And here I thought we were just getting an episode full of laughs and second-hand embarrassment. BOY WAS I WRONG. They definitely lured me into a false sense of security with all the silly antics Mob got involved in… only to throw such an unsettling curveball at the last second. The way this episode was set up reminded me of the time that Mob was training for a marathon only to end on his house burning down. Like, BRUH.
But before we get into the serious stuff can we just take a moment and talk about how FREAKING ADORABLY SWEET MOB IS??? T^T He was honestly incredibly smooth with how he was able to get Tsubomi out of that awkward situation with her friends. Not to mention even providing her with tissues. I think this was the first time we actually got to see Tsubomi and Mob interact in present time and just in a flashback. I’m still not particularly convinced of this ship, but I do admit that the moment they had was a sweet one. Though boy got WAY too excited over the casual promise of being able to chat with her again in the future. Oh my sweet summer child…
I think this is also the first time that we actually got to hear a little bit of Tsubomi’s thoughts and get into her headspace. Up until this point, she’s been kind of an enigma as we never got to know her personally and mostly through the words of other characters. So it was definitely nice to see her as a person first hand and not this unreachable vision of a person. It was actually interesting to see how she interacted with others. It definitely seems like she cares a lot about how others perceive her. Despite being friends with those two girls that Mob always visualizes as vegetables, it seemed like a surface level type of friendship. Especially since she felt like they would slander her if they saw her with a runny nose. She seems to put on this fake politeness around them but when interacting with Mob, she seems more relaxed and casual. Part of it may be because they’re childhood friends, but who knows. But I feel like it is an interesting to at least point out.
Oh my gosh, when did my boy become so popular with girls? XD I absolutely lost it when literally all of his other girl acquaintances started coming up to him one after the other after he had a small moment with Tsubomi. Embarrassingly enough, I got WAY too excited upon seeing Emi finally make a reappearance since the first episode of the second season. I literally screamed her name banged on my desk several times out of excitement. And yes, I still ship her with Mob lol. And also yes, I flipped out a little when she winked at him. Don’t judge me. While all those interactions were just on friendly terms, it was interesting to see that Mob has grown comfortable talking and interacting with girls now compared to how he was in the first season. Though those interactions definitely started getting to his head a little… Especially when he kept getting the wrong idea that the girls were noticing him when he was just around very popular guys.
But dear goodness… I CANNOT with his very masculine buttchin face. WHY HE LOOK AND TALKING LIKE THAT???? Oh he is 1000% getting ahead of himself. And I did feel a little annoyed at everyone for ENCOURAGING this. At first it seemed like Reigen saw what was up… only to get blinded by greed and business opportunities and encouraged him to become the founder of the Psycho Helmet Religion. And then Teru, who I wrongly assumed was a fashion icon also encouraged the thought that Mob was popular with the girls and then proceeds to get him the worst shirt I have seen. Y’ALL NEED TO STOP. Though I did have a good laugh when his mom even noticed that he was getting some attention from girls.
Despite all the laughs and me having to stop every other moment because I was either laughing or suffering from second-hand embarrassment, I was starting to get a little worried about how Mob would end up this episode. Since he was just riding higher and higher on his high horse, I was afraid of when and how he’d inevitably fall. And the start of it all most likely started happening when he was talking to Dimple. Dimple was probably the only one who actually straight up told him that the popularity that Mob was believing wasn’t real. And due to his newfound pride, Mob didn’t seem to take the statement very well and said some rather insensitive things to him in return. I know Mob didn’t mean any harm, but he definitely wasn’t thinking of Dimple’s feelings. Sure Dimple isn’t the BEST spirit around, but the two had developed an unexpected close bond with each other. And for Mob to dismiss a lot of Dimple’s feelings most likely hurt him. Both were only really thinking of themselves in that moment and couldn’t see eye-to-eye, which is definitely going to bite Mob in the rear in the coming episodes especially with how Dimple just left without a word.
Because of the great power people have been unknowingly been giving to the giant broccoli, a lot of groups have started taking notice of it and even wanting to be the founder of the new religion. And being the one who created the basis for this new religion, of course Dimple felt as if he should take part in it. Even going as far as to steal some of the energy the broccoli had been harvesting. However, things took an unsettling turn when a fake Mob seemingly created from roots proclaim that he is the rightful founder. Even at a distance, I could tell something was really creepy about this fake and when we got a close up, I was immediately disgusted by how the body looked. Thankfully I don’t have trypophobia, but if I keep staring at him, I might just end up developing it. So far, he just looks really gross and I would rather look at giga chad Mob instead even if it does give me second-hand embarrassment.
Even though this fake lacks the red cheeks that indicate Dimple’s possession, I feel like this must be him given the voice and how set he was about becoming the founder of this religion. Though considering this body seems to have been created from roots rather than an actual person, Dimple may be simply controlling a dummy rather than possessing someone.
I also noticed from the preview that the plants were withering and then on a second viewing, some of the trees in the park where Mob was were completely barren despite a lot of other trees full of leaves. Not to mention the fact that all the phone batteries seem to have lost power suspiciously fast. Which leads me to believe that the giant broccoli could be stealing energy from its surroundings, hence the dying plants and depleting phone charges. Let’s not also forget about all the roots that have been springing up all over town as well. The episode definitely leaves off on such an unsettling feeling where I couldn’t help but shudder. Especially when I started thinking what is stopping it from sapping people’s energies. To which I’m sure is the next step to this disaster.
This certainly went from 0 to creepy REAL FAST. I’m definitely worried about a lot of things, especially with how everything has been set up to this point. Serizawa and Mob are sure to get incapacitated at some point and Mob most likely will not be able to reach Dimple the same way he did with Claw’s leader since it seems as if he’s unintentionally burnt that bridge with him currently. Don’t you just love it when Mob lulls you into a false sense of security and then just rips the rug right under you? It definitely leaves you with a sense of foreboding and unsettled feelings. But I’m really interested to see how this all plays out and how Mob and company handles this new threat.
