Reigen Arataka is the GOAT (and also a fraud but whatever)

 

For this assignment, I rewatched my favorite episode (Season 1, episode 12) from my second favorite anime, Mob Psycho 100. In this absolutely peak episode, Mob (the incredibly powerful psychic protagonist), Reigen Arataka (his fake psychic mentor), and a band of other psychics work together to take down the Claw 7th Division (a group of psychics who wish to take over the world and rule over non-psychics), who kidnapped Mob’s brother, Ritsu. After defeating Claw’s lackeys, the group of psychics (plus Reigen) meet the heads of the Division and Mob prepares to fight them. However, Reigen steps in and refuses to let Mob fight, since Mob is only a child and shouldn't have to deal with that burden, especially since Reigen taught him that his powers shouldn’t be used to harm others. The relief Mob feels after Reigen takes responsibility for their safety is so great that Mob temporarily transfers all his power to Reigen, who easily defeats Claw. Reigen not only defeats the members, but he also humbles them and makes them realize they’re all just humans and aren’t superior to others just because they have powers. This is my favorite episode because of the great animation, killer fight scenes, the comedy that comes from Reigen (a completely powerless fraud) defeating this powerful group, and the amazing message that children should be protected and the adults around them should shoulder the burden of most responsibilities. This message is especially refreshing in anime, since so many protagonist are young children who constantly have to fight powerful foes with no support from any adult figure, and in a lot of cases are even child soldiers. Reigen is also just a really funny character and the way he brings the characters back to reality, while teaching them their powers don’t make them special and should never be used to harm others is hilarious (the villains are also all rehabilitated after the fight and work regular jobs lol). The episode does an amazing job of highlighting Mob Psycho 100’s major theme: No one is special. We are all human beings with both strengths and weaknesses and our strengths don’t make us superior beings and our weaknesses don’t make us inferior. 10/10 episode. Absolute peak.