Mob Psycho 100 has a lot of good episodes, and plenty of emotional beats along Mob's journey to self-betterment, self-acceptance, and happiness, but some episodes just hit harder than the rest. Everyone's mileage will vary, but Season 2, Episode 5, titled "Discord ~Choices~" might be one of the most important milestones of the series and a turning point in Mob's character arc.
Mob Psycho 100 II aired in the Winter of 2019, animated once again by Studio Bones and with returning director Yuzuru Tachikawa at the helm. Hakuyu Go directed the fifth episode, which even by this series' illustrious standards, is a visual feast, thanks not only to Go's own work on display but a distinct style and aspect ratio that set this chapter apart.
Season 1 & Self-Betterment
The entire series is very much about Shigeo "Mob" Kageyama's quest to be a better, more confident, and sociable person after having built up a complex about his psychic abilities. The first season especially hones in on Mob's desire to become someone not simply defined by his powers but as one who can be just like anyone else.
Mob constantly avoids conflict with other psychics until they give him no choice but to fight back. His choice to join the Body Improvement Club in order to get in better shape is a frequently cited moment that illustrates how inspiring this story can be. The show was about a protagonist who seeks to better himself, gaining a coterie of friends and followers along the way, both psychic and not.
But Season 2 moves the story forward in some major ways. New challenges arise and Mob's life becomes more chaotic. It's not just about his quest to change himself but how he can help others to do the same. It all starts when a rich CEO named Asagiri Masashi invites a veritable army of psychics to exorcise a spirit that has possessed his daughter, Minori.
Enter, Keiji Mogami
She's the same age as Mob, but lurking within her is the frightening and powerful spirit of one named Keiji Mogami, a long-dead psychic of extraordinary power. In life, he wished to absorb spirits to gain power with the intent of abandoning his body and enacting revenge on an uncaring world. Now he's possessed Minori and isn't averse to harming her body in the process, which infuriates Mob.
Episode 4 sees the numerous psychics trying their hand at confronting Mogami, but barely any of them stand a chance. Even Mob admits that Mogami is more powerful than him and the presentation really sells that sense of dread. But despite the challenges, Mob eventually comes up with a plan to enter Mogami's mind and destroy him from there. There's just one problem: it was a trap.
A World Without Kindness
Episode 5 follows Mob through a mirror world to his own, where the people and places resemble things as they were, but with Mob's formative circumstances changed. He has no powers, but he also is robbed of the kindness that he received from others. The episode can be hard to watch at times because of the bullying that Mob is subjected to, not just from the other students, but also from Minori, who is sinisterly implanted into this simulation.
Neither Mob nor Minori realizes they are in a fake world, meaning that they are acting naturally and of their own accord, going through their day-to-day. As such, the viewer comes to feel hatred and anger toward Minori - the very girl whom Mob spent the whole last episode trying to save - because she instigates a lot of the bullying. She's a popular rich girl who immediately takes advantage of a student who has already been deemed an outcast.
Mogami's intention with this fake world is layered in its cruelty for how it cuts to the core of the show's themes and challenges them fundamentally. He wants to break Mob by convincing him that the only reason that he is a good person is that he was fortunate to have good people around him. To Mogami, Mob's desire to refrain from using his powers is privileged.
If he wasn't so fortunate and blessed with kindness, the thought of avoiding using his powers would have never occurred to him. Mob's powers eventually awaken only when Mogami lets them, and he instantly gives in to anger, taking his revenge and making Minori apologize. And what makes this episode so fascinating is that Mob doesn't necessarily disagree with the villain.
Mogami Was Right?
Mob only snaps out of it when Dimple breaks into the fake world and snaps him out of it, bringing back his memories. This moment comes as a relief, but doesn't this appear to validate Mogami's philosophy that his positive qualities are the result of his good fortune rather than any innate goodness? In a way, it does, but it also doesn't really matter.
Having reclaimed his memories, Mob is only more thankful for his old life and the people who have surrounded him. He has no reason to deny how privileged he's been compared to others who have been subjected to considerably harsher circumstances. Anyone can dwell on what might have been, but no one can change what was. For Mob, he's learned that if he can change thanks to others, then he can help others change in return.
It's more or less what he's already done across the series, but now he's fully embraced the power he has to make a positive impact. It's a classic "with great power comes great responsibility" kind of moral that's also about acknowledging one's privilege. But more than anything, it's about empathy and believing that anyone is capable of great change.
What Comes Next
The entire episode could be described as "heavy" for far more than just its story. Visually, the animation never relents, and the character acting looks and feels realistic, emphasizing Mob's lack of powers and making every subtle twitch stand out. In less realistic moments, the frequent abstraction creates awe-inspiring moments that are well-directed and easy to read, even as bursts of light and psychic energy fill the screen.
In the end, Mob wins, but the episode doesn't leave us without lingering on the aftermath. Minori wakes up and speaks as herself for the first time, but she has to reconcile with what she's done to Mob in that other world. Two people who were strangers have suddenly developed an entire history, and it's not pretty.
She's shocked, traumatized, and almost tries to brush off what happened with a half-assed apology before breaking down in tears and genuinely apologizing. Yet, despite everything she said and did of her own accord, with minimal meddling to her personality, Mob still forgives her, keeping true to his beliefs, and is even thankful that he met her.
For all the absurdity and comedic charm in Mob Psycho 100, the reason that people fall in love with it is because of unexpectedly quiet, sincere, and utterly human moments like these. In a series full of those moments, Season 2, Episode 5 might just be one of many, but something about it felt different then, and still feels powerful after the series has ended.