I Love It When Teru Goes :D

reigen and manga translations: so what is the truth?

so for a while now i’ve been thinking about dialogue in the mob psycho 100 manga vs the anime. obviously it’s disappointing when something significant is changed or cut out, but in two specific cases, i couldn’t help but wonder if it was an actual dialogue change or just a mistranslation on the manga’s part, considering there’s basically only one online translation. one of the most important things to remember when it comes to consuming non-romance-language media is that our languages are fundamentally different in terms of structure and word meaning. there is never a true one-to-one translation and trying to do a literal translation is rarely a good idea. that means that in a lot of cases, the exact meaning can be up to interpretation. considering this, having only one translation means it’s only one person’s take. i find looking at these differences to be really interesting, so i went to reddit (i KNOW i know) to ask for help because i couldn’t find manga raws for these particular lines or any alternate translations (also i don’t know japanese lol). here’s what i found out (a HUGE thank you to reddit user NostalgiaWitch for all the info!):

scene 1: chapter 65.1/s2e5 - reigen and trust here’s a comparison:

pretty different, right? there’s a post from a little while ago i liked analyzing these differences; you can read it here. here’s what i found out on reddit:

so in this case, it’s really up to interpretation. the anime seems to go with the former, portraying reigen as disinterested in the situation, while the manga seems to frame it more as the latter, especially considering that later on, in the separation arc, reigen says that he doesn’t trust anyone but himself. personally i prefer the latter because it seems more in-character, but like i said, it’s up to interpretation.

scene 2: chapter 73/s2e7 - reigen and curiosity a side-by-side comparison:

these two translations are literal opposites. here’s what i found out on reddit:

in this case it’s definitely an error on the manga translator’s part (no shade to them though; they’ve done so much). in my opinion it has a huge impact on reigen’s whole mindset before starting his business. it wasn’t just boredom that drove him to make the change, it was that inner desire to be someone important bursting through. 

- reigen arataka, 2008 over time, he fell into depression and lost that drive. however we still see moments of that curiosity coming through sometimes, like in the urban legends mini-arc, when he’s suddenly super excited about the dragger:

he also has an innate compulsion to find out the truth and often does extensive research to help his clients (learning about farming, running background checks, etc.), so we can see how even if it lay dormant, that desire to do well and follow through kept him going, even through his complacency and depression.

wow i got ranty. anyway like i said i just find this sort of thing really interesting because by hearing multiple opinions you get to form your own conclusions. i hope people see this and are also inspired to look into these differences! again, a huge thanks to reddit user NostalgiaWitch.

Hear me out.

The family talk was revenge.

Ok so I just read your mp100 fanfic Faith and i know that it's an old fic (like 2016). But based on this fic and your perspective on mob and reigens relationship, do you think the mp100 ending and the reigen spinoff successfully ties up any loose ends and imbalances in their relationship?

I need to know bc the fic was so well done and i have to know what your perspective and thoughts are to the ending and mp100 in general now that it's finished. Ok sorry for asking so much!! Kudos for the fic btw!!

You read Faith? Man, that thing is old...

I do think the MP100 ending levels the playing field in a way that is appropriate, but I also feels like it does so by facilitating - um. Spoilers under the cut.

I actually think the MP100 ending is rather open-ended, but I also don't think that's a bad thing or unsatisfactory.

The MP100 manga ending facilitates their healthy separation.

Reigen telling Shigeo to his face about his biggest lie and insecurity - that he's a fraud - is the most important thing he could do. It doesn't even matter that Shigeo already knows he doesn't have psychic powers. It's that Reigen can admit it.

It gives Reigen a chance to say what has always been on his mind, gives Shigeo the chance to let him know that he admired qualities in Reigen that had nothing to do with psychic powers and that Reigen really did help him. Like, authentically, it did.

I don't know if you read all my BNHA meta as well, but if so, you'll know what I mean when I say that this moment is one of interpersonal intimacy where Reigen expresses his honne unobscured. In fact, I'm pretty sure that him taking off his shoes before running after Shigeo at ???% implies that he was ready to confront Shigeo even if it killed him. While this could be meant as something for the audience to perceive literally, you could also interpret this figuratively - that Reigen will be dead to Shigeo once he finds out.

Reigen is ready to admit the truth of himself to Shigeo and let Shigeo grow apart from him, which runs in stark contrast to the Separation arc - y'know, the one that ends with Reigen still unable to say the words "I am a fraud" to the general public or to Shigeo (and Dimple, who already knows) alone. It also signals to the reader (and potentially Shigeo) that Reigen doesn't need him (for emotional reasons) anymore. Reigen doesn't need to always call Shigeo every time he has a problem.

Why did Reigen choose to tell Shigeo a truth about himself during Shigeo's berserker psychic powers moment? I don't actually remember if he says it explicitly (it's been a while!), but it comes down to these two reasons, I think:

It's probably Reigen's last chance to tell him the truth.

It is the best way for Reigen to express that only Shigeo can stop himself. Nobody else can stop Shigeo from posing this kind of danger to others, and Reigen himself is there as a sign of trust as well as a stark illustration of what is on the line (Reigen's own life!)

It reinforces to Shigeo that he can connect with Reigen as a mundane kid rather than a kid with incredible psychic powers. He comes back to Reigen (and Dimple) after being rejected, cries like most people do, and is consoled like most people would hope to be. It is SUCH an ordinary exchange and I feel that is the point.

In some ways, the ending of MP100 enforces a boundary between them, as Reigen has his business and Shigeo has the rest of his life to live. But it isn't a bad boundary or unbreachable one. It's a more appropriate one that eliminates any codependency and insecurities they had in the past.

I hope that answers your question???

if teru’s new hair has 100 fans, i am one of them.

I genuinely love so much that Roy Mustang, for all his brutal pragmatism and haughty coldness and quick ruthlessness, is an idealist. I especially love that his idealism is explicitly different from a naive idealism that does not yet know what the reality is, like that of his youth.

The idealism he carries during the series is a very conscious, active, vicious idealism armed with teeth and claws that he stubbornly and aggressively chooses to possess. He tells Hughes, as the war ends, that he is aware that these are pipe dreams, that this is unrealistic, that this is runaway hope, but he chooses to dream anyway because it is necessary for better futures (and he's right, imagining a better future believing that things can become that IS necessary for change). It's an idealism that is wildly optimistic but in a very grounded, pragmatic way. And for that reason, it's actually never at odds with his very calculating and aloof manner.

It's just so great. He is a ruthless idealist, and his idealism itself is vicious in the way that it is prepared to fight bloody to protect and enact this dream of things getting better.

mob psycho 100 except the only 100% mob gets is for his math test 

Hi! I love all your MP100 metas. Truly amazing! Here is a popular take on mob which I noticed quite common in eastern fandom but not brought up much in western: shigeo actually has very strong ego, in a way that he only allows himself to be affected by words he wants to follow, sticks to his wants without giving in to others' wishes, and sometimes breaking others' worldview (teru) or challenging (ritsu, dimple, reigen) simply by following his own will, which relates to ??? . What do you think?

*blushes* THANK YOU AAAAAHHHHHH

i agree with you! shigeo himself is not even aware of his own strength in that regard for much of the story; watching him become more comfortable with his own iconoclasm is one of the things i enjoy most about mob psycho 100. i think shigeo's strong will and (mostly) unshakeable principles are maybe not mentioned as much in western fandom because shigeo is pretty far from the western--i'm just gonna say american here, because it's the perspective i'm best acquainted with--ideal for a young male protagonist.

we tend to prefer at least some degree of blustery, extroverted self-confidence in our heroes; soft-spoken, sad, traumatized kids who seem unsure of themselves don't fly here unless their character development involves 'outgrowing' this. shigeo is understated, and quiet, and downbeat, and kind of sickly even after gaining stamina. he also doesn't trust himself or his own perceptions for quite a while, and i've read more than a few reviews of MP100 in which these qualities made it easy for the authors to discount him as a whole. if a viewer finds him 'boring' or can't relate to him at all, they won't bother to stick around for his steely tenacity or his surprising resistance to groupthink.

despite his apparent 'weakness', he doesn't give in easily, doesn't bend even if his life is at stake, and even manages to persuade others or change their hearts in his own quiet way, simply by being himself. and his strong ego, as you put it (i would actually say his id, if we're going freudian with this) actually SAVES HIS LIFE. repeatedly. that and ???% are one and the same.

i live in a country where quiet people are routinely overlooked because they're not boldly proclaiming their greatness to everyone they meet; to me, shigeo is a reminder that i don't have to compromise who i am to have a successful life. and that is a powerful message to hear at any age.

been doing a mp100 rewatch and i think im gonna need to write an essay at some point about hands as a symbol of human connection in the anime in particular… reaching out for connection is such recurring imagery…. and so is rejecting connection through violence enacted with bare hands vs psychic powers…

reigen being so lonely and having all these grand gestural hand motions when he’s putting on his greatest psychic persona but very rarely genuinely reaching out… that one shot in the s3 op with all the hands rly got my brain going ougugh

Throughout the series, we see that Teru is hypersensitive to dangers and quick to resort to violence, not to mention the whole stuff about his favourite torture method.

Another intriguing thing about Teru is his incredible adaptability, how he turns other people's to his own, as if he wants to gain control of everything in his life, same with his idea about "hierarchy" in a particular earlier arc.

All of this can very be attributed to Teru's constant fear of being caught and used for his power.

(Despite not knowing about his true power, Teru's Black Vinegar fellows seem to be heavily reliant on him. This results in a paradox situation where Teru wants to gain control yet also be afraid of being used, probably explains his "shadow leader" status)

Teru can use psychic power to protect himself, but wasn't psychic power the thing that pushed him to this way? Because of it, he could not live a regular life, and was constantly afraid of being alienated, rejected and hurt. And then Mob - another esper like him - showed up and told him that psychic power doesn't make him any different. That he is just as much of a commoner as everybody else, while also able to pursue the charm within himself without relying on psychic abilities. Of course, the issue with psychic power runs deeper than this but it's another can of worms (and once again, a parallel to Mob). For the time being, those were words Teru had desperately wanted to hear. "Commoner" later on became the mantra, the belief he fights tooth and nail to adhere to, showing the strength of his inner desire to change, or more accurately, to convince himself that he can really be normal.

Teru's redemption is often joked about for being speedran over. Still, I really like the concept of it happening as a swift phase rather than a long and tedious journey because most of his problems had somewhat been solved during the fight with Mob.

People can change if you just push the right button.

last night i woke up at 4 am with the inexplicable need to write meta abt how what little we know of teru’s backstory parallels mob’s life in mogamiland and how depriving them both of a support system/familial relationships/friendships leads each of them down the path of violence and eventually even to the same action  (strangling someone) 

minor MP100 brainrot relapse!

summer = campfire = ghost stories = S&S company outing