#characters*

SPOILERS HELL vvvvvvvv

Needed a follow up down here because I want to remark some things that stood out to me that I hadn't given them much thought until seeing them written down.

Toichiro's desire for power is so reminiscent of Ritsu's attitude in cleanup arc, their relationship with power is jarringly similar and as it shatters, it later reinforces their love for the people around them. Sorry if I don't expand as much on this one, felt like the panels were self justifying.

Between Ritsu and Serizawa was the way they both reacted out of fear, despite their admiration or respect they were witnesses and also victims, that felt guilty for not being able to act in the moment because they felt that it was not in their ability. They did their best to run away from the problem for some time. And Serizawa does overcome this much faster than Ritsu just because he needed to act quick as it's a heavily abusive situation that threatened Shou while Ritsu just let this simmer for years because he felt he was preventing harm to come their way; to both him and Mob.

And we can see when Ritsu explains his situation to Shou, he relates to him and he sees himself in him, getting more defensive at the mention of his brother. Shou's preconceptions of Mob change fast as soon as he sees he is nothing like his father. At 7th Division he looked down on him, probably because he was once like that, being "weak"/kind is not something his dad encouraged. But here Mob was the one to step up and protect him, what he needed, just as Mob wished he would've been stopped in the past and guided. And not only that but the seeing in person the difference of reactions (that can be explained by upbringing) and how Mob goes from being a foil to Shou to being a foil to his dad, shown in 'I'm not mad at you anymore. You had your reasons." contrasted with 'Did my son cause you any trouble? I'm sorry about that, he's quite a spoiled brat.'

Reigen being the only sound adult and Shou trying to be a sound adult for the sake of his father is a parallel that rings very true to me. They both do bring similar enough arguments, and are the most grounded of everyone, and see him as he is, very immature and with a narrow minded attitude.

(Toichiro is like 48 and most of the years he spent travelling the world for him not to even see the world? Downsides of powerscaling.)

And as Reigen is the assigned leader for Ex-Claw members and a bunch of teenagers, Shou is the leader of his team, both with the goal to stop his father. It isn't surprising they both fail at doing so. Toichiro isn't as easy to fight off or empathize with him to their capabilities, because he won't double down or take accountability. Not to them anyway, just because they aren't powerful enough to him.

That's exactly why there is no one better than Mob to understand his position, who mirrors him as he hasn't confronted his powers himself, and is capable to contain his powers and also his feelings (bringing kindness once again to the table). But I think that's pretty evident when you read or watch; like saying ok serizawa is mob and toichiro is reigen but also viceversa, or even toichiro is mob and shou is ritsu, etc. It's already stated in the story so I hope my crazy arrows are enough.

Though, I do want to briefly talk about Serizawa and how he relates on different levels to both Reigen and Mob BUT ON JUST ONE ASPECT that may or may not be generally discussed.

And it may as well be a segway to the other one, but society expects normalcy of both of them, but they strive for it in different ways. Reigen may admire Mob and for that he may as well distance himself from what is "normal", because it's in reality what makes him happier. His lies and facade are part of him and he can't deny it, because the way he carries them means his aspirations are kind and true at the core; albeit selfish. AND ALSO DEFINITELY IS A FRONT TO NOT BE VULNERABLE.

They both start at places where their family believes they need to be and it's paths they would avoid. Both feel stuck and with no place to go until a job opportunity arises, and changes their life forever. The divide is made as you can see how Reigen is knowledgeable to the world around him and Serizawa is not, which circles back to the whole talking point Reigen made to the leader of the 7th Division. Serizawa isolated himself because felt he had no other choice and Reigen isolated himself more unconsciously, that's the reason the solution is much simpler with Reigen and he owns up to what he said to Mob in time. But Serizawa is in a place where there isn't a solution that comes without heavy harm or a very hard struggle.

But after leaving his room, and after that leaving Claw, Serizawa strives for normalcy so bad, just like Mob.

And they grow a lot because of it. Because what's special about them is their powers and is also the thing they fear the most, because they can't control them, because they directly would rather not have them. They would like a normal life with friends. But it's worth noting that their notion of a happy life is paired up with preimposed notions of what they should be and how they should act. Which isn't necessarily bad, and isn't necessarily good, but it depends heavily on case to case.

(I love these panels because it actually implies he is a partner like that. To Serizawa. Ok. Which makes sense)

And a character that also yearns for normalcy is Tsubomi. Because Tsubomi like Reigen puts a mask in front of people because she is and feels like she's under constant scrutiny, she can't be herself. So when Mob loves her for not treating him differently for his powers as he doesn't treat her differently for her popularity... I think that's what the "not distorting" spoken here. The yearning for friends is very real.