Thanks, Ritsu!

Okay to elaborate on that last tag rant:

When Reigen tells Serizawa to get him as close to Mob as possible, he doesn’t know what he’s going to do when he gets there. This isn’t surprising. Reigen very seldom knows what he’s going to do until he’s actually doing it. He thrives under pressure. He’ll dance at the edge of a precipice and come out unscathed. He doesn’t need a plan! He’s been thrown into wilder situations before!

He doesn’t crucially, really understand what’s going on. He doesn’t know what the problem is. He knows that Mob’s involved, but he thinks he can fix it the same way he’s fixed things before: with some quick thinking and off-the-cuff advice and half-truths papered over with offers of ramen.

And then he sees Mob. (Check out the last post by @exilepurify for a fantastic analysis of this moment!) That’s when he realizes what Mob’s been dealing with and the scale of his struggles and the harm he’s capable of causing. And it’s also when Reigen realizes how much harm his lies have caused, because he promised to help but he didn’t, he couldn’t, he has no freaking idea how any of this works, but he let Mob believe him.

And after the moment of shocked, horrified realization, he knows what he has to say. And it says so much about Reigen that he’s right! He’s able to figure out what Mob needs! He’s able to pinpoint the thing that will undo this giant knot of insecurities at the center of Mob’s heart! He sees what looks like a monster inside his kid and he immediately understands!

(It’s because he sees a monster inside of himself, too.)

The thing that Reigen gets wrong is in thinking that once he makes his confession, that will be the end of his and Mob’s relationship. It makes sense that he’d assume that! He hurt this kid, and it would be totally justified for Mob to cut him off. But this isn’t that kind of story.

But while he’s running through the tornado, while he’s screaming for Mob to please listen to him, while he’s looking up at the sky and trembling, he’s steeling himself for this to be their final conversation. I’ve seen all the posts about the shoes, and while I’m not disputing a more literal interpretation, to me it feels much more like an acknowledgment of “There’s no coming back from this.” He can’t talk his way out. He can’t cover it up. He’s laying bare the worst parts of himself and ready to suffer the consequences. Whether Mob kills him or decides never to speak to him again almost doesn’t matter; they feel equally final and equally painful. But he doesn’t care, because his confession is what Mob needs.

Drawing details and background is actually pretty fun  _(:,3 」∠)_

to say the same thing that i've been saying for YEARS once again, mob and reigen's relationship is so bonkers crazy insane, like... here's mob, 14 years old, and reigen's been lying to him since he was 11. to reigen, it was a white lie, even a kindness. to mob, it was not so inconsequential -- it was proof that he was not alone in the world and that he could be okay as an adult. and of course mob believed him fully at first. why wouldn't he? but over the years, the cracks started to form. if things didn't quite add up, mob tried not to think about them. and reigen kept digging the hole deeper; he never thought it would go this far. now mob's 14 and the truth is seeping in around the edges of his consciousness but he refuses to speak it, even after the press conference, when reigen all but begs him to. reigen wants him to say it. i know you've been lying to me. just say it. but mob won't and reigen can't, and they settle back into this weird holding pattern for a while longer. when things finally bubble over for mob, this is at the heart of it. the repression, insecurity, anger, doubt -- mob learned a lot from his master, including: we don't talk about it. so reigen, finally, SHOUTING the truth at him -- it doesn't matter that mob already knew. there's power in the confession, reigen's humility to finally admit it, the vulnerability of saying it out loud instead of leaving it unspoken. it takes all the air out of the conflict, the tension almost immediately evaporates... mob just needed to hear it. to be shown that it was okay to be honest, vulnerable... then when he returns from his long-built-up confession to tsubomi, mob breaks down in tears but it doesn't destroy the city. he just cries and reigen awkwardly pats his back and it's okay.

anyway SCREAMS at the top of my lungs, i love mob psycho 100

3rd October memento

Throughtout the time Reigen knew Mob, he bought books so he could better understand him and be prepared to answer his questions/help him out(While maintaining the façade that he is the master in that field).

But it wasn’t only though books...

Reigen also trained his body so he could better understand/help Mob who was doing the same with the Body Improvment Club. Reigen maybe a con artist, but at the end of the day, he never wanted to be unable to answer one of Mob’s questions or be unable to offer him help because he knew Mob needed him and also that he thought the world of him. So much so in fact...

While it’s not exactly stated, but rather shown, Reigen is a smoker, something that he does his best to hide from Mob because he doesn’t want to instill such a habit to him. But despite the con man he is, and all of what I just mentioned

Reigen still wants Mob to be all he can be, his own man, away from Reigen.

Start your day right with my favorite shot of Tome Kurata from the Reigen manga.

my predictions for mob’s haircut, if he gets one

if u have some spare time and u don’t mind, I would love to see Roy actually well dressed for once. Maybe a tuxedo? Who knows?

listen…. I’m actually reeeeally fond of his black coat… it’s just…… so…… good

ground me ground you