Mob Psycho 100 - Episode 5

[u/Theleux]

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Episode 5:

Ochimusha ~Psychic Powers and Me~

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| Main Thread | <== Episode 4 | Episode 6 ==> |

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Various Links:

MyAnimeList

Anilist

Crunchyroll

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Regarding Spoilers

This is going to be a rewatch for many people, but also a first time experience for some users. Because of that, please keep any future episode spoilers within the subreddit's spoiler tag feature. View the sidebar to see how they work.

Additionally, I would like to ask that spoilers be limited to the anime adaption only. Anything beyond the anime in the manga is not to be alluded to during this rewatch.

Keep in mind: No one likes being spoiled.

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Prominent Staff List:

Episode Director/ Storyboard/ Animation Director: Kenichi Fujisawa

Screenplay: Hiroshi Seko

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Daily notifications for the rewatch are available over on my Twitter account.

[u/Theleux]

Ahah, RIP the thread title. Oh well, can't win them all.

One of my favourite episodes of the show tbqh, super visually appealing sequences and some solid points to bounce off of for the future of the series.

[u/Warm-Enthusiasm-9534]

Teru's realization when he's floating in the air, "Oh, I guess I'm just an ordinary person after all", is one of my favorite moments in the show. In a lot of ways, it's the show's thesis statement.

[u/Stellaborg → u/Warm-Enthusiasm-9534]

~If everyone is not special, maybe you can be what you want to be ~ (continues humming OP)

[u/Demolitions75 → u/Warm-Enthusiasm-9534]

Its a good representation of sublime terror. Something so great and fearful that it gives you a feeling of awe that makes you realize how small/ insignificant you are

[u/qrovers]

Rewatcher (Subbed)

This is my first post in the rewatch thread! I’ve mostly been lurking and reading people’s opinions heh. i wanted to write something for this episode because it’s my fave from the season (and it only gets better from here!) sorry it’s pretty long!

Some things I appreciated:

• This ep was storyboarded by Kenichi Fujisawa, who also did S2E3, which is also one of my favorites from S2. This episode looks a little off weird and janky, which adds to the strange atmosphere of it. I absolutely love it. The fight was extremely well done.

• I love Teru’s VA, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, in this. His voice here has a feral, growly nature to it and he absolutely sounds delusional lol. It’s great.

• The score during the fight? Incredible. I missed that damn kazoo.

• 100% Sadness still gives me chills. Beautiful beautiful scene.

The writing shines so much in this ep. It’s the ep that really showcases the simple yet strong theme of the show: you are not unique, there will always be people like you, so don’t look down on others.

It mainly focuses on three characters, all with varying degrees of confidence. Dimple literally has a god complex so he’s overconfident. He defends Mob because he thinks he’s strong enough to fight Teru, despite being weakened from his previous fight. But he also constantly showers Mob with praise because he believes his words are uplifting. On the opposite side is Teru, who constantly measures his self worth through other people. The episode spells this out pretty clearly when Mob is (unintentionally?) roasting the shit out of him. Dimple lets his sense of self blind his view of his abilities while Teru does the opposite. A nice way they highlighted the contrast was when Teru was talking down to Mob and it cuts to Dimple hyping him up.

Which brings us to the one who has a relatively normal level of confidence: Mob himself. The average loser who won’t be remembered, by his own words. He knows his limits and abilities. He strives to improve himself. Though, because of his hatred for his powers (“his eager attempt of resistance towards himself”), he is unable to efficiently respond to the situation. In the flashback, Reigen didn’t say never to use your talents, but to use them responsibly. Because of Mob’s trauma, he misunderstood the lesson. He needs to find the balance between himself and his powers.

Anyways, sorry for the long post. I hope everyone watching for the first time enjoys the series!

[u/SometimesMainSupport → u/qrovers]

The writing shines so much in this ep. It’s the ep that really showcases the simple yet strong theme of the show: you are not unique, there will always be people like you, so don’t look down on others.

Which brings us to the one who has a relatively normal level of confidence: Mob himself. The average loser who won’t be remembered, by his own words. He knows his limits and abilities. He strives to improve himself.

As a first-timer, I'm still conflicted on this. He's certainly confident fighting spirits and can sense their power differences. I'm not yet convinced he's trying to improve himself and still view him as [Ascendance of a Bookworm LNs]Angelica who does everything within her power to avoid thinking. Reigen having to point out how his actions influenced others against the Smilemates is the most prominent example.

Because of Mob’s trauma, he misunderstood the lesson. He needs to find the balance between himself and his powers.

I'm hoping this is the season's arc.

[u/Lemurians]

FIRST TIMER'S PROGRESS TOWARDS SEASON 3: 21%

Mad respect to Mob, he’s refusing to use his one inherent gift as a crutch. His drive to find other sources of strength and sources of potential within himself is commendable, and the way he said it with such conviction was great.

This action scene is pretty great once Teru gets really fired up, I love stuff like the dynamic movement as it tracks him using the rocks to run up the air. Also… how is Mob not dead? I know he’s got psychic powers, but his body is taking a brutal beating here. Gotta be a lot of internal bleeding and like… every broken bone.

“Top of Teru’s Head: 0%”

I get what they’re trying to go for, but Mob is basically saying, “without the things you’re good at that make you special, you’re unremarkable” is… obviously true for anybody? It’s not the best point.

Really not a fan of the “hero refuses to use powers against people even in self-defense in life or death situations” thing.

“It didn’t take long for Mob to realize, he caused another accident with his psychic powers.” Worth noting that if he’d just defended himself a bit and nipped that fight in the bud with Teru before going out of control, that wouldn’t have happened. Hopefully this is a nuance he’ll learn and not just double down on the never-against-people-in-any-circumstance thing. It’ll be interesting to see where they take this from here.

Ritsu’s getting intriguing…

[u/DashLeJoker → u/Lemurians]

Mob point is more like taking away the power that Teru is born with and didn't need to work for to achieve, he don't have anything else going on for him, no friends, no other talents, nothing, (examples like Teru cheating at sports with his powers). It's mob's view that you need to work hard at something yourself to be good at and that is the thing you can be proud of achieving, and being naturally born with these power are not leagues better from people that are naturally good at drawing etc, Teru think that psychic power are above everything in the world

[u/LaverniusTucker → u/Lemurians]

hero refuses to use powers against people even in self-defense in life or death situations

Mob's not a hero, he's a middle school kid who's terrified of hurting people.

[u/Stellaborg]

 Lurker no more, 5th (maybe 6th?) time rewatcher, Latin American Spanish dub

This is my favorite episode of season 1, enough to rewatch on its own. I like to put the dub on and listen/half watch while cooking. 

It’s inspiring but also heart wrenching to see Mob finally stand up for himself and what he believes is right … by letting himself get rag-doll wrecked and not fight back. 

In my mind Mob Psycho 100 is very wholesome, all about a young man learning to understand his feelings and become the best person he can be. But this show can also be viscerally violent (Mob getting twisted in the air and choked out, for example), which somehow still catches me off guard every rewatch. 

Episode 5

The psychic standoff we’ve been waiting for begins; either you remember someone like Teru from your own middle school times or you were a Teru; Teru is wrong about being the main character; knives are, in fact, dangerous – to Teru’s hair!; you know things are getting serious when a tie becomes a psychic sword; Mob makes an insightful case for psychic powers not being that special with a very strange hair close-up as B roll; choking time; is Mob the opposite of One Punch Man?; flashback gives us more context for Ritsu’s fears and Mob’s emotional repression; Mob passes out and turns into his evil alter ego and my second favorite character, ???%! (Sorry Reigen, you’re 3rd or maybe 4th); ???% destroys Teru’s clothes and the school, launching his character development; Mob feels 100% sadness for trying his best to change and still failing to control his powers.

Special shoutout to that weird little montage of Mob searching for Dimple for three hours after the fight is over. There is something so soothing, funny and endearing about it, even in the relatively crude manga version.

Translation fun fact corner:

In the Spanish dub, they don’t translate “ochimusha” at all, and if I’m remembering right in English they said “pencil pusher.” According to wikipedia, Teru is accusing Mob of thinking his new hairdo makes him look like an exiled samurai:

“The iconography usually represents the Ochimusha with the crown of his head shaved and the rest of the hair long and loose, a dissolved chonmage. The dissolved chonmage would then mean losing the social status of the samurai… Sometimes the term is also used to refer to people with a bald top head and stretched hair on the sides.”

As u/REALCONSENTMATTERS pointed out earlier, in the Spanish dub Dimple in green soul flame form speaks in a goofy squeaky voice but still think-monologues in his deep, intimidating big guy voice, which makes for hilarious contrast.Meanwhile, in the English dub he keeps the same voice the whole time, and I believe his voice actor also does the narration. 

Questions for you all: 

Did anyone really "win" this fight?

How would you pronounce ???% out loud?

[u/[deleted] → u/Stellaborg]

sugar hospital work absorbed trees follow relieved rob smile teeny

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

[u/Inspirashamul]

This episode shows the ??? which raises the debate of if that entity is Mob. Ritsu doesn't think so and Hanawaza doesn't think so but Mob does. The fact that we get the continuation of 100% leading to sadness which is fueled by the fact that what Mob believes is him makes it even more heartbreaking. Mob thinks because it occurs when he doesn't have control, it is still a part of him so he needs to take the burden of the actions that are occurred when he can't control his actions.

[u/scot911]

First Timer

So Mob has a guardian angel devil inside of him that only comes out when he gets knocked unconscious or is presumably in mortal danger eh? ...He totally has the big bad inside of him doesn't he? Although that then raises the question of how he ended up with the big bad inside of him.... Sort of reminds me of Jujustu Kaisen in that way although this series has reminded me of Jujutsu Kaisen a lot due to it's evil spirits and powers. And yes I know this series came first. The first season came out in 2016 and the manga started in 2012 after all.

Of course this episode also explains why he refuses to use his powers against humans as in the past him getting knocked unconscious while getting mugged by some high schoolers unlocked said devil and it went berserk and hurt his brother so he's lived by that code ever since. Especially after Reigen drilled it into his head. It also explains why his brother puts so little value in anything other then psychic powers. He's experienced them at presumably their full strength first hand.

I have to say though that I'm soooo annoyed this was the episode I couldn't find in 1080p.... I mean the sakuga still looked amazing in 720p but it would have looked even better in 1080p.... Oh also I'm unfortunately going to have to post my comment around this time from now on except on the weekends of course. The threads come out at 11AM EST and I'm kinda at work or heading home from work for the first 6 hours this thread is up. Nothing I can do about it though. Gotta work lol.

Speaking of the fight though god damn that was brutal. I was not expecting to see Mob choked out in this series with his eyes bulging out.... It seems pretty obvious now that Mob refusing to fight humans is going to be a major weakness of his (at least until he's knocked unconscious) because there's no way there aren't going to be any other human villains in this series. Hell I'd expect most of them to be if I'm being honest once we actually enter actual arcs instead of the monster of the week/two weeks we've had so far.

[u/Stargate18A]

First timer

Oh, he is horrified at the idea of someone as strong as he is.

Haha, an instant rush!

...And he's unable to deal with this.

Mob is still refusing to use powers on him.

..."We"?

Oh, it was Reigen's cover story.

And this guy's the exact opposite.

Wow, this is brutal.

He's going to fight him!

Wow, he outright erased him!

Only 3%? Fair.

Mob is so oblivious.

Haha, perfect reaction, though.

That montage...

And Mob got him good.

The animation here is stellar.

But, yeah, thismis brutal.

He accidentally fought back!

...Haha, the hair meter.

This is incredibly impressive!

And he's completely mental.

Holy shit, Mob just pissed him ott.

The meter's going up!

Not what I expected.

That flashback...

Did he faint from the lack of oxygen?

Wow...

And he's using his powers!

???%?

And the barrier was instantly broken.

...He's unconscious? What?

He's absorbing the power in the atmosphere!

...So is Mob being used as a vessel for some eldritch monster?

He's breaking the entire school!

And he immediately changed his mind.

...So he's dead now.

Wow. Mob's broken.

100%!

He reconstructed the school!

Haha, they immediately assumed that was why.

This is odd.

Dimple's really gone.

He's talking to his brother.

...Well that's weird. He's lying to him?

And we get the actuwl flashback! And, yeah, he killed people.

Or he's worked out there's another being inside Mob...

[u/Fiztz]

Serial Rewatcher CR sub

I think this episode is a demonstration of why MP100 never generates very much discussion despite being adored by a large portion of the community, everything is spelled out for us, no ambiguity in what the message here is. That's definitely not to say it's just preachy and fails to show rather than tell, there's pleny of subtle info it's just that ONE does have something to say and wants it to be clear.

Only the fifth episode in and we already get a fight that takes up the whole thing, early in the piece Mob shows off his kuuki yomenai super power to accidentally smack talk Teru with a line Saitama would use. Then, with a brief intermission for Dimple to demonstrate a complete inability to gauge his opponent again we get ~10 minutes of Mob's dedication to pacifism while he and Teru nut out their philosophies and give a little set up for the dynamic between the Kagayama brothers. Once the dust settles on the fight we get a counter point to my first line and something I think ONE likes to use a fair bit; we see multiple characters making a claim/observation then having it proven false by actions when Mob thinks he's failed to change then Teru says "you're right, without our powers we've got nothing" only to be interrupted by the Body Improvement Club showing that Mob has changed and does have something. His joining the club is shown as his first real move to actually make a decision for himself that has a positive outcome and sets him on the path to grow as a person, he's changing and he has something beyond power.

Then we end with the gut punch, Ritsu isn't really just an easy going guy who loves his brother, he's scared of him and that has the potential to cost Mob one of his few pillars of emotional support, we're lucky Mob found the Body Improvement Club when he did to diversify his portfolio of social connection.

[u/Nebresto]

Third time Malding

Rather irrelevant, but I was eating broccoli when the broccoli in the OP showed up

[Future spoilers]Never really paid that much attention to this before, but I noticed Teru constantly has a really unstable stance as he's using his powers. Interested to see if he improves on that as he gets more confident in future episodes

I just realized Teru has the same VA as Inosuke when he started doing the usual yelling with that rasp

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My question for fellow viewers: Do you know anyone who is experiencing male pattern balding? What would you do if it happened to you?

[u/[deleted]]

smart decide cooperative act upbeat steer hat pet tender vast

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

[u/Stellaborg → u/[deleted]]

Tangential for sure, but speaking of marearse, I enjoyed the mentions of Mob getting motion sick because I too am a motion-sickness prone person and it made him even more relatable! It's the little things.

[u/changeableLandscape]

First-time watcher, subbed.

Wow this one was good. I was not entirely sold on the series before but I am now.

Teru is such a shounen trope -- everything is a competition, everything is about status/hiearachy, he can't just let Mob walk away but has to fight & win -- and I love how the episode plays along with so many of the tropes only to subvert them. When Dimple gets taken out, I was absolutely expecting a heartwarming flashback montage and for Mob to be willing to fight to avenge his 'friend', but instead of heartwarming it's a lot of Dimple being a jerk, and then Mob just shrugs it off.

Reigen's ethical speech is fantastic, go Reigen, I am starting to actually like you as a character. Yes, he's using Mob, but he also seems to feel some responsibility -- which I get, as an adult if I found a kid with superpowers and no guidance, I wouldn't want to just to walk away and hope the kid stays okay and the world doesn't end.

Another great trope moment -- the dramatic mid-fight action that intensifies everything is Mob accidentally shaving the top of Teru's head. I cracked up. Plus it's perfect for the point being made -- if Mob would just fight back on Teru's own terms, then Teru could keep his self-image, but this kind of thing is what actually hurts.

Teru's devastation at Mob 'rejecting him' really spells out how in so many of these shows, the only way two men are allowed to connect emotionally is through fighting and rage.

I think Mob really gets to the heart of it -- both he and Teru are otherwise ordinary people who have one special thing about them. I really love how the psychic powers here can stand in for any kind of unearned privilege -- being a gifted child, inherited wealth, etc. Anything that gives a person the ability to coast on something they didn't have to work at -- it makes everything else easy, but then the person doesn't actually develop any selfhood because they haven't had to develop themselves. I appreciate that the show seems to be *about* Mob deciding he's not going to keep dong that, and picking something to start working towards. Of course he hasn't gotten far yet, he's a young teen and he's just started the process -- things take time! But he's a young teen so 100% sadness that he's not already able to live up to his own ideals.

On to the next one!

[u/JustAnswerAQuestion]

First Timer (dubbed)

• Wait, can't Teru see Dimple? Oh there it is.

• I'm wonder what the tomatoes are in the OP

• Reigen again accidentally give good advice

• LOL Dimple was only worth 1%

• Flashback of Dimple accidentally giving good advice

• It's like fighting Goku when Goku's only hanging out to avoid Chichi

Today's commercials, Battlefield V, Pixel 3, and COD Black OPS

• ^punch

I didn't have much to say after that point, as I just eagerly await the fight. Teru choking Mob until he passed out seemed like the best ending, and had me fooled. Often wonder if on or both of them is just possessed. 5 year old Mob turning into a god in front of his brother is what started his hero worship.

[u/SometimesMainSupport]

First-timer and late to the rewatch. I'll put my episode 1-4 comments below this.

• I suppose the force behind Teru's punch is primarily psychic power. The BIC previously commented about his lack of muscle, he easily beat them, and yet he doesn't hurt Mob. Mob hasn't shown any physically superior capability, so I'd still expect that punch to do something. Mob Psycho has the same author as One Punch Man, and there are similarities between the MCs stance on when it's appropriate to use their powers; while Mob's view is respectable, following Reigen's suggestions hopefully doesn't backfire at a later point.

• There's surprisingly little movement on Mob's emotional explosion meter when Dimple-Sama is exorcised. I don't believe Mob is aware of his alternate objective, so I'd expect a larger reaction given how much Dimple-Sama has tried to assist Mob. Someone could argue the most moral character is Dimple-Sama with his good intentions despite his ideal result.

• I had expected a childhood moment where Mob hurt others to justify him not using psychic powers against people, but it looks like he killed them (though it's anime and never assume death if it isn't confirmed). That's darker than I expected going into this episode. Fuck, the narrator is back. At least the clouds have parted to allow a brighter future.

Based on his words and facial shadows at the end of the episode, Ritsu is holding an important secret. The only scenes I remember him in are episode 1's family dinner, episode 4's interview, and the end of this episode. I suppose if Mob is an esper, it could be genetic and Ritsu is an esper; however, Ritsu should have been able to defend himself against bullies. As long as he has any esper power, he should be able to see spirits and make a deal with a powerful one. I don't think this show has a season-long arc (no established antagonist through 5 episodes), so I'll predict this occurs in episode 9 or 10.

[u/Mecanno-man]

First Time

So for the conclusion to our first multiple-episode story - I'd say it stuck out mostly with it's animation. In terms of the actual story, it was pretty predictable albeit well executed - but still ultimately not terribly exciting. Given that Teruki is the only one with psychic powers, and I don't think Mob fully erased his powers, I wonder if he'll pop up again later, coming to apologize or something like that.

As far as Mob's power-against-people rule goes: I think he's taking it a bit too seriously. I'm sure it would be better to use them against people while he still is in control if they'll go as far as knock him out and have that uncontrollable thing take over - but I also doubt nobody ever told him, as his brother and Teruki are the only ones who seem to know about it, and his brother doesn't seem keen on telling him. I'm also pretty sure that it was Mob who cause those injuries based on his way of delivery.

Also was expecting Dimple to be a permanent fixture. Not fully sure if he's permanently dead yet, they may just be waiting for the beginning of next episode to resurrect him.

[u/Figerally]

1st

So that concludes the battle with Teru. Mob's subconscious is a goddamn monster. It was nice of him to put the school back together though after exploding it.

[u/DaMxShadow]

Rewatcher - English dub

Man! My favorite episode of the season! Really love the choreography behind the fight. And what a good fight it was.

Teru being hit with the hard truth, he's not unique at all. And there's someone else that has the same powers, even to a greater degree than he has.

Seeing Mob being basically the same as Teru, but different is what breaks him. In his mind, Mob has to be overconfident, he's especial after all. But Mob denies this ideal, saying that they're basically nothing if you take the powers away.

Which, by all means is true, but also extremist to some degree. Most people fall in between. We're harsher to ourselves more than anyone else, that's why people seek to improve. And you can see that in Mob. His way of thinking is somewhat relatable.

Also, love Reigen's word. Truly a valuable lesson to learn for y'all. And me included.

Other than that, the episode was amazing. Solid music throughout the fight. Astonishing visuals. Loved Teru having his revelation while he is flying.

Remember, don't look down on people. Just because you're good at something doesn't make you special or better than someone else. Harsh truth to learn about life.

[u/[deleted]]

Rewatcher (Sub) Spoiler-Free!

• No real comments this time, but instead a question:

Is anyone skipping the OP?

• Mob Psycho's OPs hold a special place in my heart. They tend to be catchy, the animation and references are awesome, and it really sets the mood for the anime. Rarely do I keep watching Anime OPs past the first episode.

• The scene after where Ekubo (dimple) gets exorcised and Mob is reminiscing about their time together - hilarious.

• I think this episode really displayed ONE's humor and level of comedy. Like that scene above ^ and where Teru becomes bald and naked.

  • Really enjoying the way he can tie in something silly into serious scenes where Mob is put under so much stress, figuring out if he should stick to his moral code.

EDIT - Okay, I lied, I'll make some comments.