Reigen Arataka, Phony Psychic, or The Real Deal?

Reigen Arataka is one of the most amusing characters we get to witness in the anime world. He claims to be the greatest psychic of the 21st century and runs his consultancy business. 

He was a salaryman who eventually quit his job as he was completely dissatisfied with the kind of life he was living. He, however, is a conman and does not possess psychic powers. 

In reality, he can only give good massages and mostly relies on Mob and more recently, Serizawa to perform the exorcism. 

Reigen Arataka is a fake psychic who does not have psychic powers. He mainly dupes people into believing his powers. He relies on Mob and Serizawa to perform an exorcism and cannot do it by himself.

Does Reigen Arataka possess psychic powers?

In the first season, Reigen Arataka was temporarily infused with Mob’s psychic powers. He was able to handle the powers pretty easily and used them to crush the Seventh Division members.

He was able to use 1000% of Mob’s energy and was able to easily tackle the members. This man is super cool as he can think pretty rationally in intense situations. 

He also put down the psychics who were megalomaniacs and childish. However, Reigen’s psychic powers are temporary, and eventually returned to Mob.

This was the only time Reigen came anywhere close to being a psychic, otherwise, he is an average person who could not even see spirits before this incident.

He started his consultancy on a whim and gave massages to his clients. He throws around salt to make believe his customers. In serious cases, he mostly relied on Mob’s powers.

Does Mob know Reigen’s truth?

Mob knows that Reigen is not a psychic, but still chooses to stay with him because Mob believes that Reigen is a ‘good man’. Throughout the series, we see Mob making excuses for Reigen.

He mostly volunteers for the exorcism and tries to cover for his master. In the Separate Ways arc, Reigen is cornered and his identity is exposed. He indirectly confesses and tells Mob that he has ‘grown up’.

Even if Mob did not know before, he definitely knew about Reigen after this incident.

Why is Reigen so popular?

Despite being a conman, Reigen Arataka is super popular among anime watchers. This is because he is a decent person and unconventionally solves his customers’ problems.

He is also a decent person and a good mentor to Mob. He has proven on multiple occasions that he cares about Mob’s well-being more than himself. 

He is also super reliable and has quick wits. He can come up with the most unique solutions to the toughest problems which makes him a super interesting character.

About Mob Psycho 100

Mob Psycho 100 is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by ONE. It was serialized on Shogakukan’s Ura Sunday website from April 2012 to December 2017.

Mob Psycho 100 is a story about a young middle-school boy, Shigeo Kageyama, a.k.a Mob, a powerful esper. Mob is determined to live a normal life and keeps his ESP suppressed.

But when his emotions surge to a level of 100%, all his powers are let loose. As he is surrounded by false espers, evil spirits, and mysterious organizations, what will Mob think? What choices will he make?