Anime First Impressions: One-Punch Man

Credit: Google Images

**Disclaimer: One-Punch Man isn’t really an anime. It’s a parody. So sorry for the confusion, but I’ll keep it up on the Anime Tab of my site anyway. (It’s not the first time I have unorganized posts in places where they don’t belong.)**

Hello!

I’m having lots of free time lately, and so I’m able to watch/read things more often. I’m able to have some new post material as well, so I decided to make another Anime First Impressions. 😀 I know, I’m behind on some posts, for instance I need to make another announcement for my 500 Followers post, but haven’t gotten to it yet. But while I go and imagine what exactly I should write in it, please enjoy this post for now!

One-Punch Man

Credit: Google Images

Thoughts BEFORE Watching: When I was very new to anime, I kept seeing One-Punch Man as a high ranking anime. Lots of workout videos, challenges, and recommendations were thrown at me and the hype towards the show dulled my interest. However, a friend of mine started to watch it and said she really enjoyed it, but I was still not totally convinced. With further pushing from a few people, I kind of wanted to see for myself how the show played out. I finally decided to try it out, once I was back from my short hiatus, to see for myself if it’s worth the hype.

Thoughts AFTER Episode 1: Okay, I can’t deny that this wasn’t a bad episode. I actually enjoyed a few parts.

Saitama is even more apathetic than Batman, if you can believe it, haha. He’s always wanted to be a superhero that could defeat villains with one punch, but several workouts and one big hair loss later, he becomes who he’s always dreamed of being. And it’s the most boring life he could ever ask for.

His problem: he is a little too strong. That means he’s always victorious in a fight, but always winning gets a little dull sometimes. Saitama now wants to meet a villain who can actually rival his own strength, but it seems impossible at the moment.

I heard that this was going to be a gag/parody anime, but I didn’t think one actually existed until I ended up watching this. There are several hidden little jokes as well as jokes that are directly mentioned. The whole episode was basically composed of comedic reliefs, but they were side-by-side with epic action scenes.

Speaking of action scenes, did I mention they were epic? Because they are! There were around four-five fight scenes, and it was only the first episode. The art style is your typical action/shounen art style, but it was very fascinating to look at. (All dat detail. 😉) I could tell the artist liked playing with details in the line art, it’s an interesting style. (Also the contrast of how Saitama was drawn [with little detail] versus everything else made this more of a gag towards Saitama’s character.)

This was just a first episode, so really Saitama was the only character we get in depth to see. (Villains just make cameos, nothing really going on there.) I know I’ll have to keep watching in order to grasp more of the plot (if there is any, I think it’s just a slice of life anime) and to meet all the characters.

Overall, it wasn’t a bad first episode. But I don’t quite yet see the hype appeal. I’ll need to see more in order to understand what the fandom sees.

Thoughts AFTER Season 1: Okay, now I see the appeal.

My only complaint would be the ending (not the ending after the credits, which was funny, but I’m talking about the ending before that). (WARNING: Rest of paragraph might spoil things!) I was hoping Saitama would finally be recognized by the Hero Association, or that the other heroes would acknowledge him, but the season ended in a way that didn’t have any development to Saitama’s dilemma. However, this is a gag anime, so I guess it would be in the creator’s mindset to add a touch of irony.

There’s also hardly any development or change in any of the characters behavior, except for Genos. I hope things like this get touched up in season two, but again this is a gag, so I expected this to happen as well.

My favorite character ended up being Sonic. Something I noticed during the last three episodes: in the first you get to see him getting prepared to fight (at least that’s what it looks like he’s doing), but you don’t actually see him again until it’s two episodes later. I wish there wasn’t this block where he appears and then disappears, it makes it look like he was forgotten to be put in.

I’d say this would be a slice of life anime. Saitama and Genos try their best to defeat all the villains rampaging all the cities, and in turn, they become fully-fledged heroes (legally at least). There’s not much structure for a plot, it’s just all happenstance from there.

I did really enjoy watching this whole season, and I hope to watch the second once it comes out. I really liked the art style and the animation. (I noticed several stills of frame/background, where the object on the screen would be the only visible thing to move [this effect is supposed to make your eyes follow a certain point]. <- This is just an observation, I thought it was a neat touch.) I also really enjoyed all the comedy, though I bet it’s mainly supported for adult humor. But either way, I ended up liking this entire season more than I though I would, and wish there was more.

(The last three episodes reminded me a lot of The Avengers, anyone else think this too?)

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That’s all for now! I feel like I failed this post somehow. T^T Ah well. If you want more of Anime First Impressions, please Like below!

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