One-Punch Man (ワンパンマン Wanpanman) is a very popular anime that follows the main character Saitama as he searches in his quest to find a worthy opponent. Season 1 first aired back in October of 2015 and will be releasing a new season in Spring of 2018 making this one of the most hyped anime of the spring season.
On an unnamed Earth-like super-continent planet, powerful monsters and villains have been mysteriously appearing and causing disasters. To combat them, the world’s government has created a Hero Association that employs superheroes to try and stop the violent creatures and villains. Each of the Hero Association’s superheroes is ranked from Class-C to Class-S. Saitama is an unranked hero, hailing from the metropolis of City-Z, who performs heroic deeds for his own entertainment. He has trained himself and grown strong to the point where he can effortlessly defeat any opponent with a single punch, hence the name of the show. However, since Saitama became a hero for the fun of the experience, he has lately become bored with his superhuman power and frustrated at the complete lack of strong opponents that can challenge him.
The use of comedy and action by publisher One, the pseudonym of a Japanese manga artist, really allows the show to shine and entice people all over the world to enjoy the show. One gives his reasons for creating One Punch Man by saying,
“Punching is oftentimes pretty useless against life’s problems. But inside One Punch Man’s universe, I made Saitama a sort of guy who was capable of adapting his life to the world that surrounded him, only armed with his immense power. The only obstacles he faces are mundane things, like running short of money.”
As explained above Saitama’s main problem is his cash flow which is very minimal. Money is one of the main reasons he became a hero. One utilizes his comedy within the very first couple of episodes when Saitama is needed to defeat a giant monster. Halfway through fighting the monster, Saitama looked as if he was losing but in all reality, his mind was focused on other things, that being bargain day at the market. After quickly obliterating his opponent he exclaims to his friend the problem they are in and they quickly run to the market. By utilizing comedy One is able to not only create a brilliant anime but also to show how powerful this character truly is.
Another example of Saitama’s incredible strength can be seen in his fight against his partner Genos. Genos is a genetically modified cyborg who sees Saitama as his sensei. Genos wanted to know the full extent of his master’s powers but that proved to be a mistake. Comedy is utilized in this scene to show how without even trying Saitama is able to evade all of Genos’s attacks with ease. Towards the end when Saitama begins to try the fighting bout is over within seconds.
This fight scene does not even scratch the surface of Saitama’s power but it gives the audience a taste of what is to come in future episodes. Now the only thing left for us to do and sit back, and wait for more episodes to come.
Citations:
アニメ (Anime) 
