The following contains spoilers for Episode 1 of Mob Psycho 100 III, "Yokai Hunter Amakusa Haruaki Appears! ~The Threat of a Hundred Demons!!~," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
The second episode of Mob Psycho 100 introduced a new character. The yōkai hunter, Haruaki Amakusa; having seen the "divine tree" on a talk show, arrives in Seasoning City sensing an emerging threat. On the other hand, it's culture festival week at Salt Middle School, and Mob and his classmates have their hands full planning their portion of the event – a haunted house.
The theme of progression is strong this season, as episode 1 presented an evil spirit borne from a middle-aged man's feeling of stagnation within his life. With Mob's career aspiration goals the focus of the previous episode, and the overall idea of goals and ambitions being core this season, yōkai hunter Amakusa presents yet another "way of life", with loads of hilarity.
Amakusa Haruaki
The new character presented is a self-proclaimed yokai hunter who arrives in Seasoning City in order to defeat a yōkai presence and prevent the revival of the Yōkai King. Realizing that he will be solo against a hundred demons, Haruaki goes to Reigen's Spirit Consultation Office to assemble a party to find and dispel the threat before it is too late. His martial arts style of dress and his possession of a sword give Reigen a cosplayer impression, and it definitely does not help Haruaki's case that he seems to have a clear case of what is generally called "chuunibyou" – the dreaded 8th Grader Syndrome. Sufferers of chuunibyou are usually heavily influenced by their delusional fantasies, donning personalities and manners of dress that are avantgarde, and even adopt a strange manner of speech coupled together with a shonen protagonist's outlook on life.
He's clearly a weirdo, but also socially awkward, a fact made evident in his introduction as he practices his "best", most natural greeting before meeting Reigen. Effectively, Haruaki reads like someone who isn't quite tuned in to reality – at least at first. Due to Reigen's preconceptions about him, he initially rejects Haruaki's request to help him in his quest, even going as far as making him wait three hours for a meeting in bad faith; however, this changes when the yōkai hunter brandishes something Reigen likes quite a lot: cold hard cash.
Money Talks; Effort Is Louder
When Haruaki hears that Reigen could accept his request if he were compensated, he immediately whips out a wad of one million yen (a lot of money), and the con-man is immediately intrigued, ready to jump into action to defeat, as Haruaki would put it, those who lurk in the shadows. Since Mob is at school, Reigen is particularly rude and impatient towards Haruaki, who uses a roundabout, fantasy-inspired way of talking to describe his request.
It's clear that in his interactions, the yōkai hunter attempts to add an air of mystery and drama to his exploits, but this leads to him not being taken very seriously. Haruaki reveals that he is able to sustain his lifestyle as a yōkai hunter by profession due to being sponsored by his rich parents, who are accepting of his way of life (a fairly mundane element which serves to expand upon the Mob Psycho 100 central dogma: your life is your own.
This Guy's For Real?
After going to various spots around the city that Haruaki marked as possible locations where the yokai can be found, Reigen's skepticism of the yōkai hunter's legitimacy reach a breaking point; however, at one point, Haruaki is immediately taken aback by the fearsome presence within a certain building, confirmed to be the location of some evil spirits by Serizawa. Mob is a quiet protagonist in this episode, as his entire life is taken up by coming up with good ideas for the haunted house his class will be doing for the cultural festival. He is completely out of the loop, only there in person really, but once the group enters the haunted building and are thrown into a fight, Mob gets into the action.
The fight brings out some of the series' humour as the dramatic Haruaki attempts to imbue his "holy sword" with magic power, only for it to shatter upon making contact with the foe. The group is unfortunate enough to have to engage the four demon generals, with the king of yōkai as the true boss battle; however, Haruaki doesn't realize how powerful his new allies are. During the battle, Mob's mind was slowly taking in ideas and working in the background, with the yōkai king's design being the kind of breakthrough he really needed for the cultural festival.
Walks of Life
After the battle, a super impressed Haruaki asks Mob and Serizawa if they'd have any interest in being yōkai hunters, but they both have their own plans for their lives, with Serizawa looking to complete his obligatory education and Mob having his hands full with the cultural festival. Reigen was a little worried they'd take Haruaki up on his offer, given that he said he'd compensate them (handsomely, at that), but their quick decline proved to be a much-needed boost.
This season seems to be building on Reigen's emerging lack of self-esteem, especially through his need to have others around him who are "less than" in some way and in turn, rely on him. After Haruaki departs, Mob tells Reigen that he managed to figure it out for himself ("it" being coming up with a good idea for the cultural festival), and this causes Reigen to lose all colour because Mob is inching ever closer to being in a position where he simply won't need Reigen for anything anymore. Who would he be without Mob there asking for his guidance?
Calm Before The Storm
While being a fun episode, the second episode of Mob Psycho 100 III is not to be taken too lightly as it drops a few hints regarding where this season will be going. The apparent disappearance of Dimple, and the insistence on hammering home the idea that different people have different paths (or solutions; or outlooks, etc.), as well as the apparent adoption of ambitions and goals by some of the series' characters appear to be groundwork for something major. The ominous visual of the ground cracking at night, followed by a full view of the giant broccoli illuminated by the moonlight at the very end of the episode shows that the real story has not yet begun, and knowing how the series has gone previously, it is only a matter of time before something huge blows open this season's overarching narrative.