Just a Hero for Fun - One-Punch Man Review

Oh boy, its that time isn't it. In my lengthy absence from writing on this blog, I watched plenty of good anime from 2015. The anime that I am about to discuss was certainly the most talked about anime in 2015. Now of course, when something gets so much hype it can be hard to make up your own opinion about something. Everyone is obsessed with telling you how good the show is that by the time you watch it, it suffers from those heavy expectations. The show that this article is about is not one of those shows. One-Punch Man has dominated the fall anime scene and for good reason. What you have with One-Punch Man is everything that the show implies. This show manages to take a rather simple premise and turn it into a parody and denunciation of the entire shounen anime genre. Let's get to it.

Describing the plot of One-Punch Man is essentially a pointless endeavor because it lacks a real plot. Sure there is an aspect of continuity, recurring characters, and some semblance of an overarching plot but for the most part, episodes are largely self-contained, villain of the week style. One-Punch Man takes place in a world where alien invasions and kaiju attacks are frequent. As such, cities are protected by an association of heroes. Our protagonist is Saitama, a rather ordinary looking and bald man. He was an ordinary everyman until a run-in with a crab monster inspired him to become a hero. The result of his dedication was to lose all of his hair...and become the world's strongest hero who can defeat any enemy with one punch. However, rather than this being a point of pride, it is a source of distress as our hero has become bored with nobody to challenge him. With no challenge in life Saitama resigns himself to a small apartment, living an incredibly boring lifestyle. The other important plot point is that he takes on, almost unwillingly, an apprentice, a cyborg named Genos. Episodes revolve around the two's exploits together, which are largely uninteresting. However, its this ordinariness that One-Punch Man derives its strength from. Episodes play out in a straightforward way, enemies will present themselves only to be defeated, almost anticlimactically by just one of Saitama's punches.

Get used to this, it will happen EVERY episode

One would think that this would make One-Punch Man anticlimactic. However, it only serves to be one of the show's strengths. See, Saitama is simply a deconstruction of the invincible shounen protagonist. However, while other shows would chose to take a less straightforward way towards the protagonist becoming invincible (ex. facing challenges, we see the progression from weak to becoming strong), One-Punch Man simply plays this trope straight...always. It strips down what many of these shows are; predictable. We know how every episode will end and we know that Saitama will never lose a fight to anyone. However, instead of this being a weakness, this is One-Punch Man's biggest strength, how it openly mocks shounen anime with its over the top voice acting, ridiculous characters, and insane plot threads. It never sells itself as anything different than what it is and that straightforwardness is weirdly refreshing in a genre where shounens sometimes take themselves a bit too seriously. Even though we know what will happen, what is happening onscreen remains compelling. This is only helped by some excellent fight choreography. At the same time there is a common theme of what exactly it means to be a hero which manifests in the show's more serious moments. Once again though, that is not what we're here for.

What One-Punch Man does is it entertains you greatly for twenty-plus minutes without doing anything truly new or inventive, aside from being a fantastic satire of the shounen genre. However, this can all be forgiven because the show is just so damn entertaining and comical and its honesty with how overtly predictable and trope-heavy it is only makes this better. The level it takes itself seriously (and by no means are you supposed to take it seriously) is part of the charm.

One-Punch Man is not without its weaknesses of course. It is true that the inevitability of every episode ending with Saitama defeating an enemy with one punch can be tiresome for some people. The lack of a real overarching plot may also be where some people have a hang-up with the show. However, it is really hard to call these kind of things weaknesses when the show is so intentionally hanging a lampshade on all these tropes. These weaknesses are self-inflicted if anything. This is not a thinking mans anime like Bakemonegatari or Mawaru Penguindrom, its entertaining more than anything else and better off for it.

One-Punch Man has a diverse cast of characters who all manage to leave a lasting impression

The real meat of the show lies within its characters. Saitama himself is rather bland both in character design and in personality. However, I'd like to think of this as the writers taking another shot at the kind of protagonist that we see in anime nowadays. It's that blank slate kind of character that shows up in every shounen anime nowadays that the viewer is supposed to project themselves onto (like a certain bland piece of cardboard who will not be named). He's mocking these wish fulfillment characters and while the intent is to make him boring he ends up being a remarkable character, which was the real intent. We get real insight into his life and his struggle with dealing with a society that despite his power, refuses to appreciate him. While Saitama never struggles with anyone he fights, it is instead the society around him which is his true battle. When Saitama gets serious, is when the show really kicks into overdrive. Even so, its his moments of boredom, like thinking about sales at the supermarket while fighting monsters, that truly makes his character. Its his ordinariness, the show's insistence on trying to make him that blank slate, all while keeping him several levels higher than the rest of the cast. Where Saitama possesses the power of the traditional protagonist, it is his apprentice Genos who possesses the stereotypical character traits. He's young, impulsive, and looking to become stronger. Slap him and Saitama together and you've got yourself the typical shounen protagonist.

The rest of the characters fall into a series of tropes: you have serious kung fun characters, ninjas, Japanese high school gang members, psychics, arrogant bishounens, just about every anime character trope under the sun. The sheer number of named characters is exhaustive and they all manage to leave a lasting impression on you, even the rather ordinary Mumen Rider who has zero powers or strengths. Like I said in the last paragraph, the show throws out many different interpretations of heroism and that each character has a different motivation for becoming a hero. Some characters have firm beliefs in justice, others have a strong sense of duty, and others do it for the fame and wealth that it brings. The doesn't exactly beat you over the head with the question of what makes a hero and instead just provides a diverse number of characters to demonstrate this.

Yes that's his default look...it gets better

For the most part, the animation in One-Punch Man is good. The moments when it decreases in quality are usually intentional and only serve to hammer home Saitama's ordinariness and boredom. Any time that he's drawn with any sort of detail, you know that the fight will soon be over.The action is fluid and it is really nice to see a show not rely on CGI for these scenes, something that anime nowadays has a real problem with. It is nice to see a show not cut corners. Of course, it is not like this is the Fate series or anything. The soundtrack requires very little explanation beyond being simply fantastic. The OP sets the mood for the show and is a real earworm especially the first time you hear "OOOONNNEEEE PUUUUUUUUUNNNCCCCHHHH!!!!!!".

So the question here at the end is: should you watch One-Punch Man? The answer is unquestionably yes. It is really hard to describe any weaknesses that this show has because any weakness could just as easily be described as a strength. I hesitate to say that it is one of the best animes I've ever watched but it is definitely one that I could recommend to anyone. It is only 12 episodes, remarkably entertaining, well-animated, and just downright hysterical, most of the time not even trying to be. Go out and watch it, I promise you, you will not be disappointed.

My Score: A solid 5/5

If you liked One-Punch Man, then what exactly is the next step?

Continuing with the "parody" aspect and trope-heaviness, a logical next step would be another popular anime, Kill la Kill. If you can get beyond the...uh...lack of clothes, you'll find an incredibly entertaining show with action of similar if not better quality.

Continuing with the zaniness theme, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure hits on the same keys as One-Punch Man. If you're looking for a wacky, large but memorable cast of characters, look no further than this franchise.