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We are not born into this world knowing how to be a good person. It seems that a series of choices in life guide us to being good or bad, both to the world around us and to ourselves.
Mob Psycho 100 is an animated television show about middle schooler Shigeo “Mob” Kageyama as he attempts to navigate middle school, work, and growing up all while attempting to suppress his psychic abilities. His said psychic abilities are usually controllable until he reaches an emotional breaking point, in which he blacks out and lashes out. His emotions are measured as percentages and reach that breaking point once they reach 100%. He works under Reigen Arataka, a con man and fake psychic who often plays as Mob’s moral guide although he is a liar and a scammer.
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Mob struggles with the fact that he feels he cannot emote, as if he does it can only end in destruction and pain for those around him. Mob is scared of being a bad person and often follows the rules of his master Reigen: he must never use his powers against other people. Reigen compares his abilities to a knife, in which you cannot point them at other people. This simple philosophy guides Mob almost entirely. Early on in the series, this philosophy guides him to not fight back against another middle schooler with similar abilities, Teru. Mob is physically attacked by Teru and continues to refuse to fight back, as doing so would hurt him and make him a bad person. That is, he doesn’t fight back until Teru renders him unconscious. Upon seeing the damage that is left after he blacks out and loses control of his emotions, he cries, as he feels he has failed in bettering himself as a person.
This happens several times in the series in which Mob chooses to never fight back and ends up losing control and hurting someone around him, thus sending him into a downward moral spiral. And yet, despite his failures, he continues to try and be a good person in sparing those around him from his emotions. Not only this, but he tries to spread this philosophy to everyone who tries to go against him in a fight. He tries to spread the idea that there is no reason to hurt other people. He also sees the best in anyone, even those who are seemingly irredeemable.
For Mob, being a good person is not hurting other people and believing that deep down, everyone is good.
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Reigen, like I mentioned before, is a scam artist. His professional life is built wholly off of lies, and that seeps into his personal life as well. When Reigen is met with Mob, a kid who has no idea what to do with himself and his unusual abilities, he does his best to give him generic yet heartfelt advice about how to help him in his struggles. Mob comes back time and time again until Reigen decides to take him under his wing as an “apprentice”—a title that seems to really mean an underpaid employee. Reigen continues to convince even Mob that he has spiritual abilities in order to gain business and keep Mob’s trust. He uses Mob’s abilities for the benefit of his own business.
Despite using him for his abilities, Reigen deeply cares for Mob and tries to be a role model for him even through the lies. Even in moments when Reigen is doing something that is very clearly sketchy and untrustworthy, he makes sure to consistently tell Mob he is the “protagonist of his own life” and that “running away is okay sometimes” in moments when he needs to hear it most.
A liar through and through and yet, Reigen becomes a beacon of truth and morals for Mob in choosing to be truthful to him in how he should lead his own life. His life is his own, and Reigen makes it known to Mob as much as he can. Reigen is a selfish man and continues to choose to be a moral compass regardless of that.
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Reigen is not the only figure in this story who becomes a guiding light in morals and good behavior. Teru, the other psychic child I mentioned before, is also on the path to being a good person. When his character is introduced, his choices are all made for the benefit of himself, not caring about anything or anyone else along the way. He feels he is the only one like him, the strongest person in his world. Teru’s world is shaken when he meets Mob. After attempting to fight him to prove he is more powerful, he ends up choking Mob and knocking him unconscious, thus giving Mob the freedom to unleash his emotions and abilities entirely unfiltered and uncontrolled. Teru is instantly humbled and reflects.
He is really a regular person, after all.
Once he comes to this realization, Teru idolizes Mob. He chooses to look to Mob and mirror his philosophy of not using his abilities and emotions to hurt others. While Teru is not as loyal to the “don’t use your powers against other people” rule, he continues to choose to see Mob as what a person should strive to be like. Not only does he admire Mob’s moral code, he realizes that there are things in the world that are bigger than him. He chooses to live a less selfish life because of Mob.
Mob becomes a beacon for Teru, as well. In what Mob sees to be a failed attempt at being a good person, he changed Teru’s worldview. Teru chooses a life much like Mob’s: one in which his powers do not define him. Thus, Reigen’s ideals have bled out beyond just Mob.
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Teru is not the only character in Mob Psycho 100 that has his whole world changed by Mob’s own worldview. Ritsu, Mob’s younger brother, is at first envious of Mob and what he can do. He is also afraid of Mob and what he can do, despite Mob’s choice of refusing to hurt people. Ritsu knows firsthand what Mob is capable of, and yet he wants it for himself. Ritsu grows power hungry, a stressor that awakens abilities for him that ultimately lead to a downward spiral for him.
And yet, despite Ritsu hurting himself, others, and his own brother, he is struck when Mob decides to forgive him. Mob does not react with anger and, if anything, blames himself for what happened.
Stunned and changed, Ritsu’s worldview is shifted after his brother’s lack of anger towards him. He is no longer afraid of him or envious of him. He feels closer to him and also more accepting of himself. So, Ritsu also adopts some of Mob’s personal morals and chooses to no longer hurt others despite his ability to do so easily. Having the ability to hurt people doesn’t give you the right to do so, and Ritsu understands this now that Mob has shown him otherwise. He chooses to be what he sees as a good person based on what he has seen through his older brother.
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The choice Reigen made in choosing to give Mob life changing advice on how to be a good person to others spread as Mob made his way through the series. Mob, in refusing to fight back and in seeing the good in others no matter what, changed the lives of people who could have been on a much worse path. Even if Mob views his abilities as a burden or a hinderance and the fact that he cannot keep them under control as a failure, his choices—regardless of outcome—make those around him into better people. The words of a con artist ring throughout the ears of many as they try and understand their places in the world better. The domino effect begins with Reigen’s choice to tell Mob to simply be a good person and continues on as Mob chooses to spread this moral code to the major characters in this show.
Anyone has the ability to hurt other people. Anyone can lose their way. And yet, the choice to be a good person can be seen in anyone we meet.
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Of course, I have to end this piece by telling everyone to watch Mob Psycho 100. The animation is incredible, the characters are deep and complex, and the story is beautiful. It is my favorite show of all time. Mob is my favorite character in almost any piece of media ever, his story is deeply relatable and wonderful to watch.
“You are the protagonist of your own life.”
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Featured image and all images used in this article credited to Mob Psycho 100 and Studio Bones.
