Man, this last episode was so good. Easily the best looking episode since Fate/Apocrypha 22, which makes sense as I've read that was by the same episode director. Even the non-flashy shots in the first part looked so good, as did the character acting at the end of the episode. Bones really brought everything they have for this episode.
In terms of the pacing, as an anime only viewer, I actually appreciate that the first part was as short as it was. I was actually worried last week from the previews that they were going to drag it out for waaay too long, but in the end I shouldn't have doubted the anime team.
As for the reasoning why I feel that way, it probably needs some context first. First of all, bullying is bad, obviously. You'd think I wouldn't need to explicitly state this, but given some of the things I've seen on this board it probably needs stating. And it's also very bad in Japan. Like,
really bad. Suicide is the most common cause of death for Japanese kids (worldwide it's the third most common). Actual numbers for it vary by source, but some of them say it's the most common cause of death for children as young as
10 years old. Imagine a 10 year old kid losing all hope in life and seeing no other way forward. And while bullying isn't the only reason for this, there is a
strong statistical correlation between it and suicidal thoughts (this also extends worldwide, obviously). The true extent of it is kind of hard to measure, since most research done on it is kind of
flawed, but just one look at the correlation graph in the BBC and CNN articles should already show something is going on.
With that out of the way, I find the way most media treats bullying to be utter garbage. And anime or Japanese media in general is no exception. It's super common in anime, and is usually depicted as being not really harmful or even as being beneficial. I just played a Japanese/anime video game a week ago where a bully victim straight up thanked his bully for putting him in the hospital for 3 weeks. Like what? And none of the reviews I've read even mentioned this part. And this sort of sentiment is everywhere in anime, and usually gets brushed aside by some fans as just "kids being kids" or kids needing to "man up".
Now obviously, this isn't the case for Mob Psycho in the slightest. Mob Psycho is actually a good show. It's just me ranting about how bad most anime does it. But Mob does show the second problem I have with it: it runs the risk of feeling kind of exploitative. Of course watching someone get bullied makes you feel sad. How couldn't it. But it's just such a heavy, important, and very often ignored topic that I think using it for shock value is just plain irresponsible at best. Particularly when this very same issue is probably effecting a large portion of the viewer-base. Yes, Mob Psycho is a seinen manga, but it would be silly to suggest that kids aren't watching it. Even for example the two news articles linked above have a link to a suicide prevention phone line. And they aren't even close to what is portrayed here, even in its shorter form. It's just the responsible thing to do.
For this episode, I think it managed to find just the right balance of getting the point across without actually feeling too exploitative. But I'm not sure I would feel the same way if this was dragged on for longer. Yes, it wasn't used just for shock value, but also for character development. But in terms of the message and character development, I feel like it got its point across just fine. I already know how painful bullying is, and stretching it out for longer would add absolutely nothing to my understanding of Mob and the situation he finds himself in. All it would do is make me feel angry and sad. Especially if there was a week or more of waiting between the suffering and the catharsis (the fact that the episode ends on a positive note is actually very important to me). And while obviously getting an emotional response is something we should value in art, I just don't think there's that much merit to it in this case. As I said above, of course watching someone get bullied makes you feel sad.
One of the big things in the manga was that Mogami himself is not doing all this out of cruelty or malice but rather because this is what he feels is right, that people like Minori are not worth saving in his opinion. In Mob he sees a mirror of himself, someone with great potential who's being used by others all his life. He views Mob as doomed to follow the same path he once did and so tries to "help" him in the cruelest way possible. Yet the thing that this arc stresses is that what's truly different, what actually makes a difference, in Mogami's world is not that Mob doesn't have his powers but rather that Mob doesn't have people to support him. This all culminates in the scene when Mob himself states that his experiences in Mogami's world, despite all the pain and misery, have made him realize that above all else he is a lucky person to be blessed with such great and supportive people around him.
For example, I think the episode got most of this across just fine to me as an anime only watcher. Maybe not the whole "Mogami isn't actually cruel or malicious" bit, because that seems like trying to redeem him a bit too much. He came across as super cruel here, but also as a person who truly believes that cruelty is correct and the right thing to do. But I think that was the idea anyway, and I can understand why he feels that way, which is the important part. Everything else I feel like still worked fine. A lot of it also comes down to great direction. The scene with Mob in the river and his brother just walking by on the bridge is one such example: it got so much stuff across in just a couple of seconds. And I'm actually interested if this symbolism was present in the manga too, or if its something the anime added. And of course, the scene also immediatelly contrasted with the bullying scene in the previous (or was it some episodes back?) episode that played out similarly, but Mob got saved from it not by his psychic powers, but by the people that care about him. And not even his psychic brother, but by the totally human body improvement club.
But then again, I never was a person that actually enjoyed deliberately depressing, sad and painful media. I just don't see much point, to be honest.