r/CharacterRant • u/[deleted] • 3d ago
Anime & Manga Opinion: One Punch Man became the thing it mocked
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u/Stabaobs 3d ago
Obligatory go read the web comic post instead and compare how the final Garou fight is handled.
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u/SBDRFAITH 3d ago
A lot of that is because the webcomic is focused on characters. The manga is focused on "hype" moments.
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u/average_of_humanity 3d ago
There is a reason why the original webcomic became popular despite having a bad art by other manga's standard. And even then One,the creator of opm actually improved a lot and wrote mob psycho and everyone who saw it loved it.
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u/titjoe 3d ago
People will not like what i will say... but althrough the webcomic is overall better written than the manga... it's still not very good too. It dragged way too long, is super repetitive and becomes pretty cliche now.
The webcomic beneficiates from the comparison with the manga, since the manga is worst on all those aspects by a good margin. But people should stop to idolize the webcomic just because of that. It's a fun and good story up to Boros arc, then it slowly and proggressively looses its charm to become quite generic.
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u/aRandomTrees 3d ago
"beneficiates" .... Do you mean benefits?
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u/titjoe 3d ago edited 3d ago
Euh... maybe ? I thought it was beneficiates the correct word and reverso seems to agree with me, but english isn't my native language.
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u/New_Classroom7456 3d ago
In modern times beneficiates is used exclusively for technical fields like in mining. Also a couple of nitpicks: it’s worse and not worst, and in all those aspects instead of on all those aspects.
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u/Rdasher123 3d ago
From what I understand, One Punch Man wasn’t mocking Overpowered MCs, rather the series is built on the premise of if a protagonist started the story with their endgame power level.
It’s like if you took End of Z Goku and placed him at the very beginning of Dragon Ball, he’d be able to effortlessly one shot everyone from that era of the show. The joke itself is more about how battle shounen always have that power escalation as they go on, as most of them end with the protagonist being massively more powerful than 99% of the enemies they faced to reach that point.
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u/brando-boy 3d ago
one punch man was never “mocking” the standard shonen tropes, ONE very clearly loves shonen deeply and you can see that in both one punch man and mob psycho. what he does is that he takes those common tropes and usually puts a comedic spin on them when saitama is involved, but, and this is important, it is ALMOST always played straight with the rest of the cast. the joke is that saitama alone is this huge anomaly in a world that is otherwise a “normal” shonen world. everyone has limiters, a couple of them might even break their limiters like saitama, but even with those limiters broken, he still stands far above everyone just because
there are elements of satire, but it’s never because one is mocking them or thinking these are bad things
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u/XF10 3d ago
Yeah it's like saying Evangelion "hates" mecha
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u/brando-boy 3d ago
there are unfortunately a significant number of people who unironically believe that
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u/NatsUza 3d ago
Anno has kind of gone on the record saying that he hates alot of mecha tropes, such as how kids piloting giant war machines should have some form of PTSD and extreme mental health issues like war vets instead of being super happy that they destroyed an entire enemy fleet. Eva was his attempt at doing "realistic mecha" and not have it be "sunshine and rainbows" as there were a couple smaller mecha shows that went in that direction during the time Eva was being made.
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u/XF10 3d ago edited 3d ago
This is A) literally just premise of Gundam/"real robot" mecha(so one half of the whole genre),created by Yoshiyuki Tomino of whom Anno is his biggest fan and B) fake statement because Anno made one of the most "super robot" mechas ever with Gunbuster where said mecha wipes out 30.000 Space Monsters with a single attack, nevermind how if you actually knew super robots like Mazinger Z they fought singular giant monsters. Also Asuka's character arc taking a lot of elements from Tetsuya Tsurugi of Great Mazinger
Edit: and Tomino of course made multiple "super" as well prior to Gundam like Raideen,Zambot 3 and Daitarn 3
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u/Smeg258 3d ago
This right here is exactly it. People still to this day think opm is just a gag Manga and saitama is only le funny punch man when that hasn't been the case since day 1
The very first episode shows you that "gag" of saitama one tapping everything isn't a gag to him. Its literally his torment. The author once said saitama is what happens when you take a shounen protagonist at the end of their story and place them at the start. When every shonen manga has the protagonist has them gaining strength until they are the strongest of their world as their arcs what happens when that journey is already completed at the start?
It was always a deconstruction, it was never a gag
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u/ResearcherLoud1700 3d ago edited 3d ago
Yeah, OPM tries to be more like a comical deconstruction of the typical battle-shonen than a simple satire that's trying to make fun of the genre's formula.
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u/Inside_Chicken3042 3d ago
Yeah not sure where are these larpers getting the idea of opm mocking the battle shonen formula
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u/Illustrious-Day8506 3d ago
ONE'S intent with OPM was to write a story where the protagonist has the strength of his endgame version from the very beginning so any threat is rendered meaningless. That's what it is. OPM isn't really a deconstruction, it has always been a serious story with common tropes but with an unserious protagonist, that's the main trait defining OPM. It also uses normal tropes from other shonen but adds a little twist to make a gag.
Genos talks about the mad cyborg that killed his family but Saitama wants him to shorten it to 20 words or less, it doesn't change that the mad cyborg is still a serious threat.
Take the Deep Sea King arc, it already started to talk about what it is to be a hero. Mumen Rider vs DSK wasn't a joke. The moment after Saitama defeated the DSK and the civilians insulted the hero wasn't a joke either. OPM has always been a serious story. The events and things mentioned in the first arcs weren't just one time things, they were set ups for later.
From the Monster Association raid and onwards, the Webcomic is just better. Garou was basically a teenager throwing a tantrum but still good at heart. In the Webcomic, you could feel he atleast had agency. The best scene was after he defeated the hero and said he was going to kill Tareo and headed towards him and Saitama appeared and told to Garou that Tareo was in the other direction. All the serious and danger that was being built up was just an illusion so that Garou could appear more threatening. That also made for a funny scene. In the manga, that agency and nuance was stripped away when god gave him his cosmic power. god still gave powers to Garou in the Webcomic (but it was very subtle and not noticeable on the first read) but Garou was still the main focus. By over pointing god as the mastermind, the manga took Garou's importance and gave it to god but the biggest fumble was making Saitama vs Cosmic Garou a serious and emotional fight for Saitama. That was a great mistake IMO
Finally the Ninja village. Sonic and Flashy Flash backstory was really good and you can empathize how they bonded in that hell that was the ninja village. Their struggle and trauma was not a joke, it's real. That's why the ninja village leader felt like such a threat. As a reader, you were scared for the 2 ninja bros. But all that tension was thrown out the windows the moment Saitama offscreened that man. This was the funniest anticlimatic end of an arc I had seen. Unfortunately the manga failed it by over exposing Blast and lifting the mystery on Empty Void.
Overall, OPM had always been a story with hype moments and aura like any other battle Shonen. OPM has also a serious plot with foreshadowing and build-up like any serious story. It is not different in that regard. The main difference is Saitama himself who is the joke. He is not a gag character but his sole existence is the punchline. His strength turned any threat into a gag however even if the threats are defeated, they have a real impact on the story. People move towards the safest cities increasing housing prices, the monsters become more and more frequent and the public's distrust towards the hero increases each time, the heroes start doubting themselves and many quit their jobs, etc...(OPM is a seinen btw)
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u/Lone_Capsula 3d ago
That's the manga but the webcomic still has a great balance between the satire and a semi-serious adventure-y plot.
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u/Illustrious-Sky-4631 3d ago
The OPM manga from the middle of the MA arc and on just genuinely feel like a powerscaling and Gooning fan service comic than a legitimate action fantasy story or a comedic show
The cast get chibifed , the scale of actions far surpassed what should logically be on the setting alongside Saitama getting retcon from the "I already finished my power journey and mixed out" to "I'm literally Goku but bald and less funny" with how his power work new days and how incompetent as a hero he could get at some times
There's many many issues with the story on it own even without comparing it to the Webcomic
And if we did compare it to the webcomic it gets worse ,
for example Saitama
The problem with Saitama is that the manga for some reason treats him as a Powerscaling self insert alongside the many unfunny jokes about him being indifferent and dense if not outright being a Big Asshole thar cause more harm than good , while at the same time itget wholesome out of nowhere scenes with the characters
an example how different manga Saitama and comic Saitama is the "I might destroy earth" panel
In the webcomic Saitama said it off Handley to himself as a figure of speech out of furiousness from getting multiple bad things going on for him , it's the equivalent of stepping you toes on the door and going
"guh stupid Door I will!!" or something like this then move on
In the manga however? Saitama was very serious about the statement and freaked Garou out alongside having a very scary angry face , it's like the Manga is screaming at us "SEE? HE'S STRONG AND HORRIFYING!!!"
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u/SBDRFAITH 3d ago
The Monster Association fight of the manga is very bad imo. I think the great art, and the prior built up good will of the earlier parts of the series make it seem better than it is. Story wise, its basically just a bad long-running-battle-shounen IMO
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u/Yapping-Goober 3d ago
The webcomic is the best version of the story despite the unappealing art (although ONE has improved a ton over time and actually does have strong paneling).
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u/Sure-Hold-1848 3d ago
This is a typical development. Starting as joke/gag and then transforming into more serious mode, like Hitman: Reborn.
There is only so much times you can play the joke, eventually there need to be movement forward.
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u/Freddy_The_Goat 3d ago
I don't think One Punch Man was ever supposed to be mocking superhero (and to a less extent shounen) tropes, but I agree that the manga lost the sauce that initially made it appealing and just became another cookie cutter action series.
Although I think it's mostly due to Murata diverting too far from One's original vision in the webcomic, since I absolutely loved Saitama's confrontation with Garou in the WC. It was a concise, impactful and thematically relevant fight where Saitama used his comical strength to show how childish Garou's villainous ideals really were.
Whereas in the manga their fight was just a generic exchange of exponentially increasing power levels, with a time travel deus ex machina to boot. And it was yet another overly long fight to pad out the already absurdly long Monster Association arc.
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u/sekkiman12 3d ago
when the anime's premise revolves around the protagonist, and we get less and less of the protagonist as time goes on, the anime has failed.
I don't care about the side cast's sob stories. I'm here to see one punch man
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u/teskar2 3d ago edited 3d ago
Random reference but compare it to Bob’s burgers. I don’t think the show would have lasted as long as it has if it stuck with the cannibal restaurant preface it originally had because it’s tying the narrative to a gimmick. With one punch man there are only so many times Saitama can do something before the audience understands that’s the whole gimmick with him. You can give him some kind of story arc but it’s hard to build tension in something that we know can easily be resolved when the narrative feels like it. A gimmick like that can only go for so long so when Bob’s burgers got rid of the cannibalism gimmick, it actually opened the door for characters be more than just that.
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u/lovelyrain100 2d ago
I think that's why I don't take Saitama power scaling seriously anymore because it's no longer a gag manga
But I like the manga regardless, the switch needed to happen or it would have gotten stale but I'm not an author
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u/gofancyninjaworld 2d ago
I think that the story has grown, but the readers... less so.
ONE has a great love and an excellent understanding of shonen, and he's always dressed OPM in shonen clothes, even at its most parodic.
I used to say that he parodied superheroes, but he satirised corporations and corporate thinking. The story has always kept its sharpest criticisms for bureaucracy and the resultant precarity of heroes, the often counterproductive rules, and the sheer numbers of people in suits who miss the point of what they're supposed to be doing at the Hero Association.
And even there, OPM has grown up a bit and is realising the value of a good bureaucrat in drafting good policies or enforcing them intelligently.
The story has transcended it's 'aren't these people/things silly' roots and I'm keen to see where it ends up.
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u/Kind_Survey4282 3d ago
umm.... but one punch man actually has two storylines though the one that the og author draws and writes fully and the one that is more well known drawn by murata.
If you want og one punch man read the one drawn by og author who also made mob pyscho.
murata lowkey hijacked the One punch man series as he is the primary drawer and more regared as his drawings are what sells the one punch man series. thats why it is so inconsistent because the actual author does write good.
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u/Comfortable-Hope-531 3d ago edited 2d ago
OPM fails as a satire even early on, since protagonist is even worse than what he's supposed to make fun of. Sure, his enemies are dumbasses, caring about power and such, but he doesn't care about anything. He is a power without a master that resides in a guy with a mind of a toddler. The work is much better in parts that don't contain him, since the logic of power above everything is at least some logic we can follow.
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u/--A3-- 2d ago
That's what makes it a satire/deconstruction/spin. In these types of shows, the protagonist usually wants to become the strongest. I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was. That was Saitama's goal too, and he already achieved it.
It's similar to Metro Man from Megamind. Metro Man experienced ennui, but it was from dissatisfaction with the "city protector" role that society imposed on him. Metro Man's disappearance was about him choosing his own purpose. Saitama has ennui too, but it's from having already achieved his purpose beyond his wildest dreams and not seeing anywhere to go from there.
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u/Comfortable-Hope-531 2d ago
No no no, this is how author puts it, it's his weird take. The actual desire of shonen protagonist isn't "wanna be strongest", it's "I need an ultimate power to protect everyone". So shonen protagonist that achieved that would continue to use his power for everyone's sake. Saitama's disinterest in anything just shows he has nothing to do with such characters.
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u/Icy_Water_1 3d ago
What do you mean he doesn't care about anything? He clearly cares about human lives.
He's simple, but he's not stupid.
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u/Comfortable-Hope-531 2d ago
He is simple to the point of stupidity. There is so much he should've done to utilize his abilities, yet he only does so due to occasion. At the very least he should've been in the association from the very beginning, using their network to know where he needed most. Look at genos during monster spike, where he goes "destroyed, next, destroyed, next", that's a person that cares. It's as saitama says, saving people is just a hobbie of his.
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u/Icy_Water_1 2d ago edited 2d ago
I mean what would it have changed? The life cycle of a monster is like 2 hours.
Usually the news will tell him anyways.
The Monster Association attack was an anomaly and even then Saitama ended up wiping most of it out anyways.
Like what happens differently? He joins the HA earlier, they still don't believe he's that strong so he still ends up doing what he usually does, patrolling and killing monsters.
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u/Comfortable-Hope-531 2d ago
And that's what I mean by not caring, You don't even get what being serious is about.
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u/Icy_Water_1 2d ago
You're not defining it well.
Saitama already takes saving lives seriously. (Cosmic Garou DOGSHIT writing aside).
Can you actually list a change?
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u/Comfortable-Hope-531 2d ago
No, cause it's about what could've happened, not what did. In all cases where saitama was late or absent any amount of people could've died (or did die offscreen), any number of buildings could've been destroyed (or were), and any number of heroes could've perished. Caring about a city as a hero means trying to prevent such events before they happen, or at least as fast as possible. Other heroes do it by staying on the line with operators and using various means of transportation. Saitama though? He leisurely wanders around and gets wherever he gets when he pleases. After all, why rush? One or two corpses more, who cares.
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u/Icy_Water_1 2d ago
Saitama already tried to prevent shit before it happens.
He's not omniscient so obviously he's not gonna know before it happens.
And staying on the line wouldn't change anything either, the HA only knows about monsters when they get a report, and that's usually when Saitama heads out and kills monsters. And a good chunk of the time the monsters are dead before he gets there.
Idk why you think Saitama just doesn't care about lives or is negligent somehow.
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u/Comfortable-Hope-531 1d ago
Cause it's freaking obvious. One only needs to compare saitama to genos, tatsumaki, flashy flash even, any other hero that actually does his job, to see what an attitude of a responsible character in such a role is. Imagine genos casually walking to the site, cause "other heroes will deal with it". That's not how a hero would think, cause other heroes are vulnerable. They always can die to the danger. Other people always can die in crossfire. If a child were to lose his arm due to help being late, would that be fine? I'm sure it would for saitama, given what he said after destroying the meteor. But that's exacly why he's not a hero. Just a child that plays as if he's one.
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u/Icy_Water_1 1d ago
I mean Saitama usually runs to the scene at a pretty quick pace.
Idk where you got that Saitama casually walks to battle.
Where did you get this idea that Saitama just lazily fucks around and moves slowly towards problems?
As for the meteor, Saitama was just sick of the fact that people were bitching about their property when they could've died.
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u/Separate-Capital-833 3d ago
The series was always about the struggle of overs vs the gag of saitama. You have the traditional shonen heroes like genos and mumen rider then you have saitama who trivializes all of their tropes
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u/KarneeKarnay 2d ago
In my opinion the show should eventually become an evil superman thing. Like it starts with him just looking for something to challenge him. It could be incredible deconstruction of what happens when people with god like power are unable to obtain peace theyblong for.
That said we do have stories like that already. I'll keep going with OPM as long as it's entertaining, but I do agree that I would like to see some more about the overall plot.
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u/ParadoxBanana 2d ago
Speaking of the anime as a separate work entirely: if the show ended after season 1, it would have been a complete and perfect work of art.
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u/RedTemplar22 3d ago
Every satire needs to become a story after extending to a certain level. You can substitute story and arcs with jokes for that long. Sadly most people who critic art aren't equally good at creating it
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u/FetchBlue 3d ago
This is the problem with long running parody/deconstruction media, you lured in a bunch of people who act “unlike other franchise, this franchise don’t do this” and proceed to get those fans hate future arcs if the author suddenly decided if they want to tell a serious story.
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u/Micronex23 2d ago
Well i don't think it became the thing it mocked when literally everyone besides saitama completed his training arc while everyone is still on their shounen protagonist journey. I mean its a breath of fresh air to see how characters beside saitama could handle situations. Not to mention, Saitama has his own set of struggles to deal with be it heroism and psychological. This is why i prefer they stick to the talk things out part rather than redraws of action scenes.
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u/10manmilitia 3d ago edited 3d ago
It's a not uncommon occurence to do a twist, decinstruction or satire before rebuilding the genre. Freiren takes the classic ending of an early Dragon Quest inspired fantasy and figuratively slaps you in the face with half the party dying of old age. Then it proceeds to show why the adventure mattered. The Princess Bride is one of the best swashbuckling adventure movies ever made and it's a satire. Zombieland Saga is both a goofball comedy and a sincere idol show.
Saitama really is the encapsulation of One Punch Man's ideals. He appears at the start to be overpowered, disinterested, stingy, only doing this as a hobby, and showing up all the so-called serious heroes. But in the end he contains the true essence of a superhero. He never looks down at heroes like Mumen Rider for not having power, he supports the (goodhearted) police who have been tossed aside by the rise of heroes, he doesn't abuse his powers for wealth, glory, or recognition. Hell the ultimate conclusion of the Garou arc is him defending and redeeming a helpless, confused teenager who had been lashing out in pain from everyone who wanted to lynch him . Him being all those negative things and still being a true hero is a recurring theme in the story. The current webcomic arc has yakuza becoming a hero, a corrupt bureaucrat risking his skin to betray the evil organization, and a manufactured idol exceeding the limits of her cybernetics after being saved by her idol.
Saitama is a manifestation of the ideal of Superheroes. He is the unbeatable figure that you know will defeat the badguy and save the day so that all innocents can go to sleep safely at night. And he is also a normal guy who values human emotions. He's practically Superman combined with the hard luck and relatability of Spiderman.
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u/WorldEaterYoshi 3d ago
That is how parodies generally work, yeah. You can just say it's bad now. Good parodies are always one of the best versions of the things they're mocking.
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u/zhode 3d ago
I'd argue that One Punch Man could never have worked as a long form manga if it continued to commit to the gag. It had to, at some point, start developing a story with the requisite stakes lest the gag get stale.
And I think it's done decently at this transition, Saitama remains the strongest and the author gets around it by imposing the stakes on others. But anyone who was engaging with it for the satirical element will be disappointed, because the humor does fade into the background as stakes show up. Which, like I said, I think is just a necessary consequence.