What can I say about this anime except; wow! One-Punch Man is the breath of fresh air the anime community has been waiting for. It's filled to the brim with personality, and has a fun new take of the fighting anime scene. It's about a hero known as Saitama, and he defeats ALL of his opponents in just ONE PUNCH. Literally, every time. It's hilarious, action packed, and full of surprises. Lets dive in and take a closer look!
First off, the opening theme is fantastic. With most anime you listen to the theme once and skip it before every episode, but not this one. I listened to this song EVERY EPISODE. Its ability to get you pumped along with the added epic imagery from the show gets you really in the mood for some fists flying. I added it to my workout playlist and I'm always excited when the song comes on. Not many themes have done this for me in the past, but One Punch Man has certainly succeeded in that regard.
Another one of my favorite things about the show is its main hero Saitama. He is perfect as the hero in this story because he's an actual hero. He doesn't do it for the fame or the glory like the other members of the Hero Association. From day one his goal has solely been to help people and save the day. My fear was that he'd suffer from what I like to call the "Superman Syndrome". This is where a hero is so unbelievably powerful that you stop worrying about him and care less and less because you know he's just going to win anyway.
Saitama is ridiculously strong in every way, but the thing that keeps you watching is his quest for a true fight. Since he has trained so hard to become strong he has bested everyone he fights before the match has even started. This depresses him, but also makes him work harder to find that one opponent who doesn't go down. You, as the viewer, continue to worry about the day when he actually meets his match and is in real danger. Until that day though, he'll just blast away everyone. I love his optimism, his drive, and his sense of humor in even the most hostile of situations. But he's not the only stellar character.
Our hero exists in a world constantly plagued by monsters. So much so that the government has created a special group known as the Hero Association. This group contains heroes of every caliber, and they are rated from C to S in order to gauge the problems that arise. C class heroes mostly fight street crime, while S heroes would take on enormous creatures or intergalactic conflicts. Like I said, these are every day occurrences, and most of them are horrifying to say the least.
Every episode is self contained and has a new issue that arises each time. I really commend this show for taking these super complex plots and condensing them into thirty minute episodes. Some of the stories they introduce would be milked by other anime and spread out over seasons, but One Punch Man deals with them each time. That really excites me because I can't wait to see what they do each episode, but I also fear that they could run out of ideas faster that way too. Only time will tell with that though.
This show has a very colorful cast of characters. One of which is Genos, the human cyborg on a quest to defeat the crazy robot who killed his family and destroyed his town. After witnessing Saitama in action for the first time, Genos pledges to be his disciple and wishes to learn all of his secrets and become stronger. He's constantly surprised by his master, and takes notes at every turn.
Another fun character is the faster than light ninja, Sonic. Sonic is not really a "good guy" per se. He honestly has it out for Saitama and tries to kill him more than once. But his character is so interesting, and makes you want to learn more about him every time he appears.
There are a ton more characters, but I don't want to list anymore for fear of ruining jokes or surprises. Though there are way too many to list honestly.
There have been a dozen moments so far where I'm on the edge of my seat during this show. Brutally real fights between monsters and regular humans make you tense up every time. I haven't seen characters this fragile since Attack On Titan. Injuries hurt, and people go down hard in this show. But that's what make the victories so much sweeter when they pull through. The humor throughout had me giggling the whole time. The writers do an excellent job of combining tense moments with very subtle jokes and laughs to give you a rest.
The series is currently only at nine episodes, so there's plenty to watch and enjoy with much more to come. I'm excited every Monday when I hop on and see what Saitama has been up to, or see who is fighting who. There's time to join in the fun, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
Thanks for reading otakus!
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