WARNING: Contains minor spoilers for the manga version of episode 5 of Mob Psycho 100

As I watched the end of Mob Psycho 100 II episode 5, I was reminded of Robert Greene’s controversial book The 48 Laws of Power.  To be specified, it reminded me Law 2 “Never Put Too Much Trust in Friends.  Learn How to Use Enemies”.  Mob wasn’t trying to use his enemy, the class bully Minori for anything; there was no need to.   It’s the fact that Mob saved and spared her life, despite Minori’s cruel and sadistic bullying of Mob for six months.

 

 

Yes, she was possessed by the evil spirit Mogami. Under his influence she hurt Mob. She tortured him.  Made him feel lowly about himself. Now however, before she was targeted by Mogami, Minori spent her life bullying others. She loved belittling her peers who didn’t share her high social status. She found it thrilling to humiliate those who can’t defend themselves.  That said, bullying (Mob) wasn’t anything new to her; it was her nature.  Mogami wanted to show Mob that people like Minori deserved to die. He wanted to show that Mob would have been in the right if he killed her.

But, Mob believed that Minori could change if her life was spared.

 

 

It’s mentioned in Law 2 that those who have enemies never expect anything from them (besides revenge).  When a man is spared from the guillotine from his enemy, he’ll become forever grateful towards that man; doing anything within his power to please them. Thanks to, or rather because of Mob’s kind and forgiving heart, Minori went on the path of bettering herself – vowing to never bully others again and to be kind to people as thanks.

To say that Minori was grateful (to Mob) is such an understatement – given her past with him.  Remember: Mob lived in a world of despondency created by Minori’s negative feelings, memories, and history of bullying to make him suffer.  Pouring sour milk all over him.  Recording her friends ostracizing Mob.   Threatening to kill the stray cat he was taking care of. Having her underlings beat him up.  Anything that is all hellish to crush and break Mob’s spirit and driven him into a near inescapable depression for six months.

Could you blame Mob if he’d snapped and used his psychic powers and physical strength to kill her? Could you blame Mob if he gave in to Mogami’s trickery and have the man take her life?

He had every right.
But he chose not to.
Why is that?
Why did Mob spare his enemy and show her mercy?

“When you begin to see that your enemy is suffering, that is the beginning of insight.”
-Thich Nhat Hanh, Buddhist monk

Besides the (obvious) fact that Mob is far too benevolent to murder a human being, let alone someone his own age, he knows that people can change (through positive interactions with others).  He understands why people do horrible things.  It’s not out of the realm of possibility that Mob realized that Minori became a bully because she was fearful that she was going to be rejected and isolated by society.  It’s possible that she was projecting her own fears (of social isolation) unto Mob through bullying (bully the outcast so you won’t become a bullied outcast sorta thing).

Like Mob, she too was a victim of horrific mistreatment.   Minori was Mogami’s prisoner. The sole, lonely inmate inside a prison crafted from the darkness of her heart.  Mogami wanted to make Minori suffer for her crimes before killing her. Who knows how long Minori was strapped and chained to a bed while Mogami controlled her body.

She was helpless as Mogami used her body as he pleased.

Finally, if Mob would have kill Minori out of cold blood, he would had a worse human than Minoir and Mogami.  Pop her in the mouth for the bully?  That’s okay.  Beat her ass and put her in her place so she would never fuck with him again?  That’s normal.  But to outright murder her would only continue a tragic cycle.

A cycle that Mob had to break.

Sometimes, the best way to kill your enemy is with the guillotine.
Sometimes, the best way to kill your enemy is to show them mercy and kindness.

AFTERWORD:
lmfao I know this episode is almost two weeks old and everyone is talking about episode 6, but work has been kicking my ass lately, so I didn’t have time to bang this out on the week of episode 5.
Also, 10/10 episode a lot of great narrative and real life themes in it.

(Also some enemies are beyond forgiveness and you can’t show mercy to them. Crush them totally.  That’s just me being real.)