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One-Punch Man
Episodes 1-2

by Jacob Chapman,

How would you rate episode 1 of
One Punch Man ?
Community score: 4.6

How would you rate episode 2 of
One Punch Man ?
Community score: 4.7

Saitama isn't the kind of guy who doesn't know his own strength. On the contrary, he's so painfully aware of his powers that they define his alter ego right down to the name: One-Punch Man. After only three years of training, this cynical 25-year old superhero has reached the peak of his abilities and can take out any threat, no matter how immense, with just one punch. Unfortunately, it's not only lonely at the top, it's downright boring. Before he knows it, Saitama finds himself mired in a quarter-life crisis that the world around him could never understand. The earth may be safe in his capable fists, but can The Strongest Man in the World summon the drive to drag himself out of bed and mindlessly obliterate more bad guys, day after meaningless day, never again feeling the joie de vivre that made him want to be a superhero in the first place? More importantly, won't this premise get old pretty quick?

Not so fast! One-Punch Man's life of drollery can't stall out here, not if the passionate cyborg Genos has anything to say about it! I already wrote up my thoughts about episode one for ANN's Fall Preview Guide, so I'll be focusing more on episode two for this review, and how its clever addition to the cast is already set to shake up Saitama's status quo.

If Saitama is sort of like a college graduate beginning to accept the disappointment of the real world outside academia (aka superhero training) for the first time, Genos is a college freshman hell-bent on CHANGING THE WORLD and MAKING HIS STAMP, but most importantly, TAKING HIMSELF VERY SERIOUSLY. This episode's decision to emphasize their different ages really brings it home. They're both young and adrift in very different ways, but they're still at an age where their meager six-year difference seems like a vast canyon of experience. Saitama sees Genos as incredibly young at 19 years, and Genos is ready to worship Saitama as his master at 25 years. However, the thing that separates them most is having wildly different attitudes toward their great weights of destiny. Saitama started with an abundance of positive emotions that gave way to ennui when the world disappointed him. Genos is a ball of negative emotions with no release, drowning in his own determined puddle of teenage angst.

You see, poor Genos wasn't always a cyborg. Once, he was a normal 15-year old boy, living in a peaceful little town with his loving mother...until an evil cyborg suddenly appeared and murdered everyone! Genos miraculously survived, but he was left riddled with guilt, so he turned to a doctor to make him stronger by transforming himself into a cyborg! Oh, the irony! Now he roams the earth, looking to exact vengeance on the cyborg who took everything away from him, but this has handicapped his judgment in fights so many times that he worries his own vendetta will consume him someday! (Hm, Genos is awfully self-aware about his own cliché antihero woes.) Indeed, though he wants to believe that he's totally self-reliant now, he almost died fighting a lowly mosquito-woman before One-Punch Man showed up. He cannot help but fall deeper into emotional turmoil from the life debt that he owes not only the doctor who re-made him, but also the superior fighter Saitama, who he now calls master. Genos fears that he may be condemned to enter every fight pursuing the shadow of that fated cyborg, who as you know--

"Enough, you idiot! Shorten it to twenty words or less!" Saitama shouts. And the audience echoes, "THANK YOU. God, what a navel-gazing blowhard."

Of course, the truth is that we all have a little Genos inside of us, and we all have a little Saitama in there too. Becoming a grown-up is an arduous process with no easy answers, but apart from Genos's drawn-out backstory monologue, One-Punch Man refuses to let its social commentary get in the way of the fun. (Heck, even that scene is played for laughs through Saitama's constant fidgeting. The look on his face when Genos pauses for dramatic effect and Saitama thinks maybe he's done telling his story is absolutely priceless.)

More than anything, One-Punch Man is drop-dead hilarious and visually astounding. I'm not sure I've ever seen an anime TV series at this sky-high level of animation polish, marrying exceptional creativity with theatrical-quality craftsmanship. Director Shingo Natsume's previous work on Space Dandy comes close, but while Space Dandy was all about artistic experimentation, One-Punch Man feels like a controlled environment where every wild monster and nonsensical setpiece just belongs together. "Feel" is definitely the word to describe the One-Punch Man experience so far. Saitama's super speed and skills are palpable, and there's a tactile weight and electric heat to Genos's big steely steps and nigh-atomic firepower. If you're like me and believe that great animation is all about capturing sensory detail and making even the impossible feel like it's right there in the room with you, One-Punch Man is nirvana from start to finish.

The plot is probably the least important aspect of what makes One-Punch Man so great (at this point), but episode 2 does end on the show's first major plot hook. Some secret evil bio-lab called the "House of Evolution" wants to turn One-Punch Man into their next freakish guinea pig, so Saitama and Genos join forces to try and shut this wacky eugenics circus down. As a mega-fan of weird monsters, One-Punch Man has been keeping me happier than a pig in poo with its constant onslaught of weird abominations, so I can't wait to see what next week has in store. I'll miss this episode's giant lion-man. He may have looked ferocious, but I caught adorable pink paw-pads on his hands in a few shots of his awesome fight sequence! Alas, now he is naught but a pile of gore. That's what happens when you taunt One-Punch Man! I can't wait to see where this plotline goes, and what sorts of new characters our poor disillusioned hero will have thrust into his life next time.

Rating: A+

One-Punch Man is currently streaming at Hulu, Daisuki.net, and Viz.com.

Hope has been an anime fan since childhood, and likes to chat about cartoons, pop culture, and visual novel dev on Twitter.


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