Mob Psycho 100 III

Episode 4

This is why your mom always told you to finish your broccoli. We've had three weeks of fun, gallivanting around with Reigen and laughing at Mob's temporarily testicular lower mandible, but now Mob Psycho 100 is hunkering down and digging into its next big conflict with this week's eerie episode. While cults are hardly new ground for the series, this iteration of the Psycho Helmet Religion feels like the series' iciest indictment of them yet. And of course, the anime manages to deliver all this with its characteristic charm, confidence, and sensitivity. It really is an uncommonly great show.

If I had to pin a word to this episode's mood, it would be “paranoia.” To that point, the direction is spot-on emphasizing Mob's sense of fear and isolation as his friends and family grow steadily more uncanny. Storywise, it's a clever twist on his big-headedness last week; being the center of attention isn't always a good thing. But it's the presentation that makes it all so legitimately spooky. Whether he's lurking in the dark, looming large directly in front of the camera, or speaking sweetly through his many followers, Psycho Helmet's presence suffocates nearly every scene. It's a welcome injection of psychological horror, and another atmospheric ampule we can toss into MP100's bottomless bag of tricks.

Of course, Mob Psycho 100 is as good as it is thanks to the artists working on it, and the big name to highlight this week is Naoto Uchida, who storyboarded, directed, and contributed to the animation direction. He has credits in the first two seasons, but this is his first time helming an episode on the show, and I really think he deserves praise for creating such a gripping and cohesive atmosphere. Like the roots slowly eating into the city, Uchida lays tendrils of disquietment even in the goofier scenes. And considering that Dimple's been a comic relief character for about two full seasons now, it was extra important that this episode establish him as a villain worth his salt and worth the story's attention. Wherever this arc goes from here, Uchida definitely accomplished that. Here I am, getting spooked by a globule of green ectoplasm with rosy cheeks. That's a feat.

The story, to its credit, doesn't play coy with Psycho Helmet's identity, probably because it recognizes that this conflict is more interesting if it's coming from inside the house, so to speak. Dimple, to his credit, also hasn't been coy about his ambitions this whole time, so that's a truth Mob is going to have to deal with (and it looks like there will be a lot of dealing with next week). For now, though, I respect the simplicity of Dimple's approach: brainwashing the city with a giant magic broccoli. I additionally respect Hanazawa's immediate, guns-blazing assault the second he realized what was going on. Mob is a show that usually values thoughtfulness and consideration, but sometimes the right thing to do is to follow your instincts and julienne a creepy vegetable doppelganger. While obviously just a warm-up for the coming battle, this skirmish between the two of them still looks fantastic, and it might have been this week's animation highlight if not for all the silly Reigen faces we get in the B-half.

And speaking of action-forward planning, I love how instantly gung-ho Reigen gets about destroying the Divine Tree (provided Mob does most of the psychic/manual labor, naturally). He might be a con artist, but even he draws the line at an occult broccoli sucking the life out of the city. And out of his profits. The point is, when Mob feels lost and confused, he goes to Reigen, and Reigen sorts it out with a plan to help both of them. That's why their friendship is as strong as it is. Mob knows he can trust Reigen to get the gears in motion, no matter how greasy or rusty those gears may be in any given situation. Which is what makes that final scene so painful. At the same time, however, it's a moment that lets us see how much Mob has matured too. Mob knows by now Reigen isn't infallible, and he knows to stand his ground when his friends are in the wrong. Mob is a strong kid irrespective of any psychic powers.

Thematically, this episode's scathing portrayal of cult mindsets and manipulations come at an appropriate time. Not that cults, especially online ones, have been far from the spotlight for a while now, but given Shinzo Abe's assassination and its roots in injustices perpetrated by the Unification Church, I imagine audiences in Japan are especially receptive to this messaging now. Hell, at one point, the storyboards directly implicate political canvassing in the context of Psycho Helmet's activities, so don't get it twisted—the show knows what it's doing. I appreciate, though, that the writing also makes salient, measured points. Akin to the Psycho Helmet Religion, I'm sure a lot of harmful spaces began as lower-key groups united by common interests or a common desire to stave off loneliness. But insular groups like that can become feeding grounds for manipulators like Dimple/Psycho Helmet. A cult, by definition, is never just one person, but a single wrong person in the wrong place can wreak incredible damage.

The first serious arc of Mob Psycho 100's third season begins evocatively and economically. I was actually pretty surprised at how quickly the whole city succumbed to the big broccoli brainwashing, but I think it works at demonstrating the terrifying virality of groupthink in an adequately toxic environment. Plus, it means we get to Mob vs. Dimple even faster. That's exciting, because I genuinely thought this Psycho Helmet thing would take up the rest of the season! If the big showdown looks to be just on the horizon, though, then something even more interesting must be in store for us later on. At this point, I trust this series to know what it's doing. And this week, it's steering us away from mob mentality and towards Mob mentality.

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Mob Psycho 100 III is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Steve is a regular freelance contributor to ANN and also the guy who called Arataka Reigen an internet sex symbol that one time. Feel free to roast him on Twitter about this. Otherwise, catch him chatting about trash and treasure alike on This Week in Anime.