This episode made me tense. Not because I was anxious or anything, but because I actually felt sad the entire time. Dimple has become something of a close friend to Mob and to see them fighting like this because their ideals aren’t matching. It’s honestly quite tragic, especially with how angry and sad it made Mob. It’s sad because of how twisted Dimple’s idea of brainwashing is. Especially when he believes that there’s nothing wrong with it. Looking at it from a certain angle, it doesn’t seem like what he is doing isn’t wrong. Sure he didn’t change their personalities, but he is stripping people of their free will and having them live in an illusion of sorts. He didn’t give them a choice. They may act the same, but on the inside, they aren’t the same person. They’re fake and Mob knows it.
The reason why Mob isn’t happy about being adored by the masses because it’s forced. It isn’t genuine. Through out his journey, Mob has had to work his absolutely hardest to get anything and to be just handed something like this isn’t satisfying or fulfilling. So the fact that Dimple was tampering with everyone he cared about incited a lot of anger in him. It takes a lot to make Mob angry and boy be looking absolutely furious almost the entire episode. He probably sees this as a betrayal as well, which makes it even worse. Especially with how much Dimple had come through for him in his times of need back in season 2. When Dimple lays out his plans, they just feel so shortsighted. He isn’t actually looking at the bigger picture and is just so hung up on the idea of becoming god and the glory that comes with it. Not even caring that the brainwashing is forcing people into submission rather than them willingly looking up to him.
It’s honestly crazy and scary how powerful the brainwashing is from just ingesting it, touching it and even just being around people who have been influenced. It’s literally like you can’t escape becoming brainwashed. I was wondering how Reigen got caught up in the brainwashing even though he never ate anything. So I guess that answers that. And by being inside the Divine Tree for so long, it’s not surprising that Teru fell under Dimple’s influence as well. At first I thought he was okay, but the more he talked the more that I got the sense that he wasn’t himself anymore. Sigh… So much for him being able to help Mob during this situation… Mob really is all alone in this situation.
I had a feeling Mob would end up fighting alone, especially since it seemed to be foreshadowed with how everything would be alright if he and Serizawa were there. See? FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY! And then they rip the rug right out from under us. You can’t fool me, Mob Psycho 100. I’m onto you. In all seriousness, this is a terrible situation. Up to this point, Mob has had at least emotional help from those around him such as Reigen. Even in the fight with the Leader of Claw, he still had people there for him and was able to help snap him out of his emotions when he was losing himself. But now, he’s all alone with everyone who had supported him brainwashed.
It’s honestly really sad how on edge Mob looked the entire episode. You could tell he was straining to hold his emotions back. But it was pretty sad when Mob wondered why Dimple wouldn’t show himself because he was most likely scared of him. And boy did it hurt when it panned up to Mob crying. Mob has always been afraid of hurting those he cares about with his powers, like what happened with Ritsu. It must sting to have a close friend be afraid of him. Especially when there is a conflict of morals and interests.
I did find it interesting that they brought up the use of force against someone they don’t agree with. Which is something A LOT if not all anime protagonists tend to do in their respective series. And it does beg the question: Should you be using force against someone you don’t agree with? Especially since you’re forcing your will on others. And sometimes it is hard to tell if someone is truly in the wrong since they most likely have their own reasons. Differing opinions are not always black or white and I feel like this episode almost gaslit me into believing what Dimple is doing isn’t all that bad. It made me question, is Mob right to stop him when he’s technically not hurting anyone? But then it comes back to how important it is to have free will. To which, I think we all can agree that brainwashing the masses is something morally wrong. Mob even addresses it since Dimple can literally make them do anything he wishes. Something no one should have the power to do.
It was especially cruel for Dimple to bring up Tsubomi and how he would use her to stop Mob from defying him. Even going as far as to tell him that there was no way Tsubomi would ever reciprocate his feelings but if he joined him, he’d make it so that they ended up together. Which is all sorts of WRONG. If I was starting to question whether it was alright for Dimple to brainwash the masses, this scenario snapped me out of it. Since he’d be taking away Tsubomi’s right to choose whether or not she would like to be with Mob. And of course Mob is having NONE OF THAT. If Mob is to gain anything, it would be through his own work and merits. Not anything that was freely given to him. The only thing that was freely given to him was his psychic powers and for the longest time, he wasn’t happy with them and saw them as a burden. I think it’s safe to say that Mob is happier when he works towards something rather than it just be given to him.
I felt myself getting more and more tense the longer the episode went, but then I absolutely LOST IT when Mob just started slapping Dimple around and even started flinging him into the ground like he did in season 1. It almost felt as if he was telling Dimple to snap out of it in the most “friendly” way he could muster at that moment. Mob sure knows how to break the tension in these situations lol. Despite how angry Mob is at Dimple, he chose to slap him like a friend would to try and set another friend straight when they were doing something wrong instead of trying to wipe him out. Because we knew if Mob tried, he really could have just erased Dimple right then and there. Even Dimple still shows that he cares about Mob when it’s revealed that he was pulling his punches when attacking him. He was even scared for a moment when he accidentally hit him harder than he wanted to. The two still obviously care for one another, but the both of them are disregarding what the other truly wishes for. Thus the clash of mindsets.
And even at 99%, Mob is still willing to hear Dimple out. When Dimple says there’s nothing to talk about and that he was just trying to use him at the start, you can clearly tell that that’s not true. Sure it started out like that in the beginning, but over time, he really started to care for Mob. I am very curious at what Dimple is actually thinking. Especially what his true feelings on the matter are. Right now it just feels like he’s going through the motions of what he believes he should be doing, but not actually what he truly wants.
Dimple is definitely making a big mistake underestimating Mob’s power. He took all these precautionary measures to make sure that Mob’s power was drained enough so that he could eventually force him into submission. They definitely foreshadowed energy being drained away early on in the episode with the dead butterfly lying on the ground in the Divine Tree. And while it is true that Mob isn’t almighty and he has limits, pushing to said limits is when Mob becomes the most powerful. Dimple may believe he knows Mob more than anyone, but I don’t think he’s ever been present for when ???% comes out. Correct me if I’m wrong on that. I hope Mob isn’t pushed to that point, but Dimple could be getting a very rude wake up call if that is the case.
This episode was stressful seeing how Mob and Dimple are just unable to see eye-to-eye currently despite them both still caring about the other. Things definitely hit the fan this episode, but I feel like despite everything that happened, it hasn’t fully hit the fan yet. There’s definitely more to come, especially since Mob just reached 100% at the end. But which emotion will it bring about I wonder. A lot of things to think about from this episode and I still can’t believe I was almost tricked into thinking what Dimple was doing wasn’t as bad as Mob made it out to be. I definitely have to let this episode stew for me to get a bigger grasp on it since there were definitely a lot of things put into perspective. I love all of the foreshadowing and things that were built up in past seasons such as the power of belief and if there is enough, it can manifest into something just like the Dragger. But I knew the monkey shirt was going to come into play at some point… but I still don’t know how or even WHY XD. It certainly seemed to break the ice between Dimple and Mob though. So I guess I’ll just have to wait and see what happens next.
