Shigeo Kageyama (also referred to as Mob) can be considered remarkable with his psychic potential, but it’s equally fair to refer to him as an awkward, but kindhearted young man.Mob Psycho 100reminds the audience of this very fact every time Mob is on-screen, especially when put up against other Esper’s, or facing his personal struggles. At first, it can be surprising, considering his character is written to be simple as it is. Regardless of how much psychokinetic power Mob has, what truly makes him relatable is his empathy, the normal concerns and struggles that he frets over, and his motivations for wanting to improve.
Mob’s personality does come across as rather plain to many of his classmates, as well as almost of an airhead with an inability to read the atmosphere in any conversation. Mob also struggles with his physical body as well, considering he isn’t physically adept and has a weak body. Despite all that,Mob doesn’t forget his empathyor his struggles. Neither does he attempt to pass off his own issues onto somebody else, and instead attempts to improve himself every chance he gets within the story. Where exactly this happens and why is a varied question, but one thatMob Psycho 100answers.
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Self-Improvement
One admirable quality of Mob that makes him relatable happens to stem from his early days in grade school. Being a young kid with psychic powers is bound to turn heads and make you look cool for a while, and in most shows they would center the world around such abilities.
Mob isn’t so lucky, as his psychic powers became boring to his crush, Tsubame, and he found himself realizing he was slowing down andnot exactly a sociable person. This followed him up to his second year of middle school, where he couldn’t really answer most questions in class out of nervousness.
Mob also had an aversion to showing off his powers, leading him to join the Body Improvement Club over the Telepathy club because he hoped to improve his body. Despite all his personal self-perceived flaws, he is working hard to improve as a person. Often times taking effort to study, to train his body, and even attempts to reach out to those that are in need despite his cluelessness at times. He certainly isn’t sociable, and lacks common sense, butMob has exhibited a willingness to learnand ironically an understanding that power doesn’t matter if you aren’t a grounded person at heart. Of course, this does endear him to the audience, but what exactly about this makes it much easier to understand Mob as a character and relate to him as a living breathing person?
How One Can Relate
With all that being said, the reason Mob is relatable is that he worries not about the fate of the world, or even about using his powers to look cool. Despite his immense power andthe cataclysmic, almost world-changing eventshe finds himself in; Mob has always been more worried and focused on trying to improve his body, social skills, and courage when it comes to making friends with the people around him. People can relate to wanting to be popular because of our own improvements, but people also have had times when they were unhappy with their current selves and wanted to change for the better. Whether that be through exercise, studying, or learning to be more of a social butterfly; Mob presents his struggles unapologetically without any shame and attempts to improve himself regardless of his psychic powers.
Even when being thrust into battles where people’s lives are at stake, Mob’s focus as a person is typically on his own improvement despite the fact that he will eventually gain victory dueto the nature ofMob Psycho 100as a show. Despite all that, Mob’s greatest character trait is his empathy, which is what allowed him to connect and help his younger brother through a time of confusion and frustration. Mob could be considered by the audience as an interesting character, and that is not just because of his psychokinetic powers but because Mob is a human being with the same problems many of us face in our lives. In fact, another thing about Mob that is relatable is thathe oftentimes still needs the helpof good friends, mentors, and even a good influence or two. Reigen is a famous example, being his mentor in many ways that are all about growing individually rather than simply using powers. A mentor that Mob needs to set him on the right path, which many of the audience can understand. Many could have an adult they look up to, and improve themselves so that they can live up to that ideal version of themselves.
This makes Mob relatable, by being flawed and yet approachable to the audience which only is further cemented byMob Psycho 100’sfocus on character driven stories and the themes of hard work, and self-improvement.Mob Psycho 100doesn’t forget the human element of the story, and Mob is the human representation of self-improvement in the face of adversity and social struggles. Relatable is certainly an accurate word to describe Mob as an individual, along with her actions being endearing and supporting the themes of the show. Overall, it’s no doubt to those that watchMob Psycho 100from season one to the latest season 3, that Shigeo “Mob” Kageyama is a relatable character, with a complicated circumstance that makes him so much more focused on being a better individualrather than being the strongest Esper.
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