Mob Psycho 100 III – The One and Only 1

Life happens when you’re not paying attention. Especially when you’re in high school. As far as Shigeo is concerned (Mob to his friends), everything is just moving along as it should be. School is fine, he’s getting along with his friends and brother really well, he has fun with the body improvement club and the telepathy club. But things are changing. A giant broccoli is being worshipped in town and slowly the Psycho Helmet is gaining ground. The third-year students will be graduating at the end of the year, which means Mob is going to lose his senpais. Have the club presidents accomplished everything they were hoping to? And most impactful of all, Tsubomi is leaving town. The girl Mob has loved ever since he was a little kid is going to be gone and he hasn’t even had the chance to confess his feelings yet. What is Mob going to do now?

Mob Psycho looks weird. It always has. The show has a signature look that I have occasionally heard people refer to as ugly. I disagree, I happen to think the art is a selling point of the Mob Psycho franchise in general but that’s in the eye of the beholder. What I will say, however, is that this season looked better.

The colors are more interesting, there are animation flares and playful art manipulations. It’s a more ambitious production than past seasons have been and they pull it off magnificently. In one of the early episodes, there is a scene where the main characters are in a dark tunnel surrounded by yokai. You can see all these eyes appear and they are all drastically different. A the same time the show saturates the colours and stretches the perspective of the characters. The effect is confusing but striking. I ended up going wow, this show looks amazing but I had to sit down and analyze what I had just seen to understand why.

Also there’s this screencap:

It’s my wallpaper now. It was a very good-looking season!

The third season of Mob Psycho can be divided up into roughly three uneven arcs, with some scattered episodes that have independent plots but have the arcs happening in the background and end up feeding into the whole.

I’m actually the one splitting up the season this way. I don’t know if it’s the official way to do it so keep that in mind. I’m also going to be giving each arc a title that I’ve made up on the spot.

1. The Psycho Helmet Cult Arc

The season quickly grew on me when I realized that the first arc was essentially a reprise of the beginning of the show. But you get to really see the contrast in how Mob acts which really shows off just how much the character has evolved. Once again there’s a strange cult taking hold. This time Mob’s powers are known by a lot more people and he feels pressured to take in the role of leader of this new religion. Something that’s definitely out of his comfort zone. But when the role is taken up by another, he feels strangely disappointed.

Mob has never had much of an ego. And that could be considered a good thing. But it’s a little too extreme in his case. It has led him to undervalue himself his whole life and really tanked his self-esteem. He’s getting some confidence back now, and that’s great. This arc also establishes that Mob might actually have some true friends out there. A message that becomes increasingly important as the season progresses.

2. The First Contact Arc

Tome, the president of the telepathy club is going to be graduating and she’s in a bit of a rut. She had created the club in the hope of finding someone with telepathic abilities to contact aliens but along the way, they just ended up having snacks in the club room and hanging out together. She feels as if she hasn’t accomplished anything. Surprisingly, the rest of the club fees moved to help her accomplish her one goal.

In this, Mob is teaming up with his clubmates t help someone else and actively using his powers to that end. He use to be terrified people would find out and ashamed of his psychic abilities but now, he’s using them out in the open in front of everyone. Just like in the previous arc, this ends up being a celebration of the friendships that Mob has formed over the past year. He’s not even front and center of this one and it plays out as an ensemble piece which is great.

3. The Love Confession Arc

Tsubomi’s family is moving away and Mob decides he wants to confess his feelings before it’s too late.

That’s all I’m going to write in way of a synopsis. Instead, I’m going to tell you that this arc is the culmination of everything that came before it, not just this season but in Mob Psycho in general.

Mob Psycho has always been a show about learning to accept yourself even when you are different. It has dealt deeply with themes of othering both in the negative sense when one is shunned and the seemingly positive when one is revered and therefore set apart from others. Both can be painful. It has explored isolation both self-imposed and inflicted. And it has explored the ideas of acceptance of one’s self and others around us.

And this is when all those themes come crashing together in a maelstrom of feelings, doubt, and regrets. One theme that Mob Psycho has danced around and hinted at but never explored head-on is trauma. One of the episodes in this arc is called trauma but that’s what the entire arc is about.

The thing about trauma is that the only way out is through. You can be doing great, you can work on your self-esteem, surround yourself with a strong support system, and make positive changes in your life. But until you deal with that underlying trauma, there’s always a risk that it will flare up again and drag you right back down.

Mob has worked on himself, he’s worked hard. As a result, he has created a strong support system and they will be there for him when he needs them the most. But there are certain things that only Mob can do. Well, if you think about it there are tons of things that only Mob can do but you know what I mean.

This arc was an unflinching view of how trauma can tear us apart and destroy everything we’ve worked for and just how difficult it is to overcome. But still a celebration of any victory small or large we can claim along the way. I couldn’t stop watching the last episodes, I needed t know what happens next. I have n idea how those of you who watched it weekly managed to do so! I cried several times. Not big ugly cries, those teary-eyed cries because I’m so proud of the characters.

I’m not going to give you any big flowery speech, I can’t find the right words. Instead, I will say this, Mob Psycho III was moving. It elicited genuine emotions from me. I will be recommending it to all my friends.