Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. This is the big one guys, the anime that everyone has been waiting for me to review. Well today I’m finally fulfilling that request. Today, I’m going to review One-Punch Man. You think a story about a guy who beats all of his opponents with one punch would get boring, oh you couldn’t be more wrong. Hands down the most popular anime of 2015 and produced by the great studio Madhouse (Devil May Cry and Hellsing Ultimate), One-Punch Man has become a global sensation that everyone loves. The series was created by the man simply known as One and got started as a webcomic back in 2009. While the drawings were bad (in One’s defense, it’s better than what I can draw) people found themselves enjoying the series for it’s unique concept, story, and characters. The series would get remade in 2012 with One writing the story and the drawings being done by Yusuke Murata the same guy who drew Eyeshield 21 and also the guy who created Dust man and Crystal man for Megaman 4 & 5. With One writing the story and Murata’s excellent drawings, One-Punch Man’s popularity rose to new heights and quickly became a seller in and out of Japan. Now let’s ride this hype train and take a look at One-Punch Man.
Opening and Ending Theme
The opening is “”The Hero!!” by JAM Project and it is easily one of the most intense and epic openings you will ever hear. Seriously, if you don’t get pumped after hearing this song than something is seriously wrong with you. In fact, you know what, watch the opening right now before you continue the review: https://youtu.be/atxYe-nOa9w. Wasn’t that great!?
The ending is “Hoshi yori Saki ni Mitsukete Ageru” by Hiroko Moriguchi. It’s a nice song and one that I enjoyed. It’s peaceful, calming, and beautifully sung by Hiroko. My only complaint with this song would have to be the visuals, they just feel out of place in the series. I guess it’s meant to increase the peaceful melody of the song but they just feel out of place in my opinion.
Episodes 1-4
We begin the anime in a peaceful city when all of a sudden… a giant purple naked Namekian comes out of nowhere and begins destroying the city (so this is what would happen if Piccolo and Frieza had a baby). This is Vaccine Man a monster created from the pollution of the world. He says his goal in life is to destroy all humans and protect the Earth from their pollution (have you tried writing complaints to companies about their pollution?). After watching the destruction from his apartment our main character Saitama voiced by Makoto Furukawa (Kimito from Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance) goes to face Vaccine Man where he manages to beat him with one punch (scene here: https://youtu.be/zcnCTu8s9BE, own). We then flashback to three years ago where Saitama was just an unemployed salaryman (with nice hair). As he’s walking from a job interview that failed he runs into a lobster monster in the streets where the lobster monster spares his life since he’s so depressed (well it’s not as bad as a titan ignoring you) and proceeds to look for a boy with a cleft chin who drew boobs on his shell with permanent marker (just shed your shell). Saitama runs into the boy in the park (my God it looks like he has balls for a chin) and the lobster monster shows up to kill the boy. At first Saitama stays out of it deciding that it’s not his problem but his body moves on his own and he saves the boy while also defeating the lobster monster (scene here: https://youtu.be/wfFczoU3qn4). After this he decides to become a hero so he trained hard, so hard that all of his hair fell out, and now he can beat any opponent with just one punch (damn! We should just call him Pwnage Man) but because of this he feels empty inside (have you considered that all the villains you face are just weak?). While out grocery shopping (yeah apparently superheroes are like normal everyday citizens in this world. That, or everyone thinks he’s a freak and are just afraid to tell him) the city gets attacked again by a mad scientist who thanks to a potion turned his wrestler of a brother into a titan. Saitama jumps on the shoulder so the mad scientist brother tells his brother to kill the guy on his shoulder (you should be more specific) and the brother kills his mad scientist of a brother (scene here: https://youtu.be/u0gNqxxXf4I, *laughs* okay, that was funny). After that he walks home where he tells us he no longer feels any kind of emotions when he goes into battle (then Batman has trained you well) and wonders if his powers are making him inhuman (dude, you just punched out a jacked-up giant. If that doesn’t make you inhuman then I don’t know what does). As he’s wondering this he’s attacked by another villain named Crunch Custom but he easily defeats him with you guessed it one punch (by God, are you Captain Falcon’s mentor or something?). He goes home and sleep only to have a dream about Subterraneans attacking the surface (scene here: https://youtu.be/iLF4NjTNr1o). We end the episode with Saitama actually fighting the real Subterraneans who are so weak that when Saitama shows up and takes out their leader the others give up and retreat back into the ground never be seen again and Saitama comes to the realization that he has become too strong (you think? Seriously, even on a New Game+ your skills are unfair).
In episode 2 the city is attacked by blood-sucking mosquitos led by the mutant Mosquito Girl. She gets challenged by a new character named Genos a cyborg who is a hero of justice. He’s voiced by Kaito Ishikawa (Nine from Terror in Resonance). He takes on Mosquito Girl where he does a fairly good job fighting her (nice to see the series establish other strong characters) but once she absorbs the blood from all of her mosquitos she becomes too strong for him to handle. He gets his parts destroyed and is about to self-destruct himself but Saitama comes chasing an annoying mosquito where he sees what’s happening and bitch slaps Mosquito Girl into oblivion (scene here: https://youtu.be/1PpfD08vbZM, bitch slap FTW). A week passes and Genos goes to Saitama’s apartment where he asks Saitama to train him to become strong like him in order to help him get revenge. We find out that at the age of 15 Genos was a normal human living in the country with his family until a rogue cyborg went crazy and killed everyone in his town including his parents (man that’s dark). Genos life was saved by a scientist who modified his body (turning him into the Japanese version of Cyborg from DC Comics) in order to carry out his mission of finding the rogue cyborg who ruined his life and took everything away from him. As the two are talking they get attacked by more mutated animals who belong to an organization known as the House of Evolution. Saitama takes on a few members of the House while Genos takes on Armored Gorilla who he believes might be the rogue cyborg he’s looking for (this isn’t the droid your looking for). Saitama of course owns everyone he fights (scene here: https://youtu.be/FeFOG8wneD0) and Genos beats Armored Gorilla into submission where he tries to put on the tough guy act but once he sees what happened to his comrades he becomes cooperative (scene here: https://youtu.be/7NrP_gqwBXQ).
Episode 3 starts off with a backstory on Dr. Genus the leader of the House of Evolution. In his youth he was a great scientist who won many awards but his theories were never accepted by the science community (if it’s not their idea they don’t want nothing to do with it). Genus believed that humans shouldn’t strive to advance their civilization but instead advance the evolution of humans as a species (isn’t that basically doing the same thing?). Genus was mocked for his beliefs but he continued on with his research and at the age of 70 he finally yielded fruit (https://youtu.be/7hY9Et3UjWo). Through his research he restored his aging body to his youthful years (he’s found the Fountain of Youth), cloned himself, and began experimenting on humans and animals in order to advance them. Genus has now become interested in Saitama (he doesn’t swing that way) and wants to use him in his science experiments (so that he can finally get that blue ribbon he’s always wanted and make his alcoholic dad proud of you). Saitama and Genos go to the House of Evolution’s hideout (wow it was incredibly easy to find) where Genos destroys the building in one blast (what the hell are you doing!? You’re messing with hero dynamics here! You’re supposed to go inside the building, fighting your way to the top, take out their boss through a deus ex machina, and the building blows up in a fiery explosion. Also, one of your comrades may or may not die. It’s pretty standard stuff and you just said fuck it and blew the building up). However, they find a hatch which leads to the basement where they have to fight Carnage Kabuto the strongest human/animal hybrid in the House of Evolution who is so powerful that Genus has to keep him locked up just to control him. Genos tries to take him on but his attacks do nothing thus it falls on Saitama to beat him. Right off the bat Kabuto can sense how powerful Saitama is (he may be an idiot but got the instincts of an animal and an animal will always back away from those who are stronger than them). Genus asks Saitama how he got so strong so Saitama finally tells them the secret to his strength. Do 100 push-ups, sit-ups, and crunches everyday, run 10 km a day, and train your mind by turning off the AC in the summer and winter (do this for 3 years straight and you too can gain the powers to destroy people with one punch). Naturally nobody believes this but Saitama assures them that’s what he did so Kabuto decides to put it to the test and goes into carnage mode where he can’t be stopped. At first it seems like Saitama has found his challenge as he gets the crap beat out of him but once he realizes that today is Saturday he beats Kabuto with one punch. Why? Because there’s a huge sale going on today at the supermarket and Saitama doesn’t wanna miss it (a man’s gotta have his priorities). After beating Kabuto, Saitama and Genos leave and hurry to the supermarket (scene here: https://youtu.be/i7h8uvylllg).
It’s business as usual in episode 4. A guy by the name of Hammerhead is leading a gang wearing battlesuits and they’re attacking the rich saying it’s unfair that they’re rich while he’s poor. I would normally be on his side but the guy is a bum who hasn’t worked a single day in his life and is just hating on the rich for no apparent reason (get a job you hippie). Saitama hears about this and decides to ignore them saying they’re not worth his time but once he sees that they’re all bald men he takes action believing that if he doesn’t do something about them they’ll ruin his reputation as a hero (it’s true, he is making the bald hero look cool). As Hammerhead is making his way to destroy some rich guy’s house he gets stopped in his tracks by Speed-o-Sound Sonic a ninja assassin who moves at the speed of sound. He easily takes out Hammerhead’s men in a rather gruesome scene and Hammerhead himself but thanks to Hammerhead’s thick skull he manages to survive Sonic’s attack and escape (scene here: https://youtu.be/48SvZ5ry9sg, he lives to fight another day) only to run into Saitama (he’s gonna die) who easily destroys the battlesuit but lets Hammerhead go because in a way the two are alike (scene here: https://youtu.be/CqWvJSi0NXo). Hammerhead became a villain as a means to avoid working and get paid while Saitama became a hero because it was what he wanted to do and was tired of his normal life. While the two choose different paths Saitama could have easily gone down Hammerhead’s road and become just like him. Once Hammerhead is defeated Sonic shows up to face Saitama believing him to be an associate of Hammerhead (we gotta get you a wig Saitama). The two fight where in an accident Saitama accidently punches Sonic in the balls (well he ain’t a man no more). Sonic retreats but he vows one day to return and defeat Saitama (scene here: https://youtu.be/qaz-GpeIcXI, I’m sure you would be more intimidating if you weren’t still shaking in pain). Later that night Genos goes to visit Saitama who’s feeling down because nobody in the city knows who he is. He’s been doing this superhero stuff for three years and has took down criminal after criminal but hasn’t once received an ounce of praise or recognition for his work (hey yeah that’s true. In just the last 3 episodes you’ve saved the city at least 5 times already and you haven’t receive nothing in return. What the hell?). Genos asks him if he’s a registered hero and he says no. Yeah, apparently in this world you can take a test to earn your hero certificate and if you get the minimum score you’ll be recognized as a hero by the government and society and get paid for your actions (we should have a test like this for reviewers online). Saitama and Genos decide to take the test and become official heroes so Saitama can get the recognition he deserves and he promises to make Genos his student should they pass.
Episodes 5-8
In episode 5 Saitama and Genos go and take the Hero exam where Genos scores a perfect on the written and physical exam and once the Hero Association finds out he decimated the HQ of the House of Evolution (completely ignoring the rules of shonen) he instantly gets ranked S class the highest class for a hero. As for Saitama he gets ranked C class. Despite scoring perfectly on the physical exam Saitama did horrible on the written exam and barely passed the hero exam by 2 points (scene here: https://youtu.be/Vk6dhati6ZQ). After passing they have to sit in a seminar being done by an A class hero named Snek and we see that Saitama and Genos are the only two who passed the exam out of over 11,000 candidates (quality will always beat quantity). During the seminar Saitama and Genos pretty much get bored and barely listen to Snek pissing him off. Snek believes that the two are just goof offs who will fall out quickly but one of the board members tells him that Genos is S class and even though Saitama is C class there’s a good chance he’ll surpass Snek. Snek takes exception to this and decides to go and teach Saitama a lesson (scene here: https://youtu.be/obr7unhxpqY). The next day comes and Saitama and Genos have a practice fight where Genos asks Saitama to go all out against him (big mistake. Scene here: https://youtu.be/lBv69vR6PIo). After that they go to eat udon where they get approached by Amai Mask an A class hero ranked first in his class meaning he’ll have a chance to become an S class hero (good for you). He asks to speak with Genos in private where he just welcomes him to the league.
In episode 6 Saitama is in danger. 5 days have gone by since he became a hero and he hasn’t done anything heroic all this time which is bad because if he doesn’t do anything heroic within a week his name will be removed from the hero registry (that’s a little bit unfair. Don’t you guys have like a bulletin or website filled with calls for help and stuff? I mean, it’s not his fault that crime has been slow all week). Desperate to stop a crime Saitama runs all around the city for trouble but doesn’t find it (not even a purse snatcher). He decides to call it a day and leave his problems for tomorrow to his tomorrow self (who will no doubt curse you for giving him these problems). The next day Saitama runs into Sonic (how’s your family jewels?) who wants revenge against Saitama (apparently they’re great). Saitama tries to ignore him but Sonic refuses to give up and Saitama gets approached by another hero called Tiger Tank Top (Triple T) who’s been called in to take care of Saitama because of his strange behavior over the last few days. As Triple T lectures him, Sonic takes him out and begins attacking everyone within the vicinity in order to get Saitama to fight him and sure enough Saitama fights him and takes him out (scene here: https://youtu.be/OFEUOTnqNHA, your job is safe for another week). In the second half reports of monsters gathering in City Z have been coming in rapidly and has people scared so much that they’ve fled the area and it’s become a ghost town. The Hero Association sends two class A heroes named Golden Ball and Spring Mustachio to investigate the area and eliminate any monsters they come across. Right away we notice that the area they’re investigating is near Saitama’s place and all the wreckage is from when he and Genos fought members of the House of Evolution (nobody cleaned it up?). The heroes believe that monsters did this (well they’re not far from the truth) and when they spot a seaweed tentacle monster their suspicions are only raised. They fight the monster but it beats them both (scene here: https://youtu.be/4cT_INPIT1w) and just when the monster is about to go to an area with many people it spots Saitama and tries to kill him (but we all know how that song and dance goes). Saitama defeats the seaweed monster and takes its seaweed to eat at home. When a few heroes come around to investigate what happened they’re shocked to see what Saitama did and believe it was the work of a monster (again, not too far from the truth).
At the start of episode 7 a giant meteor is about to fall on City Z and all S class heroes are called in and do something about it (not good enough. Quick, turn on the bald signal). The only heroes who answer are Genos and Bang an old man who’s family dojo resides within City Z. Genos rushes to stop the meteor where another S class hero known as Metal Knight (just think Iron Man only without the cynical and enjoyable personality) is there as well except he’s not there to help people he’s just there to test out his new weapons on the meteor. His weapons fail to stop the meteor so Genos decides to give it a go where he begins to worry and doubt himself (don’t think, just do it). Bang comes in and tells him not to be afraid of failure and Genos launches his attack where it does absolutely nothing. Just when all hope seems lost Saitama arrives (make way for the real hero) and Falcon Punches the shit out of that flying space rock destroying it but chunks of it fall on the city causing damage in some areas but the good news is nobody died in all of it (that in itself is a miracle. Scene here: https://youtu.be/Py3qA3EkfwA, he’s not even looking back at that cool explosion. He’s a hero). The next day we see that Saitama has risen to the 5th ranking in his class while Genos and Metal Knight also went up a ranking in their class (well they tried so I guess it’s earned). As Saitama walks the streets taking in the destruction he caused (a job well done) he gets approached by Triple T and his older brother Tank Top Black Hole who are jealous and pissed at Saitama’s new ranking (it’s called earning it. Try it sometime) try to break his spirit by turning the crowd against him and blaming him for all the destruction that happened in the city (guys, that’s not gonna work on Saitama). When they think they’ve broken his spirit they try to attack him but Saitama easily defeats them and isn’t fazed by the crowd at all because he didn’t become a hero seeking approval from others he’s doing this because this is what he wants to do (and if anyone has a problem with that then step right up and he’ll punch you out just like the meteor). After that he takes his leave with Genos where he says that no matter what happens he’ll never turn his back on Saitama.
In episode 8 Saitama defeats a creature from the sea who is a part of a much larger group known as The Seafolk. They’ve come to take over the surface and will kill any human who gets in their way (so they’re like a more dangerous version of the Merman from One Piece). With this victory Saitama rises up to rank 2 in the C class however the rest of the Seafolk have come to the surface in a different part of town and are causing havoc. Luckily, another hero named Stinger fights them and manages to beat them except for one, the Sea King himself. Because of his exhaustion Stinger quickly goes down and then the Sea King takes on another hero named Pri-Pri-Prisoner a class S hero who is serving life in prison (why he seems like a good guy to me?) because he’s a homosexual who can’t resist stalking and attacking handsome boys (lock him up and throw away the keys). Not that he minds being in prison as he feels it’s his responsibility to punish boys in there (wow, I never thought I would feel bad for a criminal). He escaped prison with Sonic and fights Sea King where he puts up a rather good fight but he’s clearly outmatched strength wise and loses to the Sea King (okay this guy is proving to be a worthy opponent). Sonic is forced to fight where at first Sonic overwhelms him with his speed however this momentum doesn’t last long when it starts to rain. It turns out the Sea King wasn’t at full power because he was dehydrated on the surface but now that he’s wet again (eww~) he’s at full power and he becomes bigger, better, stronger, faster, and harder (man this guy has the potential to be best villain in the anime. He’s great). Sonic realizing he’s outmatched escapes and the Sea King makes his way to a nearby shelter where he plans to kill everyone inside but Genos arrives onto the scene to fight him. While that’s going on Saitama is also trying to find the Sea King to defeat him and runs into another class C hero named Mumen Rider (a shout out to the Kamen Rider) who despite being a pretty useless hero is ranked 1 in class C because of his popularity with the public and unwavering spirit to fight in the face of evil. He and Saitama roam the streets looking for the Sea King when Saitama spots a naked Sonic running through the rain and goes to investigate (why he would want to do that is beyond me). Mumen Rider receives a call from the Hero Association telling him to turn back but he refuses and drops his phone. The phone gets picked up by Saitama who answers it and gets the serious look in his eyes (shits going down next episode. Calling it now).
Episodes 9-12
At the start of episode 9 Genos takes on the Sea King where despite losing his arm puts up a great fight but unfortunately gets most of his body destroyed from a lugee from the Sea King. Just when Genos is about to get destroyed (this is like the 5th time in the anime he’s come close to being destroyed) he gets saved by Mumen Rider (Mumen! Don’t be a hero) who tries to fight the Sea King but easily gets his butt kicked. But despite getting beaten up he continues to get back up and fight not because he thinks he can win but because it’s what a hero should do. Mumen Rider isn’t an idiot. Let me repeat that, Mumen Rider ISN’T AN IDIOT. He knows he’s not strong, he knows he can’t defeat Sea King, and knows that he’ll never become higher than a class C hero but it doesn’t matter to him. All that matters to him is protecting the innocent because he’s a hero and he’s the only one who can do it (wow, next to Saitama he might just be the strongest character in this anime). Mumen Rider gets saved by Saitama who takes on the Sea King and kills him with one punch (scene here: https://youtu.be/BnLs1JLcH-s, well that’s a keeper. I’m putting him on the wall as a trophy). The crowd cheers thanking him and finally seeing how strong Saitama is but some asshole in the crowd (a real life troll if you will. Yes, they do exist in real life) mocks all the heroes who got hurt protecting them calling them weak, saying that the monster Saitama fought wasn’t that strong to begin with, and that anyone can risk their life to protect another (I hesitate to say the things I want to do to this guy because the things I want to do would land me in prison. But I will say this, it’s takes great bravery to risk your life for someone but it takes even greater bravery to risk your life for a number of people you don’t know about). Saitama pulls a Lelouch and says that the reason he was able to win so easily is because the other heroes made Sea King weak allowing him to come in and take all the glory (we truly don’t deserve a hero like Saitama). The crowd buys this since he rose up the rankings so quickly and turn on him calling him a cheater and mocking him (you are all so lucky he’s not a villain otherwise you would all be dead). The next day Saitama and Genos receive mail with Saitama getting 3 letters. The first one is a hate letter, the second one is a thank you letter, and the third is from the Hero Association where he moved up to the number 1 spot in class C and is being called in for an interview to see if he wants to be class B (obviously, the master can’t be lower than the student. It looks bad). The interview takes a while but Saitama becomes a class B hero and on his way back home stops at an udon stand and has a meal with Mumen Rider who we find out was the one who wrote the thank you letter.
Episode 10 opens up with the awakening of the Land King a giant lizard whose strength is similar to that of the Sea King (Godzilla~). With the death of the Sea King the Land King now feels that he can claim the Earth for himself. He surprisingly gets taken out not by Saitama but by Tornado (man I’m so used to Saitama coming in and winning all the fights while making everyone look like an idiot). Tornado (aka Tatsumaki) is a class S hero and is actually the second strongest hero in the organization because of her esper powers. After she destroys the Land King (scene here: https://youtu.be/PBVTPAvw1lk) we see that Saitama and Genos are visiting Bang’s dojo where representatives from the organization come telling Bang and Genos that a meeting for class S heroes has been called and Saitama joins them since he has nothing better to do. We get to see all the class S heroes except for a hero named Blast who is ranked number 1 (not for long. Scene here: https://youtu.be/sVEa34iQtWs). A man calling himself Snitch comes in and tells them that a powerful seer has predicted the destruction of the Earth within the next 6 months and they want the heroes to be ready for anything (so just do what they’ve been doing). Just then the organization’s main building is attacked by the Sky King (really? Are there anymore kings we should know about?) but he gets taken out by aliens (of the creepy kind) who have come to destroy Earth. They destroy City A (you’re next city B) and send a clay alien (which looks like Clayface if he was put in the hands of the Shin Megami Tenshi artists) to destroy any survivors. A few of the heroes fight the creature while the others try to figure out a way onto the alien ship (just blast open a hole and have Tornado use her esper powers to carry you there). Saitama has made it onto the ship and begins destroying aliens and equipment in order to get the boss’ attention.
In episode 11 the heroes figure out the secret to defeating the alien Clayface (freeze him). Destroy these tiny marble like objects which seem to be his source of power (or do this). They do this and manage to destroy all of his heads except for one who manages to knock out Bang (low move man) and decides to go on offense. Back in the ship they launch an air strike attack (tactical nuke incoming *sirens*) but Tornado deflects them back to the ship (scene here: https://youtu.be/IDOHuD9n4AY). Saitama defeats everyone on board until it’s down to him and Boros the leader of this group of pirates. He explains to Saitama that he came here to fight a worthy opponent. His backstory is quite similar to Saitama (minus the 3 years of training, going bald, and owning people with one punch) as he’s a warrior who’s become so powerful nobody can put up a good fight against him however a seer told him of a warrior on Earth who could give him a challenge and after 20 years of traveling space (no such thing as warping remember) he has arrived. Saitama punches him and he amazingly survives (okay strongest villain so far).
In the final episode Bang gets back up and defeats the Clayface alien (scene here: https://youtu.be/a0FMb_DOssI). Back on the ship Saitama and Boros have their fight where we get hands down the best fight in the anime as Boros is the only person so far in the series who has survived an initial punch from Saitama. But eventually he falls to Saitama as well and the world is saved (scene here: https://youtu.be/6nxYKkaV6z0). As the heroes are wrapping up Amai Mask shows up mocking all the S class heroes for failing to save the city (B through Z are still standing, we’ll be fine). We also find out that he doesn’t want to be an S class hero but instead act as the gate keeper for S class heroes. In his mind an S class hero should be a shining example of justice that destroys evil and is perfect in a sense (you ask for the impossible). He kills the remaining aliens and leaves. Saitama comes out of the ship where he meets up with Genos and they head home all while ignoring Tornado who wants to know what happened (scene here: https://youtu.be/lav7wF-qXVQ). A bit of time goes by and city A is abandoned with the only thing left standing being the Hero Association building which was re-fortified by Metal Knight. Roads were soon created from the Hero Association which led to the other cities allowing the heroes to reach those cities faster. We end the season with a giant monster attacking the city and Saitama taking it out.
Final Thoughts
It’s great! What more do I need to say? Everything about this series is great from the characters to the story to the animation to the action, everything in this anime is the stuff of greatness. Like I said before, you would think a story about a guy who wins all his fights with one punch would get boring but it doesn’t and that’s mostly because of two things. First off, Saitama is a great character. Despite being this overpowered badass he’s presented as a normal human being. He goes grocery shopping, he has his worries, he laughs, he’s essentially no different from you and me. What makes Saitama’s character so enduring is that he doesn’t care what the world thinks of him. Whether they cheer for him, boo him, hate his guts, or tell him to quit he doesn’t care what they think. In the end he’s only doing this because this is what he wants to do and the only person that can get him to stop is himself. He’s also an incredible hard worker. While the secret to his amazing power is silly, to do that workout regimen each day is pretty damn impressive and shows us that there are no secrets or shortcuts to getting strong. It’s just rolling up your sleeves and having the fortitude to stick to your regimen. The second thing that makes this story work out so well is how they build up each fight. Each villain they come across has a story to them and we see each one single-handedly manhandle another powerful hero until Saitama shows up and defeats them with one punch. This presentation adds a level of suspense and uncertainty in our minds as we think that this is it, this is the guy who’s going to give Saitama the fight he wants only for Saitama to come and do his thing which is also satisfying and rewarding in its own right.
The other characters outside of Saitama are also great as well particularly Genos. He’s pretty much the embodiment of every typical shonen character you would expect to see in stories like this. He has a tragic past that drives him to get stronger, he wears his emotions on his sleeves, he’s strong, an endearing character you can’t help but cheer for and despite failing over and over he continues to get back up and makes an effort to keep getting stronger. He’s also the first guy to recognize how great Saitama is and remains loyal to him throughout the series. The other characters are great as well. While they don’t focus on them as much as Saitama and Genos they’re given enough time for us to get to know them and like them. Mumen Rider is my second favorite character next to Saitama, Bang is this cool badass old man, and while some people found her annoying I actually found Tornado’s childish personality funny and look forward to seeing her interact with Saitama more in the future.
The animation is beyond phenomenal. It can go from looking silly and nonsensical to straight up intense and epic to match the scene. It’s literally like watching the manga come to life. The music is also fits well within scene focusing primarily on rock music that only adds to the intensity of the situation and the fight scenes as I said before are great. The build-up of the villains are great as you kind of want to see these other heroes win because they’re trying so hard to fight and giving it their all only to come up short and have Saitama save the day so he can finally get the recognition and respect he deserves for all the hard work and dedication he put in to get where he is today.
Final Thoughts
This one is a no-brainer. The final score for One-Punch Man is a 10/10 with a must watch stamp of approval. I really did enjoy this show from beginning to end. If you haven’t watched the anime yet check it out as well as manga which is just as enjoyable as the anime. A second season has been slated to air this year where unfortunately Madhouse won’t be producing it so there’s a good chance the animation won’t be up to the quality we got this season but as One as shown us it’s not the art style that makes this series worth checking out, it’s the story and characters. Thanks for ready and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
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