Throughout The Series, We See That Teru Is Hypersensitive To Dangers And Quick To Resort To Violence,

Ramblings about Separate Ways Arc

I am rewatching Mob Psycho 100 with my fiancée right now and wow, Separate Ways Arc was tough before but rewatching it was way harder.

I didn't really like Reigen much on the first watch through haha Until the end of season 2 that is. I was 100% with Ritsu. I thought "This guy is an asshole, how can he use someone like Mob like that?? Fuck him, I don't like him." I hate seeing a character get used by another—it reminds me too much of myself. So I had a weird satisfaction with Reigen digging his hole the first time I watched, like a character getting what was coming to them.

I was happy to see Reigen get dragged through the mud.

But then, I got to know Reigen's character more as the series went on. And after rewatching the start of the season and getting to this point, I was picking up so much more of Reigen's unsaid feelings, about himself, about Mob. I was seeing the little insecurities more, in different ways he was animated (even when over the top), in his dialogue, in just the framing of shots. God damn this show and all the little things it sprinkles in to add clarity and color to a character.

What I didn't expect on this rewatch, was feeling so sad watching these two episodes. All of his over the top antics, everything just made me...

really really sad.

Knowing that we're going to go from here...

to here...

God I just, I really get why people like him so much haha The separation arc rings so much more beautifully after I know where we end up. Reigen fucked up. Reigen said some bad shit. Reigen hurt the people he cares about, but in the end, Reigen cares so much, and his failure is like beautiful little vignette.

Shigeo is still my favorite character, and I love his arc above all else. But I am falling in love with Reigen's growth this second time around.

Even the monster of the week episode at the start of season 2, where he starts to really think about Mob and what his needs are, I felt myself being pulled into his character more than ever before. He had to be thinking about all that stuff when he says those awful things to Mob. Deep down he knew that Mob was struggling and trying to change, and he both wanted to embrace that because he knows it's right but also fears it because he is lonely.

God damnit Reigen. You and your...Reigen-ness. Making me feel shit.

ALSO I have been meaning to do little posts/thoughts as I rewatch with my partner. The Mogami Arc needs it's own post too, same with season 1 haha But maybe I can just start here, I dunno.

(I actually gave my partner a trigger warning before going into Mogami arc which I am glad I did that one was hard for him to watch)

This is my favorite omake/4panel strip:

a) It canonically confirms Mob did not know Reigen was a fraud from the very beginning, but found out some other time (since here he thinks the smoke rings are a power)

b) Reigen as usual being a good dad person by deciding to quit something because he doesn’t want a kid around smoke (and then finding out a financial reason why this is a good idea)

c) Cute 11yo Mob thinking smoke rings are psychic power and being awed

Reigen Arataka ~

Looks like someone needs to call in "???" to school

reigen and manga translations: so what is the truth?

so for a while now i’ve been thinking about dialogue in the mob psycho 100 manga vs the anime. obviously it’s disappointing when something significant is changed or cut out, but in two specific cases, i couldn’t help but wonder if it was an actual dialogue change or just a mistranslation on the manga’s part, considering there’s basically only one online translation. one of the most important things to remember when it comes to consuming non-romance-language media is that our languages are fundamentally different in terms of structure and word meaning. there is never a true one-to-one translation and trying to do a literal translation is rarely a good idea. that means that in a lot of cases, the exact meaning can be up to interpretation. considering this, having only one translation means it’s only one person’s take. i find looking at these differences to be really interesting, so i went to reddit (i KNOW i know) to ask for help because i couldn’t find manga raws for these particular lines or any alternate translations (also i don’t know japanese lol). here’s what i found out (a HUGE thank you to reddit user NostalgiaWitch for all the info!):

scene 1: chapter 65.1/s2e5 - reigen and trust here’s a comparison:

pretty different, right? there’s a post from a little while ago i liked analyzing these differences; you can read it here. here’s what i found out on reddit:

so in this case, it’s really up to interpretation. the anime seems to go with the former, portraying reigen as disinterested in the situation, while the manga seems to frame it more as the latter, especially considering that later on, in the separation arc, reigen says that he doesn’t trust anyone but himself. personally i prefer the latter because it seems more in-character, but like i said, it’s up to interpretation.

scene 2: chapter 73/s2e7 - reigen and curiosity a side-by-side comparison:

these two translations are literal opposites. here’s what i found out on reddit:

in this case it’s definitely an error on the manga translator’s part (no shade to them though; they’ve done so much). in my opinion it has a huge impact on reigen’s whole mindset before starting his business. it wasn’t just boredom that drove him to make the change, it was that inner desire to be someone important bursting through. 

- reigen arataka, 2008 over time, he fell into depression and lost that drive. however we still see moments of that curiosity coming through sometimes, like in the urban legends mini-arc, when he’s suddenly super excited about the dragger:

he also has an innate compulsion to find out the truth and often does extensive research to help his clients (learning about farming, running background checks, etc.), so we can see how even if it lay dormant, that desire to do well and follow through kept him going, even through his complacency and depression.

wow i got ranty. anyway like i said i just find this sort of thing really interesting because by hearing multiple opinions you get to form your own conclusions. i hope people see this and are also inspired to look into these differences! again, a huge thanks to reddit user NostalgiaWitch.

Shigeo and Mob omitted scene dialogue translation

I felt like the way some of the dialogue in the MP100 manga during the Confession Arc “No one will save me” scene (not included in anime) was a little confusing, so I got my hands on the raws for that chapter and translated it from the Japanese to English to get a better feel for it.

Translation under the cut! (It’s long)

This scene happens in the manga directly before Reigen’s scenes start. It’s basically Shigeo’s internal dialogue that happens as Serizawa and Reigen are attempting to reach Shigeo using the umbrella as a shield. It’s also one of my top three scenes in the entire manga and I was crushed it wasn’t included in the anime.

But! The translated dialogue can be pretty confusing. The subject matter is already a bit abstract and nebulous, and it’s made even harder to fully grasp translated out of its original language. It’s the curse of translated media to always be slightly less clear than the source material. This is why I wanted to go and translate the Japanese myself.

The first page I translated is this one:

Below is the translated dialogue, separated by speech bubble, going right to left and top to bottom:

Mob: なぜこんなことを？— Why do something like this?

Shigeo: 僕のためだ。— For me.

Shigeo: やりたいことをやるためだ。— To do what I want to do.

Shigeo: 僕は僕のためにいる。— I am here for my own sake.

Shigeo: 僕には僕が必要なんだ。— I need myself.

Shigeo: 車にはねられたのを覚えているか？ — Do you remember being hit by a car?

Shigeo: そして身体だけじゃ動けなくなった。— After that, I couldn’t move with just my body.

Shigeo: だから意思で動くしかない。— So I had no choice but to move with my will.

Mob: 何を言っているんだ。お前は僕の意思じゃないよ。— What are you talking about? You’re not my will!

Shigeo: わかってないな。それが偽物だっていうんだ。— You don’t understand, do you? I’m saying that it’s not true.

Shigeo: ツボミちゃんに会いに行くための強い気持ちがあるだろう。— You have strong feelings about going to meet Tsubomi-chan, don’t you?

Shigeo: 僕にとってそれはとても大事なものだ。— To me, that is a very important thing.

Mob: そんなもの… こんなに人に迷惑かけてまですることじゃない。お前の考えは普通じゃないよ。— Something like that… isn’t worth making trouble for people like this. Your mindset isn’t normal!

Shigeo: 普通ってなんだ？またそうやって僕そのものを否定するのか？What’s “normal”? Are you going to keep denying me like that?

Shigeo: アンタはいつもそうやって納得したつもりになってた。— You were always pretending you understood like that.

Shigeo: そして割りを食うのはいつも僕だ。— And it was always me who scraped by as a percentage.

Shigeo: このままアンタが壊れて消えれば… — At this point, if you break apart and disappear…

Shigeo: もう僕は我慢しなくていい。— I won’t have to endure it anymore.

Shigeo: 僕の好きにやらせてもらう。— I will be able to do as I please. 

Mob: 自分勝手に力を速って… — Using my powers for selfish reasons…

Mob: 誰かに迷惑をかけることが「自由」なのか？— and making problems for everybody… Is that “freedom”?

Mob: 僕はそんなことを求めて生きてない！— That’s not what I want, or what I’m living for!

Shigeo: 誰かって誰た？誰に迷惑がかかるんだ? — Who is “everybody”? Who are you making trouble for?

Mob: え… — Uh…

Shigeo: 誰なんだよ。— Who??

Shigeo: その誰かが僕を幸せにしてくれるのか？— Will those people bring me happiness?

Shigeo: いつか助けてくれるのか？— Will they save me someday?

Shigeo: 思い出すんだ。Remember.

Shigeo: …いつも僕を助けてたのは…僕だろう。— …The one who always saved me… was me.

Shigeo: そんなこと… 利用されてたんだよ。— You always used me… for that sort of thing.

Shigeo: しかもそれをわかってて喜んでた。なぜ？— And yet, knowing that, you were pleased. Why?

Shigeo: 臆病だからだよ。自分の行動に…力に…責任を持ちたくないから… — Because you’re a coward. Because you don’t want to be responsible for your actions… your power…

Shigeo: だから他人のためにしか自分の力を使わない… — So you only use your power for the sake of others…

Shigeo: でも力を認めて受け入れてもらえるのは嬉しかった。なせ？— But you were happy that your powers were acknowledged and accepted. Why?

Shigeo: 力を使う僕こそ本当の僕だから。— Because the me that uses my powers is the real me.

Mob: 違う。力は関係ない。力がなくたって僕は僕だ。— That’s wrong. Power is irrelevant. Even without power, I am me.

Shigeo: 関係ある。力があってこその僕だ。— It is relevant. It’s precisely because of power that I am me.

Shigeo: 自分の本性を、裏を、半分を、隠して安心？— Does it give you peace of mind, hiding your true nature, your hidden side, half of yourself?

Shigeo: 嘘だな。— It’s a lie.

Shigeo: 自分に嘘をついたまま長いこと忘れちゃってたんだよ。— Telling yourself lies for such a long time like that, you ended up forgetting.

Shigeo: 部活に入って自分を変ようとしたけどそんなのは無理だ。— You tried to change yourself by joining your club, but that’s not possible.

Shigeo: 簡単に新しい自分を作ろうとしてるだけ。— You’re simply trying to fabricate a new self.

Shigeo: 一番難しい問題を先送りにして努力した元気になってるんだよ「モブ」は。— You tried to put off the most difficult problem by working out and getting fit, “Mob”.

Shigeo: ずーっと… 僕を見てなかった。— You didn’t look at me… for a very long time.

Mob: だって… もしこれが本当の僕の姿だっていうなら… — That’s because… if this is my true form…

Mob: 本当の僕になんて誰も近寄られない。誰も… — If this is the real me, no one will want to be near me. No one…

Mob: 誰も助けてくれない。そんなの嫌だ… — No one will save me. I hate it…

Shigeo: 本当は僕は誰も信用していない。まあ…律はわかってくれたみたいだけど。— The truth is, I don’t trust anyone. Well… Ritsu seemed to get it, though.

Shigeo: こうやって暴れる僕だって本当の僕だ。— The one violently raging like this is the true me.

Shigeo: まだ認めたくないの？— Don’t you want to admit it already?

Shigeo: まだ逃げるのか… — You’re still running away…

Shigeo: 本当に弱い… — You really are weak…

Shigeo: だから認めるんだ。これが僕だ。— Admit it. This is me.

Shigeo: 誰も助けてくれない。No one will save me.

Shigeo: それならそれでいい。それが僕だから。— If so, that’s fine. It’s me, after all.

Shigeo: 次に目覚めたときは僕は僕になってる。— When next I open my eyes, I will become me. 

Shigeo: さようなら、モブ。— Goodbye, Mob.

———-

Notes:

1) In the most widely-used scanlation, this line:

Shigeo: そして割りを食うのはいつも僕だ。— And it was always me who scraped by as a percentage.

is translated as:

Shigeo: “And it always put me at a disadvantage.”

It’s generally correct, but I think it loses some of the impact that the original, seemingly very intentional wording has. 割り means “percentage” or “proportion” in this sense, and 食う, though most widely used as a masculine slang word for “to eat”, has a secondary usage meaning “to survive/to make a living (through hardship)” My version of this line is not the most strictly dictionary-accurate one but I feel like it captures the feeling well, which is the point of translation when done well.

2) The line:

Mob: 誰も助けてくれない。そんなの嫌だ… — No one will save me. I hate it…

is translated in the scanlation as:

“No one will save me. I don’t want that…”

This is still technically correct, but I’ve always thought 「嫌」 to be a bit stronger than that. It’s most often used to express dislike of something, so it’s correct to say “I don’t like it…” but it’s also the kanji used in 嫌い (I hate…), and it makes more sense to me to think of it as “I hate it” because it also parallels Ritsu’s “嫌いだ/ I hate it” statement in his vs ??? sequence.

Anyway, sorry this was so long! I hope it makes sense. I feel like it cleared up a few of the murkier statements for me.

A list of interesting vocab used here, for Japanese language learners:

偽物　「にせもの」：(n) counterfeit, imitation, sham

迷惑をかける　「めいわく」：to cause trouble (for someone), to bother, to inconvenience

否定　「ひてい」：denial, disavowal, repudiation

我慢する　「がまん(する)」：to endure, to bear with (something)

臆病　「おくびょう」：cowardly, timid (kanji literally means “timidity sickness”)

近寄る　「ちかよる」：to approach, to draw near

暴れる　「あばれる」：to act violently, to rage, to be riotous

That one Series of Unfortunate Events quote

[ID: A Mob Psycho 100 comic. Muraki gestures to Sakurai, who's glaring and surrounded by an ominous red-black aura while holding up a sword, and says, "You must understand-- he had a terrible childhood." Mob stares at him, dead-eyed, and replies, "Yes, I understand. I'm having a terrible childhood right now." Reigen is lying twisted behind him in the Family Guy Death pose. End ID]

#tomeweek2023 Day 3: Birthday + Friends

come on tome. be cool

Ok so I just read your mp100 fanfic Faith and i know that it's an old fic (like 2016). But based on this fic and your perspective on mob and reigens relationship, do you think the mp100 ending and the reigen spinoff successfully ties up any loose ends and imbalances in their relationship?

I need to know bc the fic was so well done and i have to know what your perspective and thoughts are to the ending and mp100 in general now that it's finished. Ok sorry for asking so much!! Kudos for the fic btw!!

You read Faith? Man, that thing is old...

I do think the MP100 ending levels the playing field in a way that is appropriate, but I also feels like it does so by facilitating - um. Spoilers under the cut.

I actually think the MP100 ending is rather open-ended, but I also don't think that's a bad thing or unsatisfactory.

The MP100 manga ending facilitates their healthy separation.

Reigen telling Shigeo to his face about his biggest lie and insecurity - that he's a fraud - is the most important thing he could do. It doesn't even matter that Shigeo already knows he doesn't have psychic powers. It's that Reigen can admit it.

It gives Reigen a chance to say what has always been on his mind, gives Shigeo the chance to let him know that he admired qualities in Reigen that had nothing to do with psychic powers and that Reigen really did help him. Like, authentically, it did.

I don't know if you read all my BNHA meta as well, but if so, you'll know what I mean when I say that this moment is one of interpersonal intimacy where Reigen expresses his honne unobscured. In fact, I'm pretty sure that him taking off his shoes before running after Shigeo at ???% implies that he was ready to confront Shigeo even if it killed him. While this could be meant as something for the audience to perceive literally, you could also interpret this figuratively - that Reigen will be dead to Shigeo once he finds out.

Reigen is ready to admit the truth of himself to Shigeo and let Shigeo grow apart from him, which runs in stark contrast to the Separation arc - y'know, the one that ends with Reigen still unable to say the words "I am a fraud" to the general public or to Shigeo (and Dimple, who already knows) alone. It also signals to the reader (and potentially Shigeo) that Reigen doesn't need him (for emotional reasons) anymore. Reigen doesn't need to always call Shigeo every time he has a problem.

Why did Reigen choose to tell Shigeo a truth about himself during Shigeo's berserker psychic powers moment? I don't actually remember if he says it explicitly (it's been a while!), but it comes down to these two reasons, I think:

It's probably Reigen's last chance to tell him the truth.

It is the best way for Reigen to express that only Shigeo can stop himself. Nobody else can stop Shigeo from posing this kind of danger to others, and Reigen himself is there as a sign of trust as well as a stark illustration of what is on the line (Reigen's own life!)

It reinforces to Shigeo that he can connect with Reigen as a mundane kid rather than a kid with incredible psychic powers. He comes back to Reigen (and Dimple) after being rejected, cries like most people do, and is consoled like most people would hope to be. It is SUCH an ordinary exchange and I feel that is the point.

In some ways, the ending of MP100 enforces a boundary between them, as Reigen has his business and Shigeo has the rest of his life to live. But it isn't a bad boundary or unbreachable one. It's a more appropriate one that eliminates any codependency and insecurities they had in the past.

I hope that answers your question???

[id: part of the reigen spinoff manga. first panel shows roshuuto walking while on the phone with rusty-sama attached to his body. photos of jodo and his other connections are in the background. second panel shows only his phone and says "no one else would help me. all of my personal connections were for naught." end id]

something something uhh people need other people