Mob Psycho 100 vol. 14

After facing down the threat posed by the ESPers of Claw and its immensely powerful leader, you’d think that dealing with a cult would be simple for Mob and company.  Except that the Cult of Psychohelmetism is proving to be far more threatening than anyone initially assumed.  Springing up around the giant stalk of broccoli that sprung up in the middle of Seasoning City, its brainwashing has proved to be all-consuming while its plant-based avatars are capable of wielding immense powers on their own.  In the end, only Mob is capable of standing up against this threat, but will he still be capable of doing that when he finds out that the individual behind it is someone he considers a friend?

You’ve read one story about an evil cult with superpowers and you’ve read them all, right?  There’s no denying that there’s a lot familiar about this current arc of the series, so it’s good that mangaka ONE spends some time investing in the details to make this version stand out.  There’s the surprising revelation regarding who’s behind it all and the interesting arguments they make about how they’re doing it.  Then there’s the climax of the story which doesn’t hinge on a blow-the-doors-off psychic battle, but on Mob trying to reason with his antagonist after he realizes his own failings and wants to just help his friend.

That leads to a genuinely heartfelt finale which shows that this series still has some gas in the tank as it approaches its end in vol. 16.  I admit that I was expecting ONE to slowly wind down the action with more character drama than Fate of the City stakes, but this turned out really well!  So if Seasoning City is threatened one more time before the end of the series as Mob figures out what he wants to do with his life, I’m going to trust that the mangaka knows what he’s doing and go along for the ride.