Mob Psycho S1E11: "Master ~Leader~"

I just realized that we never learned who or what the "heinous aura" that last episode was named after was supposed to be. Down to a translation issue, maybe? I don't know. Anyway, here's the second to last MP100 episode in queue, and hopefully it'll start to give us a return to form. Or, at least, a turn away from the slog that these last couple episodes have been, whatever other direction it ends up going in.

Open on Arataka driving through the forest. Hah! Okay, last episode, when Mob was fighting the punchy lady, she mockingly pointed out that his cell phone was ringing. Anyway, that established that Mob still has his phone on him, which in turn foreshadows this new development.

Okay, hopefully this will make things more entertaining if nothing else.

I wonder how close the Division 7 base is to Mob's city, also. If it's close enough for a short, casual drive to get you there, then that suggests that the Claw might have one or more additional chapters just within Japan. Otherwise, it would be a pretty big coincidence. Not that big coincidences would be out of form in this show, of course, heh.

Turns out Arataka isn't driving himself, but taking a cab. For driving him out into the woods in the middle of the night, the cabbie charges him around nine thousand yen. Looking at the conversions that's...actually pretty decent, considering? Anyway, Arataka pays him with a bag of "magic" Himalayan salt, which the cabbie panics at the sight of for reasons that I don't grasp. There's some kind of joke here, but I think I might be missing the cultural context needed to get it. Afterward, Arataka gets out of the cab and follows Mob's GPS coordinates through the dark woods on foot. Roll OP.

I hope Arataka kill-steals the final boss.

...oh god, it's going to turn out that Ishiguro is literally nega-Arataka, isn't it? Total fraud who's convinced the entire Claw organization that he's a super powerful esper?

That would be great. I hope it's that.

We reopen on a flashback, seemingly a memory that Mob is reliving in his post-Chinzilla unconsciousness. Himself and Ritsu as children, walking through a sunlit forest carrying...either fishing equipment, or butterfly-catching equipment. I don't see any poles, so I'd assume the former, but the nets also seem to be accompanied by a tackle box, so I'm not sure.

They seem to have gotten themselves lost. Fortunately, Ritsu remembers something he learned in his science class, and uses the growth patterns of the moss on the trees to figure out which way is north and thus how to get them un-lost. Mob is amazed at his little brother's breadth of knowledge and resourcefulness, and eagerly follows him back to their family's campsite.

Then Mob wakes up, and finds himself in a dingy metal room with Ritsu and Teru standing over him.

They don't appear to be guarded. Hmm. More illusions? Claw doing something smart for once and using hallucinations of his friends and family? I doubt Chinzilla is already back in action, though, and I doubt they have another illusion specialist, so maybe not.

The two of them fuss over Mob until he gets to his feet. Teru, naturally, is interested in hearing how he lost, and who he lost to, but unfortunately Mob is having trouble remembering what happened right before he lost consciousness. Ritsu, on the other hand, is just overcome with worry. And with shame. Feeling responsible for everything that's happened so far.

When Mob gets up and hugs him, relieved to see him alright in turn even after the things Ritsu said to him earlier that day, he starts crying. Emotionally overwhelmed by Mob not even waiting for him to apologize before hugging him.

Mob's saintly patience has revealed its limitations (very, very strongly) in the last two episodes. And revealed that he might actually be pretty fucked up behind the curtain of that ethos. But, here, it shows its strength despite these things.

Be that as it may, though, the three of them are not in a great situation. The lack of restraints or guards turns out to be perfectly justified; they are in a fully-enclosed, cubicle cell, and none of their powers are working. Not even a single watt worth of telekinetic force, or but a flash of empathic sensation. The Claw does seem to be awfully good at nullifying psychic powers, even if their techniques for inducing them aren't much better than Richguy's. Much like the spray that Koyuma hit Mob with back in the alley, this anti-psionic containment cell is quite effective.

Heh, between this and the psilab full of pods, this base really is evoking Xcom HQ.

In the control room, Ishiguro is congratulating Glasses on the efficacy of his psi-prison. He definitely is the inventor of their group, it seems. Also, if these inventions are all HIS, specifically, and not stuff that the Claw issues to all of its chapters, then that has implications. Either there are other inventors like him at the other division bases scattered across the world, or Division 7 has a real game-changer in him that I'm surprised HQ hasn't confiscated yet. Anyway, things get less lovey-dovey when the Wunderkind says he wants to take these three captives to HQ; they're much too powerful for a podunk local chapter to keep safely contained and indoctrinated without ruining them.

Glasses gets pissy at him, and he gets even pissier back.

Yeah. The only way the Claw will ever actually conquer the world is if one of them kills all the others and then does the conquest on their own.

And, from there, we cut to Arataka approaching the base alone, on foot, and with zero attempts at stealth. He has no idea what this place is. He has no idea who these people are. He just thinks it's some weird convention center or something that Mob went to an event at.

...you know, it was kind of silly of them to set up psionic containment chambers but NOT create a radio signal deadzone, lol.

Anyway, when Arataka approaches, a bunch of the Awakened (or are these just nonpsychic mooks?) are standing guard outside. Many more of them than there were when Mob and Teru first arrived; they're on high alert now, and also I suspect that a lot of the grunts just want to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the prisoners. When they see him, approaching with a confident demeanor and only mildly preturbed expression, they naturally assume that he's connected to the recent intruders. And, unlike them, he's an adult. So, the guards are quite reasonably apprehensive, and visibly fearful when they demand to know who he is and what he's doing here.

Arataka feels around in his pocket for business cards to make the introductions easier (they momentarily think he's going for a gun, but then seem confused when he comes up emptyhanded), and then just tries asking them what's going on inside the building. They get more and more tense, suspecting more strongly than ever that he's a grown up version of Mob and Teru. This feeling of theirs intensifies when he asks them if they're all psychic, and then just seems mildly frustrated when they won't give him a straight answer.

Then, Arataka expresses annoyance at his employees not keeping him appraised of what they're doing, and tells them that he needs to get inside and speak to his subordinate at once.

And that's when I realized the mistake they were ACTUALLY making, here. It's not the one I thought they were making. Remember, Ishiguro mentioned last episode that Claw Prime was about to come by and pay their cell a visit. None of these nooblets have ever seen Claw Prime before, and most of them are probably new enough recruits to not know what the protocol is for arrivals from HQ. And, there has been some recent chaos that Division 7's leader might well have tried to keep from Claw Prime to avoid making himself look bad, and that Claw Prime might have found out about regardless.

Everyone jumps back away from Arataka, babbling in fear. The leader of the group who had tried to physically intercept him drops to his knees, lowering his head to perfect blowjob height and begging for forgiveness, or at least mercy.

Oh my god he pulled a Bavarian fire drill without even meaning to.

Yeah, okay, the show is DEFINITELY getting it's shit back in order now. This is the kind of thing the last few episodes have been sorely missing.

When Arataka looks at the grovelling man with clear concern, and tells the others to not just stand there, obviously he needs help, don't they at least have a break room or something they can bring him to, they are all...ecstatic. See, all this time, their experience of the Claw has been one of constant bullying, brutality, and kicking down. These grunts are only motivated by either a pie-in-the-sky dream of getting to wear the jackboot themselves one day, or just desperation to not be all the way at the bottom when the esper-ocracy inevitably comes. They don't LIKE being where they are. They don't even especially like the Claw as an organization. It's just greed and/or fear making them put up with it.

At the same time though, they've ALSO only ever been exposed to Division 7; one cell within the Claw's international network.

What if the Claw ISN'T actually such a nightmare to be in, as a rule? What if Ishiguro is just a psychopath who's been surrounding himself with thugs and mismanaging Division 7 into the ground completely on his own corrupt initiative?

Reaching a rapid, half-unspoken consensus, the guards gather around Arataka and cheer, welcoming him warmly and ushering him into the base. Finally, the Good Czar has come to set things right.

...

If Arataka actually does manage to accidentally inspire a coup and turn Division 7 into a rogue cell with a more egalitarian ethos without realizing it, then this might be the best episode of the entire series.

Granted, the real Claw Prime will be showing up eventually. But anything could happen before then.

...

One of the guards runs to the executive office, and informs Ishiguro that Claw Prime is here and wishes to speak with him at once. Ishiguro is surprised to hear this, since he was told Claw Prime would arrive early next month. It's hard to tell if he's scared or suspicious, though; his voice gets quieter, but that gas mask hides his face and muffles his tone. So, he's either panicking at the thought of a surprise inspection when they just got their base all fucked up by a couple of kids and haven't had time to fix everything up again, or he already suspects an imposter and is making plans to deal with him; could be either.

Anyway, cut back to Arataka being escorted into the building. As they move through the main hallway, he happens to catch a glimpse of one of the escapees peeking out from around a corner before darting back into hiding; the guards are all too busy fawning over Arataka to notice it themselves. Arataka asks them why there is someone sneaking through the halls and trying to hide from them, and immediately they all panic. No matter how much more forgiving Claw Prime is than their regional leader, this isn't the kind of thing any aspiring conqueror would tolerate. Since Ritsu is no longer among them, the escapees don't have any powers that would let them cover a retreat, so they're quickly caught and surrounded.

The mooks beg Arataka's forgiveness, and assure him that these kinds of escapes are not a routine occurance. Starting to realize what he's stumbled into, and the role that he's stumbled into playing, Arataka subtly shifts his demeanour to take on a more commanding - yet still casual, not too obviously distinct from his usual persona that he'd been in before - aspect.

...

Heh. On one hand, it might have been funnier if he went through the whole rescue without realizing what he was doing. On the other, I feel like it would take a lot of contrivance to keep him from picking up on it without also making him carry an idiot ball that doesn't suit him, so I guess this was probably the better writing choice all things considered.

...

Arataka admonishes the mooks to stop being so rough with these kids, it's not like they're going to try to fight or run at this point now that they're surrounded by (mostly young, but still) adults, and downplays his own importance to the captives (which the mooks take as some masterful psychological manipulation, and a welcome break from the insecure blustering of the cell's leadership who can never stop bragging and imposing for long enough to do something like this). Once the kids have calmed down a little he asks them for their story, and they tell him that they've been captured and terrorized, seemingly in the attempt to coerce them to join the organization, but they barely even understand what it is or why it wants them. One of their number are still being held captive. Arataka then turns back around at the guards, and leans harder into the Claw Prime role, demanding an explanation for this unneccessary barbarism. When the mooks try pulling the Nuremburg Defence, Arataka glowers in rage and demands to know how they DARE blame the middle management for their own actions. What use are a bunch of mindless, spineless worms to the organization, anyway?

Even if they were to rise to the top by behaving like worms, they'll look beneath themselves and see worms piled up all the way down. Who wants to sit on a throne of worms?

They are all, he says, failures to live up to the ideals and vision he wanted them tom embody. Go and self-reflect for a while before trying to contribute any further to the cause.

The irony, of course, is that he's also being a total hypocrite. He wants to keep Mob mindlessly obedient, discourage him from asking questions, and have him keep making Arataka money while getting next to nothing out of it himself.

It makes me wonder if Arataka might actually be channelling his own guilty conscience to play this role. I imagine he can't have too MUCH of a conscience, what with his insistence on being a conman when he has so many skills he could use to make an honest living, but the criticisms he's making are so pointedly SELF criticism that I don't see how he could be unaware of what he's doing here.

In that light, it's also a bit uncomfortable that he's bitching out the mooks for obeying masters like himself. Almost like projecting his own misdeeds onto people like Mob, which...well, taking out his disgust at his own treatment of Mob ON Mob is definitely a reading of some of his earlier scenes that works.

Arataka decides that he wants to see the other captives, who are still imprisoned, before he speaks to the division leader. The mooks fearfully, shamefacedly lead him to the prison. Looks like Arataka figured out where Mob is, not that it would have been hard to work out with the information he's been given.

Meanwhile, in the psi-containment cell, Ritsu with his high intelligence and resourcefulness that Mob has so much faith in decides that they might as well calm down and wait for now. Without their powers, there's not much they can do to escape. So, he says, it's best to just cooperate with their captors for now, and wait for their chance; a single moment of freedom or a tiny bit of information about how the psi-dampening tech works is all they'll need for Mob to blow the thing up. Once that trump card has been removed from the deck, and they know what tricks and powers to expect from each of the Scars, Ritsu is reasonably sure they can deal with Division 7 in a direct confrontation. Especially, as Teru points out, if Mob goes all out from the beginning and stops trying to do ridiculous things like "not hitting girls." He has a point.

Then, Arataka enters the prison with the crowd of shamefaced mooks behind him. There are a few ways Arataka could try to play this part, and in the end it looks like he decides to take the route that requires the least play-acting on Mob's own part. Probably a good choice; Mob can be a bit slow on the uptake, especially in social situations. So, Arataka adresses him by nickname, and even recognizes his brother out loud too (they've had some brief meetings, I imagine).

He doesn't recognize Teru, of course; I don't think Mob ever even told them about each other.

The mooks are having an existential panic as they realize that the psychic kids they just fought and (at great pain and expense) captured were some kind of special apprentices of Claw Prime, doubtless sent to test them or do a secret inspection or the like. No wonder they were so powerful!

Amusingly, Teru is also having an existential panic as he realizes that Mob was a personal protege of Claw Prime this entire time. No wonder he's so powerful!

A little bit more posturing and performance, and Arataka gets the three out of their cell and starts walking them out of the base, still tailed by the crowd of worshipful grunts. Huh...I just realized the other, barely-psychic, kids disappeared between scene cuts. I guess Arataka already had them escorted out of the base and released? Not sure how far they'll be able to get on foot, if so, but it's at least a little closer to safety than they were before. Well, wherever Richguy's pet projects are, Arataka is leading the three boys out. The mooks ask Arataka if he's sure he doesn't want to talk to Division Leader Ishiguro before doing this, just to clarify things for the local management. Implicitly, they're also hoping he's going to take Ishiguro to task for the way he's been running their chapter and the things he's been ordering them to do. Arataka starts to bullshit up a convincing-sounding explanation, but just then they run into trouble.

Looks like Ishiguro wasn't going to just sit in his office and wait to be called on, regardless of whether or not he suspected trickery. At any rate, now that he sees the interloper up close and in person, Reigen Arataka is very, very recognizable as "not Claw Prime."

Also, it wasn't clear until now because of the dark environments and odd angles we've usually seen him in, but Ishiguro looks like he might actually be a child himself. He's probably no taller than Mob. It's hard to tell his proportions with that trenchcoat and mask, though. He could be a kid, but it also could be dwarfism. Or the aftermath of a psychic size-changing experiment gone wrong, I guess, that's the kind of thing that might have happened in this show's backstory lol.

Well, when called out as an imposter, Arataka quickly changes tac. He's now Reigen Arataka, the mightiest esper of his generation, who has used his powers to effortlessly penetrate the Claw's base and bend its own rank-and-file to his will because it dared harrass his protege.

The mooks are not sure what they should be feeling or even thinking now, much less doing.

On one hand, if he's not who he says he was, he's obviously an enemy. On the other hand, they might have already fucked up badly enough that fleeing might be a safer option than letting Ishiguro punish them for being so easily fooled. And, on a physiologically anomalous third hand, Arataka has demonstrated that there are extremely powerful espers in the world with networks and organizations of their own who don't operate the way the Claw does. So, for the opportunists among them it might appear that the Claw isn't actually a road to wearing the jackboot if it shares the world with such powerful competitors, and for the fearful among them it looks like submission to the Claw might not be the best or only way to survive in a world that has less evil espers in it.

Meanwhile, Ishiguro says that he's amused by Arataka's nerve, and respectful of the power that Ishiguro thinks he's demonstrated. However, he still can't let actions like this go unpunished. Arataka just snorts at that, and says that he doesn't even need magic to beat up a literal dwarf like him. When a massive TK-blast comes at him and Mob has to hastily block it (while warning Arataka that his unrivalled power over spirits might not be of much use in this situation; after all, Arataka has always told him that his powers are "spiritual" rather than psionic, which is why Mob can never sense an psi-aura coming from him :V ). Arataka seems confused. As if he doesn't understand what just happened.

...oh. I see. He assumed Ishiguro was just another cult leader with a psychic powers grift, not too different from previous antagonists or from Arataka himself. Hah, damn, he really didn't realize how much he's been playing with fire in this rescue mission.

Three and a half thousand words, and just about halfway into the episode. Looks like I'll be splitting this one again. So far, this episode has been a welcome return to form while still continuing the Claw subplot.