Mob Psycho 100 II – 10

「衝突 ～パワー系～」 (Shoutotsu ~ pawaa-kei ~)
“Collision ~Power Type~”

One can’s help but notice that amongst all the superpowered espers (and muscleheads) we’ve met over the past two seasons of Mob Psycho 100, there’s one that stands out because he hasn’t shown us anything except megalomania and nads of steel. Suzuki Touichirou has to be the baddest badass of all the baddies – I mean, doesn’t he? He certainly has some very powerful people doing his every bidding, and strength respects strengths. But could he possibly be the evil version of Reigen – a guy whose superpower is gall and fearlessness?

I’m thinking that’s probably not the case, at least if esper powers are hereditary – but given what the Ultimate 5 are seemingly capable of, it certainly tickles one’s curiosity about their leader. What is clear is that Touichirou is pretty psychotic – his attitude towards world domination is about as close to pure megalomania as you’re going to see. His rule is simple – never give a damn about what others think or feel, only yourself. He calls it “undying positivity” and says “everything will work out as long as I believe in myself”, but make no mistake – this guy is seriously fucked up.

Meanwhile, Mob is still out cold, clearly having expended a serious amount of psychic energy during those moments when he believed his family was dead. And without Mob, Reigen – who’s following the events in Seasoning City on TV – is disinclined to engage the enemy. This proves rather a disappointment to Scar, who came to him to lead them out of the wilderness, but Reigen has no interest in taking on a fight he can’t win. That is, until he gets a call from his insurance company (I guess adjustors don’t take breaks even when cities are attacked by psycho-terrorists) and decides he needs to drag the guy who burned his office down to his insurance office in order to get his settlement.

Again, we see the essential paradox of Reigen. He seems cowardly and even craven, only too willing to sit idly by as the city suffers, and his motivation for changing his mind is as selfish as it gets. But once engaged he has the ability to see the big picture and plot strategy that no one else on his team has. He also has a responsibility to protect Mob, which butts up against the idea that he stays behind in the hideout while the others go off to try and infiltrate Tokyo Cultural Tower for reasons of self-preservation. That becomes moot, though, when one of Touchirou’s squads from Claw shows up at the hideout.

Thanks to Reigen’s curse spray most of these zaku aren’t much of a threat, but it’s this monster that’s the problem. Ekubo makes note of Reigen’s ridiculous luck, and there are times (like this one) when I do start to wonder – like tripping over an unconscious enemy and avoiding “Psychic Steroid’s” punch while opening an escape route at the same time? When push comes to shove Dimple is still forced to possess the unconscious Mob, which he doesn’t hesitate to do in the heat of the moment, and he flees the hideout with the hulk in hot pursuit.

It occurs to me that the citizens of Seasoning City (including Tsubomi) don’t quite grasp just how screwed they may potentially be here, but be that as it may Ekubo is unable to shake his pursuer – who eventually punches Mob so hard he knocks Dimple right out of him. The highlight of this sequence (and probably the episode) is when the Body Improvement Club get drawn into the fight after catching the falling Mob (who I guess has Reigen’s luck, too), and the Prez takes on Psychic Steroid in an alley. Nah, this part isn’t luck, it’s Mob making his own luck – gathering friends around him through the sheer force of his own decency. We get a chance to see what Dimple can do with a decent body to possess, and it’s an impressive display. When the hulk revives himself for one last attack Mob finally wakes up – and has no choice but to reveal his powers to the Body Improvement Club.

For now, though, this all seems to be building towards a showdown between Suzuki Touichirou and Suzuki Shou – Scar have tried Reigen’s plan and come up short, but Shou and Ritsu (despite losing Shou’s trio of seconds to one of the Ultimate 5) plow their way straight through to the base of the tower. We haven’t seen Touichirou show us even a hint of what he’s capable of, but could facing Shou be the impetus to finally get him to show his hand? I rather suspect not – not yet, anyway – as Touichirou seems to have total faith in the supremacy of the Ultimate 5 and somehow I suspect he’d consider it beneath him to fight his son.

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