Wednesday, 9 March 2016

One Punch Man Animated Series


On the 4th October 2015 "One Punch Man" aired it's first episode making it officially my favourite animated series. Fun filled action superhero series 'One Punch Man' and you can tell from the title that the main protagonist is good at ONE thing...


The series is full of interesting and funny looking character designs and especially the main character Saitama (aka the One Punch Man). We are told of his background and that he has become so strong he can defeat anyone, usually, with only one punch. This has lead to him being bored ("overwhelming power is boring" - Saitama) which is why he is sometimes portrayed with a dull, simplistic and expressionless  face compared to the in detail surroundings which emphasis this. This changes once he puts on a serious face, his features change to become more defined making him look intimidating or confident/excited.

What I enjoy most about Saitama's character is the fact he is very inspirational. With characters like Superman and Goku I am confused how aliens with abilities that make them far superior to humans are supposed to inspire us to become the best we can be. However, it's easy for them to claim this because the only reason they are able to achieve what they can are due to their alien abilities unique to them. Even many characters in Dragon Ball Z who are human end up being punching bags to show off how strong Goku is. But with Saitama he is Human and by being human he is already relatable to us.

Saitama is presented as an average man with simple facial features and overwhelming power. Not only does this tell us humans are capable of achieving incredible things but that even someone who is considered 'average' can be amazing ("Humans are strong because we have the ability to change ourselves" - Saitama). Every superhero doesn't have to always be incredibly handsome and chiselled, e.g. Superman, Batman, etc.

Saitama even teaches us about being careful what you wish for as the story of 'One Punch Man' revolves around him regretting that he wished to be able to defeat enemies in one punch. This leads to his desire to find someone strong enough to have a good fight. This in turn tells us that in most job professions once you become so good at something you might end up desiring another challenge, e.g. Athletes, Animators, etc.


Pages from the manga turned into gifs, show how much
detail the animated series would have to rival:
- Metal Knight's first appearance
- Genos vs Saitama (aka One Punch Man)

The animation is beyond what I expected, it lives up to the amount of detail the manga has. Without a doubt for me (and probably many others) will be the best Japanese animated series to come out. Great humour, great superhero story concept and great animation. It's an overwhelming feeling to know that such an amazing series I stumbled upon gets it's own animation, well deserved in my opinion. So far hope to have just as much fun with later chapters and have an equally great ending to officially call it my favourite animated series.


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