One of the best anime of the decade concluded in 2022 with its third season, providing a great finale to a great series.
The 12 episodes are essentially split in three parts. The first part has Mob facing reality, and particularly his future as he has to fill in a career form, while his involvement in the preparation of the horror aspect of Halloween adds even more stress to him. In the meantime, the giant broccoli he created with his actions has led to the creation of a cult, which Dimple proceeds on exploiting. The middle part focuses on the Telepathy club and particularly Kurata, following the group in their effort to contact aliens, in a plan that, considering the nature of the title, inevitably succeeds. The last part begins with Tsubomi leaving the school, which instigates Mob (and a score of other boys) to ask her out. An interruption however, leads to the inner power Mob was always hiding to surface, with disastrous consequences.
The two trademarks of the series are here once more, with the purposefully simplistic character design of Yoshimichi Kameda and the mocking, through gags and intense irony of every concept shonen anime have used throughout the years, presented in all their glory, being the most distinguishing aspects of the series. At the same time, the coming-of-age aspect is also intense, this time involving, apart from Mob, his brother Ritsu, Kurata, Dimple and Reigen. Particularly the latter, in one of the most interesting elements of the series, is finally forced to acknowledge to himself and to everybody essentially, the truth about himself, in the most dramatic scene of the whole title one could say.
The focus, however, is on Mob once more, with the alternative ways he finds this time to deal with his enemies, presenting messages about the value of friendship, understanding each other, and communicating your inner thoughts to your friends. In combination with the aforementioned Reigen event, Hasui also makes a remark regarding the value of being true to both oneself and the people around you.
Of course, do not expect a drama here, since “Mob Psycho” is foremost a comedy, with all of the aforementioned messages being presented through comedy, and particularly the UFO and aliens arc moving straight into WTF territory, in the most entertaining way. Furthermore, the action is once more impressive, especially in the way the coolness of the shonen titles is combined with the humor-parodying nature of “Mob” in the most ingenious way. The battle inside the broccoli is a testament to the fact, but even more so the last part, which is actually quite bloody and essentially shocking in the amount of violence presented. The animation by Bones finds its apogee in these scenes, also showing that the “ridiculousness” of the rest of the animation is actually a choice and not the product of lack of quality.
Lastly, the final part also functions as a kind of tribute to the whole series, thus closing the franchise in the best fashion.
“Mob Psycho III” is another great season of a franchise that truly reinvigorated the shonen genre, and one of those titles that will definitely be missed.
