sorry im so obsessed with mob loving the monkey shirt. as if its my fault.
inspired by a post i can’t find that said mob and dimple fighting over the monkey shirt is an important bonding activity for them, thank u to op of that post u are so right.
sometimes i really do wonder if reigen is aware of just how big an impact he’s had on mob (and serizawa as well). like i know he must know he’s helped them in some way, and most of the time i think he understands the full extent of it but then he goes and says stuff like this as if he isn’t the WHOLE REASON THOSE TWO ARE LIKE THAT like babe…. who do you think taught them to think of their powers as just another trait like being charismatic or a fast runner. YOU DID THAT
Reigen is such an intersting character and person…
Out loud he talks out his ass about how cool & powerful he is but he doesn’t actually believe any of it (regardless of whether it’s true or not). He thinks himself the most boring person on the planet. Out loud he says to Mob and Serizawa that their powers are just another one of their traits (which is true), and Reigen knows this at least on a surface level, but I’m not sure he’s actually internalized that idea– they are VERY cool and special to him both as someone without psychic powers AND due to the nature of his business– and he probably ends up idolizing them a bit even if he doesn’t realize it
i saw ur seri during the broccoli arc post and i remember that serizawa during broccoli arc was.. at school. like, literally, when mob says it might be hard to move the broccoli on his own reigen says they can't call serizawa because he's in class (in 96.4 i double checked lmao), and that's why they go to ritsu instead. the world was about to end and serizawa was at school probably going through his own end of the world because he can't do math
I see people everywhere all the time raving about how flawless and satisfying MP100’s ending episode is, and I agree. But sometimes it kinda takes me aback exactly how well-planned the entire story is, especially because it began as a webcomic.
The individual relationships Mob has with the “Big Three” (Reigen, Teru, Ritsu) each follow their respective themes from start to finish, with the application of each theme to the story changing as it progresses but the major idea remaining the same—until the final arc, which is broadly split into three episodes, each featuring the culmination of the respective relationship.
Teru’s theme is strength, Ritsu’s theme is communication, and Reigen’s is acceptance.
More under the cut bc this got a little long.
We find each of the Big Three struggling with these concepts throughout the series. Teru grapples with what it really means to be strong, Ritsu struggles to open up and communicate his feelings with his brother (garnering resentment), and Reigen refuses to accept the self he hates, opting instead to build his career and his relationships out of lies to hide this despised identity.
These are also, coincidentally, things Mob is struggling most with. Mob’s terrified of his strength, he’s unwilling to open up about his guilt and self-hatred, and he outright refuses to accept his powers and his repressed self on many occasions throughout the story.
But the finale is structured to not only perfectly demonstrate and polish off the ways in which the Big Three have overcome the struggles of their themes, but also how that growth powers their love for Mob, subsequently helping Mob achieve the same growth.
In S3E10, Teru finds true strength by enduring pain and humiliation in order to save people and forge connections with others. Not only does he rescue Shigeo’s victims, but it’s his love and strength that allows him to push through Shigeo’s powers at any cost to wake Mob up internally and begin the process of ending the disaster. It’s because of Teru that Mob wakes up and realizes what he’s done, in much the same way that Mob helped Teru realize what he’d done at Black Vinegar.
In S3E11, Ritsu manages to communicate his unfiltered feelings to Shigeo for the first time and ends the tentative, repressive resentment boiling between them (both Ritsu and Mob harboring resentment for “Shigeo” specifically). He talks about how he hates this destructive side of him and how scared he’s always been, but this honest communication is what allows Ritsu to see the situation clearly beyond the scope of his repressed resentment and accept Shigeo as a part of his brother that’s not to be feared. It also opens the door from Shigeo’s end, finally knowing how his brother feels and not having to tiptoe ineffectually around the issue. Ritsu’s open and honest communication allows Mob to locate where Shigeo is being held in his psyche, opening up a channel of communication between him and his repressed self. This communication is what allows Mob to be confronted with the truth of the disaster he’s created, and this ability to talk it out with himself is crucial to ending his suffering.
Finally, in S3E12, the finale, Reigen is confronted with the ways in which he’s inadvertently worsened Mob’s condition with his inability to be genuine and makes the decision to drop the smoke screen and come clean about everything. The fear and gravity of it brings him to tears, but he bares his true self to Mob, admitting the things he’s done wrong and confronting the side of himself that he hates. He has to come to terms with this aspect of himself, even if it hurts him, and even if it hurts Mob. Self-acceptance is, in this moment, non-negotiable. Seeing Reigen’s true self in its entirety for the first time leads Mob to realize that everyone has flaws and a darker side to them, and it doesn’t make you a bad person to mess up, but you have to embrace it all unconditionally and own up to it honestly and without hesitation. Reigen, and everyone else, saw this ugly and angry side of Mob and continued to love him unhesitatingly and unfalteringly. And so, Reigen’s acceptance inspires Mob to accept Shigeo, ending the disaster and finally making Shigeo whole and happy again, unfettered.
It’s honestly fucking masterful. It makes my chest tight. ONE is genuinely something else.
ok now that theyve been definitively cut can i just say im really mad that we lost this conversation bc i feel like it was really, really important to understanding the shigeo/mob dichotomy
shigeo, the whole person, is convinced that if he is his “true self”, people will not want to be around him. “mob” exists as the mask he wears around people, the “fake” him, the image he puts on to make other people happy.
“shigeo” exists as true thoughts and feelings and fears and wants he has suppressed for so long to put up this performance to other people. mob wants to go on keeping his “true” self suffocated, because he’s afraid of losing people. shigeo wants to be himself, even if that means pushing people away. but they’re both wrong. people don’t like him because he’s agreeable and opinion-less and doesn’t push back or cause trouble. people like him for him. he’s saying no one will ever come near him again while all his friends and loved ones run to the epicenter of a fucking hurricane to help calm him down.
that’s why reigen’s confession is what finally gets through to him. if reigen, this person he looks up to more than anyone, someone he cares for deeply, can be masking in the same way he is, and if that doesn’t change the fact that he respects and cares for him, then cant people accept shigeo kageyama just as much as they care for mob?
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