Currently Watching: Anime (One Punch Man)

Currently Watching: One Punch Man

Photo Credit: Clement Soh

I know what you are thinking, that’s not his usual kind of anime! And honestly you are correct! I only started watching it because my friend was over and wanted to watch it. The art didn’t initially appeal to me and the synopsis I read made it seem boring. Netflix really does need to get better synopsis writers. As you know, I typically watch Slice of Life Anime and Sword Art Online. However, while One Punch Man has a lot of action, I have nothing against action in Anime. I just usually don’t like the art or characters in Anime that are typically action-packed, but what sets One Punch Man apart is its humor. The humor is what makes this show golden.

The Anime is centered on a super hero named Saitama who can defeat every opponent with just one punch! That’s stretching it a little because some of his later opponents take a few more punches, but you get the idea. Along the way he gains a disciple and becomes a professional super hero and rubs arms with some of the top heroes! But he remains the same, which is refreshing. He doesn’t let the fame or his power get to his head. He is completely chill no matter the situation, except when he misses a sale!

For me at least it took a while to get used to the art style, especially since Saitama is typically drawn so blandly while the rest of the world is extremely detailed. Furthermore, I don’t typically like how they draw the characters, it is the type of detailed that I don’t like. It’s hard to explain, but a lot of action packed anime are drawn similarly. I like the styles that are in SAO, Hanamaru Kindergarten, Silver Spoon, etc. but after the initial shock I was fine with the art style.

I would say don’t think too hard about the overall plot and story because there are a lot of plot holes and huh moments. People might argue with me, but there is very little overarching plot. There is one, it’s just not very creative or unique, or detailed for that matter. The most over-arching theme is Saitama’s path from the worst C class hero to S path. Spoiler alert: he is only a B hero in the manga/web toon as of January 9, 2018.

Anyway, I still highly recommend One Punch Man. It is enjoyable, and funny. You should also read the webtoon/ manga if you enjoy the anime as it is further along (duh). There will be a season 2 of One Punch Man but a different studio will be producing it, so the quality is likely to decrease. However, catch season one now! One Punch Man, a superhero for fun!