One-Punch Man (Season One)
Following a chance encounter with a supervillain, Saitama discovered his true calling. he spent three years training his body to become a superhero, but now no one can keep up with him since he defeats every opponent with one punch!
One-Punch Man (Season One)
What did you watch?
I first watched One-Punch Man back in 2017, long before this site was a thing. I think I may have reviewed it on my old site, but that no longer exists so I decided it was time to do it again. I’m currently eleven volumes into the manga and looking forward to continuing that adventure, however, I needed a show to watch while I ran on the treadmill after finishing the first season of Hunter x Hunter. Since I hadn’t gotten around to watching the second season of One-Punch Man, I figured that I would start from the beginning and go through both seasons back to back. So, that’s what I’m doing!
What happened?
Saitama came across a supervillain on a killing spree. He had just been rejected from yet another job interview and had lost his will to go on. As such, the supervillain took pity on him and allowed him to live, since that would increase his suffering. Anyhow, Saitama bumped into the same supervillain when it tried to kill the child who drew nipples on his shell while he slept. Saitama jumped in without a moment’s hesitation and saved the child. Then, he fought back and surprisingly won. The experience revealed to him what he needed to do next, so he began to train his body. If he was going to be a superhero, he needed to be stronger. Much stronger.
Three years later, Saitama had lost his hair from training hard, but there were benefits too. He had become incredibly strong. So strong in fact that he defeated every opponent with a single punch and there were no exceptions. Unfortunately, that left him unfulfilled and empty inside. Then, a nineteen-year-old cyborg noticed Saitama’s power and begged to become his disciple. Saitama wasn’t in the mood for it, but when Genos explained the benefits they would get from becoming professional heroes, he accepted. Genos aced the hero exam and was placed directly into S Class. Saitama, however, had to start at the bottom – C-Class since his written test was terrible. He did however break every record in the physical exams, but no one was sure it wasn’t a fluke or that he was cheating. Only time would tell!
What did you think?
I absolutely love this series. I’ve always been a fan of superhero stories and this may be my absolute favourite despite it being a parody. In twelve episodes, we basically learned that Saitama may actually be the strongest being in the entire universe. The fight between him and Boros, the space pirate who spent twenty years searching for someone strong enough to challenge him pretty much told us that, especially when Boros revealed before he died that he knew Saitama was holding back. So, Saitama is incredibly strong, but he’s come out of nowhere so no one trusts what they are seeing.
And that’s the series in a nutshell – what if no one believed the strongest man in the universe was actually strong? I love the way that Saitama doesn’t exactly go out of his way to show anything different. Sure, he saves everyone and defeats the most unbelievably powerful enemies when multiple heroes of a higher class couldn’t, but when that turns people against the other heroes, he downplays his efforts and ridicules himself. He truly is heroic in everything he does. I love Saitama’s attitude and the way he conducts himself. He says he wants fame and glory, but really, he just wants someone to give him a good fight!
What was your favourite moment?
As I rewatched One-Punch Man, I kept thinking that I loved this moment and that it would be my favourite moment, but that happened in just about every episode. So, it has to be the final fight with Boros. That was just an utterly epic battle and in a series packed with incredible fights, it had to be extra special to stand above the rest. Seeing Saitama causally running backwards while blocking Boros’ attacks was hilarious. I loved how Boros continued to power himself up, especially when he attacked Saitama so hard that he punched him into the moon.
Of course, Saitama didn’t seem that bothered by the whole thing and even had time to look at a moon rock before launching himself back at Boros’ spaceship. Everything about this fight was epic and it while it wasn’t the first time someone survived his first punch (that honour goes to Speed-o-Sound Sonic who pretty much hit Saitama’s fist with his testicles and survived), it was the first time we saw him going all out and enjoying the fight. So, to find out that he had been holding back even then you can’t help but wonder what he’s truly capable of. Then, despite all this, only a tiny handful of people understand just how strong he is. Everyone else thinks he’s a joke!
What was your least favourite moment?
I hate the way the public seems to turn on Saitama. That said, it’s not because I believe it wouldn’t happen in real life, but because it holds a mirror up to the reality that people don’t trust others and it’s getting harder and harder to believe what you see anymore. One instance was after Saitama saved the city from total destruction by destroying a meteor. Fragments rained down, destroying lots of the buildings, but he saved a lot of lives. Then, Tanktop Tiger and Tanktop Black Hole managed to turn everyone against him in seconds. Yes, that gave Saitama a chance to show that he understood that the people were just frustrated and if using him as a target gave them some relief, he was prepared to do that.
I do wish that Genos or Bang stood up and set the record straight, but they too understand that it was needed even if they didn’t want Saitama to throw himself under the bus for them. The same thing happened after Saitama defeated the Deep Sea King. He made out that he just stole all the glory after the other heroes did the bulk of the work. The reality was that no one had been able to hurt the Deep Seas King at all until he killed it with one punch. These were ugly scenes that showed the worst of humanity but also revealed just how heroic Saitama is.
Who was your favourite character?
It has to be Saitama. I loved the fight with Carnage Kabuto when it made it look like Saitama had made a mistake and underestimated his opponent. However, he had merely realised that he’d gotten his days mixed up and his coupons for the grocery store were only valid today when he thought they were good for tomorrow. That was a perfect example of how to misdirect the action. Each line worked perfectly for both situations so it’s almost impossible to tell what he’s really talking about when you first watch it.
Another thing that I love about this series is the way the animation changes depending on how serious Saitama is. He’ll be wandering around looking like an egg on a cape for the longest time and then, just as he’s about to punch someone, the style changes and he’s suddenly the coolest-looking superhero going. They also make great use of the messy style of animation when the fights are moving so quickly that you wouldn’t normally be able to see anything. Great series, fantastic character, amazing artistic choices.
Who was your least favourite character?
This is a tough one because while there were a lot of bad characters, they were meant to be that way. Take the Tanktop duo that picked a fight with Saitama for being a rookie and advancing too quickly. Then, there was Snek who thought he could teach Saitama a lesson as a rookie. We kept seeing heroes who were anything but heroic which I think is what would happen in a society with professional heroes. I don’t think there’s anyone that I would point at and wish they weren’t in the series. They all serve a purpose and for some of them, it’s to be mean to Saitama. I’m looking forward to seeing him convert more and more people to his side as they realise just how strong he is.
Would you like some more?
So, I’m going to start the second season straight away as that’s just another twelve episodes. I’ve never seen it before so I’m quite excited to see what they put in. I’m expecting Blizzard to finally show up and King, and hopefully more of Terrible Tornado. After that, I’m definitely going to jump back into the manga. I think there are almost thirty volumes at present and I’ve only read up to volume eleven. This series is a lot of fun and at the same time is incredibly insightful. I need more!
What have you learned?
I believe that one of my strengths in writing is putting together exciting and believable fight scenes. While this series goes over the top on a number of things, the speed with which the fights end is not one of those things. They remind me of sword fights. In stories, these can go on and on as each fighter blocks and parries the other’s attacks. In reality, these fights do not last long at all. In fact, many are over before they begin and if not, a single strike is often enough. Now, I appreciate that it might not be as exciting if it’s over too soon, but I would take that over a fight that lasts several episodes any day. The fight between Saitama and Boros did a great job of pushing things further while not dragging it out. I strive to emulate that.
Series Information
| English Title | One-Punch Man |
| Japanese Title | One-Punch Man |
| Genres | Action, Adult Cast, Comedy, Parody, Super Power |
| Demographic | Seinen |
Manga
| Author | One | |
| Artist | Yusuke Murata | |
| Volumes | Ongoing | Chapters |
| 1 | One Punch | 1-8 |
| 2 | A Hero for Fun | 9-15 |
| 3 | Nothing Unusual | 16-20 |
| 4 | This is How They React! | 21-24 |
| 5 | To the Hero Saitama, Thank You!! | 25-29 |
| 6 | Can I Have Some Tea? | 30-34 |
| 7 | Prophecies are Unreliable! | 35-37 |
| 8 | His Name is King… | 38-40 |
| 9 | Nothing But Trouble! | 41-47 |
| 10 | With Everything I’ve Got! | 48-55 |
| 11 | I’m Done with Teams! | 56-61 |
Anime
Season One
| Season | Season One |
| Released | Fall 2015 |
| Animation Studios | Madhouse |
| Episodes | 12 |
Season Two
| Season | Season Two |
| Released | Spring 2019 |
| Animation Studios | J.C.Staff |
| Episodes | 12 |
This anime was always the topic when I was in college about an OP super hero who destroys his enemies with a single punch. It was ok at first, but it became stale and boring after seeing it multiple times. I guess it became a running gag.
I’d disagree as to it becoming stale and boring, although that’s also the point. Saitama is completely disillusioned because he can’t get excited about the one thing he poured all of his energy into because it’s over in one punch.
The series also puts forward some interesting ideas about how “heroes” would work in a professional scenario and it’s not always pretty. I also love how Saitama isn’t just thinking about himself. He regularly takes the criticism of the public to maintain the image of heroes everywhere. There’s a lot more to it than one punch victories.
This is such a fun series! I love how One Punch takes a super hero story and turns it on it’s head. In most super hero stories, it starts out with the main character being a wimpy regular person and then through the series that hero slowly grows to be stronger and more heroic. In One Punch Man, Saitama is already heroic from the beginning, and he’s the strongest almost instantly. So instead of a story of a hero looking up to great heights, it’s a great hero looking down from great heights. And not surprisingly for a king that has everything, he’s bored, disenchanted, and lonely. That’s what the story is about, Saitama making friends, building connections with other heroes (for better or worse) and catching those sweet discount deals at the local grocery store. I guess it’s kind of like My Hero Academia, if the story was told from the perspective of All Might.
Absolutely. And one of my favourite things about Saitama is that he is completely unknown so almost no one believes he can be that powerful. There’s only a handful of people who know such as Genos, Bang, and the one guy from the Hero Association, but otherwise no one takes him seriously until they have no choice. That also speaks to their character and how they are often overhyped jumped up wannabes.
That scene where he was worrying that he’d got the days wrong and was going to miss out of the coupons when he was fighting Carnage Kabuto was hilarious, and it fit perfectly as misdirection too, making you think Saitama had underestimated his opponent for a second.
I also love the dream he had when he was fighting the subterranean people and they were all infinitely stronger than they actually were. It looked like the world was being destroyed by their fight and he was finally happy to have a decent opponent… and then it was all a dream. Such a clever story idea.
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