: Mob holding onto Reigen to float them both back home after the first Claw arc. 4: After the Mogami arc. 5: After separation arc. +1: Reigen hugging Mob after digging him out of the broccoli after 2nd Claw arc.

Rainbow Veins and Life in Technicolor by BinaryDreams1010

As it turns out, Reigen actually IS an esper. He's an empath, and that comes with being able to read and manipulate others emotions. He did not know he was doing that. He just thought he was REALLY good at reading people and convincing them. Serizawa figures it out and tells him. The first story is about Serizawa figuring out Reigen is an empath, the 2nd story is about what Reigen does after knowing he's an empth, that is trying to figure out how to get rid of a spirit on his own.

Use Your Words by CowardlyBean

Reigen gets possessed by a spirit that hates espers. He's stuck in the backseat of his body while it pilots him around, pretending to be him. It's an ass towards Serizawa and Mob. Of course the other characters figure out something is wrong.

Area Hysteria by c_c_cherry

Reigen and Dimple visit a worn down building slated for demolition to get rid of a spirit. The building collapses with them in it. Dimple is fine, Reigen isn't. Dimple posses Reigen's body to help keep him alive and hope for rescue soon. Reigen gets rescued... eventually. But this isn't the end to the problems because Reigen ends up in sort of supernaturally-induced coma that Mob has to get into his head to get him out of. Long story. Marked as unfinished but ends at a really good stopping point. (Update: It started updating again)

Haunting My Own Skin by Kirii_Kitten

Reigen dies and then posses his own corpse to pretend that everything is normal. Dimple is concerned that Reigen's spirit is going to corrupt, his fears are well-founded. Reigen gets found out of course and things go to shit, but there is a happy ending.

symbiosis by ruthwrites

AU in which ???% is a separate entity from Mob and it's made of energy and jumps from esper to esper. When Mob gives Reigen his power during the 1st Claw arc, ???% goes with that energy. Problem is that it didn't go back to Mob, it got stuck in Reigen. I recommend the whole series, the series is kind of depressing though. Reigen really goes through it in this series. I don't want to give too much away but... Reigen isn't gonna come out of this very... human. Each entry in the series is completed, however I can't help but feel the series itself isn't completed, it seems to end on what would be the start of this AUs version of the Separation Arc. It's a bitter ending.

Yesterday by ch_am

Takes place during and after hot springs OVA. Shows Reigen's experience in the parallel dimension. On the train ride home, Reigen has a panic attack and runs off to the bathroom, Serizawa helps him and realizes that Reigen was in that dimension for awhile. Serizawa goes back home with Reigen to make sure that when he wakes up he won't be alone again. They eat breakfast together and talk about what happened.

Reflection by Silver_fox221

Turns out Reigen is a kitsune. He did not know he was a kitsune. He's in denial at first what with these traits only appearing now as a 30-ish year old. But even when he accepts the truth, he can't bring himself to tell the others besides Dimple (who he knows can keep a secret). His kitsune traits include being able to turn into a fox, having a silver orb that's a physical manifestation of his soul that he has to protect, and also a new found fear of dogs. Fic is unfinished but has a very unique idea. I only found a few other stories that had Kitsune!Reigen but in the other ones I saw he already knew he was a fox.

Categories

A lot of fics I like fall within categories, like they play with similar ideas. So I thought I would create lists of fics that cover the same topics. If you like one in a list, you would probably like the others.

Train OVA (Reigen has a bad time)

Teru's Parents Suck, Reigen to the Rescue

Various MP100 Stuff I found on Tumblr (no theme)

[wspider-man]

Guys I have such good ideas for mob psycho edits but like idk how to edit but I have like AMAIZNG ideas. And even if I learned how to edit I wouldn’t wanna post them so if anyone feels like editing my ideas go ahead. Like just say I’m gonna edit that, give the social you plan on posting it on, and then just do it like you don’t even have to credit me claim it’s your idea for all I care. I JUST WANT TO SEE MY IDEAS COME TO LIFE!!!!

1.) Real Men, by Mitski. So basically edit mob to that part that goes “Real Men, keep cool in the face of a fire. Go down with the ship.” And like you know put parts of his house burning down and him like losing self control. And then the part that goes “and real men don’t eat, cause they’re above that damn it,�� like you could do something with the milk spilled on him from the Mogami arc. And finally, “I think I’m a real man” (I don’t really remember the lyrics) but anyway you can do the scene from season three where he’s staring back at himself and then it zooms out to his rampaging body. Does this make sense? Idk fix it to your liking.

2.) Cop Car, by Mitski. Can we tell I like mitski? Anyway I saw Teru edited to this but I think it works better for mob. “I get mean when I’m nervous like a bad dog” it says that two times I think but you can do the scenes where his percentages go up and he like goes 100 or whatever, you know? And then “ive loved many girls” obviously put tsubomi, “I’ve loved many boys” put Teru cause I lowkey ship it. “I don’t think about the past it’s always there anyway” put the flashback of Ritsu being hurt from the Teru mob fight scene. Like specifically that flashback from that fight. The I believe it says it again and do the one where he sees Ritsu laying on the floor bleeding during the seventh claw division arc and make it flash back to the new years incident. Then it continues to say “I will never die” over and over again and you can just compile a bunch of scenes of mob taking serious hits that honestly should’ve killed him like some of those punches should’ve knocked his head off. But anyway save the last “I will never die” for the scene of him laying in the road and then at die the pavement cracks. That will be hard so ummm do it if you want but this seems like a hard edit.

Umm well that’s two of my ideas down. Probably no one is gonna see this and even if they do they’ll be like “ wtf does this lame girl think she’s doing? No one’s gonna even read this!” And they’d be right but anyway yay! These ideas lowkey aren’t even good. 💀🙏

[angelmachines]

third mp100 post of the night but a theme i dont see discussed a lot online is just how fucking lonely these characters are

serizawa and reigen are easier obvious examples-- one was locked in his room for 15 years and the other is left without his middle schooler employee for a few days and is devastated socially, whereas its harder to remember that despite how fast mob collects people throughout the series, but mob started out alone

the mogami arc displays it best-- even when these characters have communities that support them, the isolation theyve dealt with (esp in regards to whatever allegory you want to apply to them, but most potently the autistic ones) stick with them. forever. they can still grow and change but its a part of them in a way that is never scoffed at or laughed away.

ritsu, shou, and teru... are never seen to have friends. acquaintances like kamuro or the awakening lab kids or each other-- but not Friends. its easy to assume they have people they hang out with that we (as the audience) never see but i think the themes of this show are so much more powerful when you consider it to Be purposeful

like, maybe the reason teru is never seen with the black vinegar gang kids or that girl he dated is less because of character development (because they couldve developed, too) but more because teru never really liked them and only wanted to appear more successful socially than he was. or the reason why shou is alone isnt because hes less involved in the narrative as everyone else but because he grew up in a violent group with kids who have only ever been treated like tools by his dad, or expected to be treated like tools by him. that maybe ritsu doesnt like tsubomi or reigen not because hes bitchy but because... hes a traumatized teenager who doesnt trust a lot of people

and obviously i could say more on each of them, but thats what makes the themes of community in this show so goddamn powerful-- theyre coming from characters who have either given up on connection or have never been given the opportunity to thrive within it. so when you see all of them celebrating together in the end, supporting each other... you believe that its possible, too

[shigayokagayama]

any thoughts on the episode Poor, Lonely, Whitey? Ive been thinking about why reigen said the things he said to mob that ended up pushing him away but i havent come to any particularly satisfying conclusions

my interpretation of this scene after rewatching this show and rereading this manga way too many times is basically this:

all this is happening RIGHT after the mogami arc, which is the first time in the entire series mob has ever been in any actual danger on a job. of course we see him in distress before this, notably the ghost family (which is also like. in the days leading up to separation arc basically. like in the manga reigen gets the letter for the mogami mansion as soon as he gets back to his office after the ghost family job), but this is the first time that actually losing mob has seemed like a real, tangible possibility. keep in mind, reigen has no other close friends. he barely knows dimple at this point, he and shinra are on friendly terms, but aside from that he has no one else in his life, which his friendbook notification and emails serve to punctuate.

of course it doesnt justify what he says, but panicking and trying to keep him close in any way he possibly could seems like an understandable (if manipulative and unhealthy) response to the idea of losing someone who's lifeless body you spent thirty minutes watching over one day earlier.

[scribefindegil]

god. i’m still real fucked up over Manga Mogami Arc, and not for any of the reasons people warned me about. like, Mogami’s world ramps up the violence above what they could show in the anime (which, thanks Bones, I personally could not have handled watching that so I’m glad they toned it down), but that makes sense for him. he’s a powerful evil spirit who’s created a hell dimension. it’s brutal, but it isn’t unexpected.

what got me was what happened before that.

[Image ID: A partial page from the Mob Psycho 100 manga. Panel 1: A psychic picks up an ornate staff and says, “So she beats us to death, one by one ... or we beat on her, all together.” Panel 2: Another psychic, sweating, asks, “You really think the client would agree to that ...?” Panel 3: A closeup of the first psychic, veins bulging and eyes narrowed. He says, “The client is currently bleeding out on the floor. Open your eyes. This is no time for questions about morals and ethics ...” Panel 4: Dialogue continues, “It’s looking more like ... kill or be killed.” The crowd of psychics looks distraught. Panel 5: Reigen, with a horrified expression, thinks “Things were already bad, but ...” End ID]

So for those of you who haven’t read the manga, there’s a point after Mogami has trapped everyone in the basement and revealed the extent of his power where some of the other psychics decide that their best strategy for getting out of this situation is murder! Cool! (Does someone point out that Mogami’s spirit has already jumped into a different vessel and there’s nothing to stop him from doing it again? Yes! Does this give them pause? No!)

I think this is really interesting, because in the anime the real threat in this arc always comes from Mogami himself, even if it’s enacted through his spirits in the mindscape. But in the manga there’s this part that still takes place in the real world, with regular people who aren’t being controlled or possessed, and because their lives are in danger they’re willing to try to kill a middle-school girl to save themselves. Mogami must have been so chuffed. Here are these people all ready to prove his point about the darkness at the heart of human nature and how no one really cares about anyone but themselves, and he hardly even put them up to it! It reminds me of the part with the astral projection stalker, where it’s one thing to see this kind of behavior from an evil spirit, but it hits harder when it comes from living humans.

Also really important to note that they got this idea because of Reigen. Obviously he was not encouraging murder! But it was his successful knee-strike exorcism of Jodo that gave the other psychics the idea that they could defeat Mogami by doing physical violence to his host.

[Image ID: Jodo lies unconscious on the floor. Someone says, “You saw what just happened. Jodo was possessed ... but that dude’s kick took him down! We can try the same thing against her.” End ID]

And Reigen can tell that he won’t be able to talk them out of it! He freezes up! It’s Shinra who, very bravely and very stupidly, runs forward and tries to stop them and gets his face bashed in for it (i’m not screencapping this because it makes me too upset).

It just. It’s already so much in the anime when Mob refuses to accept Mogami’s worldview after six months in his world. It’s even more when the last things he experienced in the real world were so bleak. But he’s so, so brave and so, so stubborn, and he’s willing to believe that all those people deserve the chance to change too.