Hello Enthusiasts,
Today I will be
reviewing the anime One-Punch
Man, which hit Netflix pretty
recently. Now I never got huge into anime outside of some of the more popular
shows from my childhood (Pokemon, Dragon Ball Z, Yu-gi-oh, etc), so this was
really my first non-dubbed anime. I mention this because, if any of you are big
into anime, I may seem somewhat naive on the topic and may mention things that
are pretty regular across the genre, so please bear with me on that. As always,
you may find some Mild
Spoilers Below.
The story follows
Saitama, a regular guy who is a hero for fun. He also happens to have enormous
power, with lightning fast reflexes, incredible durability, and the strength to
obliterate anything with a single punch. This came from three years of an
exercise routine that included "100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and
a 10k run, EVERY. SINGLE. DAY!". Because of his incredible power, he gets
an unwanted cyborg student, Genos, who worships Saitama's power and wants to
learn how can improve his own, already impressive power. He lives in a world
that frequently sees destruction from monsters and disasters, and therefore has
an official Hero Association that allows folks to sign up, take some tests, and
possibly become a hero that gets paid with the donations of the people. Saitama
works with these other heroes (though he really doesn't need to) to stop
threats to the world, such as giant monsters from the sea. All the while,
Saitama is really just looking for a foe that he can't kill with just one
punch. I would love to go into more detail, but despite my spoiler warning, I
really don't want to give the whole thing away.
There are a whole
lot of positives to this show for me. Most of the fights and action scenes are
pretty grand, and you would think that would be difficult with a hero that can
win with a single punch. The show does well of showing other heroes fight as
well, showing their struggles with these monsters before Saitama comes onto the
scene. The effects of his punches are also some of the best parts of the show,
with ridiculous destruction and consequences from each hit. I particularly
liked the visual from his final big fight in the series, which shows the clouds
on each separating in a cone shape from his last blow. On top of the
over-the-top action, the series is also pretty funny. Saitama is usually drawn
with a pretty blank expression on his face, and his priorities can sometimes
seem completely out of order to the others. He tends to think more about saving
money and covering bills than he does of the monsters that he is fighting.
However, even with all of this humor, there is a depression to Saitama, as he
cannot find a challenge in life for his strength and power, being disappointed
with each monster. Saitama is certainly not egotistical though, despite
the power he holds. He is generally pretty humble, and at one point allows the
public to believe that he is a fraud rather than allow them to think that all
of the other heroes in the Hero Association are useless. Things like this in the
show demonstrate that, while it does have fun with itself, it can be deeper
than expected.
My only problem with this anime overall is the unexplained subplot
going on in the Hero Association. It seems that many of the administration part
of the Association have some big plans for our heroes, but they never really go
into detail about what they’re interested in about them. It also doesn’t feel
like it goes anywhere, even in the last episode, instead leaving an open end
for the next season. While I can appreciate having a subplot like that arcing
across more than one season, I think they could have shown me a bit more to
keep me interested. Outside of the strange shadow people of the Hero
Association though, I really don’t have any complaints for this series so far.
So yeah, this was a great season of a really fun anime, I can see
how it built up the following that it has. While it does have that subplot that
doesn’t feel complete, I feel like this show is still fantastic overall and is definitely
worth a watch. If you have some time on your hands and you aren’t sure what you
should be watching next on Netflix, This show gets a strong recommendation from
me.
I give the first (and currently only) season of One-Punch Man a 9 out of 10.
Sincerely,
The Bored Enthusiast
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