Mob Psycho 100as a show gives us eccentric characters and powers, but at its heart also provides a story with heart between its characters. Ritsu Kageyama in particular started off as the little brother who was afraid of angering, or upsetting his older brother Shigeo ‘Mob’ Kageyama due to an incident in the past. However, thankfully, over the course of season 1 and 2 Ritsu has grown into a more secure and eventually trusted ally in the battle against Claw.However, once season 3 comes by, how much of Ritsu’s character has grown in the story as opposed to stagnating after his character arc is completed?
Ritsu Kageyama as a character is an understanding, albeit complicated individual with emotions of his own. InMob Psycho 100Due to an incident in the past which pushed Mob to use his Esper abilities which accidentally hurt Ritsu, he developed a major inferiority complex while also fearing his brother at the same time. As a result of that,he loved and envied his brotherat the same time, all while ensuring that he didn’t upset his older brother. Over the course of the first season however, Ritsu faces his brother, comes to face with the evil organization Claw, and eventually reconciles with his older brother and their brotherly relationship is rekindled and reforged. However, did he truly continue to grow over the course of season 2 and 3, or did he just stay still after the first season and stagnated?
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An Understanding Of Ritsu
Going into more detail, Ritsu’s character arc began starting in season 1, episode 6 “Discord ~To Become One~”, where in his position as part of the student council, he’s roped into an immoral plan to ‘get rid’ of the problematic students. However, the more this operation goes on, and the more he attempts to use psychic abilities that aren’t there, he becomes frustrated. This does not go unseen by Dimple, who providesRitsu the capability to use Esper abilities, and with this Ritsu begins to use it to fix problems as well as abusing it to feel more powerful. However, soon after being confronted by Mob, Ritsu battles him for an extended period of time before Mob’s kindness and actions confuse Ritsu while also cutting through to him.
Eventually, Ritsu’s struggles and character arc came to a climax during the Claw arc,where he fought against the evil organizationand eventually met Mob, who decided to go to save him. Because of this, Ritsu’s emotions become confused, but mostly emotional and then eventually apologized to Mob for his prior behavior against him. However, Mob forgave him, and essentially remained kind along with his personality having grown up. After all, he wanted to save his younger brother because of the trauma from their childhood, and eventually, Ritsu understands his brother, and their relationship is fixed once again.
Immense Growth Or Diminishing Returns?
Despite the growth that has been mentioned above, Ritsu’s character development has mostly been condensed and focused on those last few episodes of season 1 in particular. When compared to season 2, where he plays a supporting role in certain episodes, his personality and arc hasn’t made him regress, but it certainly doesn’t allow for much progression other than reminding us that Ritsu’s grown from season 1. Despite all that, with season 3 released Ritsu’s role in the story has remained sidelined for the most part, only ever coming back until the last arc of the third season when Mob needs it most. It seems thatRitsu as a characterdoesn’t make too many changes beyond the relation he had to his brother, his newly acquired psychic powers, and even the need to get stronger as a result. What this means, is that Ritsu could possibly have stagnated, or in other terms remained the same throughout the rest of the story with no clear change in personality or outlook ever since the end of the first season.
Of course, there’s the possibility that fans still enjoy much about Ritsu’s character as a supporting role rather than an ongoing character with his own goals in mind. After all, one can relate to his personal struggles of how he views his brotherly dynamic, and the heart of his character arc is inherently tied to Mob’s development over the course of the series. Many are willing to argue that Ritsu does indeed continue to grow over the course of the series, and perhaps that may be the case the more you see hisrecent involvement in season 3. Of course, it brings much question and claim whether he truly stagnated in the series after his character arc. It can at least be said that Ritsu has not been forgotten from the story despite his character arc seemingly having been finished back in season 2.
Regardless of whether Ritsu remained the same or grew from his character is a matter for debate, however, it’s very much difficult to say that he had much growth since season 1 without inciting a lot of arguments considering the gap. At the same time, there isn’t much of a problem with Ritsu being interesting or even engaging at the very least. Regardless, the manner of whichRitsu manages to engage the audiencedespite his struggles to grow and the gap between episodes and seasons for his next arc to grow before he stagnates leaves the viewers chomping and asking for more. Considering season three is reaching its climax at the moment, it is most likely to say the viewers will see Ritsu’s last hurrah and involvement in the story ofMob Psycho 100.
