Mob Psycho 100

A wonderful show about a boy with no confidence in himself, and no idea how he should live his life. Completely listless, he simply does what other people around him want him to do in the hopes that he’ll find acceptance. Afraid of his powers, he’s been forced to live repressed, unable to talk about who he really is. Needless to say, plenty of people can see themselves in Mob, myself included. This show really hones in on just about every anxiety one had back at that age. Trying to live up to others expectations while also figuring out who you are.

The central idea of the show is that when Mob gets stressed out and pushed past his limit, he expresses himself the only way he really knows how: with rage. Its again, something I can relate to. When you spend most of your time hiding your emotions, rage is the only thing strong enough that can build and build up until you simply can’t control it anymore. Often hurting those around you, even when they’re people you love. After which comes immediate shame and the desire to simply be another person.

Mob has two main guides in life. The first is his “master”, Reigen. A con man that has convinced Mob that he’s a psychic like him and can help him control his powers. Despite being a con man, his cons are somewhat innocuous as he truly wants to help people, Mob in particular. While his words may be empty, to others, they carry the weight they need. He gives genuinely good advice and wants the absolute best for Mob.

The other guide is the Body Improvement Club. A club that Mob joined more or less on a whim in an attempt to make himself more attractive. Despite the superficial reasons, and his frail body, the club welcomes him with open arms and are constantly supportive of him, never once judging him or making fun of him. It seems very intentional to me that Reigen and the Body Improvement Club are not psychics like Mob at all, yet they’re his biggest supporters. The show repeatedly stresses that even though Mob is unfathomably strong, he’s not any better than anyone else. He is, ultimately, an average joe. Why shouldn’t he get support from people that don’t share his narrow specialty?

To me, it seemed to be saying that even though we all have different stuff we’re good at, we’re all ultimately in the same boat. Just trying to live, and no one can make it alone. We all need help from others. Even Mob, as strong as he is, needs support, even from “normal” people.

Mob and his brother present such a great dynamic. Both are jealous of what the other doesn't have and think things would simply be better if they could adopt these traits. Mob doesn't care that Ritsu can't use psychic powers. However, these feelings of essentially unconditional love were warped into feelings of inadequacy. Mob doesn't value psychic powers because its mundane to him. But to Ritsu, it's everything. This sort of thing is a repeated occurrence throughout the show. Mob is always kind to everyone, to fault even. However even when one has the most genuinely kind intentions, it sometimes can just backfire. It's what makes socializing and interacting with people so difficult.

The show's answer to this is rather simple, and delivered via the Body Improvement Club. To fight on, to keep trying. No matter how much you fail, get back up and go at it again. It's rough, no one will say it isn't. but it's all we normal humans can do.