1000% Gratitude (Mob Psycho 100)

*Warning: Spoilers for Mob Psycho 100 Season 1*

I recently finished season 1 of the anime, Mob Psycho 100. Many of the themes covered in the story of Mob Psycho 100 felt as though they were pointed directly at people like myself. The story of Mob Psycho 100 revolves around the main character Mob, a very powerful esper, and his mentor Reigen, a con artist who touts himself as being a very powerful psychic himself, though he has no special powers to speak of. Mob is only one of the many psychics we meet throughout the story. While Mob is presented as one of the most powerful characters within the story, what really sets him apart from the other characters in the story is his humble attitude and forbearance in invoking his powers, fostered in part thanks to Reigen’s guidance.

Among the most important of the themes covered in Mob Psycho are the ideas of deservedness, effort, and natural ability. While Mob has been blessed with naturally powerful psychic abilities, he is not presented as being particularly socially adept, academically inclined, or popular. This in contrast to his younger brother who does not have any special abilities (in the beginning) but is socially adept, academically proficient and popular. While Mob’s younger brother is envious of Mob’s special abilities, Mob is envious of the talent that his younger brother possessed. This relationship between Mob and his brother exemplifies the main themes of the story. Mob’s powerful psychic abilities have not allowed him to stand out among his peers in school, while his brother’s learned talents have helped him stand out.

Reigen, when first meeting Mob and consulting about the problem he was facing, he says “Listen well, we are different than regular people because we are born with special powers. But that shouldn't give you the illusion that you're a special being. We are part of humanity. Besides our rare power, we are no different than them. People who run fast, people who can sing well, people who study hard, people who are funny, and people with psychic powers. Are we different from them? Having confidence in your strength is a good thing, but do not get carried away. Our powers are a dangerous weapon.” This quote puts Reigen’s philosophy against that of the evil organization in the story. While Reigen believes that these special powers do not make espers superior to normal people, the evil organization, named Claw, believe that they, as espers, are deserving of being recognized for their strength and ruling over normal humans.

The contrast between Reigen, and by extension Mob’s, philosophies with that of Claw’s all come to a head in the final clash of the season. Mob and the gang have infiltrated one of the divisions of Claw to rescue Mob’s brother after he was kidnapped. In the end, the division’s big boys are unleashing their final attacks against the gang, bring Mob’s stress to a maximal level. When Mob’s emotional state reaches 100%, he loses control and become very powerful. However, in the past, when he lost control, he ended up hurting his younger brother. Reigen, being aware of the potential adverse outcome of Mob losing control, snaps Mob out of going berserk in spite of the advantages it would bring to the potentially deadly situation. In this moment, Mob feels great gratitude for Reigen, and transfers his strength to Reigen. His appreciation for Reigen reaches 1000% and grants Reigen the overwhelming power with which to defeat the gang’s foes.

It was ultimately this contrast between Mob and his adversaries that would bring about the Claw division’s demise. Although Mob maintained a want to continually improve himself and a degree of self-consciousness to anchor himself to reality, the members of Claw was overcome by their desire to be recognized for their strength and need for conquest over regular people. This message of not taking for granted one’s gifts and to appreciate what others bring is a lesson that, while somewhat obvious, something that would do me good to consider.

While I do not have any psychic abilities, I do consider myself to have been blessed with the ability to succeed academically with little effort. But Mob Psycho suggests that I ought not to think of myself as notably different or conflate my skills to such an extent that I become an elitist. It is crucial for me to be grateful to the circumstances that allowed me to foster my academic abilities. If not for my parents’ efforts to make sure that I did well in school and their consistent insistence on pursuing higher education, I would not be where I am today. While Mob’s basis for his powers might come from a less obvious source, he is nonetheless thankful for Reigen’s mentorship in helping him navigate his life with his supernatural abilities. I would assume that many who would take their time to read a blog post such as mine probably are afforded a degree of levity in their lives that would allow them to relax. Even without any special abilities, many of us have much to be thankful for, and we should make sure not to take things for granted.

Post by Kai