One Punch Man

What more can be said besides it's a hard hitting one-two punch filled with action & comedy. The thing that is so unique is that our hero doesn't have to struggle to become the savior or the strongest. Still was mentioned that he trained but shockingly for not all that long a period of time. Personally would love to see some minor flashbacks as to what kind of training he endured & underwent or if anyone trained him. Just doesn't seem Shounen at all to me considering this. I quite honestly feel bad for the guy because none of these monsters can offer him a worthy fight because he ends them so bloody fast thus leaving him bored and unsatisfied. Only hope he can find a foe worthy to test his metal. As for the comedy the drawing brings it together very nicely I thought, although some of the jokes being Japanese cultured you may or may not find all that funny. After watching the first episode my walk away impression is it set out and did a great job of both action,comedy, and animation style that is unique yet catchy at the same time. Can hardly wait to see where things lead us come next episode.

 

Can't say I liked how the training arc was skipped over. Maybe it's just because iv'e been watching so many Shounen shows where all the main hero's start out being average or worse than that. Then having to climb and claw there way up to greatness. It's the total opposite here though. Not sure if your a DC movie/comic fan but totally getting that Superman feeling although one key difference. Our hero this time around is human and didn't have to blend in with society.

Now regardless of how strong a person physically is being fraught with that news of the Subterraneans. It's just I would have found it hard for anyone to not have that expression. Still that dream kind of makes him out to be a psychic.. As for that morbid moment it just left me face-palming.
I can find it as funny as the next guy but still how could he forget or not know which shoulder his brother was on.

The last thing that's got me thinking now is something that our hero said. He has grown to feel emotionless when he fights as has seemed to have lost these emotions. Going on saying that now all he needs is a single punch to end things, which almost makes me want to imply that before it took him much more than that to win a fight. Still that should go without say because of how long he had to train. It's funny but i'm feeling like this guy is very similar to Ikkaku from Bleach. The character designs are a lot alike. Even the personality to a degree at least when they fight seriously. This has made for some good stuff indeed. Just hope our hero isn't a hollow shell without emotion though.

 

Today we got the launch of episode 2. We get the introduction of a new main character. He is what you would consider as a more typical hero. A tragic backstory,dedication, and willingness to sacrifice himself for the greater good. Nothing like with Saitama (AKA One Punch Man) who really only has strength and heroism.

The new guys fights seemed way more intense and interesting to watch unfold since he can’t simply one shot a villain. Only drawback is utterly lacking in the comedy department although does seem to set the mood up for some comedy so there is that. From here we seem to be progressing to a actual story plot after Saitama was targeted by a mysterious organization. This organization has been creating genetically strong and advanced monsters/animals/mutations thus why their targeting Saitama. Can only wait to see what our do-gooders will do faced with this new threat.

 

So what does everything think so far? I read the manga and the anime is following it to a T so I mostly knew all this already but watching it animated is still fun. I find it ammusing it's suggested he's the one who inspired the creation of the hero association yet no one even knows he exists. It's not like this guy went into hiding why did the rich old guy not know who he was?

 

The only reason I can gather he didn't know who he was was because Saitama only rescued the Hero Associations founder's grandson I believe.
He never got a good description and well Saitama trained until his hair feel out. His appearance changed over those 3 years.

 

But it didn't fall out immediately and he was running all over town. So you mean no one said "hey rich guy. The man who saved your grandson is running around town training to be a hero. Maybe you should invite him into that hero association thing you're starting".

It just doesn't really add up.

 

Open ended plots you either hate it or you love it. Now as far as I know there were no other witnesses present. You only had a vague description and one that matched a lot of people. To narrow it down like that would be increasingly hard. Then of course you still have Saitama who was training but his training is a average workout. To anybody watching him would just assume he is a natural civilian. And not just that he never confessed to anyone he was training to be a hero. All i'm saying is I can see how he has gone unnoticed. But to say if he was invited early would change the plotting of the story for the worse in my view point. You wouldn't get that built up tension or progression I feel which really helps make each weeks episode even more over the top than the previous week.

 

I'm going to just list my thoughts on each episode and label them. I'll list each as a spoiler so nothing is ruined for those of you catching up or haven't seen the show yet.

Spoiler: Episode 3

Things begin by hearing the scientist’s story on how he thrived for evolution. He believed that humans are fragile creatures and need to adapt and evolve to continue to existence. After countless experiments, he finally discovered the key to youth. He then was able to extend his life and clone himself to ensure that he could live to see the day where humans have fully evolved. After hearing the Robo Gorilla’s story, Saitama is off in a rush so he can make it back in time for his sale. You just have to love Saitama. Here a giant gorilla is telling him the story behind this mad man who is destroying man kind & all he cares about is his own time, & saving a couple of bucks. After arriving at the lab by foot, Genos shows off his strength by leveling the entire building leaving only a crater. This helps set up for the next adventure by leaving a trail of destruction, in which these mystery guys, at the end of the episode, use to track down Genos. It also shows that Genos is no slouch. Meanwhile, the doctor unleashes Carnage Kabuto who easily takes out Genos. I guess by having these weaker characters, we can still have intense battles and just have Saitama come in at the end to clean up the mess. CK seems more interested in fighting strong opponents, similar to Saitama before killing them. He hasn’t had much of a challenge within the confines of the lab. As he’s about to test Saitama’s strength, he suddenly loses his backbone just from Saitama’s presence. Saitama then decides to spill the beans on his secret training since everyone (Us as viewers) seemed so interested & he doesn’t see the harm. The secret is 100 push ups, 100 sit ups, 100 squats and 10km runs every single day, while enduring the natural climate. This left everyone dumbfounded I think. You almost instantly lose respect for Saitama and refuse to take him seriously after this. The proceeding fight though was amazing. All of the build up made for a rather good episode but nothing over the top

Spoiler: Episode 4

An army of bald men begin attacking the city in protest & Saitama has no choice but to get involved. For the first few episodes, we mainly see Saitama face off against weird creatures, creations and monsters, but now we see him face normal humans as the bad guys. While surely no one can match him, there is technology available that can make up for this. The Paradisers (Bald guys attacking the city) are being led by Hammerhead, a man who faced similar problems to Saitama. He was sick of the world's injustice. Struggling to find work to make ends meet while the rich can control everything by doing nothing. They also share that they’re all bald, which forces Saitama to take action before his reputation is ruined. Meanwhile, Mr. Monier is being targeted by the Paradisers, but he has a ace to play. His hired body guard Sonic is a ninja with superhuman abilities. While Sonic is indeed strong, he definitely has a psychotic vibe to him which I adore. He gets incredibly worked up over strong opponents and can’t seem to control himself. He easily takes out the Paradisers while Hammerhead escapes and runs into Saitama. Saitama just wants to talk this out & get these guys to stop causing trouble so he can continue being a hero for fun. After seeing his childish attack, Saitama begins to sympathize with Hammerhead, seeing how similar they are to each other. They’re both bald, use the spin attack and both struggled with unemployment. If Saitama had a slightly different mindset, he could have easily been in the same position as Hammerhead. He decides to let him off with a warning since he can see that he’s not a bad person, he just took the wrong path in life. Sonic isn’t too thrilled about this since he has never allowed his prey to escape. Seeing Sonic’s reaction to meeting Saitama, he seems like the kind of guy who can easily be manipulated. He only went after Hammerhead because he wanted to fight strong opponents & the fact that he was being paid as a sort of mercenary. After having his attacks blocked by Saitama, he gets even more excited to the point where he castrates himself on Saitama’s mighty fist. Yes i'm not joking this actually happened. After heading home, Saitama is a bit depressed. Sonic’s lack of knowledge of him really got under his skin. Here he was, saving the city for three years and it just hits him that nobody knows who he is. His work is never mentioned in the news, or when it is, someone else is given the credit. This leads to Genos bringing up the Hero Registry which Saitama has never even heard of. All this time, he has been running around and defeating enemies as a hobby when he could have been doing this as a full time job and earning a living! Later Saitama and Genos go off to the registry, & we can see some more enemies lurking in wait. I’m not to hopeful that they will pose a threat to Saitama, but every single fight has been entertaining.

Spoiler: Episode 5

This is by far the best One Punch Man episodes to date. Between the humor,the magnificent animation, and the marvelous combat. Our episode begins by showing us the Hero Association, which we will become all too familiar with by the end of the season, beginning their annual heroes selection examination. The selection committee reveals that they have a particular interest in Genos & expect great things from him. After our hearts stop racing we see Saitama & Genos begin their examination. Fellow examinees see Saitama prepare to begin his exam and scoff at him, assuming he’ll amount to nothing. However, after the bell sounds, Saitama sets records at every event, including the 1500 meter dash, weight lifting, shot put (which he throws into the wall 100's of feet away), vertical jump (which causes Saitama to go through the roof which had me laughing my ass off), whack-a-mole, and the punching machine (which Saitama destroys). Unsurprisingly, Saitama gets a perfect physical score. Genos & Saitama reconvene & discuss how easy the physical test was, while Genos remarks on how easy the written test was. We find out that Genos got a perfect score in both sections of the exam and becomes an S ranked hero, since the Hero’s Association thinks he single handedly took out the House of Evolution from the last episode. Unexpectedly, Saitama gets 71 points, the minimum passing grade, due to his poor essay. You can only guess at what he wrote. Genos promises to speak with the reviewers, but Saitama refuses out of embarrassment as the two go off to orientation. Enter Sneck (yes that is his real name), their orientation presenter and a A class hero who has no time for Saitama’s “not giving a $*#!” attitude''. He lectures that all heroes should take their job seriously all while Saitama ignores him & thinks about dinner. This infuriates Sneck, who will later attempt to challenge Saitama. After orientation is over, Genos explains the history of the Hero Association, which was started 3 years ago by a very rich man whose grandson was rescued by a nameless passerby, who is heavily implied to be Saitama. As they continue their walk, Genos reminds Saitama that he promised to take him on as a disciple if they both were accepted by the Hero Association, much to Saitama’s unenthusiasm. After Saitama finally accepts, he and Genos part ways., Sneck attempts to fight and humiliate Saitama for embarrassing him, but quickly finds himself taking a dirt nap in the face of Saitama’s overwhelming strength after he lands a sucker punch on Saitama. The next day begins a fight I’ve been excited for since the show was first announced, the first fight between Saitama and Genos. Genos doesn’t believe that Saitama was telling the truth about how he obtained his immense strength and plans to unveil it through combat. So begins one of the most beautifully animated fight scenes I have ever witnessed in anime. The combat is fluid, the animation is solid and super detailed. What more could a fan/viewer ask for. Genos gives it his all and shows just how incredibly powerful he is, but throughout the entire fight Saitama does nothing but toy with him, revealing how big the gap in power is between them. Genos, now annoyed that Saitama isn’t taking the fight seriously, demands that he try his best, to which Saitama responds by ending the fight in one punch, as is his namesake. Genos finally accepts that he will never reach his strength level. To wrap up the episode, we see Saitama receive his first ever defeat as One Punch Man by his archenemy, the powerful, yet delicious Udon (a food challenge) whom Genos defeat easily. After Saitama is beaten, Amai Mask, the top A ranked hero, enters the udon shop to welcome Genos to the Hero Association as an S ranked hero. After Amai speaks with Genos in loosely veiled threats, our heroes part ways and the episode comes to a close. This hype train shows no signs of slowing down and I have no intention of getting off.

Spoiler: Episode 6

Saitama & Genos have officially been hero's for nearly a week, but the city itself has been calm. While Saitama thought that becoming an official hero would help him gain recognition & take on more big name villains, it was actually a step backwards. He isn’t assigned any specific duties, but has to go out and find his own crimes to bust, basically being a vigilante. While he rushes to find work for himself, he also sees an opportunity where he can provide some sort of ‘value’ to Genos, who is currently paying exorbitant amounts to study under him. Saitama lucks out by using his own unfortunate situation and spinning it into a way that is applicable to Genos’ current dilemma, while saying it with a straight face. Saitama does laps around the city, searching every inch for some sort of trouble that he can get his hands on. Trouble appears nearby when Sonic seeks vengeance against Saitama. Unfortunately, this causes a scene which attracts the attention of other heroes to them. Poor Saitama faces the wrath of the public yet again, being seen as a weirdo who is disturbing the peace. The guy just can’t seem catch a break. How I just want to reach out and give him a Kit-Kat-Bar. Sonic gets irritated due to Saitama diverting his attention away though and starts causing a scene by becoming a villain. Saitama isn’t exactly the brightest cue-ball so it takes him some time to register that his golden opportunity is right in front of him! I guess Sonic’s little outburst shows that he really has no moral compass, and will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. Still i'm not convinced to write him off as a bad guy. Of course Saitama easily lays down the smack down on Sonic ending his rampage. After the fight Sonic is taken away and sentenced to jail. Meanwhile on the abandoned side of town, a seaweed or kelp monster appears and the hero association sends several A class heroes to locate it. This kelp monster is somewhat similar to Saitama, in the sense that they both want recognition. The monster realizes that it can not gain notoriety if it just stays in the abandoned town since no one will be able to witness it in action. Once again Saitama makes quick work of the monster, while leaving behind a destructive aftermath. It seems that his efforts have gone unnoticed yet again, and even has other heroes thinking that he is some kind of evil monster as well. I’m starting to see the continuation of the plot and overall story. It looks like it’ll be focused on both Saitama and Genos’ climb to the top of the rankings, although I could be entirely wrong.

I'll do episodes 7-9 at a later time.