“One Punch Man” is a new anime series that debuted this past fall and completed its first season in December. It received extremely high praise and created a significant buzz in anticipation for the next season. Though on its face the anime seems to have a storyline with no real conflict, its satirical take on the typical superhero genre is refreshing, and the real source of conflict is relatable to the audience as human beings.
“One Punch Man” follows an unemployed man named Saitama, who is struggling to find his calling. As a result of a highly repetitive three-year training regiment, he lost all of his hair and gained enough strength to defeat his menacing enemies with just one punch (hence his superhero name “One Punch Man.”) He has reluctantly taken an aspiring hero named Genos under his wing.
The creative satire of this show begins with the relatively normal, non-intimidating look of Saitama, as opposed to the typical heroic and ridiculously ripped look of regular superheroes of the same status. Normal characteristics of a superhero such as upstanding morals, extensive care for others and responsibility aren’t found in Saitama, who is often clumsy, confused, unmotivated and unaffected by his surroundings. What adds to the humor is how nonchalantly he performs incredible feats, practically looking bored while defeating gigantic monsters.
This all sounds great, but where’s the conflict? Most of the conflict that plagues Saitama are his personal struggles, rather than the physical foes he faces. In this fictional world, registered superheroes are the ones who protect the citizenry from evil monsters and other troublesome people. These superheroes are ranked by how powerful and reliable they are. Class C is the lowest rank and handles small misdemeanors while Class A and Class S heroes are tasked with defeating the most powerful enemies and handling the most destructive situations. Saitama and Genos seek to become registered superheroes to secure an income. While Genos achieves Class S distinction, Saitama is placed into Class C due to his failure of the written exam, despite vastly outperforming everyone in the physical test. Although Saitama is the most powerful superhero by a long shot, he has to prove himself to rise in the ranks.
More conflicts arise when Class S and A superheroes fail to stop a meteor’s advancement toward earth. It’s seemingly certain to hit and destroy the planet until Saitama heroically destroys it with one punch. Though he saved the whole region, the citizens instead focused on the city’s sustained damage from the broken meteor and became angry. The humiliated Class S and A heroes grow jealous of Saitama, and rally an angry mob against him. Later on, when the Class S and A heroes fail yet again to control an extremely powerful enemy, Saitama swoops in and defeats the rest. Though the crowd of civilians celebrate his actions, one civilian criticizes the failure of the other heroes and argues the monsters couldn’t have been that tough if Saitama, a Class C superhero could defeat them. This turns the whole crowd against Saitama, who tries to salvage the other superheroes’ reputations by falsely claiming he only defeated the foes after the others weakened them first and that he took the credit for their work. The citizenry believe Saitama is a fraud thereafter.
"One Punch Man" makes an interesting connection to the envy and hypocrisy that humans often espouse in real life, and shows the struggle of trying to build your reputation to earn better opportunities for yourself. It also shows the challenge of being an individual in the face of vicious and misinformed group-think. I hazard to guess that most everyone has experienced situations where someone blames you for something you didn’t do or simply ignores the hard work you perform to help others. Many people have experienced times when others seek to tear you down when you achieve success instead of being happy for you, or when a large group of misinformed people attack you, your actions or opinions. It shows why the struggles that Saitama encounters are very real and relatable, despite him being the strongest superhero in the show. It gives “One Punch Man” a humility and realness that viewers have to appreciate. All in all, “One Punch Man” is an excellent new anime with meaningful messages.
