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#Why Mob from Mob Psycho 100 and Saitama from One Punch Man are not the same

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Both Mob Psycho 100 and One Punch Man are known for their insane power scaling, overpowered protagonists, similar character designs, and sense of humour. All of these parallels make sense, considering that both series were written by mangaka ONE. But at their roots, the two series tackle very different problems and represent two opposing perspectives towards the concept of “normalcy.” This article analyses the major themes of the two shows and determines how Mob and Saitama’s stories shape the series protagonists.

holy trinity: reigen’s saitama wallpaper pic.twitter.com/uJf21yHCvO

— Kelly Onelani (@kellyonelani) September 25, 2019

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for Mob Psycho 100 and One Punch Man anime and manga.

Exploring the protagonists and their roles in ONE’s Mob Psycho 100 and One Punch Man

One Punch Man explores Saitama’s boredom and existential crisis

Saitama's apathy towards life — Saitama explains that he is apathetic towards his life (Image via ONE/Madhouse)

One Punch Man is, first and foremost, a satire of shonen tropes and superhero culture, but the series is much more than just a parody. Mangaka ONE uses Saitama to explore how boredom and excessive obsession can affect our lives negatively. From the very beginning of the series, Saitama is introduced as a character who is bored, demotivated, and lacks direction in life.

The very first chapter of the manga establishes that Saitama is the strongest character in the story, leaving no room for any more development in terms of skill or power level. The second chapter, which explores Saitama’s origin depicted his altercation with Crablante, revealed that the former had no ambition or goal, and didn’t really care if he remained alive. But the playground fight ignited a fire within Saitama and made him obsessed with fulfilling his childhood dream of becoming a hero who could defeat monsters with a single punch.

Saitama reveries in episode 1 — Saitama contemplates how boring being the strongest can get (Image via ONE/Madhouse)

Mangaka ONE further uses the One Punch Man series to demonstrate how obsession can manifest itself in human beings, with several people becoming monsters due to unhealthy obsessions like eating crabs, becoming the strongest, or defeating Saitama. In the One Punch Man universe, it is not just the villains who are controlled by their obsessions.

Saitama himself went bald from over-training to become stronger, while Genos had his body modified in hopes of defeating the cyborg robot who destroyed his town and killed his family. Obsession controls even S-ranked heroes in the series, shown through Tatsumaki’s proud yet overprotective stance towards her sister, Fubuki. A discussion on obsession would be incomplete without taking into account the fulfilment of those desires. For Saitama, heroics is a hobby he likes to pursue, chasing down villains who appear to be strong in hopes of getting a thrilling fight out of it.

But his expectations shatter every time as none of the villains manage to remain standing after a single punch thrown by the bald hero. Boros and Garou have been one of the rare opponents who survived Saitama’s punches, although both of them were eventually defeated.

Yeah, brilliant Saitama…

One Punch Man manga. pic.twitter.com/j0pebf6vD9

— IA(31) OnePunchMan&SB19 FanAccount ʏᴘ ⁷¹³⁴ (@SB19RTSquad_31) April 20, 2023

Despite being a comedy, One Punch Man focuses on Saitama’s obsession with finding an opponent who is strong enough for him to have to fight seriously, thus creating a purpose for his existence. ONE makes Saitama a model for Jean-Paul Sartre’s brand of existentialism, which suggests that life has no prior meaning and we must be the ones to give ourselves a purpose for existing.

Mob Psycho 100 is Mob’s coming-of-age story

Mob realizes his lack of social awareness — Mob is unable to connect with his peers’ interests (Image via ONE/Bones)

Mob Psycho 100 is the story of Shigeo Kageyama, also known as Mob, who is quickly established as the most powerful character in the series. But where One Punch Man shows Saitama’s frustration at being unable to find someone who can keep up with him in terms of power, Mob’s frustration rises from his inability to connect with his peers. From the very beginning, Mob shows himself to be open and honest, admitting that his psychic powers don’t actually help him that much in becoming a better person.

In the first season of the Mob Psycho 100 anime, Teru Hanazawa becomes a foil for Mob in this aspect: Teru’s blatant display of his powers makes him a delinquent and earns him lackeys, but not friends. Mob joins the Body Improvement Club instead, hoping to improve his physicality and catching his childhood crush Tsubomi’s attention, knowing that he can’t take a shortcut to becoming a more appealing individual.

This scene meant so much to me https://t.co/T8jEzPOoch pic.twitter.com/R0yLPgcGor

— pip (@purplepipp) April 21, 2023

Another major theme that defines Mob in Mob Psycho 100 is the link between his emotions and psychic powers. Be it being mocked by the self-proclaimed evil spirit Dimple, watching Ritsu getting beaten up by Koyama, or shifting between a plethora of extreme emotions during his fight against Suzuki, Mob at 100% is a force few can reckon with. After an incident as a child when he lost control of his powers and hurt his younger brother, Ritsu, the esper decided to always keep his emotions in check. As he grew older, suppressing his emotions became Mob’s default, with eruptions of psychic energy occurring every time his stress levels hit 100%.

ONE seems to be using the Fruedian concept of id, ego, and superego in the series, with Mob favoring control and societal approval, until his id takes over and causes him to go berserk. The esper usually sports a blank expression and appears somewhat dull, even though he perceives more than he lets on. Even his nickname “Mob” is a term used in Japanese slang to refer to someone who is average in every way, almost a background character. But the teenage esper’s perceptive nature becomes more and more obvious as he grows throughout the series and begins interacting with his friends more openly.

A genuinely good guy “Reigen Arataka” – Mob Psycho 100#mobpsycho100 #mob #reigen #shige #kageyama #dimple #anime pic.twitter.com/zGBQQMBKNW

— Saqib Hussain (@saqibhs2003) April 20, 2023

The third and final message that Mob embodies throughout the series is the reminder that his powers don’t make him special or different. This is the lesson Mob’s mentor, Reigen Arataka, continues to ingrain in his apprentice throughout the series. Reigen is a fraudulent supernatural consultant who uses Mob to destroy spirits and run his business.

Despite having no psychic powers, Reigen has a charismatic personality and cares deeply for the mild-mannered esper who walked into his office many years ago asking for advice. Despite being the story of the strongest esper of Seasoning City, the series is mostly about Mob’s growth as a person and his journey towards self-acceptance which he achieves through his bonds with Reigen, Dimple, Ritsu, and his friends.

Just finished Mob Psycho season 3, absolutely loved it, such a nice story and message, and the animation went crazy pic.twitter.com/ZObhIvRi1E

— DC (@DC__twt) April 26, 2023

Are Mob and Saitama polar opposites?

honestly, Saitama and Mob are two examples of op characters done really well but
yeah op characters are hard to get right and boring asf if they’re done wrong, its like trying to deal with complete perfection

— dcake/hyped for SF6 and T8 (@dark_cake1) April 24, 2023

Mangaka ONE uses One Punch Man and Mob Psycho 100 to explore two completely different perspectives. But while Mob and Saitama are definitely not the same, they are not polar opposites either. Saitama becomes a mouthpiece for the monotony of daily life and shows how even being the strongest man in the world becomes boring after a while. His initial alienation from society is slowly stripped away as a number of odd characters enter his life throughout the course of the One Punch Man series.

Mob Psycho 100 is a more heartwarming narrative of Mob’s attempt in reinventing himself, something he can’t achieve using his immense psychic powers. His guilt and fear of losing control led him to build a wall around himself, which he slowly breaks down through the course of the series. Both protagonists battle against specific types of loneliness, stemming from their individual worldviews.

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