Warning: Spoilers for Mob Psycho 100 Season 3, Episode 9The final season of Mob Psycho 100 has been a wild ride, but as the last arc of the series begins, Mob is finding himself dealing with some more grounded problems that culminate in tragedy.
The season has seen a giant stalk of broccoli worshiped as a divine tree, the rise and fall of a cult that gained a life of its own, and the introduction of aliens to the already crazy world of Mob Psycho 100. That's why, when this final arc began with news that Mob's childhood friend and long-time crush Tsubomi Takane was moving away, it seemed like a rather dramatic shift back towards the mundane.
When Mob learns of this fact, he begins asking his friends and those around him for advice as to how to approach her and reveal his feelings. It turns out Mob isn't the only one who has a crush on Tsubomi, however, and there's a literal line-up of boys all waiting to confess and be promptly dismissed. Tsubomi's friend encourages Mob to find a better way to confess than getting in line, and so Mob winds up giving her a call to set up a meeting. On the way, he stops to buy some flowers, but his promising day takes a sudden turn for the worse when he sees a child playing a video game walk into the street, about to be hit by a car. Mob pushes the child out of the way, but takes the brunt of the hit instead, and the episode ends with Mob lying on the street, bleeding out next to the disheveled bouquet.
Mob's Delicate Balance of Fantasy and Reality
One of the key aspects of Mob Psycho 100 as a series has been the fact that Mob, despite wielding such psychic power, really doesn't want anything to do with all the crazy supernatural goings-on of Seasoning City. Mob never uses his powers to get ahead in everyday situations, and often doesn't even really acknowledge them. But, whether he likes it or not, the fact of the matter is that his powers are a big part of who he is, and ignoring that fact is what has allowed for problems like Psycho Helmet to arise--Mob doesn't want to be seen as special, so he doesn't take credit for the things that he does, which leaves a power vacuum that those with ill intent have been readily able to exploit. Even here, had Mob used his psychic powers to stop the car instead (as he did for a cat earlier), he'd be totally fine, but in the heat of the moment, he doesn't even consider them.
Whatever the fallout of this tragic injury may be, Mob Psycho 100 is bridging that gap between the extraordinary and ordinary elements of Mob's life, and he's going to have to face the consequences of that.
New episodes of Mob Psycho 100 are currently streaming Wednesdays on Crunchyroll.