No no no.. NO NO NO NO NO! They didn’t… THEY DID NOT JUST FREAKING…?! As you can tell, I AM FREAKING OUT. They’re not dead, right? They CAN’T be dead? Right…? inhales Okay… let’s talk about the beginning of the episode first… and then I’ll explode into confused ball of emotional agony.
The entire episode was literally a build up to those last few minutes. It was so well crafted that I thought “Oh, Mob is just going to confess to Tsubomi by the end. Considering the previews.” So here I was just giggling and having a good time, enjoying the slice of life type of stuff that was going on. I truly believed we were set to go into the Psycho Helmet cult arc since the series would never let us forget them. Always reminding us that they were still there. Especially now that Asagiri’s dad donated a whole bunch of money to their cause…
The majority of the episode was innocent enough with Mob training to try and place in the top 10 of the school marathon so he can confess to Tsubomi. Which is quite the feat considering how terrible we all know Mob’s stamina and athletic ability are. HOWEVER, this precious boy’s attempts did show eventual progress. We’ve been seeing Mob’s athletic progress sprinkled throughout the episodes. Like how he’s able to do at least 35 pushups, which I still find impressive and he’s able to keep up with the jogging of the others and isn’t falling behind as severely. Not to mention he’s not as out of breath so quickly. He’s been working so hard and it’s nice to see so many of the others try and support him. The Telepathy club tried to give some helpful advice to Mob and Onigawara gave him some encouragement to go for it while also giving him a pair of running shoes that he accidentally got in the wrong size.
Reigen also jumped at the chance to help Mob, showing off his character development from the last arc. Even claiming how Mob doesn’t have to come to work for a while as he trains and that he won’t be getting customers for a while. Which is a freaking LIE since we actually see that he has almost one customer booked per day on his schedule. He even started running with Mob to help him get into shape (despite not being in shape himself lol).
I found it hilarious how Ritsu doesn’t really like Tsubomi that much because he remembered her just freaking dipping in the middle of their hide and seek game. (Precious Mob looking freaking adorable the entire time~) I agree with you Ritsu, Tsubomi isn’t good enough for your brother. HE DESERVES BETTER. But man, Tsubomi seems to get bored with things pretty easily considering the flashbacks we’ve seen of her… Yeah, Mob you can do so much better. There are at least two girls from this season that think you’re amazing. Though I definitely prefer one leagues above the other. Just saying.
Speaking of which, Tsubomi and one of her friends ends up going for Reigen for love advice while Ritsu and surprisingly enough Teru are filling in for Mob as he trains. But man, I think Ritsu is growing on me because of how much he cares for his brother as he IMMEDIATELY hides when Tsubomi shows up, not wanting her to see Mob’s ties to a shady place. He’s become such a doting younger brother, it’s actually really hilarious and endearing. Especially when he starts cursing at Reigen mentally to stop dropping hints to his connection to Mob. And then proceeds to sob over Mob’s loss when Tsubomi says she likes someone from a different school. Poor boy is just writhing in emotional agony while Teru just watches him.
Though as it turns out, Tsubomi is a bit more level headed than I gave her credit for. Initially I thought she was just some air headed beauty. Not only had she gone with her friend to make sure she didn’t get scammed, but she made up a lie to test to see if Reigen was genuine or not. Not to mention she actually caught sight of Mob with Reigen amongst all the pictures on Reigen’s wall. Which probably convinced her that Reigen was somewhat trustworthy if Mob was okay with him. Guess you missed a piece of evidence there, Ritsu.
On the day of the school marathon, Mob ends up taking a pretty nasty fall early on and scrapes his knee. It looked pretty painful but he kept running, determined to see his goal through to the end. Refusing to accept help from Dimple. It was heartwarming to see his parents cheer him on, proud of his determination despite his injury and lack of athletic prowess compared to the other boys. But man, Mob really has come a long way by coming from 191 to 74th in the marathon. While it may not be top 10, that is still a considerable amount of progress especially when he even started limping while running.
Unfortunately, poor boy pushed himself too hard and ended up passing out before he could finish. Which is sad considering he worked so hard but probably for the best because then he didn’t have to deal with those cult followers who were lying in wait for him at the finish line. Thinking back on it, I kind of have to laugh because Mob’s parents knew it’d be better to wait for him somewhere in the middle rather than at the finish line. They definitely know their son.
…And then it happens. While Mob’s mom works on cooking a celebration dinner for the boys, someone rings the doorbell. For one very brief moment, I thought it was Tsubomi at the door. We all thought Mob would get the chance to confess or talk to her. But when I noticed the lighting, the shot composition and the music fading away… I realized I had forgotten that a certain character was supposed to appear due to the preview of last week’s episode. The shaky camera when Shou pushes the door open gave the scene a very uneasy and ominous feeling. And dread immediately just sank into my stomach when that eerie music came in. ESPECIALLY that final look he gave to Ritsu when he realizes his parents are also there. NGHHHHHH!
I can’t even imagine what Mob is going through, coming home to see it in flames. Not knowing if his family is still inside or are safe. As he walks into the flames to check for his family, he very calmly talks himself what could have happened, desperately trying to keep himself calm so that his emotions don’t fly out of control. He knows that his parents and Ritsu wouldn’t have let a fire like this consume the house if this were a normal accident. He even reassured himself that it didn’t matter if the house was burning, they could start over AS LONG AS THEY WERE TOGETHER… During that scene when Mob opened that final door, you can just feel the dread just drop from the music cutting out the way that it did, the slow motion of the door opening and Mob’s horrified inhale. And just hearing Dimple’s terrified cries, desperately telling Mob not to look along with quick cuts from Mob’s face to the figures in the fire just made this scene incredibly mortifying. This whole final scene was just so well done and it was SO CRUEL of Bones to just cut it off there.
I was such an emotional wreck after that I had to go and watch Kaguya-sama again to pick myself back up. I nearly cried and settled to just shouting out in agony because THIS IS WHAT THIS SERIES HAS TURNED INTO. Pain and suffering the series. Like I said before, this episode was literally building up to this final moment. Showing Mob’s parents a lot more and how much they care for each other. And the thing I really liked about Mob’s parents was that they didn’t treat Mob differently just because he had psychic powers. They treated it as if it were just one of his quirks. They were the reason Mob was able to have a normal family life. Mob loved his family and to see them possibly burned to death… No… they can’t be dead. This show has yet to kill people off… they wouldn’t do this… right…? Ritsu is definitely slated to appear again so he must be okay. But his parents… One wouldn’t just kill them off like that… right? …RIGHT?
