#mp100 analysis

She is a desconstruction of the "teenage love interest" — a cute and pleasant pretty girl whose perfection makes her unattainable to most people; the exception being, of course, the protagonist. These women are regarded as trophies. They have no agency, no interiority and no plot relevance besides orbiting the male lead, and in the occasion they don't, their role is rewarding the Good Guy's efforts by dating him. The Love Interest can't afford things like complexity or personality, lest she dares to be her own person and becomes unpalatable to the audience. Being selfish, strong-willed, ambitious or blunt are strictly prohibited.

The thing about Mob Psycho 100 is that it takes advantage of these assumptions and creates a character far from being a romantic dream. We know little about Tsubomi, but that's because our perspective is cut by Mob's eyes. Our protagonist is an unreliable one in this sense; not only because he barely interacts with the object of his affection, but also because he idealizes her. Tsubomi represents acceptance for who he is. Thus, Mob's point of view distorts her into the initial goal of his self-improvement journey: the person who may love him as long as he is good enough.

In reality, Tsubomi is an extremely fascinating person. She is straightforward, often to the point of sounding offensive. She reacts calmly, almost aloofly to things others despair about. She follows the beat of her own drum and won't cave in to peer pressure, even if it comes from her own friends. The reason she puts on a mask is that Tsubomi is smart enough to know that the school's adoration is conditional: they are all waiting for the moment she becomes an acceptable victim, and when will it happen? Yes, when she stops being a perfect girl.

Its essential for the storyline that Tsubomi is a teenage girl. Beauty standards are cruel, but specially to girls. Politeness is a must, but a girl can never be loud, proactive or brash. Everybody has to be kind, but a girl that stands for herself and doesn't deny her feelings and needs is a "bitch". Salt Middle School is that strict towards Tsubomi's perfection because of her gender. People are only obsessed with her because they see her as status, not a human, and the ones who attempt to pry behind the mask want an excuse to tear down on her. It'd never be as serious if it was a popular boy.

All of this only emphasizes how amazing her arc is. Tsubomi rejects all boys equally because she doesn't owe them anything. Tsubomi stays put during a hurricane because she cares about the promise she made. Tsubomi is never blamed after rejecting Mob and they end up happier as friends, because she is not a prize and neither need a straight relationship to feel fulfilled.

(uchizura - sotozura) is the theme in mp100, mainly for Mob and Reigen. its about duality of self.

-uchi (内): means inside/inner

-soto (外): means outside/outer

-zura/tsura/men (面) : means face, surface, facet, side, mask , or mug*

so uchizura (内面): means inner self, the part of the self thats hidden, the one that's -in mob's case- being suppressed trying to protect others (ritsu).

and sotozura (外面): means outer self, the part of the self thats shown to the public, mask, becoming someone, the one thats- in mobs case- being worked on and trying to grow in order to get popular (so tsubomi would like him).

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3 interviews (translationed by @/katyatalks) bring up uchizura specifically for reigen : (1), (2), (3)

I copy pasted the specific parts below:

1- (director Tachikawa Yuzuru)

"Q: Please tell us what you’re looking forward to depicting in season 2, and anything that you think will be a highlight.

A:  Reigen’s uchizura, that we don’t really get to see in season 1, and Mob’s growth as a theme. Those two things will be the highlights. But that’s not all; there’s the supporting characters too, so look forward to all of that. But there’s a limit to how far as we can go given the length of the season, which is a pain.

[TN: To explain very simply; ‘sotozura’ is the self that you show to the public, and ‘uchizura’ is your more private self.]"

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2-(about reigen's va sakurai takahiro)"Thought of Reigen as a fraud and not a good person in S1, but with S2 we see his uchizura (private, more ‘real’ self) and real emotions, so his feelings re: Reigen changed from S1 to S2. “It was hard to know who he was, back in season 1.”"

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3- (about the directior Tachikawa Yuzuru) "His previous comment of Mob’s growth and Reigen’s uchizura [more hidden, private self] being highlights is brought up, and he’s asked his thoughts again. “Reigen coming face to face with the problem that plagues his uchizura - ‘who am I’ - and trying to move forward ... depicting that touched me. Mob’s ‘people can change’ is a phrase Mob would’ve internalised from Reigen’s words. As a result, much like Reigen saved Mob, Mob has saved Reigen. I think they’re a great combo. ‘Be a good person - that’s all!!’ has become a famous saying!!!”"

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Edit: I knew I was forgetting something @/exilepurify translated and analysed confession arc reigen talking to mob in this post , specifically reigens line “- 今まで師匠面してすまなかったな… — "I’m sorry for acting like your master up until now.

"I thought the use of 「師匠面して」 was interesting. 「師匠」 is “Shishou/Master”, which is straightforward, but 「面」 is a kanji that means “mask, face, surface” and it’s basic readings are “メン/men”, “おもて/omote” and “つら/tsura”. Reigen uses a lesser-known reading and meaning of this kanji, so much so that ONE included furigana over the kanji to clarify the reading. 「面」 here is read as 「づら」and is used as a suffix to mean “looking like a…, acting as if a….”.” (quotd from post)

面 is supposed to be read as づら/tsura, referring to reigen's sotozura as mob's master

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now the mug double meaning puts context to:

-Mob and reigen's first meeting where mob saves the mug from falling and breaking after reigen burnt his tongue

-this scene after mob had asked for advice on how to confess to tsubomi and left where reigen looks at his mug and says "if I exposed my true self, I would get soundly dejected"

the anime has more focus on the mug and really cool composition so I'm including it too

-It also adds context to this scene in confession arc where the mug breaks after mob got hit by a car, passed out and ???% showed up.

Last thing, but this one might be a stretch: because men (面) can refer to mask/face protection, in kendo its both used to refer to the face mask and the move of striking the head.

So

And now I have something to add: I think that if Ekubo had talked to Reigen instead of Mob (which, by the way, wouldn't be completely out of nowhere, because they formed a partnership during season 2), the whole arc would have been prevented. Ekubo and Reigen are mirrors for each other. Ekubo would have seen what Reigen was doing and understood how crazy that was. Reigen would have seen Ekubo and realised the same. (The basis of their relationship is that they are very similar, they see themselves in each other, and that leads to mutual hostility at first, but then it transforms into a very deep understanding).

They would have started arguing, both of them, most likely, still pursuing their own goals… But eventually they would have understood how dangerous the situation had become.

And Mob would have stopped them from getting too heated and going too far. And they’d have made up. And lived happily as two fathers and a son ever after.

A super quick sketch I’ve just done during my free time at work, because I love them so much!!!

I love them I love them I love them!

i've posted about this before but something ive been thinking about a LOT is mp100's themes of loneliness (and eventual connections). i think this is an aspect of teru's character (in particular) that gets left out because it's not as explicit but i've been wanting to do a deep dive on it for a while and i finally sat down to do it. just a warning, this post is gonna be LONG.

these two panels are from chapter 16 of the manga (which i'm using for my evidence because i. dont want to scrub through the anime LOL). initial sentiment: teru uses his powers to cheat having friends/a good social life and wouldn't have that if he tried earnestly. this is a fair interpretation of the scene. with what we know, at this point of time (as in within the teru-mob fight) teru would not be able to connect with other people earnestly, due to his mindset. which i think is a fair interpretation, HOWEVER:

(from chapter 17 ^^) the first panel shows teru's expression to be strained and the second is visibly unhappy. this puts the first set of panels into a different context, that maybe underneath all of this, teru doesn't WANT any of this life that he's built. keep in mind that i'm analyzing this with teru's possible autistic tendencies in mind & you dont have to believe he's autistic, im not your dad, but i do find this a pretty meaningful indication of masking if he were

(note: yes, the strain can definitely be read as comp-het, and i would agree but that's not relevant so go read this post on that instead)

even if the rest of these panels show teru content with his life, i think these expressions are pretty vital to how we read his life especially because we know so little of it. think about it, if you were a kid desperate for affection because you couldn't get it anywhere else, especially not in a way that would come off as "mature" or "unaffected", wouldn't you also look for validation in your popularity? even if it aligned you with people who you consider fundamentally different to you? my point here is that teru can't not stand out-- it's in his nature-- and we are shown how he tries to blend in & receive attention in the only way possible to him; which is to say that he molds himself into something that is palatable, likeable, and superior to other people. if he's nothing, like mob, he has spent his entire life covering up for it. if he fails socially, like mob, he has to be good at everything (even if he cheats to do so) so that everyone else can look past it.

(side note for my teru angst enjoyers: this is a panel of his mom. the mom who he hasn't seen in years. doesn't it make sense that, if he hasn't heard his mom say he's proud of him for literal years, that he would overachieve in response? not related to the autism thing i just have the teru bug. also don't be misogynistic in my notes both his parents suck we just get a singular mention of his mom)

so if teru couldn't meaningfully have friends before mob, that could very easily be because of his past mindset, right?

...except, we don't.. really... see him make other friends afterwards.

but, the awakening lab, right?

(ok i lied to you sorry there is one anime screenshot and thats because it stood out to me while i rewatched it earlier this month. sorry.) id like to bring attention to this screenshot during the cultural festival because the awakening lab can definitely be seen as a direct contradiction of this and i'd like to point out a couple things:

1) in this scene the shiratori brothers are in another room 2) them and the other three are friends with ritsu (or at least close enough acquaintances to want to see him).

considering this is one of the only times they appear together for Fun i am more inclined to believe this is an encounter where they went together because they all would've gone separately anyway. this isn't to discount the possible bond that these characters might have, but thats the thing. we... aren't really shown that they're friends and enjoy spending time together outside of this screenshot, where two out of six of the members are not even present. not to mention that teru is still placing himself in a role separate from his peers. despite stripping the superiority away, teru is still the awakening lab's mentor, not friend. teru still views himself as fundamentally different in a context where his psychic powers don't make him that way.

...except with mob. i bring this placement of power up because where he is the awakening lab's mentor, teru declares mob to be his rival, or, in other words, teru is just like him. he is accepting that mob and him are the same. (and if we view mob from an autistic lens... so on and so forth)

as if to hammer in that point even further-- in the summer vacation omake, teru explicitly states that "summer break is just a super long, super boring stretch of alone time." i'm not sure of the timeline here, but guessing from the hair, we're at least post season 1. which gives us explicit confirmation here that teru is spending the break alone despite his relationship to the awakening lab. his connection to mob is a lifeline here because mob is one of the only people who can intuitively understand teru's isolation without judgment

(also, on that point of teru's autistic tendencies: teru does and says a LOT of things that would raise other peoples eyebrows and doesn't seem to notice.

here we get teru actively admitting to his home life, right in front of reigen, WHO COULD CALL CHILD SERVICES ON HIM? this genuinely made me rethink this character entirely. teru's filter is... minimal. he isn't constantly volunteering information and generally minds his own business, but if you ask? Well.

teru is a social person, but to say he is proficient in understanding social situations seems... wrong. teru views his loneliness as boring because, despite being fairly open, does not actually allow himself to think about his own feelings and how they affect him. this loneliness is boring because he doesn't have enough of a reference to realize its not

if we are taking pre-mob teru to be a version of himself who is masking, or at the very least someone who is faking a lot of stuff in a less autistic sense, the fight with mob changes teru to the point where he no longer hides himself. in the same way that mob was able to shake teru's fragile superiority complex i think the change in appearance marks the end of the self teru had built up. from this point on we see him become a lot more... Him. his appearance and his fashion choices are, presumably, completely normal to him and we get no indication that he believes otherwise despite the reactions it gets-- which is... well, i wouldn't be writing this post if i thought it was one of his most neurotypical traits.

in fact, he seems... pretty oblivious to what other people think of him. which is an interesting distinction to make considering the intelligence we Know he possesses (which is not to say that you are unintelligent if you don't pick up on social cues, just that its common for media to depict it that way.) these traits are made pointedly, even if unintentionally, separate, ESPECIALLY when you note the amount of characters who Do ruminate on or stare at teru's appearance.

I just want to start this by saying that Reigen has by far been one of the most accurate and absolute gut punch of a representation of depression that I've ever seen... especially if I got into him having ADHD and depression... but maybe that's for another day.

I've finished the show now, but even from the beginning, I kept saying that there feels like there's just this sense of something being wrong or off in the outro. It truly feels like the morning routine of a depressed person who's just... continuing to go through life. Because that's something that makes his depression so important to me-- that it never feels like a plot point that comes up whenever it's really intense. It's just... always there. Lingering. Changing how he views the world.

This can be seen in the stylization of the outro. It's all black and white, and everything is shaky, hazy almost. As if he's not fully there.

Everything's so quick to fade. It's so apathetic. He does this every morning. Makes himself look presentable, gets the hit of stimulant from the nicotine in his cigarette, and then everything fades again.

Then there's the commute to Spirits and Such. He leaves his apartment, and it still has that same shaky, hazy feel. It very much feels like he's not fully present for that walk. Literally, it'll jump/fade between different parts of his walk. It's like there's a fog around everything he's doing, but he'll remember the little things that stuck out. The little things that broke his routine (the people running, the cat).

Then, finally, he sees Mob. This is kind of an obvious thing to point out-- but at the end of all of that routine, Mob is the one who brings color into his world. I think it's also interesting that we never see Reigen's actual face in the outro. We see him from the back, and we see him smoking, but that's the closest we get. He's at a distance, everything hazy and disconnected.

This is how depression is when you've been living with it for so long.

He is crushed when he is confronted with betraying his moral by killing in order to save those he loves and listening to his master and running away.

And Mob did hurt people with his powers, intentionally, even when we already knew that he was taught NOT to do that and he is very adamant about not to use his powers in order to hurt people! But instead of being angry or reprimanding, Reigen is pissed at the Claw members who cornered him so much that he felt like he HAD to, that there was no other way.

There are a few times where Mob is on the very edge of 'Murderous Intent' and it is other people who pull him out of it.

And they do it because they know how much it would hurt Mob in the end. Because Mob is a good person! Even when he has these moments!

Mogami's trap did take affect on him, he was pushed beyond the limits and he wanted to cause pain because these people have done nothing but hurt him even though he didn't do anything. And he doesn't understand why people are so cruel without any reason.

Mob was not above Mogami, Mogami's plan had succeeded. And Dimple just takes it in as casual as possible. He quickly realises that this is not the real world, that he isn't alone. But it still allowed him to gain a new view on life.

Mob felt ecstatic and fueled by his powers, how strong they made him feel for a hot second during his fight with Toichiro. Until he sees how scared Ritsu is and he gets thrown back to That Day™