With a new season of anime releases coming up, I feel obliged, as a person with an opinion and an online journal, to voice out my opinion of shows I am looking forward to.
So, the number of shows I am looking forward to is... one actually. Despite my distaste towards hype, I can get hyped for a couple of things and the subject matter of this post happens to be ONE of them.
Which ONE? I think you know the ONE. Yes, that ONE. The ONE that pre-aired and looks really good. The ONE coming out in a month that starts with the number ONE and ends with the number made when ONE is subtracted with another ONE. The number does not consist of ONE numeric figure. Say, notice how I keep repeating the number ONE?
.....
Yes, it is One-Punch Man.
Credit of cover art goes to Myanimelist and http://cdn.myanimelist.net/images/anime/12/76049l.jpg
Why this anime and not the rest of the line-up? Well, it is mostly due to the pre-aired episode that was released which showcased what to expect. It was entertaining from start to finish for me.
[Full disclosure: I have been following the manga lately; the Murata version to be precise since translations of ONE's version have been rather slow and I have caught up with current releases a couple of times already...]
One-Punch Man is an adaptation of the manga/Japanese comic of the same name which tells the story of the titular One-Punch Man, Saitama. Saitama's main hobby is being a superhero who fights crimes and regularly stops world-destroying threats on a daily basis. His main problem: He became too strong, thus making his hobby boring. As his life goes on, he meets a cyborg named Genos and joins an association of heroes with similar, but lesser, powers than him. With regular threats appearing on a daily basis, will Saitama ever find the one opponent that will give him a challenge?
What made it?
The premise itself is quite simple to explain and provides an abundance of ways to make it entertaining. This is the story of the most over-powered individual attempting to live a superhero life in constant boredom. As a result, we get to watch entire action set-pieces Entire battles that would take up several episodes in basic shounen or action anime end in seconds with Saitama around. The pre-aired episode displayed this regularly in the first major battles that introduces the premise. Reading the manga, there is often a contrast that appears when major battles occur. During these battles, the normal heroes are often at the brink of death when facing these threats and when these battles take place, they are akin to the classic fights of normal anime. Then, Saitama appears and ends the battle with one punch. This constant contrast often provides entertainment while showcasing the power of its protagonist in hilarious ways that is rather endearing. With its premise of an overpowered superhero facing world-ending threats, it is up to the source material to see how far can it can go with a ridiculous premise like that though it will be entertaining to see how far can the author/animation studio can go with its premise.
The main character is prominently featured in the released episode and from what has been shown, Saitama might become a character I actually like. Here is a man who becomes a superhero for the sake of his hobby and as a result of his training, has becomes overpowered to the point where nothing poses a challenge. His constantly bored expression heavily contrasts with the other characters of the series who wear appropriate expressions and often brings in good comic relief. The second-to-last fights in the pre-aired episode hint at a deeper character to Saitama as he seemingly faces a force that poses a genuine threat to him. When that happens, Saitama winds up showcasing more emotions and drive that wind up characterizing him as someone who has genuine intentions but lacking the enthusiasm to motivate him. Having caught up to the Murata version and ONE's latest chapter, I am rather excited to see how Saitama will be portrayed as there is an additional layer to this disinterested and over-powered superhero.
The fights were entertaining in the comedic sense. The pre-aired episode presented a typical super-villain in 2 fights and each of them ended with one punch from our disinterested protagonist. It made me laugh, or at least grin, whenever a long monologue by a villain winds up being interrupted by a person who seems to have heard that same speech over and over again. The second-to-last one however was something different.
WARNING SOME SPOILERS ABOUND!
In this fight, Saitama appears to encounter enemies that pose a genuine challenge. During that sequence, there is an art shift and actual build-up in the soundtrack that created the intensity needed to be drawn into the spectacle with actual clashes between foes. This, for me, is rather significant since the only fight scenes in recent anime shows I have been drawn into consists of only one show and it is not Fuh Stuh Nut (UBW for you newcomers); it is instead the recent adaptation of Fate/Kaleid. When I watched this one fight in One-Punch Man, I felt a rush as the fight became intense and even though it was brief, I was pumped to see how it would proceed. Fuh Stuh Nut, for all of the fancy spectacle and animation, did not even feel intense for me, save for a few bits I actually liked, and I was instead bored out of my mind as they filled the majority of the fights with overly short animations and awkwardly placed speeches that barely showed any actual clash. One-Punch Man, in that one fight sequence, surpassed Fuh Stuh Nut in terms of intensity in that short timespan for the fight.
Once again I must stress that this is a show that is mainly about comedy. The premise of One-Punch Man already sets up the many jokes based around Saitama's overpowered nature and based on the pre-aired episode, one can tell that Saitama will have full awareness of how dull it is to be excessively overpowered. From the manga, there are other jokes and gags that form as a result of new characters introduced to the story and from Saitama's casual 'does not give a fuck' attitude. I am hoping that Madhouse is able to fully adapt the source material and give the audience an entertaining show with well-written comedy and amazing battles filled with intensity even if they end immediately when Saitama shows up. The pre-aired episode gives a very promising impression on the anime with comedy gags adapted well from the source material and being an adaptation that seems mostly loyal to the source material. It helps that Saitama's default appearance is perfectly adapted from the source material (Murata's version from the looks of it).
Personal opinion:
Honestly, I am hyped for the show seeing as One-Punch Man is a very entertaining manga and could work well as an entertaining flick to alleviate the mundane weekends. This does not mean I will be blind to flaws to the show and will try not to be blinded by hype. While the pre-aired episode looks good, this does not guarantee its quality for the entirety of its run (see Fuh Stuh Nut with a very good prologue episode before losing that quality and becoming an average adaptation (though better than Deen at least). Madhouse has done well in making shows however so I have some optimism that exists amidst my cynicism. I will make mini-posts for each episode when they air and I get free time from my schedule. So, here's hoping Madhouse delivers and avoid the mistakes of Ufotable.
[P.S: If you are wondering about my negative opinion of Ufotable, see my previous post on Fuh Stuh Nut: The Adaptation of Wasted Potential (to clarify, I am referring to the UBW adaptation by Ufotable)(http://subjectivelybiasedrants.blogspot.com/2015/06/fate-stay-night-unlimited-blade-works.html). I am open to discussion via comments though I probably will not reply immediately.]
[Full disclosure: I have been following the manga lately; the Murata version to be precise since translations of ONE's version have been rather slow and I have caught up with current releases a couple of times already...]
One-Punch Man is an adaptation of the manga/Japanese comic of the same name which tells the story of the titular One-Punch Man, Saitama. Saitama's main hobby is being a superhero who fights crimes and regularly stops world-destroying threats on a daily basis. His main problem: He became too strong, thus making his hobby boring. As his life goes on, he meets a cyborg named Genos and joins an association of heroes with similar, but lesser, powers than him. With regular threats appearing on a daily basis, will Saitama ever find the one opponent that will give him a challenge?
What made it?
The premise itself is quite simple to explain and provides an abundance of ways to make it entertaining. This is the story of the most over-powered individual attempting to live a superhero life in constant boredom. As a result, we get to watch entire action set-pieces Entire battles that would take up several episodes in basic shounen or action anime end in seconds with Saitama around. The pre-aired episode displayed this regularly in the first major battles that introduces the premise. Reading the manga, there is often a contrast that appears when major battles occur. During these battles, the normal heroes are often at the brink of death when facing these threats and when these battles take place, they are akin to the classic fights of normal anime. Then, Saitama appears and ends the battle with one punch. This constant contrast often provides entertainment while showcasing the power of its protagonist in hilarious ways that is rather endearing. With its premise of an overpowered superhero facing world-ending threats, it is up to the source material to see how far can it can go with a ridiculous premise like that though it will be entertaining to see how far can the author/animation studio can go with its premise.
The main character is prominently featured in the released episode and from what has been shown, Saitama might become a character I actually like. Here is a man who becomes a superhero for the sake of his hobby and as a result of his training, has becomes overpowered to the point where nothing poses a challenge. His constantly bored expression heavily contrasts with the other characters of the series who wear appropriate expressions and often brings in good comic relief. The second-to-last fights in the pre-aired episode hint at a deeper character to Saitama as he seemingly faces a force that poses a genuine threat to him. When that happens, Saitama winds up showcasing more emotions and drive that wind up characterizing him as someone who has genuine intentions but lacking the enthusiasm to motivate him. Having caught up to the Murata version and ONE's latest chapter, I am rather excited to see how Saitama will be portrayed as there is an additional layer to this disinterested and over-powered superhero.
The fights were entertaining in the comedic sense. The pre-aired episode presented a typical super-villain in 2 fights and each of them ended with one punch from our disinterested protagonist. It made me laugh, or at least grin, whenever a long monologue by a villain winds up being interrupted by a person who seems to have heard that same speech over and over again. The second-to-last one however was something different.
WARNING SOME SPOILERS ABOUND!
In this fight, Saitama appears to encounter enemies that pose a genuine challenge. During that sequence, there is an art shift and actual build-up in the soundtrack that created the intensity needed to be drawn into the spectacle with actual clashes between foes. This, for me, is rather significant since the only fight scenes in recent anime shows I have been drawn into consists of only one show and it is not Fuh Stuh Nut (UBW for you newcomers); it is instead the recent adaptation of Fate/Kaleid. When I watched this one fight in One-Punch Man, I felt a rush as the fight became intense and even though it was brief, I was pumped to see how it would proceed. Fuh Stuh Nut, for all of the fancy spectacle and animation, did not even feel intense for me, save for a few bits I actually liked, and I was instead bored out of my mind as they filled the majority of the fights with overly short animations and awkwardly placed speeches that barely showed any actual clash. One-Punch Man, in that one fight sequence, surpassed Fuh Stuh Nut in terms of intensity in that short timespan for the fight.
Once again I must stress that this is a show that is mainly about comedy. The premise of One-Punch Man already sets up the many jokes based around Saitama's overpowered nature and based on the pre-aired episode, one can tell that Saitama will have full awareness of how dull it is to be excessively overpowered. From the manga, there are other jokes and gags that form as a result of new characters introduced to the story and from Saitama's casual 'does not give a fuck' attitude. I am hoping that Madhouse is able to fully adapt the source material and give the audience an entertaining show with well-written comedy and amazing battles filled with intensity even if they end immediately when Saitama shows up. The pre-aired episode gives a very promising impression on the anime with comedy gags adapted well from the source material and being an adaptation that seems mostly loyal to the source material. It helps that Saitama's default appearance is perfectly adapted from the source material (Murata's version from the looks of it).
Personal opinion:
Honestly, I am hyped for the show seeing as One-Punch Man is a very entertaining manga and could work well as an entertaining flick to alleviate the mundane weekends. This does not mean I will be blind to flaws to the show and will try not to be blinded by hype. While the pre-aired episode looks good, this does not guarantee its quality for the entirety of its run (see Fuh Stuh Nut with a very good prologue episode before losing that quality and becoming an average adaptation (though better than Deen at least). Madhouse has done well in making shows however so I have some optimism that exists amidst my cynicism. I will make mini-posts for each episode when they air and I get free time from my schedule. So, here's hoping Madhouse delivers and avoid the mistakes of Ufotable.
[P.S: If you are wondering about my negative opinion of Ufotable, see my previous post on Fuh Stuh Nut: The Adaptation of Wasted Potential (to clarify, I am referring to the UBW adaptation by Ufotable)(http://subjectivelybiasedrants.blogspot.com/2015/06/fate-stay-night-unlimited-blade-works.html). I am open to discussion via comments though I probably will not reply immediately.]
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