#in like. opposite ways. i think reigen is a great good man!!

[gravyhoney]

Reigen Arataka and Saul Goodman are the same to me.

[animebw]

Short Reflection: Mob Psycho 100 Season 3

Mob Psycho 100 is one of the greatest anime of all time.

This is not up for debate. Though even if it was, I doubt many of you would disagree. Was it really only 3 years ago that the second season of this off-kilter little slice-of-life action comedy showed up and utterly blew everyone away? Only 3 years since ONE’s crudely drawn webcomic about an overpowered psychic boy just trying to live a normal life stepped out of One Punch Man’s shadow and rocketed to the top of everyone’s Best Of lists? Mob Psycho 100 is the kind of show that feels like it’s always been with us, one of those enduring staples of anime that defines everything good about this medium and remains a permanent nostalgic fixture point for new and old fans alike. From its utterly gobsmacking animation that forever raised the bar on how to portray superhuman action to its achingly human story of the things that make even the most extraordinary of us so wonderfully ordinary, this show is a triumph of empathetic storytelling and visual artistry on a level almost nothing else even comes close to. And while my opinion of the second season may have cooled slightly over time- I’m not the biggest fan of how ONE writes dialogue- it still stands as one of this medium’s crowning achievements.

So when I say that this third and final season feels like a step back, let me be clear: I am in no way saying Mob Psycho 100 Season 3 is a bad twelve episodes. Even if I were the most contrarian asshole imaginable, I couldn’t say that with a straight face. This is still Mob Psycho Goddamn 100. It’s still some of the most likable characters and some of the most spectacular animation ever put to screen. Even on its off days, this show runs circles around 90% of your average seasonal slop. But as this season wore on, knocking down the last few dominoes necessary to bring Mob’s story to a close for good, I kept waiting for the moment that would shoot this season into the stratosphere. Mob’s first fight with Teru in season 1, the astounding Mogami arc in season 2, every prior season of Mob has that one spectacular moment that kicks the story into an entirely new gear and never lets up for a second after. And as we approached the final episode, almost everything as wrapped up as it could possibly be, I realized... I was still waiting for that moment. As much as I enjoyed this last round with Mob and company, it never took off the way I know this show is capable of. It just coasted at 80% the whole way through, hitting plenty of killer pitches along the way but never pulling off a single grand slam. This is a good season of Mob, even a great season; it’s just not a spectacular one. And considering how damn high this show has raised the bar, the fact that it’s ending on such a comparatively lackluster note (again, I must stress the comparatively part of that statement) leaves me a little disappointed.

So why does one of the greatest anime of all time feel like it’s taken a step back for its victory lap? Well, after rolling it over in my head for a while, I think there are three big issues that keep season 3 from reaching MP100′s previous heights.

Reason #1: A lack of purpose

Let’s be honest, MP100 could have ended with season 2 and it would feel almost completely natural. Sure, there might be a couple loose plot ends here and there, but the actual story- Mob’s personal journey of self-acceptance and self-betterment, Reigen managing to overcome his worst impulses and treat Mob with the respect he deserves, the looming threat of Claw and the thematic challenge they pose to Mob’s humble worldview- was basically all wrapped up by the time season 2 ended. We’ve watched this bowl-haired, awkward middle schooler embrace what’s special about himself, work to overcome his flaws and become a truly well-rounded person, and defeat the literal manifestation of egotism and narcissism that stands in opposition to everything he believes about the inherent equality of people. His story is already about as complete as it could possibly be. Anything after that would just be icing on the cake. And sadly, that’s kind of how season 3 feels a lot of the time: icing. Very delicious icing, to be sure, but by now the cake’s already finished, and there’s only so much icing you can eat on its own before you start yearning for the solid food that used to be attached to it.

Which brings us neatly to:

Reason #2: Less interesting characters

This is related to reason #1: with all the important characters’ stories basically taken care of, most of season 3 is spent wrapping up the loose ends of the various remaining side characters who could still use some closure. Unfortunately, that means the focus is on the characters who, in my opinion, are among the less interesting parts of Mob Psycho as a whole. Like, I like Dimple well enough as a comic foil, but it’s been so long since he’s had any sort of serious pathos. And while I appreciate how the giant broccoli arc that takes up the season’s first half gives him a meaningful place in the narrative again, I just don’t have the built-in investment to care about him like I care about Mob, Ritsu, and Reigen. It’s a good way to close his arc, but he’s just nowhere near as compelling a character as Mob’s star players, so it doesn’t hit nearly as hard. And it’s completely blown out of the water by a two-episode wrap-up for the lazy telepathy club that Mob refused to join back at the start of the show. Now that’s what I call comedy.

Meanwhile, the final arc of the entire show brings the spotlight back around to Mob’s crush on his classmate Tsubomi, and... alright, full honesty, I was initially planning to write something here about how I really don’t care that much about Mob’s crush on Tsubomi and how it’s always been the least interesting part of this show, so spending the final arc focusing on it wasn’t my idea of a good time. But after seeing the way it actually played out? It actually works. I think ONE understands, on some level, that the actual question of whether or not they’re going to get together is far less interesting than how Mob’s feelings toward Tsubomi reflect his ongoing personal growth and struggle with his own inner turmoil. So instead of being about Mob trying to finally get the girl, this final arc uses those feelings as a lynchpin to finally make Mob confront the last hurdle on his stage to self-acceptance, all while inadvertently becoming a locus around which everyone else can bring closure to their own character arcs in turn by showing how much he’s improved their lives while he’s struggling with the last stage of his journey to improve and accept his own life. And it’s really fucking solid! Especially the final episode, my god does it bring it all home. The only issue is that this is the final goddamn arc of Mob Psycho 100, and it’s largely about the part of the show that’s always interested me the least. Even if it handles it about as well as it possibly could, there’s just no way for that not to feel underwhelming, especially compared to the astounding work of action spectacle that was season 2′s climactic showdown with Claw.

Reason #3: Weaker visuals

OKAY STOP AND LISTEN BEFORE YOU RIP MY THROAT OUT. Mob season 3 is a great-looking show. The way studio Bones brings ONE’s sketchy, janky drawing style to life is, was, and continues to be a singularly unique delight. Weaker, in this case, does not mean “bad” in any way, shape, or form. It’s just that, once again, I’m used to Mob being a spectacular-looking show, so anything less than 120% feels like a letdown. But weaker is weaker no matter how good it still is, and there’s just no getting around the fact that this is the least visually interesting season of Mob yet. Look back at any random episode from the previous two seasons, and you’ll find enough experimental animation, creative cinematography, and truly gonzo visual style in five minutes to outdo many full episodes of season 3. Far too much of the time, it relies on simple medium shots or panning shots when it’s not time for the action to break out. And even then, the action, excellent though it still is, has so few moments that match the sheer awe of the Teru fight, the Mogami fight, or either of the big Claw fights. Sadly, it seems losing Yuzuru Tachikawa, the director who pushed those first two seasons to such incredible heights, really did leave a dent in its visual identity. MP100 in the past felt like it worked to make every single moment of animation interesting and uniquely meaningful; now it only feels that way maybe 70% of the time.

And again: this is still a really good fucking season of anime. It’s still a ton of fun, the action kicks ass, and getting one last chance to bid these characters goodbye was definitely appreciated. The only reason I’m being so critical is because I know what this show is capable of. If MP100 had been at this level of quality from the beginning, it still would’ve been a high-tier shonen romp with enough heart and style to easily recommend to anyone. But I’m not used to MP100 settling for just being good. I’m used to MP100 shattering every conceivable barrier in its way as it rockets into the stratosphere. I’m used to MP100 going so far above and beyond that it redefines what’s even possible in animation. I’m used to this show being an absolute masterclass of spectacle and storytelling alike. So the fact it doesn’t get to be that one more time for its final outing turns what’s otherwise a perfectly delightful season 3 into a sorrowful reminder of glories past, weighed down by just how much better it used to be. Never before has a really good show felt so crushed under the burden of failing to rise to greatness.

But you know what? Fuck it. Just because it’s not as jaw-dropping and landmark-setting as previous seasons doesn’t mean Mob season 3 wasn’t a damn great ending to a damn great series. If nothing else, the OP drop in the final episode probably pushed my score up a full half-point all on its own. This may be a step down from what this show is capable of, but at the end of the day, there’s still more than enough heart, imagination, and sheer talent on display here to close Mob’s story out on a deeply affecting note. Mob Psycho 100 has already earned its eternal place in the anime pantheon; it’s earned the right to rest on its laurels for its farewell party. And I’m sure I’ll still be thinking fondly back on the whole beautiful journey long after the momentary disappointment fades from memory. So with all that said, I give MP100′s final season a score of:

8/10

So long, Shigeo. So long, Reigen. Here’s looking forward to whatever the future has in store.

[reigenhusband]

Psychic Wedding Time!

Art by @/cowboyologist

After months of holding back, we finally tied the ole knot! Me and the conman are officially hitched today September 10, 2021!

This silly little blonde anime man means an awful lot to me and its really more than I can say. These months with him have been a great help.

When I went through some of the roughest things I've ever gone through, I had him to think about for comfort. He is a little part in what keeps me going and I wish I could thank him for everything. He sparks a lot of joy so I think I'm gonna keep him!

I've never been happier and I'm so lucky to call him husband! He's had such a positive impact and I love him so, so much.

Special thank you to my friends and of course our son Mob who carried the rings!

Under the cut is a little fic about getting ready for the wedding. Thanks everyone for your support!

Reigen squinted at his reflection, dark eyes hauntingly focused on a strand of hair that didn't take to the product he put in it. A grunt of dismay rumbled low in his throat.

"Um…Reigen?" 

"Just a second, Serizawa. Almost got it."

The taller man's voice wavered but he managed to hold fast and keep his confidence. Reigen could almost hear his hands wringing. 

"Er...Well. Its just...you've been staring at yourself for a little over 20 minutes now and you haven't moved and…"

Reigen sucked his teeth and pressed his palm firmly to the side of his head. Damned strand of hair! Slick like the rest of it! Don't you know know day it is?!

"What I mean is..! Are you alright?" Serizawa finally asked, his voice heavy with concern. "Since it's your wedding and all I figured you'd be nervous but you seem really on edge. Is something bothering you?" 

The blonde twitched.

 "W...what are you talking about? Of course not! I'm calm and-" He stopped abruptly and slammed his hands flat on either side of the mirror, his eyes wide and bloodshot upon inspection of his suit. A fleck of black thread pervaded his white vest and he looked around frantically for the lint roller. "You thought you could hide but you can't best Reigen Arataka." He muttered as he furiously went over his all but pristine wedding attire. 

His best man scratched his own cheek nervously and looked on with clear uncertainty. "If you're sure." 

Once he was satisfied after a thorough inspection and having Serizawa scrutinize the back, he dropped into a chair. Nearby was a table decorated in what was probably a thousand congratulatory flowers from clients. He exhaled and stared a hole into the arrangement of colors. His heart was pounding. His brow, coupled with his hands, were visibly slick with chilled sweat. His stomach was full of stones. 

He met his own gaze in the mirror again. He looked well kept and yet...disheveled at the same time. Come to think of it, his face was flushed the shade of his usual pink tie. The last 3 days without sleep also hollowed out dark circles under his eyes. His shirt collar began to feel more and more constricting as time went on no matter how much he tugged on it. 

Maybe he really was scared. 

He didn't doubt that he loved Mitty. In fact, he wanted to be with him more than anyone. A case of cold feet wouldn't change that. It was himself he was wrestling with here. 

Spirits, monsters, and deadly espers. He'd faced them all and came out on top. But they were nothing compared to these looming expectations to be a person to rely on. This wasn't something he could bullshit his way through. This was marriage. Mitty was going to see the warted underbelly of when he was Reigen the man instead of Reigen the psychic. His fiancé was going to experience sides of him he only revealed when he was alone. Would he still like him even then?

Reigen was good at a lot of things but this had to be the one that counted most. Could he really be a good partner forever? 

Was he really going to cut it as a husband? 

"Hey, Serizawa?" Reigen asked, not looking at him. 

The man's shoulders lurched at his name suddenly being called. He straightened his back. "Oh! Yes sir?"

"Do you think we'll be good together?" 

Silence sat heavily for a moment. Every second felt longer than the last. 

His friend seemed taken aback by the question but nonetheless looked at the ceiling as though collecting the right words to answer. "Well…"

Another moment passed and Reigen waited with his hands clasped and breath baited. 

"I've never been with anyone so I can't say for certain what a good relationship is but," A compassionate smile spread across the esper's face before he continued, visibly more sure of his words. "I think you and Mr. Mitty understand each other. You always seem to know what the other is thinking. You motivate each other to be better and you seem happy when you're together. And...and you trust each other too. And I think that's whats important." 

Reigen looked at the velveted floor. "Then…"  

"You've become more honest by being with him and he talks like you're really important to him. So please...get married if it makes you both happy! I think you can really be something!" His friend was beaming with 

what Reigen could only say was genuine assurance. 

"I really believe you'll take care of each other." 

His co-worker actually really was resourceful. Maybe someday he ought to pay him more. The uncomfortable feelings waned slightly and his shoulders slowly slacked. Mitty was waiting for him so now wasn't the time to lose it. 

After a few seconds of letting his feelings iron themselves out, he stood and smoothed his hands over his suit jacket. "Well alright then. If thats what you think then I guess there's no backing out of this one." 

Serizawa pressed his hands together in delight. "YES! I've got your back, Reigen!" 

The door into the hallway opened and a set of black eyes peered into the room. "Master, It's starting. Are you coming?" 

The jarring announcement had him scrambling to fix the piece of hair he'd been fussing with. 

"OF COURSE." He jabbed his thumb into his own chest to feign total confidence. "Right behind you, Mob!" 

He held his breath. Alright, let's do this. 

Mitty POV

Teal eyes darted around the room carefully. 

"Hey...Dimple? You there?"

The whizzing of the spirit materializing buzzed next to his ear. 

"Yeah whaddya want? You're on soon, aren't you?" 

Mitty jabbed his right hook into the air where the voice was coming from. "AGH WHAT THE HELL?"

A swift flash of green dodged his reach. 

"HEY, why are you hitting me?! You asked for ME, remember?" The ghost clucked his tongue in disapproval and floated a few inches away for safety. 

"WELL MATERIALIZE WHERE I CAN SEE YOU, YOU BIG BOOGER! I'm on edge!" 

"On edge? What for? You're the one who wanted this, right?"

"W..well….yeah, sorry." He looked at his clenched fist and opened it. "...sorry." He said again more thoughtfully this time. 

Dimple raised a spectral eyebrow. "Whats wrong? Having second thoughts? I mean it's Reigen so who can blame ya."

Mitty scowled while straightening his tie in the mirror. "Hey! REIGEN'S…." His voice softened closer to a whisper. "A pretty good guy. Get off my case. Aren't you supposed to be my support? You're being kinda harsh!" 

"Well kid, something is obviously on your mind so let's hear it. Wedding starts soon right? Yeesh. Once you do all this he's your problem forever." 

"I'm not worried about him!! I'm more worried about...me."

"About you? What're you talkin' about?! You're too good for him!"

"Thanks for the flattery. You still can't have my body though."

"Well I didn't want it anyways, ya bastard. You're weak compared to Shigeo. I'm just being honest here!" 

Silence.

"So? Out with it, What did you want anyways? You're talking nonsense here!" 

Mitty wrinkled his nose in discomfort.  "I just needed to ask something. But you can't run your mouth off like you always do, you old gossip. You're like a knitting circle."

"TCH. like I'd blabber your business to someone. It's all so boring."

"Yeah, yeah just listen, alright?!"

Another few seconds passed. "So? Say it. We don't have all day, you know."

He was looking at his hands again like he was somewhere far off. "Well. D...D'you think I'll be good at this?" 

"Good at what, exactly?" 

"Being married." 

Dimple's form rippled with thought. "You're seriously worried about that?"

Mitty was going to make a sharp remark but his head dropped and his face buried into his knuckles. "Yeah."

Dimple deflated slightly in exasperated defeat. Humans could be so ignorant. 

"Listen. That fraud never shuts up about you. You think you're not good enough? You should hear him talk. It's annoying how you both don't realize things."

"Realize things?"

He sighed and shrugged his tiny arms. "I hear everything whether you like it or not. You two idiots never stop talking and moaning about the other is too good for the other. It's getting old, really." 

"HUH? He says that? No way! But he's always beaten me at everything! I always thought he was way out of my league." 

 "Kinda the opposite actually but...sure. What I'm saying is…! You're both seeing the best parts of each other. Keep doing that and it'll be smooth sailing."

"Yeah but...what if he stops seeing the best in me?'

"You planning on making things hard?" 

"Not really. I just know I can be difficult to deal with." 

"So is he. You really think you got this far because Reigen's all roses and sunshine? 'Course not. You've seen all the stuff he does and you still like him, right?" 

He certainly was flawed, that was for sure. Mitty spent most of Reigen's antics with his eyes rolled up in his head but that didn't mean he wasn't enjoying the moment either. 

"Right."

"Then it's the same for him. Sure it won't always be fun but that phoney won't give up on you just because you're annoying. He's way too persistent. It kind of ticks me off." 

I'm annoying???  That stung but he shook it off.

Reigen was going to have to deal with him for the rest of his life once they said the right words. But if Dimple was right...would it be so bad to annoy each other for the rest of their lives if the other was willing to put up with it? 

Reigen seemed okay with it so far. Mitty would just have to listen to him make a fuss about his coffee table clutter until he died. But really, he wouldn't have that any other way. His voice was kind of cute when he hit that inhuman octave he had when he was in disbelief. 

The door from the hall swung open and a blond clad in what was perhaps the most blinding and loud suit he had ever seen poked his head in. 

"Oh, You're still in here? It's bad luck to be late on your wedding day! Master Reigen is waiting. " He cocked his head to the side. "Or did you need some help with your suit? Its looking a little plain." 

Hanazawa. This kid would try to accessorize his suit in the worst way possible. He put up his hands to wave him off. 

"N-nah, kiddo that's alright. I'll be right there."

Hanazawa, after a few more attempts to get Mitty to let him help retreated back into the hallway. When it was quiet again he eyed Dimple. He was abrasive and unpleasant. He always had a motive for everything and rarely had something nice to say. 

But he came through when it mattered. 

"Hey Dimple?" 

"Yeah? What is it?" 

"Thanks." 

Dimple wouldn't meet his eyes and levitated towards the hall. He didn't want to acknowledge he was helping, he supposed. It was in character for that tsundere blob.

"You ought to get out of here now if you wanna make it on time." 

He stood and dusted himself off. 

"Welp. Here goes everything."

[that-bi-bitch-writes]

My Favs... and possibly why

(Haikyuu, My Hero Academia, Jujutsu Kaisen)

Haikyuu!!

1. Iwaizumi- tbh if you think it’s because I find him hot you are partially correct. but like he is a multitalented athlete who cares about his friends(strangers too) and despite having all the traits of a strong leader he spends his time supporting and helping others and is passionate about it marry me now. He strong also. My haikyuu husband

2. Kenma- Anxious gamer boy supports nerdy friend, in his passion finds joy in it, is incredibly smart/perceptive, hot , awkward, puts his all in the things he likes doing. everyone says he’s not baby he’s aggressive, chaotic and would not hesitate to fight but that is what makes him MY baby.

3. Noya- Hello what show are you watching if you don’t like nishinoya?? although he is very energetic and it would exhaust me at time he’s talented, pretty, passionate, shorter than me, loving and motivating. I want to be the kiyoko or asahi in his eyes. that look in his eyes. I want it to be for me.also i want to go on a gay trip around the world with him no fair asahi

4. Asahi- Trope subversion yes please. Give me my big softie who is a ball of anxiety but a normal teenager even though he looks so tough and mature i love him so much and he’s strong and reliable and would support you in whatever you’re doing come on what is there not to like (besides his new design) i want him to smile for me and design some clothes for me.

5. Tie for Hinata and Bokuto- Idk i don’t have that shounen mc aversion so i love loud passionate babies. Hinata is not my favorite but I haven’t seen the whole series and I think i can fall in love with him a little more because he’s adorable and passionate and hardworking look at him why would I hate him. Bokuto is like hinata if hinata had his personality put in a bigger body. It’s a little more unstable in the bigger body but still fun and so amazing. beefy.

honorable mentions: Aone & Ushijima: Asahi in different fonts. Suga: I would marry him if he asked but in terms of fav characters he narrowly missed top 5. Tendou & Kyotani: They are seen as scary but i don’t find them scary and want to tame them and have them for myself. Matsukawa: Hot. you need anything else?

 Jujutsu Kaisen:

1. Yuji Itadori- He is SO CUTEEE. Hellooooo are you watching jujutsu kaisen? like I know you’re all unnecessarily horny for Gojo and Sukuna but no one is better than Yuji. He is sweet and cute and considerate and loving and trusting and a beautiful himbo. He is adaptable, welcoming, passionate, and he’s like one of the only characters i know who says “i don’t want to kill because I value human life but one day I will have to. Until then I am going to look for other ways” He accepts the darkness of the world and that he is going to be put in a difficult position. He is not on the “killing people is always bad no matter what situation you’re in” train. I dislike those people. 

2)Teenage Gojo and Geto- to avoid spoilers I’m just gonna say icons. mwah

3) Nobara- I am not a gay disaster I am a bi/pan disaster. All other men (except the ones above) pale in comparison to this wonderful woman. She is chaotic, badass, smart, amazing wonderful talented gorgeous where was I going with this. Anyway when she was fighting that one guy and she was whooping his ass it was amazing (this happens i would say often so it’s not a spoiler)

4) Nanami: I feel better about him than Reigen Arataka but they are similar. Nanami wants Yuji to be a child, though he respects Yuji and recognizes his power and passion. He wants kids to be able to be kids and let the adults handle the big problems. Unlike reigen he actually realizes when he can’t handle everything by himself and the kids will be put into hard and horrible positions so he teaches/advises. Also he hates working as he should

5) Megumi: He is cute and i love his non gendered preference for good people. plus i think his animals are cool. He is respectful and cares a lot, i like how his bad backstory affects him but doesn’t control/motivate him. pretty dry otherwise

honorable mention: Adult gojo: cutie! Junpei: no words. Sukuna: bastard but likeable

BNHA/ My Hero

1. Aizawa- Did you think I would put anyone else in the number one spot? please. Aizawa Shouta is my one and true husband above all fandoms. This man is hot, all other words for attractive, gorgeous, funny, sleep deprived passionate (“really cool”-shigaraki) he cares about his students, regular people and i think a little bit for people who become villains out of necessity. I have read the manga and vigilantes and oh my god he is such a great hero and so strong ugh. Him and the kitty in vigilates 10/10. He is a true hero and I think he’s better than all might

2) Bakugou- It took me a long road to get here but I am 100% a bakugou fan. When he was in middle school I wanted to beat the crap out of him and I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one. He took things too far. But then I started to think about his life and i’m 100% sure I would’ve become a villain in like season 4. He matured, and became a strong willed passionate person who cares about saving people over proving his worth and I know that was hard for him. I dare say he had even more character growth than anyone else in the series that stuff speaks to me. It definitely doesn’t hurt that he’s attractive

3) Shinso- I think I saw a tiktok where people were confused how we like shinso so much after seeing so little of him and I was so confused as to how his little screen time wasn’t enough for y’all??? Traumatic backstory? pretty hair? sleep deprivation? strong motives and an amazing quirk? sarcasm and cutthroat attitude to get where he wants but he refrains from violating people too much? he is like aizawa and bakugou mixed together and then given some insecurities what’s there not to like

4) Midoriya- He’s a really cool MC i’m gonna be honest. He just isn’t my favorite person in the series. He’s a hard worker, brave, strong, admirable, adorable, and sweet. he can also get violent and lets loose and cares about people. I for one am really glad to see him living out his dream and thinks he’ll be fantastic

5) Amajiki & Kirishima- These two are the opposites of each other but make up for it and make great work partners. Amajiki is cute and shy with a lot of anxieties but he’s powerful and smart and can take control of a situation very quickly once he makes his mind up. He is wonderful i love him. Kirishima is handsome and bold showing off his strength and charisma but he has a lot of insecurities about inaction yet he can be great support especially when he’s got a good partner/leader fighting with him (bakugou, fatgum, amajiki). An he’s sweet and amazing

honorable mention: Twice: He is caring and so sweet and i love him, also he’s hot. Iida: loosen up a little class rep, you’re smart and semi adaptable, you are passionate and pretty handsome too. Present Mic: amazing talented brilliant showstopping. the only other person who can have aizawa. 

[turning-the-kaleidoscope]

For the Caretaker Prompts - 7. “Hold still.”

This one took me forever to decide on bc it’s such a broad prompt and there are so many characters to choose from so i’m using it as a bit of practice for writing Seri’s character! i need to write him more anyway askdjksljdlad

Thanks for the prompt!! Hope I did it justice! :> (this also turned out to be a lot longer than I thought it would which is steadily becoming more and more of a norm for me and I’m not nearly as happy with this as I wanna be so jkjkfjgkljdflgdfgdfg)

It’s been a little while since Reigen took a job on his own. 

He used to do it all the time, he told Serizawa on his way out the door. And he did. It was never a big deal. He was more than capable of taking on jobs by himself, depending on the nature of the work. His sense of being would lead most to think he’s unqualified for it, but honestly, Serizawa has yet to meet a man more capable than him when it comes to dealing with difficult people and insufferable clients. 

But something had been off, today. Serizawa can’t read people in the impeccable way that Reigen can, but he’s at least known him long enough to tell that something wasn’t what it should’ve been. Something was out of place. In Reigen’s tone of voice, in the way he shrugged off Serizawa’s help, even in the way he swung his coat around him. There was a nervous something accompanying the movements that wasn’t Reigen. A sour note in a familiar melody. 

He let him go, though, because Reigen is capable. Because he’s more than able to do whatever it is he’s set out to do. 

Fingers filing through papers, clicking through emails, sorting messages on their website, Serizawa sifts through the paperwork in Reigen’s stead, making sure everything is kept in proper order and sort. Reigen is much faster at this than he is, but only because Serizawa triple-checks every order to make sure everything is as it should be. And he may or may not be intentionally dragging himself through it so he has an excuse to be here when Reigen returns.  

On a normal day, he’d be finished with paperwork by around seven in the evening. Tonight, he finishes at nine. The office closes at six. He’d gotten up to flip the sign and make himself a cup of tea (more out of nervous energy than anything), and since then has been seated at the desk. 

He sits and fiddles, his prepared but untouched cup of tea placed by the closed laptop. Reigen left at four. The clock ticks onwards until nine becomes ten. It’s been too long. He should’ve been back by now. 

Ten thirty. Serizawa texts him, because he’s worried and desperately grasping for reasons why he shouldn’t be. Each time he reaches out, there’s less and less to grasp. Reigen hasn’t responded to the text. He sends another one, and Reigen doesn’t reply to that, either. 

He wonders if he should go looking for him. Reigen is capable, yes, but he’s human, too. And he never really seems to realize just how human he is. 

He’s still debating, and is just about to cast reason to the wind and go after him, when there’s a sound knock at the office door. 

It doesn’t make sense for it to be Reigen, not unless he’d forgotten his keys (and his phone, because Serizawa has been texting him fruitlessly for a good long while now). But he hadn’t forgotten his phone. It isn’t him. 

Serizawa swallows hard and tries to ignore it, too worried and frazzled to deal with a customer at the moment, even if all he has to do is politely remind them that they’re closed for the night and they’d have to try again tomorrow. He’s already restless enough as it is, bouncing his leg and wringing his hands together on the desktop. He’s not in the right mindset for it. 

But there’s a knock at the door, somewhat more forceful this time, and Serizawa scolds himself for being so unprofessional and gets his legs underneath him. They ache from so much time spent sitting doing nothing, but he ignores that and crosses the room. All he has to do is ask them to come back tomorrow; and then, once they’re gone, he’ll grab his coat and look for Reigen. 

He makes his way over to the door. The blinds are shut, and it’s so dark outside that he probably wouldn’t be able to see much of anything anyway, and he takes a moment to mentally prepare his speech before sliding back the locks and pulling it open. 

“I-I’m sorry, we’re closed right now, you-you’ll have to come back tomor–” 

It isn’t a client. 

Reigen smiles wanly at him, an expression tight and drawn enough to snap, and something is wrong. There’s a bruise on the side of his head, dark and splotchy in the porch light over the office door, and he’s holding himself oddly, favoring one leg over the other and keeping his arms tight around his chest. His coat is gone. His hair is a mess.

“Sorry,” he says in a hoarse voice, “but I’m not sure I’ll be able to wait until then.” 

Serizawa blinks.

“Arataka, what…”   

Reigen drags in a breath through his teeth. “I swear it’s not as bad as it looks.”

It catches up with him. 

“What happened?” Serizawa stammers, heart in his throat. He feels sick. He wants to do something with his hands, but all they manage is hovering by Reigen’s shoulders. Should he touch him? How bad is it? “Should I call someone? Do you need a hospital? What–” 

“Katsuya, I know you’re worried, I’ll explain in a sec, but I really need to sit down right now.” 

“R–Right.” Right? “R-Right! Here, I’ll–” 

He beats down his panic and replaces it with purpose, and he takes Reigen by the shoulders and leads him inside. With a flick of his aura, the door shuts and locks in their wake. 

“Mugged?” 

Reigen sighs longly and twirls a finger by his head. “S’mthing like that. They weren’t very good at it, though.” 

“They were good enough.” Serizawa ties off the bandage at Reigen’s wrist, and when Reigen lets it down to his side, Serizawa takes his opposite arm and studies it carefully. It isn’t broken, but there are bruises, and a cut of concerning length stretches from the back of his hand to his shoulder in a messy, twisted fashion. 

Reigen catches him staring and laughs hoarsely. It sounds like it hurts. “One of them had a knife.” 

Serizawa clenches his teeth and swallows back the acid in his throat. He takes a fresh cotton swab from the first aid kit, douses it generously in disinfectant, and drags it along the length of the gash. Reigen stays quiet, but his face is a shade paler than it should be, and his jaw is set tight. 

Blood turns the cotton swab red, and the gnawing pit in Serizawa’s stomach grows. “I should’ve been there,” he says quietly, hardly able to get the words out. 

Reigen hears him, though, and shakes his head. “No, you shouldn’t have been. There was a reason why I didn’t let you go.” 

“I would have been able to protect you, they could have killed you–” 

“They weren’t murderers,” Reigen says. Serizawa can’t pin down exactly why his voice wavers. “I didn’t let you go because it wasn’t worth it.”

Serizawa tosses the swab off to the side and grabs a roll of gauze instead. “What wasn’t worth it?” 

“I know you don’t like using your psychic powers against actual people,” Reigen answers shortly. “I didn’t want to put you through that again.” 

That… makes sense. It makes sense, but still– 

“You at least wouldn’t have been alone,” Serizawa says finally, and hopes it’s the right thing to say. “I know you’re my boss, but you can rely on me, too. You don’t have to put yourself in danger like that, or at least not when you’re on your own. We would’ve figured something out.” 

Reigen turns and stares into the back of the couch, just to avoid meeting his gaze. He sighs. “You’re right, you’re right. Sorry. I’ll… work on that.” 

He’s brushing it off, they both kind of are, but only because there are more pressing things to deal with right now. They’ll talk about it later, and Serizawa will make sure there is a “later,” but first things first. 

“You should see a doctor,” Serizawa says once he’s done bandaging Reigen’s arm. He lets it down at his side, and Reigen doesn’t move. “I don’t know how serious any of this actually is.” 

“I don’t feel up to it right now.” 

“Then I’ll take you.” 

“Take me tomorrow,” he says, still without looking at him–only now, it’s because he’s closed his eyes. “Waiting a few hours isn’t going to kill me, and it’s not like I have a concussion.” 

Serizawa wants to push it, but the fact he’s admitting to needing a hospital anyway is huge. It’s enough to worry him. But he does trust Reigen’s judgment in this. 

“First thing tomorrow, then,” Serizawa says, grabbing one final roll of gauze from the medical kit. “And no getting out of it.” 

“No getting out of it,” Reigen repeats, nodding to himself, and Serizawa takes a breath, holds it for a second, before he goes on; 

“I’m just gonna put something around your ankle to keep it stable until then,” he murmurs, already dreading it. His ankle doesn’t particularly look broken, but he hadn’t put weight on it earlier, and he’d bit his lip and clutched the edge of the couch while Serizawa pulled off his shoe and sock. Those weren’t great signs. 

Reigen doesn’t look very happy with it, either, but he nods and lets Serizawa pull his leg onto the couch between them. It’s definitely bruised and swollen, he can see that now. He’s afraid to touch it, but it’s just to keep it stabilized until tomorrow. 

“Alright,” Serizawa holds his breath a moment, “alright, hold still…” 

Reigen does hold still. Perfectly still, actually, while Serizawa wraps it. He keeps it loose, unsure of how tight it should be, and tells himself that it’s alright, they’ll get it looked at tomorrow, this is fine. 

He makes quick work of it, and as soon as he’s tied it off, he lifts his head. Reigen has an arm draped over his eyes, teeth clenched behind closed lips, skin even paler than before. He doesn’t move. 

Serizawa’s heart skips a beat. “Arataka?” 

“M’fine, sorry,” he says, and Serizawa releases a sigh of relief. “Just–g-gimme a second.” 

“Yeah, right, of course.” Serizawa uses one of the couch pillows to elevate his ankle, not missing the slight hitch of Reigen’s breath when he’s jostled again. Serizawa apologizes quietly, Reigen waves him off with a flop of his hand.

It takes a while for Reigen to catch his breath after that, but he does indeed catch it, and Serizawa dumps his cold cup of tea in favor of making two fresh one. It’s well past midnight now, but neither of them care and sit together on the couch as best they can with Reigen’s leg elevated. 

They sleep in the office that night on the couch, without really intending to, and don’t realize they’d done so until the sunrise of the following day.

[My original tags:

because they’re worth sharing]

[silenthillmutual]

Hey! For the ask meme, 5, 9, 12, 16, 21 :) Is that too many???? I think that's too many but oh well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

(actually i dont think its too many but ily you anyway!!)

5. what makes you feel validated?all my family members (except my mom) not even asking when i change names, just saying “hi [insert new name]!” like i do wish they cared a lil bit more than they do about what’s going on in my life but that part at least!! feels good

9. what does your name mean?tbh, weeb ass got it from noriaki kakyoin initially just as like, an rp nickname? bc i used to rp kakyoin a lot. but i dont want to go by noriaki since i’m white and i know ‘nori’ by itself pops up as a name or nickname in other cultures, although outside of japanese & arabic i can’t find it right now.

tbh i really like that it just sounds like ppl are calling me seaweed, although i’ve also seen that depending on the kanji used it could also mean doctrine/belief. i wish i could find the use of it in other cultures but scrolling through baby name websites is both nauseating and unhelpful, although one person said that in lithuanian it means “wants”

i was going to go by kieran as a middle name until my mom ruined that (like she did with luke) but atm i’d rather accept link - like from legend of zelda, since link was designed to be androgynous and a lot of trans ppl relate to him (although ppl trying to find a deeper meaning to the name on baby name sites is hilarious - ‘lincoln’, really? just admit u like video games) - or cas. cas is apparently dutch for “imperial” but i just took it from the character castiel on supernatural, and his name is probably derived from the archangel cassiel. ‘cassiel’ has a ton of different spellings depending on which religion’s texts you’re reading and which translation, but that name means “speed of god” or “god is my anger”, according to wikipedia. he’s sometimes depicted as the angel over saturn, or the angel of saturdays. he’s not depicted in the bible, but shows up in jewish/islamic/christian mystical and occult texts.

(i think its also worth noting i had a hard time finding these names on baby name sites and like, i do live to be difficult!)

12. favorite trans headcanon?

there are just so many good ones!!! danny fenton & timmy turner (made esp great by the fact that butch hartman just fucking hates it) being trans, that cow from the barnyard show on nickelodeon, reigen arataka, mob (as either trans masc or trans fem), link - and for that matter, any character when you see them shirtless and they don’t have nipples? they had top surgery and elected not to have the nipples put back on. 

i think sam porter bridges from death stranding could easily be read as a trans man or trans woman, and i like both. on the one hand, he needs an stand-to-pee device (literally, that is a part of your equipment); on the other, the game has heavy themes of motherhood and he is able to use technology to be connected through what i can only describe as an umbilical cord to the bridges baby. and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if the gender commentary was entirely intentional on kojima’s part. for that matter, i also love trans solid snake and trans hal emmerich in metal gear solid. 

i also think danganronpa deserves a special shoutout, not just because you can pry canon trans girl chihiro fujisaki from my cold, dead hands and i’m sick of seeing cis bootlickers harassing ppl online over that transphobic as fuck storyline, but for real? nobody’s birth name actually spells out “diamond” with their sibling so mondo and daiya oowada are both trans (it’s also one of the only ways to make any part of case 2 make any goddamn sense), yasuhiro hagakure and celestia ludenberg having plotlines where where they have to reveal those aren’t their birth names? congrats they’re both trans now. 

i wish there were more headcanons about characters being trans women that didn’t rely on stereotyping. i know thats a big problem wrt seeing muscular or tall women and ppl focusing their trans headcanons on them, so i actually kinda head canon aoi asahina as trans and wanna eventually write that for fic w sakura ogami being cis bc people tend to look at sakura and go “well obviously shes trans bc shes muscular” (and then they do the opposite when it comes to trans men, but i’ve seen a lot of trans masc hcs). i also don’t see a lot of nonbinary hcs being given to amab people…. we need to fix that!! but alas i have already rambled a lot so thats a post for another day.

16. song that gives you Big Trans Feels?

if we’re not including music that is literally about being trans (like “transgender dysphoria blues” by against me!) then, “twin size mattress” by the front bottoms! the lines “it’s no big surprise you turned out this way / when they closed their eyes and prayed you would change / and they cut your hair and sent you away / you stopped by my house the night you escaped / with tears in my eyes, i begged you to stay / you said, ‘hey man, i love you, / but no fucking way’“ always sounded like he was talking about a trans girl friend of his, but i dont know enough about the band to say for certain what that song is about. it probably helps that i felt that song extra hard when i was first coming out and w how my relationship w my mom was like.

21. what makes you feel euphoric?

back when i first started going by luke (and then later by nori), my dog bingley would just blink at you and not react if you told him to go get [deadname]. he only would come find me if you told him to go get luke / nori.

he’s such a good boy. i hope somebody steals him from my mom.

thank u for asking!!!!

trans asks

[eshithepetty]

wholesome mp100 things:

(Because I really like to ramble about this show and I just thought I'd compile some things I appreciate about it):

Bottling up feelings? Nuh uh, bad idea, better have realistic and well paced development of you opening up more and learning to accept your emotions, kiddo.

Self!! Respect!! Not just learning it in a 'oh, I love myself, flaws and all' way, but the actual process of trying really hard to actually be proud of oneself, even when it's hard to see yourself as anything but terrible. It's all in the gradual changes and small moments of taking your own feelings into account!!

An actual adult? Actually acknowledging?? How actually fucked up all the shit the kids of the show have to go through is??? And going out of their way to lessen their weight of responsibility, and to protect them and offering them comfort, like,,, yes please!!!

'Huh...? You want? World domination?? What a ridiculous concept. What are you even going to do with that? People need other people, dummy. Honestly, you're acting more childish than the actual children here.'

Everyone!! Is!! Equal!! Yes, you may have god-like powers that could literally fling me into the stratosphere and I might be an actual sewer rat incarnate, but as people?? We all still long for the same validation. We all have the same rights. We're all human.

Not?? Sexualising any of the female/kid characters? Tbh, I don't really feel at my best giving points to a show for this, since it shouldn't be that surprising in the first place, but still, and I think this is easily overshadowed by all the thirst Bones has for Reigen, but that's the thing! They're putting all their (tbh not that creepy really and in character) fanservice into one grown man and that's!! Really great! Thank you Reigen for being our sacrifical lamb

On the subject of not sexualizing kids, Tsubomi, Mob's crush, while being portrayed as very pretty, is not sexualized at all either, and Mob's fantasies about her entirely consist of them just,, doing stuff like holding hands and walking home together?? Not even kissing or anything like that??? It's just so innocent and cute, gosh... also the fact that Tsubomi and the rest of the girls aren't stereotypes, but have their own lives that don't revolve around the boys and interesting personalities that are very distinct from each other, even if they don't get as much screentime as the boys :> (also, Tome being a protagonist in the Reigen spin-off manga!!)

Dealing with anxiety and dependency and manipulation/abuse, when you're an adult?? I honestly can't say I've seen too much of anything concerning this anywhere,,, Serizawa is so good

And all the adults for that matter!! All the villains! Their redemption arcs are all about intergrating into society again and learning to have a realistic worldview and all around getting well rounded as people. That's pretty inspiring, imo!

Also, Reigen, an adult, realising that he was being unfair to Mob, a kid, and specifically saying he was 'caging him in', instead of using excuses like 'trying to protect him" and trying his hardest to fix his life and mistakes before confronting him, and when he does, doesn't expect Mob to accept or forgive him or want to be friends with him again?? And tearing up for the first time on the show just from being a called good person by him,,,? That was honestly so tearjerking and pure and that arc made me feel the full range of human emotion.

Speaking of Reigen, the fact that all of his friends, for the longest time, are a bunch of middle schoolers, and that he has basically fathered them all is such a funny, yet heartwarming and also a bit sad and complicated thing, all at once, to think about.

The body improvement club!!!!! Super supportive and protective jocks, the absolute opposite of toxic masculinity. Thank you ONE for bringing us this gift.

The fact that every one of Mob's friends would likely kill, or at least give a very stern lecture to anyone who ever tries hurting him is amazing and sweet. The same goes for Mob, a big pacifist at heart, putting his strict morals on hold and fighting just for the safety of his friends, and sometimes even strangers or enemies. They're all just so protective and I absolutely love it,,,,

By the way!! Mob!!! I love that he's not a stereotypical cinnamon roll protagonist who is always pure. Like, he has his dark moments. He has hurt people. Sometimes, he's geniunely scary. But the fact that he's so aware of his faults and how much damage he could inflict, and thus tries so hard to better himself every day and to always stay on good morals, and always strives to understand and help people above all else, even through all the suffering he's gone through and all the power he posseses, is what truly makes him so kind and lovable. He's just.... grown so much. I'm immensely proud of him <3

Power of friendship, but done right, because they don't use bonds as some convenient power up, but rather primarily as a tool for character development, that, in turn, helps them become better and more stable and capable people ^^

The fact that the protagonist getting stronger in this show doesn't mean them gaining more power or becoming more book smart, but instead entails them learning to better understand people and to let others understand them as well so that confrontation can be as civilized and nonviolent as possible and become a better tool for helping everyone involved improve themselves is such a direct yet nuanced way of presenting how solutions can be made to real world problems and conflicts, and it's just such a different aproach to the usual shonen aesthetic of power being the defining factor on deciding who wins or loses.

In fact, a lot of the time there is no clear 'winner' of a fight. Sure, we certainly get to understand which side is stronger physically, but the impact those factors play into the characters' mental states and development is usually very removed from those results. A character technically winning can result in them plunging into a meltdown full of self loathing. A character losing often brings a very positive change in their life. Those experiences change the characters in different ways than just winning - positive or losing - negative.

The message that you don't need to be special! Everyone is fundimentally equal, so you being more or less special than anyone else is just flawed as a mindset. Reaching for the top is alright as long as you remember that the thing that matters the most is just trying to be kind.

Mob being widely recognized as autistic in the fandom!! A lot of characters having the capability to be seen as neurodivergent, actually. But even if it isn't intentional coding from the creator, all the messages about how people expressing themselves differently doesn't make them any less human or valid, how conventional isn't always the best, how being empathetic can manifest in wildly different ways and also the reoccurring theme of dealing with trauma etc. are still very much there and impact the narrative and characters a whole lot.

How the story was even able to become so popular, despite the nature of ONE's art!! Also, how the anime creators decided to stay faithful, even tho they had the opportunity to change the art style to something more conventional and not go as hard as they did, but nope, they admire and respect the source material and clearly have so much passion for this project, putting all kinds of talent and creativity and effort into every episode!!! They seem like they're having a lot of fun with it, and I'm very glad.

(Feel free to add more!!!)

[thefloatingstone]

Somebody asked me for some anime recs. I asked them what kind of genres they’re into but I’m not getting a reply, so here are just some general recommendations for good stuff to watch.

I assume they meant new anime so I’m only focusing on those.

Made in Abyss (2017) (warning for Body horror, violence and gore)

The Abyss—a gaping chasm stretching down into the depths of the earth, filled with mysterious creatures and relics from a time long past. How did it come to be? What lies at the bottom? Countless brave individuals, known as Divers, have sought to solve these mysteries of the Abyss, fearlessly descending into its darkest realms. The best and bravest of the Divers, the White Whistles, are hailed as legends by those who remain on the surface.

Riko, daughter of the missing White Whistle Lyza the Annihilator, aspires to become like her mother and explore the furthest reaches of the Abyss. However, just a novice Red Whistle herself, she is only permitted to roam its most upper layer. Even so, Riko has a chance encounter with a mysterious robot with the appearance of an ordinary young boy. She comes to name him Reg, and he has no recollection of the events preceding his discovery. Certain that the technology to create Reg must come from deep within the Abyss, the two decide to venture forth into the chasm to recover his memories and see the bottom of the great pit with their own eyes. However, they know not of the harsh reality that is the true existence of the Abyss.

Pros:

Ghibli artists working on the backgrounds and environments

likeable characters

crushing atmosphere

incredible world building

Really compelling mysteries

Very emotional

Cons:

The manga its based on has a lot of lolicon bullshit. But the anime has doneits best to either remove or downplay those elements as childhood innocence rather than the author being a creep

Ends without clear answers as we have to wait for season 2

Not for you if you dislike violence or body horror

That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime (2018)

Thirty-seven-year-old Satoru Mikami is a typical corporate worker, who is perfectly content with his monotonous lifestyle in Tokyo. In the midst of a casual encounter with his colleague, a knife weilding maniac attacks them. Satoru, in shielding his co-worker and his co-worker’s new girlfriend, is fatally stabbed, and dies.

And then he wakes up again. But now, in the body of a blob of slime. In doing so, he acquires newfound skills—notably, the power to devour anything and mimic its appearance and abilities. He then stumbles upon the sealed Catastrophe-level monster "Storm Dragon" Veldora who had been sealed away for the past 300 years for devastating a town to ashes. Sympathetic to his predicament, Satoru befriends him, promising to assist in destroying the seal. In return, Verudora bestows upon him the name Rimuru Tempest to grant him divine protection.

With a goal now, the newly named Rimuru sets out to explore this fantasy world, stumbling into situations where other people need help, and since finding ways to live peacefully is much less hassle, Rimuru does his best to settle conflicts and help people to get along. Mostly because he’s got nothing better to do.

Pros:

Likeable, chilled out protagonist who acts and behaves like an adult

Not the average wish-fullfilment harem-in-disguise type stuff you expect from the average Isekai show

Characters focusing on trying to help each other and be kind without coming across as cheesy or unrealistic

Fun powers and “how are you gonna fix this mess?” situations

Cons:

occasional anime tiddy

Mob Psycho 100 (2016) (If you’ve seen season 1 already then watch season 2)

An Eighth-grader Shigeo "Mob" Kageyama is possibly the most powerful psychic on earth. Which is the only thing he has going for him which, in his opinion, isn’t much. Due to his powers going crazy if he gets overwhelmed by his emotions, Mob has spent his life suppressing his feelings, both negative and positive. As a result, however, Mob is an extremely socially awkward and shy person who struggles to connect to people.

The story follows Mob as he tries to find ways to better himself as a person, aided by the fake psychic Reigen who both uses Mob’s real psychic powers to exorcise ghosts, but also uses his fake con-man skill of charming people and being a smooth talker to help people fix their problems rather than have them rely on a psychic for help. He also acts as a mentor to Mob, not on how to be a better psychic, but on how to mature into a good, capable person. Because according to Reigen “Having psychic powers is just a skill. Some people can run fast, some people can can sing well, some people are good at studying, some people are funny, and some people have psychic powers.”

Now if only the assortment of Cult leaders, Ghosts, Secret organizations and Powerful psychics trying to take over the world could leave him alone.

Pros:

A subversion of the “I must get stronger!” shounen story where the character is already the strongest and needs to focus on being a better person instead.

Probably the best animated show to come out in years

Good uplifting morals

A wacky off-beat art style and sense of humour

Genuinely complex and 3 dimensional characters who are likeable

Really relatable in many ways

Cons:

I can’t think of any tbh

Then we have anime I have on my “to watch” list and come highly recommended but I haven’t seen yet. But I want to recommend them anyway

A Place Further Than The Universe  (2018)

a “Cute Girls Doing Cute Things” show.

Filled with an overwhelming sense of wonder for the world around her, Mari Tamaki has always dreamt of what lies beyond the reaches of the universe. However, despite harboring such large aspirations on the inside, her fear of the unknown and anxiety over her own possible limitations have always held her back from chasing them. But now, in her second year of high school, Mari is more determined than ever to not let any more of her youth go to waste. Still, her fear continues to prevent her from taking that ambitious step forward—that is, until she has a chance encounter with a girl who has grand dreams of her own. Spurred by her mother's disappearance, Shirase Kobuchizawa has been working hard to fund her trip to Antarctica. Despite facing doubt and ridicule from virtually everyone, Shirase is determined to embark on this expedition to search for her mother in a place further than the universe itself. Inspired by Shirase's resolve, Mari jumps at the chance to join her. Soon, their efforts attract the attention of the bubbly Hinata Miyake, who is eager to stand out, and Yuzuki Shiraishi, a polite girl from a high class background. Together, they set sail toward the frozen south.

The Promised Neverland (2019) (warning for violence and gore)

Surrounded by a forest and a gated entrance, the Grace Field House is inhabited by orphans happily living together as one big family, looked after by their "Mama," Isabella. Although they are required to take tests daily, the children are free to spend their time as they see fit, usually playing outside, as long as they do not venture too far from the orphanage—a rule they are expected to follow no matter what. However, all good times must come to an end, as every few months, a child is adopted and sent to live with their new family... never to be heard from again. However, the three oldest siblings have their suspicions about what is actually happening at the orphanage, and they are about to discover the cruel fate that awaits the children living at Grace Field, including the twisted nature of their beloved Mama.

Zombieland Saga (2018)

There’s a good chance you might have heard or seen this one floating around tumblr as its one of the really big, really popular anime to have come out that features a trans main character written and presented in a positive light.

Zombieland Saga is both a satirical parody of Idol anime, a complete embracing of what makes idol anime enjoyable, and a criticism of how the Idol industry treat women and young girls. A lot of the girls in the idol group are the complete opposite of what is considered a “good Idol” from one girl being trans, one girl having been an Oiran many many years ago (a historic proffession for women where they play instruments, perform tea ceremonies and entertain paying guests. As well as being very high class prostitutes) as well as debating and comparing the ideal of an Idol as they were seen in the 80s versus the modern interpretation.

Zombieland Saga is at both times the complete antithesis of everything an Idol anime should be, while also being one of the best examples of the genre at the same time. It also features really well written characters with emotional depth and arcs to them and boasts a lot of good humour to boot.

Yuru Camp△  (2018)

Another “Cute Girls Doing Cute things” anime

While the perfect getaway for most girls her age might be a fancy vacation with their loved ones, Rin Shima's ideal way of spending her days off is camping alone at the base of Mount Fuji. From pitching her tent to gathering firewood, she has always done everything by herself, and has no plans of leaving her little solitary world. However, what starts off as one of Rin's usual camping sessions somehow ends up as a surprise get-together for two when the lost Nadeshiko Kagamihara is forced to take refuge at her campsite. Originally intending to see the picturesque view of Mount Fuji for herself, Nadeshiko's plans are disrupted when she ends up falling asleep partway to her destination. Alone and with no other choice, she seeks help from the only other person nearby. Despite their hasty introductions, the two girls nevertheless enjoy the chilly night together, eating ramen and conversing while the campfire keeps them warm. And even after Nadeshiko's sister finally picks her up later that night, both girls silently ponder the possibility of another camping trip together.

Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai (2018)

You’re gonna look at this gif and that title and think this is some Light-Novel sexy fantasy wish fullfillment bullshit, but I absolutely assure you it’s not.

The rare and inexplicable Puberty Syndrome is thought of as a myth. It is a rare disease which only affects teenagers, and its symptoms are so supernatural that hardly anyone recognizes it as a legitimate occurrence. However, high school student Sakuta Azusagawa knows from personal experience that it is very much real, and happens to be quite prevalent in his school. Mai Sakurajima is a third-year high school student who gained fame in her youth as a child actress, but recently halted her promising career for reasons unknown to the public. With an air of unapproachability, she is well known throughout the school, but none dare interact with her—that is until Sakuta sees her wandering the library in a bunny girl costume. Despite the getup, no one seems to notice her, and after confronting her, he realizes that she is another victim of Puberty Syndrome. Mai’s unapproachability and air of not wanting to interact with people has manifested that it is now borderline impossible for people to physically notice her. Or in some cases see her at all. As Sakuta tries to help Mai through her predicament, his actions bring him into contact with more girls afflicted with the elusive disease.

Bunny Girl Senpai is an anime that deals with Societal pressures, especially as they apply to teenagers, as well as being a criticism of the Japanese mentality of “not rocking the boat” and in dutifully conforming and falling in line with what society dictates is “proper behavior”. It has the running theme that this mentality of just accepting the way things are and not doing anything to change it is unhealthy, and does more harm than good.

Dororo (2019) (warning for violence and Gore)

A samurai lord has bartered away his newborn son's organs to forty-eight demons in exchange for dominance on the battlefield. Yet, the abandoned infant survives thanks to a medicine man who equips him with primitive prosthetics—lethal ones with which the wronged son will use to hunt down the multitude of demons to reclaim his body one piece at a time, before confronting his father. On his journeys the young hero encounters an orphan who claims to be the greatest thief in Japan. 

An anime adaptation of one of Osamu Tezuka’s manga, but deciding to go for an updated, darker art style to match its mature tone.

Dororo is currently still airing but so far reviews are extremely high.

Anyway I hope those are enough to give you at least one new show to check out.

[tranxendance]

I think Mob Psycho 100 is my favorite anime ever.

Which is a weird thing to title a post, I’ll give you that. Even my current favorites, Cowboy Bebop and Fullmetal Alchemist have parts of them I don’t like and I consider them 9 or 9.5′s out of 10.

I ‘think’ it’s my favorite because it’s (As time of this writing) still ongoing but it’s safe to say the last episode of season 2 isn’t going to be suddenly terrible. That, and I haven’t had months and years to stew on it before I claim it’s actually my favorite.

I tend to like things that subvert the norm, especially in the Anime business where it’s sort of expected to follow a formula and not deviate from it too much. If it worked for Akira Toriyama, it should work for us, right? The greats make a story, then everyone uses that as a skeleton to build their own very-similar story on top of it. It’s why trends and tropes are so much more noticeable in anime. Defeat-into-friendship, the tournament arc, the beach episode, power creep escalation. Sometimes, an anime will even outright take a visual theme and reuse it to trick your brain. Try to watch the Dragon Ball OP and then Yu Yu Hakusho and see how similar they are. Sometimes it’s a shot for shot copy with the YYS characters.

(They even always have the protags run from right to left the same way geez)

So, Shonen is a massively incestuous genre and it has been for 30 years or more. That’s not to say that it’s necessarily a bad thing because some shows want to ‘do it better’.

Now, ONE is a writer who sort of specializes in parody or at least subverting your expectations. You already know just by the name of the series that Saitama is going to show up and win the fight in one punch, the surprise is how hard the other characters fought before he got there, and then how instead of everyone worshipping him as a hero they harass him. So: Let’s take the shonen hero archetype. He’s physically competent, he never gives up, he has friends but never has to rely on anyone but himself, he soon surpasses his teachers if he has any, never gives up, and is righteous in his beliefs. It’s likely he has an array of ‘cool’ moves with names he can shout out, you can make action figures out of him, he’s instantly recognizable by his hair or clothing. He’s good because he’s strong and he’s strong because he’s good. I say ‘he’ because I’ve literally never seen a Shonen that didn’t have a male protagonist.

(Even my beloved Kenshiro is just...this, but again he’s sort of the archetype everyone else built on afterward)

Now along comes Mob. He’s generic looking with his dopey bowl-cut hairdo and plain black school uniform. He’s by far the most powerful psychic individually you’ll meet for the majority of the show, but he’s also a pacifist, he hates fighting and refuses to hurt other people with his powers no matter how bad and wrong they seem to be. He doesn’t really have cool lines or marketable super-moves. But most importantly of all, he is not self-reliant and tough and determined. In fact, he’s an emotional, sensitive kid that has trouble expressing himself and taking social cues from others, which makes him awkward and shy!

Ironically, of course, this sensitivity and empathy is what makes his psychic power so great, since powers come from strong emotions and he’s basically always trying not to cry. But instead of just making him able to shoot laser beams that are more powerful, his growth is that he learns how to relate with other people and make friends. When ‘defeating’ human opponents, he is deflecting their beams and telekinesis while trying to talk to them, and understand them. He’s a combat therapist. All he wants to do is either make them understand why they’re being selfish, or hurt, or afraid, and help them. This, of course, means nobody really dies and they have a REALLY good chance of turning their villainous lives around or at least becoming one of Mob’s friends.

Mob’s sensitivity and empathy but trying to keep his emotions in check is depicted by a ‘progress to explosion’ counter as he takes little hits of emotional damage and stress throughout a day, so more than any other character you know exactly how Mob feels about something despite his gormless, blank expression. When he reaches 100% he ‘explodes’ which is more or less he has a tantrum and cries and his power goes out of control. Not only is this actually awesome visually because there’s a lot of crazy effects and devastation, but your heart kind of goes out to the kid. This really only happens when something really devastating has happened and the uncontrolled power smashes the enemy of the week.

Mob’s not popular or competent at a lot of things, and would rather become ‘less weird’ than focus on honing psychic ability, which leads him to joining the Body Improvement Club, and working at Spirits & Such with Reigen. Even though he could easily coast through life with his gifts of psychic ability, he’d rather work on the things that he’s not the best at already to become a more well-rounded person. Though he’s easily so much more powerful than the body improvement club or Reigen he still looks up to them. He asks his friends for help and they support him as peers. He’s not a super-mature kid that can just do anything, he still relies on responsible adults when things seem to be beyond him, even going so far as to give his powers to Reigen at one point, because he can’t handle the responsibility on his own.

The way it’s positioned as a goofy comedy about an awkward kid allows for some unexpected emotional blows, and the artstyle (Which unlike One Punch Man didn’t get redrawn by a super-competent manga artist) primes our expectations for silliness, so you don’t immediately think about the bizzare nature of the fight scenes, and they can throw in a Street Fighter gag and you’ll hardly bat an eye.

(Doesn’t look out of place)

In modern Anime, the focus seems to be keeping characters on-model so that any individual frame that you screenshot will look pretty. But making characters highly detailed and on-model also means they can’t move around as much, or it’d be a lot of redrawing keyframes. That means there’s a lot of nice-looking characters that stand around perfectly still doing lip-flap animation for dialogue.

The low line-weight of characters in MP100 means that there can be tons of motion and it won’t be that much more difficult to draw. Reigen moves and wiggles around and strikes crazy poses while talking because of this, making even very standard dialogue fun to watch. Studio Bones also goes the extra mile and throws in different styles of animation entirely, including Ink-on-glass (A technique which, as its name implies, involves smearing slow-drying ink across glass and photographing the results. Very time-consuming and difficult), the industry-standard CG, Graphite dust on paper, chalk, and I think I even saw some cut-paper style in there too. These are often used with ghosts or psychic phenomena, to imply that they don’t follow the same rules as the other characters.

In a recent episode, the solution of the problem was Mob making friends with a person that is sort of his darker half. The person Mob could’ve become if he hadn’t actively tried to go out and socialize, to make friends, to better himself. And the conclusion of this fight is they sit down and talk and become friends...not only did I not hate that I thought it was a fucking amazing conclusion to the penultimate battle of the arc.

TLDR: Mob Psycho 100 is my new favorite anime because Mob is the opposite of a standard shonen hero, animation is amazing, artstyle allows them to play with your expectations and animate things more.

[ghostofacrow]

Even as a comedy AU I personally think it's actually funnier if you keep Makima in it in some capacity, Reigen having to manipulate mansplain malewife his way around the physical embodiment of gaslight gatekeep girlboss has huge comedic potential. And knowing how dark csm gets only makes Reigen obliviously bullshitting his way around that fate funnier. I think the fact that Reigen is, generally speaking, a good person is making people overlook that he is also a habitual liar whose main skill is manipulating people and having him deal with the complete opposite end of the "funny and harmless" to "oh god what the fuck" scale would actually be really interesting, both as a joke and for the potential character moments you can get out of it. I like cute drawings of Denji where he was found by someone other then the worst person in the universe as much as everyone else, but that's all the AU is good for if you leave Makima out of it entirely and don't lean into Reigen's negative traits at least a little bit (especially because Denji would actually fall for Reigen's fake psychic powers). Obviously it's just for fun and I'm thinking way too deeply about the twitter crack au but man. it's like you have a whole kitchen and all people make with it are sweets, which are great, but you could be making so much more with it if you used everything. You kinda need some bits of angst and bad things, or at least the threat of something bad happening. it's like salt you know

okay on Twitter there’s this trend of crossover art of mob psycho and Chainsaw man where Denji swaps places with Mob. That is, Reigen now has to raise a teenager that’s never learned how to be a human being. And…Mob has to deal with Makima.

And there’s a bunch of great stuff there, but also a counter movement of “OH MY GOD WHAT ARE YOU DOING DON’T DO THAT DON’T PUT MOB ANYWHERE NEAR THAT HORRIBLE WOMAN” and im. not getting it?

Like, obviously, putting Makima anywhere near Mob, especially at the start of his story, is a horrible idea. That’s the appeal of the concept. 

This AU could only result in either gut busting hilarity…or soul crushing despair.

…ya know, like Mob Psycho and Chainsaw Man? Those two manga aren’t the same, but both of them juggle ridiculous comedy with emotional gut punches, so I say this particular crossover is super well observed actually.

[uniformbravo]

this was part of a different post but it became too long so now it gets its own post (mp100 manga spoilers up to ch 73)

ok so that scene showing the time mob and reigen first met, right, that was in the anime in ep 11; it’s such an interesting scene to me bc it’s used for a totally different purpose in the anime than it was in the manga? bc in the anime it’s shown from mob’s perspective and its purpose is to help the viewer see why he looks up to reigen so much, and with the way it’s presented it even goes so far as to drive home this running idea that reigen is actually a good person beneath the conman act and the deception we’re introduced to him with in the earlier episodes

the thing about this scene in the manga, though, is that it does literally the exact opposite; for one it happens much later in the story and it’s from reigen’s pov as part of a reigen-centric arc, so you get all of his inner dialogue throughout the scene like “man this kid is wasting my valuable time ugh i guess i’ll just humor him to get rid of him & bullshit my way through this like usual wait holy shit he actually has psychic powers hello i can use this to my advantage” which i mean, yeah, you can somewhat get that from the anime version too, but what you don’t get is reigen coming out of that flashback like “wow i’ve been using him like that this entire time i haven’t changed at all huh”- the point of the manga version is to highlight how selfish reigen has been wrt mob up until this point and to propel him forward into the realization that he Fucked Up and needs to change 

(the anime version very purposely steers the scene away from that interpretation in favor of painting him in a more admirable light, the way mob sees him- all those inspiring words about living life and being a good person were basically just bullshit off the top of reigen’s head, but mob believes it, so you do too)

im very keen to see how the anime handles this in the future tbh (assuming there is a s2) because it was a super interesting choice to take the scene from its original context and repurpose it to convey the exact opposite message; this could allow for a great contrast in a callback scene later on (if they decide to use it again), like “hey remember this heartwarming scene from s1 well Guess What”

(i also like the idea that like. the anime version shows how mob was tricked into looking up to reigen, and at the same time the scene is essentially doing the same thing to the audience by framing it that way. we’ve all fallen victim to the Ultimate Con)

Also i just wanna say im not trying to make this sound super condemning as if reigen is actually this Evil Man and all the good things about him were just lies and deceit, because i really do believe there is a lot about him that proves him to be a genuinely good person at heart. it’s just this specific scene that’s meant to draw out of him the realization that mob is way more important to him than he thought and the fact that he’s been exploiting his powers for this long is Not Okay- if anything, the scene comes full circle and ends up showing what a Good Person reigen is after all, which i think is made abundantly clear in the scene after the press conference, when the two of them reunite 

it’s such a small detail, but when reigen asks mob if he knows his true identity and mob responds with “i knew it all along,” there’s a panel showing reigen’s hand clenched into a fist, shaking

i think that, previously, this reaction would have been all about the dread of having finally been found out and the resulting shallow panic at the possibility of losing such a powerful asset to his business, but because of the change he’s just gone through, none of that is on his mind. in fact, such a strong emotional response is an obvious indicator that this is more about mob’s opinion of him than anything else- the fear of being perceived as fraudulent and untrustworthy by someone he himself came to be inspired by; the overwhelming regret he feels and the anxiety at the possibility that he’s realized his mistake too little too late; the idea that he deserves the potential imminent rejection from mob, the one person in a sea of millions whose rejection would actually hurt. 

the contrast between these two mindsets are, to me, a huge mark of growth in reigen’s character, and just the fact that he was even able to make the jump from one to the other once he fully realized his fault is more than enough to convince me that he’s always had it in him, which. is exactly what mob says next:

“I know that. I knew it all along. My master’s true identity.... He is ‘a good person.’”

[fireflysummers]

Mob Psycho 100 Fanfiction

I Could Even Learn How to Love (Like You)

Teru realizes that, despite his best attempts, he still isn’t a great person.

That doesn’t stop him from trying though.

(Dedicated to @uncannycookie​, @auro-cyanide​, @terubi​, @avoresmith for getting me Thinking About The Haystack Child Again)

(Doubly dedicated to @rustnut​ and @ofpaintedflowers​ for being my betas)

|| Chapter 1 || Chapter 2 ||

“So, what exactly did you need to see me for?” The late afternoon filters through the blinds, obscuring most of Reigen’s figure in a halo of light. Teru doesn’t answer, staring down at his hands, resting palms-up on his knees. The words he had planned out so meticulously are caught somewhere in his throat, strangled by a fear he can’t quite name.

He hears Reigen exhale loudly. “Is this about the fight you and Mob are having?”

“Fight?” Teru startles out of his own stupor, suddenly rigid. “We’re not fighting!”

“Could’ve fooled me,” Reigen says, adjusting the blinds and then crossing the distance between the windows and the couches. “And you definitely fooled Mob. My poor student has been stressing for three days now, trying to figure out what he did to upset you.”

“He didn’t do anything!” Teru insists, “He’s not the problem at all!”

“Then why’d you break off an activity unexpectedly? And you haven’t answered any of his texts?” Reigen plops down in the seat opposite Teru, and lounges casually against the cushion. “What else was Mob supposed to think?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know…” Teru can feel his façade slipping away, hands raking through his bleached, spiky hair. Then just as quickly he stills, letting his hands drop again, shoulders slumping forward, defeated. “I did it again, didn’t I?”

“Say again?”

Teru takes a deep breath of the incense-enriched air, gathering his thoughts and his nerve.

“I think there’s something wrong with me.”

“I’m not a doctor, kid,” Reigen replies, although he can’t entirely hide the note of concern in his voice.

“Not like that,” Teru clarifies, voice uncharacteristically soft. “I just…I don’t. Feel things. Not like a regular person should.”  The dam breaks, and the words he’s carefully rehearsed come tumbling out in a messy jumble. “I can tell when other people are happy or sad, but my first thought isn’t what I can do to help it’s always how I can use it to my advantage. I don’t care if I hurt people, if the ends justify the means. I can’t even remember the last time I cried.”

“And…I suddenly realized that maybe that’s not normal. And that, even though I promised myself that I’d change…I’m just the same as I ever was.”

His own condemnation hangs in the air like a death sentence. Teru can feel them, the weighty truth of them, and wants nothing more than to climb out of his own skin. To sink into oblivion until he’s anything but himself.

Because that was the simple truth.

All the words and bravado about change and becoming better. All the hypocritical gestures of kindness he didn’t feel.

He’d failed.

“I’m not that sort of doctor either,” Reigen supplies at last, and Teru is almost dumbstruck by the total lack of accusation in the man’s voice, “But this has something to do with Mob, doesn’t it?”

Teru doesn’t answer. He feels too hollow to even allow himself the usual flush.

“I mean, let’s be frank here, everything usually does around here. It’s hard not to.”

“I know. I wanted to be like him,” Teru says slowly, “No…I wanted what he had. To be surrounded by people that actually cared, that were actually there for you. He’s powerful enough to be kind. People don’t have to be afraid of him to love him. I…wanted that. I thought I respected him and looked up to him. But I think I just wanted…control.”

Teru curls in on himself, blatantly ignoring the fact that he’s bringing his tennis shoes onto Reigen’s couches, in favor of drawing his knees tightly to his chest. He drops his forehead onto them, for a moment focusing on breathing.

“Do you know what’s funny?” he says, and his voice cracks a little to betray just how not funny he finds this. “Even now, I can’t feel anything. I came to you today because I thought…maybe you could teach me how to be a good person.”

He hears Reigen get to his feet, and tries his best not to stiffen as the man sits down beside him. He makes no move to touch Teru, but doesn’t seem overly nervous by the motion either.

“Listen, Hanazawa,” he says at length, “I want to say right out that I’m probably the least qualified person on this planet to be giving you advice.” Teru starts to respond, but Reigen interrupts. “Trust me, kid, I’d know. I’m awful.”

“If you think that I was the one that taught Mob how to be a good person, then you’ve got it all backwards. I honestly believe that without me, Mob would’ve been fine. Maybe a little less sure of himself, maybe a little more paranoid, but somehow he’d have found his way. He needed me, but not as much as I needed him.” Reigen pauses, but Teru doesn’t look up from his huddle to see the man’s expression. “I’ve woken up every day for the past five years, wondering how I was lucky enough for Mob to walk into my life. Sure I’ve used him, because like I said before I’m an awful person, but for a long time my only nightmare has been that one day Mob would realize that…and he’d leave.”

“Even when I cared about Mob the most, I still only cared about myself—how he saw me, whether or not he’d reject me. It was all selfishness.”

“Did Kageyama-kun change you?” Teru asks, a little more tentatively than he intends.

“Mob didn’t. First rule is that if you’re trying to change somebody, it’ll never happen. Second rule is if you change for somebody else it’ll never stick.  Mob didn’t change me…he helped me change myself.” There’s an unmistakable note of pride in Reigen’s voice. Teru finally turns his head just a little, because he doesn’t want to miss the warm smile that he knows accompanies the words.

(He wonders what it would take to get anybody to smile that way about him.)

“Which is why I don’t think you’re hopeless, kid,” Reigen concludes, clapping Teru on the back, “You’re realizing your problem years ahead of when I realized mine. And more than that, you know that there’s something that needs to change. You just don’t know what.”

“That still doesn’t answer my question,” Teru replies, despite the flood of relief that hits him with Reigen’s reassurances. “I still don’t know how to be a good person.”

“Hell kid, I’m the world greatest psychic, not a miracle worker. If I knew that answer, I’d be a million dollars richer right now.” Reigen seems to sense Teru’s dissatisfaction with the answer, and continues. “My best advice is to fake it till you make it. Be kind, however you can be. Apologize for your failings without blaming others. Let other people in.”

“That sounds like it’s awful.”

“Oh it hurts like the devil. But now’s as good a time as any to start.”

Before Teru can question Reigen further, the door to the office chimes and Shigeo enters the room. Despite the sudden clamor of his thoughts, the one that rises to the surface is that Shigeo’s wearing a pink hoodie that Teru doesn’t think he’s seen before.

“Master, I’m sorry for being tardy, despite you saying this was an emergency,” Shigeo says, and if Teru wasn’t already feeling grateful to that salty bastard he would have flipped him off for this dirty trick. For a moment so focused on giving his address to Reigen that he completely overlooks Teru. Then his eyes settle on him, and Teru can feel his heart jumping into his throat.

“Hanazawa-kun!” There’s nervousness in his voice, as he struggles to collect his thoughts. “I didn’t expect to see you, but is everything all right? I don’t mean to interrupt, especially if you’ve come to speak with Master Reigen.”

“No, no Mob. We were just finishing up,” Reigen says, waving his hands animatedly about him, “Teru wasn’t feeling well and I needed you to see him home is all.”

“Of course!” Shigeo looks at him expectantly before Teru realizes that this is his cue to leave. He slips into his jacket in preparation of the spring chill, only to catch Reigen’s eye.

But now’s as good a time as any to start.

Ah. That’s right. He’d been so consumed with his own worries that he’d completely forgotten to consider how Shigeo felt.

“Kageyama-kun,” he says, as Shigeo turns to go out the door, “Just a moment.”

An awkward silence descends upon the office. Teru doesn’t need to turn around to know that Reigen is smirking at him behind his back. Shigeo, on the other hand, seems relatively nonplussed, albeit a little nervous.

He thinks you’re mad at him, Teru reminds himself.

“Kageyama-kun,” Teru begins again. “About Saturday…I mean, that is to say…I…” he swallows, wondering when he’d become so rusty at this. “I’m sorry. For ditching you last week. And for now answering your calls.”

“Oh. That’s all right.” Shigeo looks a little relieved, and it would be so easy to leave it at that. So easy to blame it on circumstances, or just leave the reasons unknown, but this had distressed his friend enough to talk to Reigen about it. If he didn’t explain further, Teru realizes, Shigeo would continue to assume the fault and continue to blame himself.

And he doesn’t deserve that.

Teru can give him this much.

“I was…I was being selfish,” Teru says softly, and wonders why speaking honestly hurts so much, “Somebody told me something that I didn’t want to hear. So I ran away from it. And I didn’t even stop to consider how that would affect you. I didn’t mean to cause you distress.”

With that, the tension around Shigeo’s eyes melts away, and is replaced with concern.

“Did they say something very hurtful?” Shigeo asks, brows knitted together.

“No. Just truthful. So I guess it was hurtful, but not in a mean way.” Teru endures Shigeo’s honest stare for a total of three seconds before adding, “Honestly. I deserved it.”

Shigeo deflates a little bit, and motions to the door, and open invitation to begin the trek home.

“I think you’re wonderful,” Shigeo says softly as they leave.

“Someday, maybe,” Teru agrees, “But I’ll try my best.”

[thinkanamelater]

It Won’t be Long (A Mob Psycho 100 fanfiction) Chapter 1/?

(Mostly) Serizawa-centric, set on a canon divergence AU where there aren’t evil spirits, Claw hasn’t formed (yet), Mob is Reigen’s son, and tons of more details you’re gonna have to read to find out.

Pairings: Touichirou/Serizawa - Reigen/Serizawa (on later chapters) - ??

Also on ao3!

Summary: A house to call his own, someone to love and be loved, someone to look after. After spending 15 years locked in his room, Serizawa still can’t believe he’s got this lucky.

That is, until Shou’s new friend introduces more people into his life, and the balance he thought he had starts to drift away.

Chapter 1: Happiness is a Warm Gun

“Thanks for the meal”

Touchirou stood up, sending his almost empty dish to the sink with a wave of psychic energy, and that signaled the end of lunchtime.

Standing up too, Serizawa stuttered an excited string of “You're welcome!”, “Glad you enjoyed it”, “Have a great day at work”; and managed to add “I'll be waiting!” before Touchirou was already out of the door, one hand holding the briefcase, the other distractedly waving goodbye.

With a satisfied hum and an easy smile, Serizawa sat down, only to get back on his feet seconds after and catch the dishes that Shou also tried to send flying.

“When will be the day you'll let me help clean up, Seri?” The teen that had been silent and frowning during lunch was now fake complaining, all complete with a dramatic sigh. Serizawa smiled bigger at this and stretched out a hand to mess up the already messy red hair.

“I don't mind doing it, so you don't have to worry” The older said once Shou had squirmed out of his hand, picking up more things from the table and balancing them on his arms “Besides” He added with a playful tone, one he only really used when it was just the two of them “Shouldn't you tidy your room? You have visits today”

Shou pouted at this, and let out a snarky and elongated “Fiiiiine mom” while turning to his room.

It took the now flustered Serizawa more time than usual to finish his self-imposed chores, but he did finish them anyway, and went to check how Shou's room was doing.

Saying it was exactly the same as the last time he'd seen it (that morning when he made the teen's bed), would have been unfair. It was more like Shou had managed to move all the mess from one place to another, that place being mostly under his bed. However, that sight made Serizawa visibly beam.

“Oh, Shou-kun!” He clasped his hands together “You did a great work!” Sarcasm would have fit better than the cheerful, honest tone Serizawa used; but sarcasm wasn't something Serizawa was familiar with. And Shou was usually quick with his words, but he wasn't really sure how to reply to that, he always got a bit confused with the older man's kind comments.

There was no need for him to reply though, as the bell rang and Serizawa announced “Coming!”, with Shou following behind closely.

As visitors weren't really a thing in their house, Shou wasn’t surprised at all that it turned out to be his friend at the door. Had it been a school day, he’d be wearing his uniform, clean and formal; like the first time Shou saw him, when he also saw all that potential swirling around him, wrapping him; it was like seeing something that wasn’t quite there, but oh it was going to be there, Shou was so sure. Uniform or not, the formality was still present, in the way his friend nodded to him slightly and immediatly bowed to Serizawa.

“Nice to meet you, sir, my name’s Kageyama Ritsu” He said, straightening his back and looking directly into the older man’s eyes, which seemed like he wasn’t sure what to do with all the attention “You must be Shou’s fath-“

“Nope! Pops’ out at work!” Shou quickly interrupted Ritsu before he could finish his phrase, pulling him inside by the arm “This is Serizawa! Or just Seri, if you want to” The alluded waved a hand, sheepishly, and Ritsu nodded “And, you already introduced yourself, but Seri, he’s my friend Ritsu! He doesn’t think I’m weird!” Shou stated, proudly.

“I do think you’re weird, just not because of your powers” Ritsu retorted in a heartbeat.

“And you’re cool despite of being kinda uptight!” Shou said, laughing loudly.

Serizawa looked at them as they continued their friendly banter, an amused smile on his lips, and then his eyes drifted towards the still open door.

“Uh, Shou-kun?” He called, after a moment of hesitation, and fidgeted with his hands once the teen turned at him “Um, I need some groceries, so I was thinking on going out for a moment?” He finished with a hint of nervousness.

Shou glanced quickly at Ritsu, who was doing a very good job on hiding his curiosity at the scene, and then shot an encouraging smile at Serizawa.

“Of course! We’ll be fine so don’t worry about us!”

Visibly relaxing with that, the man let out a soft “thanks” and grabbed his umbrella resting against the wall. Ritsu couldn’t keep it much longer at that, raising his eyebrows and looking about to make a comment, and Shou shook his head at him, discreetly raising a finger to his lips.

“Ah…” Ritsu was already speaking when the signal caught on, and Serizawa had stopped on his movements to look at him, so he awkwardly bowed again “Ah, have- have fun going out… Seri-san…”

There was a flash of surprise going on the older’s face, that was immediately replaced by a wide smile, and with a new “thanks!” he went out the door, umbrella firmly in his hand, and got far enough to not be able to hear Ritsu’s sigh followed by Shou’s boisterous laugh.

When he got back the boys where already on Shou’s room; engrossed, if he wasn’t wrong, with the same videogame that Shou and Serizawa were trying to beat for almost a week. He put the groceries away and walked towards the room, thinking he’d ask if they wanted snacks, or maybe he’d just join them.

“…won’t say I hate pops, but I like Seri better, y’know? He’s-“ Coming out of the room, Shou’s voice was as loud as always, obviously not caring about Serizawa listening or not.

What he is, however, Serizawa didn’t stop to listen, heading quickly for his own room instead.

It was a good room, Serizawa thought. Not particularly big, but the first impression it gave was “spacious”, with the window that provided a good amount of sunlight, and the minimal amount of furniture, so it wasn’t clustered at all. Just a closet besides the door, the bed on the opposite wall and the occasional book waiting at the top of the pillow. Nothing too attractive that might tempt one into locking themselves there, Serizawa made sure to keep it that way. And the best part? Right in front of his door, just across the hall, was the real tempting room. Touichirou’s room, where he was welcomed more often than not, but that still gave him that thrill when he was called to spend the night.

There wasn’t any thrill now, when he let himself fell down on the bed. He picked up the novel he was reading from and opened it where he left it, not really focusing in the written words. Instead, he kept thinking about what he heard from Shou.

Upset. He could say he felt upset, but there was something else in there, something making him feel weird, and he didn’t know what was it, and that made him feel even weirder. His eyes were feeling heavy. It was similar to when he first found out about his psychic powers, he thought, but the thought was blurry and not quite conscious, as he was drifting off to sleep.

“…ri. Seri! Serizawa!” Not sure how much time later, a potent voice in his room jolted him awake, opening his eyes with difficulty. Shou was there, talking and gesticulating “Ritsu just left, said something about having to meet his brother…? Apparently he was out for some weeks or som- Are you alright?” He maude a pause to ask, frowning at Serizawa’s uncharacteristically lack of attention towards him.

“I’m upset, Shou-kun” Was the mumbled answer.

“Uh?”

“I-I appre-“ Serizawa’s voice faltered, and he tried again “I appreciate that- that you… appreciate me…? Uhm…” He made a pause “B-but I don’t-! Don’t like hearing you talk like that about your father…”

Shou didn’t even blink before blankly stating “Pops doesn’t deserve you, Seri”

“Shou-kun!” Serizawa protested quickly, sitting up in the bed, and Shou just shrugged. He seemed about to say something to defend his point, but the sound of the opening front door and the deep “I’m back” that resonated through the house was enough to make Shou drop the topic, and to make Serizawa smile warmly as all past uncomfortableness was gone, because Touichirou was back home.

Next chapter

[drink-n-watch]

  Genre : Action, comedy, supernatural, urban fantasy, science fiction.

Episodes: 13

Studio: Bones

  You know what’s tricky? Navigating that confusing time between childhood and adulthood. Especially if you grew up as a bit of a loner. Feeling outcast and different all the time. And that type of isolation can cut deep. Loneliness can get to you and turn you into someone you don’t want to be. Luckily for Mob, he’s always had a loving family by his side. And master Reigen has always supported him best he can. And now, without even realizing it, Mob is surrounded by friends. But what would have happened if he wasn’t? What would a powerful psychic like that turn out to be without others to keep him grounded?

The first season of Mob Psycho came as a long-delayed delightful surprise to me. I had been putting off the series for reasons that are obscure even to me, and when I finally got around to watching the first season a month or so ago, I wanted to kick myself for waiting so long. Mob Psycho made me happy. Eager to learn from my mistakes I watched a few palette cleanser shows and dove right into the second season. Let’s see if I’m kicking myself again.

  is the suspense killing you?

  Production-wise, there isn’t much change between the two seasons. Mostly because it was a really solid production, to begin with. I was slightly more taken with Itou, Setsuo voice acting this season but only because a few scenes allowed him to tap into this calm and melancholy tone that he does very well. Mob Psycho has always been a visually distinctive show and the aesthetic is once again rigidly upheld. If you didn’t like the look of the show before, you still won’t. If like me you really liked it, well you can figure out the rest.

All of this said there were two notable improvements in my opinion. One is expanded colour palettes. There are dusk and early morning scenes that bathe everything onscreen in a wash of colours. Environments get plunged in sudden ominous darkness as superpowered character shine. It really gave a lot of dimension to the series and made Mob Psycho 100 II look lush compared to its predecessor.

The second visible improvement was the animation. Not that it was bad in season 1, to the contrary , but there is a whole lot more this time around and it’s awesome. The action is exaggerated and quick-paced with insane ragdoll physics and skewed perspectives that are frankly just plain fun to watch. I found myself completely engrossed in fight scenes no matter how obviously unrealistic they were, unable to turn away and biting at my thumbnail.

  I’m telling you, it looks great!

  Sadly I have a feeling that if you don’t like the art style, no matter how much praise I heap on the animation, it won’t sway you. So let’s talk story!

I recently wrote a post on 100 Word Anime discussing the pitfalls of comparing one anime to another so let me do it again right now… Mob Psycho season 2 reminded me of Natsume’s Book of Friends.

Some of you may know that I compared Mob Psycho 100 to Neon Genesis Evangelion. The first season did in fact bring that show to mind for me. This second season, however, has matured and tweaked its themes and no longer brought to mind the classic series for me. Now you may think I’m just using another excuse to mention Natsume yet again, I don’t blame you. I do that. But there is a reason. When I say Mob Psycho II reminds me of Natsume I mean specifically season 3.

The second season of Mob Psycho is a wild ride. The action is geared way up and the stakes have been raised considerably. Yet for all the heart-pounding adventures what I took away from the season was just how much Mob and the show itself had grown. I actually wrote it in my notes after the first episode and couldn’t help but grin like a Cheshire when the characters on screen started to echo that exact thought throughout the season. It’s great when you can feel like part of the team.

  well…most of the time

  The second thing I wrote is just how beautiful Mob’s personal evolution was. The young boy isolated and bound by anxiety and fear had come out of his shell. Without even realizing it, he suddenly finds himself surrounded by friends and for the first time even something akin to peers. And because he finally has that support system available to him, he can finally find the strength to confront his own power. He actually starts using it to help others in mundane situations instead of only having it as a last resort. His emotional gauge actually gets filled by positive feelings just as often as negative ones if not more so. He no longer sees himself merely as a burden to others and therefore he no longer is.

I wrote all these notes down happily then went over them. When that early feeling of deja vu hit me. As I leafed through my past notebooks I realized that I had written almost word for word the exact same thing for the third season of Natsume. Clearly, I need to get a bit more varied in my note-taking but it also shows that I know what I like. And make no mistake I loved this second season of Mob Psycho.

Reigen is my favourite character in the series. I generally love tricksters but beyond that, I think that one of the main reasons Mob didn’t fall apart in his younger years was because he always had Reigen by his side. I doubt I’m the only one with a soft spot for the 2-part midseason mini-arc that developed Reigen and Mob’s relationship specifically.

  these are some great episodes

  I always thought that Reigen genuinely cares about the boy beyond what use he could make of him. Fact is, Reigen is scripted to ooze shifty sleeve but when push comes to shove he’s actually an extremely capable guy. Ok, not as a psychic obviously but as a con artist, definitely. More often than not his advice is pretty good, he has impressive observations skills and is a wonderful huge of character and he is protective and caring of Mob. He trusts and believes in the boy even when the boy does not believe in himself.

But it’s the flashback that got to me. The fact that Reigen had grown bored with his psychic gig and was considering moving on. With his social skills, he could easily have found some other way to make a decent living. But a young boy clearly in need of someone walks into his office and he just couldn’t turn him away. Sure, if he could make a buck in the process, all the better, but that wasn’t the main motivation. And he’s still like that. When someone is truly in need of help, he doesn’t turn them away, ever.

Combine this with a Mob that has become self-assured enough to think for himself and even say no! A young man that has gained the maturity to accept his mentor’s limits and failings and still appreciate him. And you have a tremendous character arc in two short episodes. Not only did they develop both characters without resorting to exposition dumps but they also did so without sanitizing or retconing either. I said this a lot in the first season review, but Mob Psycho is a smart show. And it continues to be so.

Mob’s been through a lot this season

This season also brought some conflict that was way more nuanced. In the last episodes, we even see Mob gleefully revel in his powers and the destruction they wrought. He immediately stops himself and is filled with guilt but there’s something else going on. There’s a great attention given to Mob’s expressions. By default, he’s a bit of a blank canvass, largely expressionless. This season, as he’s opening up more his feelings are starting to show on his face. Small shy smiles, tiny barely there scowls… But when he goes to 100% then it’s the complete opposite. He is deliberately drawn to be terrifying, almost demonic. Dishevelled unnatural hair, impossibly intense eyes, an uncontrollable aura escaping from him. But in that one moment, that minute that he let himself enjoy his power, he looked….great. I mean he looked like a healthy happy young man. The spiked hair flowing lazily about him like a pretty anime boy, no visible aura at all, a relaxed smile reaching all the way to joyful eyes.

In another anime, I would have called this an odd design choice but not in Mob Psycho. For two seasons this show has been very precise with its imagery and particularly with Mob’ expressions. This was thought out and selected for a reason. The visual language of the anime is telling a completely different story from the script. It’s subtly showing us a boy that has been at war with his own nature for his whole life and the one moment of release came as a huge relief. A boy that could still go down a dark path. This is a moral ambiguity the first season stayed very far away from and a noted shift in narrative vision. One I am excited for.

I feel you Ritsu, it was quite a moment

I want to see more of Mob Psycho 100 and I hope I can do so soon!

Favourite character: still Reigen

What this anime taught me: Sequels are fantastic

Come, we’ll get drunk, quote movies and talk about how awesome we are

Suggested drink: Brown Sugar Manhattan

Every time Mob’s in street clothes – take a sip

Every time the show turns into a video game – take a sip

Every time we see a tomato – get a snack

Every time we see the super awesome Body Improvement club – Cheers!

Every time anyone is pantless – gasp

Every time Reigen seem kind of cool – put the drink down

Every time Mob gets a call – take a sip

Every time we see Mezato-san – take a sip

Every time other psychics are watching tv – take a sip

Every time Ritsu doesn’t get along with Reigen – take a sip

Every time you’re surprised by how touching this show is – check if season 3 has been announced

I love Bones’ visuals. They really speak to me. So once again I uploaded a whole bunch of screencaps to Pinterest and Imgur.

      Mob Psycho 100 s2 – Growing Up Genre : Action, comedy, supernatural, urban fantasy, science fiction. Episodes: 13 Studio: Bones You know what's tricky?

[plebwritesanime-blog]

MOB PSYCHO 100 (2016)

https://myanimelist.net/anime/32182/Mob_Psycho_100 From the creator on One-Punch Man ONE, Mob Psycho had a crowd around it from the very beginning. And it shows, with over 300.000 people having marked this anime in their MAL lists. At the time of writing this Mob has a nice score of 8.54 and is in top 100 ranked shows (#87). While a great score like this doesn’t always mean that the show itself is great (looking at you SnK, Fairy Tail and Tokyo Ghoul), Mob has the score rightfully.

Our protagonist Shigeo is a middle-schooler and assistant to exorcist and con artist Reigen. Shigeo is also a psychic, the strongest psychic ever supposedly. See the similarities with OPM? But that’s where they end. While Saitama uses his power knowingly and worket throwards getting it, Shigeo was born with it and tries his best not to use it. Other than that he tries to live a normal life. There’s a girl he likes, so he tries to get her to like him back. And what better way to get a girl like you than to start working out? Mind you Shigeo’s only talent are his psychic powers, so he’s bad at sports, school, mostly everything. This is where the body improvement club comes in. They accept Shigeo (and later the punk - Tenga) without hesitation and want to help him. This really shows that getting good at something is a long process and you shouldn’t give up just because it’s hard in the beginning. This is also true for the creator of Mob Psycho, ONE. If you’ve seen his early OPM chapters, you’ll know what I mean. They were charming in their own way, but it’s no Miura (Berserk) or Araki (JoJo’s). But back to the show at hand.

Shigeo’s psychic powers are linked to his emotions and mental state. We can see why he is hesitant to use the powers in one of the flashback scenes, where he unknowingly hurts his brother Ritsu. That’s why Shigeo tried to look for mentor. And he found the best person possible - Reigen.

Reigen is a con artist as I mentioned. But a good kind. He makes people think he has psychic powers (he has none) but he helps them anyway (a massage always helps). However, his main role in Mob is guidance to Shigeo. Reigen makes him want to be a better person. Hence why mob joined aforementioned Body Improvement Club.

Teruki is another great example of the self-betterment. Before he met (and lost to) Shigeo, he was really carefree about using his powers for his own good. And I don't blame him, I'd do the same in his place. But his behaviour is important because he loses to Shigeo and is stripped of his pride - his hair. He went from the teen idol look to a "balding hermit" really quickly. This migth symbolise his attitude throwards psychic powers. Going from "I have everything" to "Maybe there are better ways to use my powers" in one fight.

So we have established that this is basically a “coming of age” story about Shigeo. Other source for this influence is his younger brother, Ritsu. He is the complete opposite of Shigeo. He is good at sports, he is student council vice-president, he is really charismatic, the whole package. But he lacks Psychic powers. This is why Shigeo wants to be more like Ritsu and vice versa. The diference here is that Shigeo’s feeling are those of inspiraton, whereas Ritsu’s are fear and envy. This plays role in Ritsu’s downfall and later his growth.

In the end I'd love to mention Mob's wonderfull visuals. While the character designs might seem odd, they work really well. The show is really colorful, because the use of psychic powers gives the artstyle lots of space to shine. The action scenes look amazing, as they should. Mob also uses lots of experimental artstyles, for wxample the ghost in all girls school, where it's paint on glass. It gives the spirit a different look and it works well. I know this is kinda dated, but Mob should've easily won the Crunchyroll Awards for best animation. Yuri!!! on Ice was great, but no way was it better looking than Mob.

So This was Mob Psycho 100 and also my first review-thing. I am not entirely sure how to go about this yet, But I surely hope you enjoyed reading through this. I'd love to make this into a longer series, where I just share my thoughts on different anime I've seen. I won't give a score from 1 to 10 in here (I've got MAL for that), but a simple: Go watch Mob Psycho, It's worth it.

Next on my list is Keijo!!!!!!!! (as selected by my close friend), so stay tuned for that.