One Punch Man: Road to Hero

One Punch Man: Road to Hero Review


Story (6/10) Fine
More Specifically (6.5/10)

The story for Road to Hero is simple and fine it's basically showing the struggles Saitama had to go through back when we assuming he's doing his Training through out the years he said he did to became the beast we all know him as and with the fact that he still has his hair this entire episode you can come to this conclusion fairly quickly. It also shows how he got his outfit and a couple of other interesting things.


Art and Animation (8/10) Very Good
...
The Art and Animation for this stand alone is very good it looks just as good as the other episodes. The isn't anything high budget related taking place in this episode and barely any fights are even seen so barely anything high maintenance on the animation side of things where shown in the episode but like I said it looks identical to the other 12 episodes when nothing super crazy is happening so that fine by me.


Sound (8/10) Very Good

Same thing with this section everything sound very good, Opening and Ending are present no really differences between this and the 12 episodes everything is very good here too.


Characters (8/10) Very Good

This episode revolves around Saitama mostly and secondly his friend who creates the icon One Punch Man outfit for him. His character is very good as we see his struggles of keeping his store afloat good character development for the old geezer as he *SPOILER* ends up giving in to his age and the times for retirement.


Enjoyment (7/10) Good

Obviously the highest enjoyments when it comes to the series One Punch Man are the over the top and hype moments the series brings to the table, after that enjoyment lays on to the comedy aspect and then the actual story. So since this is based on Saitama before he went bald all the hype hype moments are really present for the episode. As for comedy there are a few funny moments in the episode but nothing that made me laugh my ass off like the other episodes. And so we are down to story and learning about what Saitama had to go through to get to where he his as far as his outfit and where he's living is interesting and enjoying enough to an extent for one episode.


Overall (7/10) Good
More Specifically (7.50/10)

This was a good episode you can definitely consider this a flashback episodes which now these days aren't really liked around here but it was good for what it was. Nothing too crazy and amazing but more on the funny/informational side of things when it came to One Punch man this is a good watch if you want to just know more about Saitama.

Hard to review specials or OVAs if you ask me.
Story: 6
Road to Hero is basically a one episode OVA about a single event that happened before Saitama became the One Punch Man that he is in the original series. It contains a couple references and details that will fit in with the main story, but otherwise it's just another filler chapter that doesn't really have a particular impact or reason to exist. Just the story behind Saitama and how he got his suit.

Art: 9
Sound: 9
Same as the main show. No changes to art style, sound, or music. Even has the same opening and ending! Rated ... the same on my review of One Punch Man.

Character: 6
Saitama doesn't stand out. He's recognizable and such, but he has no apparent personality traits other than his obliviousness and his trigger button for money. The other characters aren't outstanding: generic villains, side characters, and the old man who works at a tailor- and it isn't even explained why this old man and Saitama know each other and are such close acquaintances.

Enjoyment: 6
It was alright. I'm not one to hate on filler episodes, but I didn't really feel any sort of reaction to this. I noticed some things that make sense in terms of the main story here and there, smiled maybe a few times (probably at seeing the Fish of Darkness' costume), but this episode really isn't anything special.

Overall: 6
It's just a filler episode, nothing amazing about it. Sure, it has all of the basic humor and indecipherable fight scenes as the main show, but that's about it. This OVA might have been a nonsense thing created out of leftover budget and/or time, or it might have been meant to actually explain the history behind the suit. It did its job, but not in any sort of exciting way.

We get to see Saitama with hair. The second best thing about this OVA. There's also a great punchline that reminds you of the series' highlights. Other than that, this OVA is closer to the worst episodes of One Punch Man

We don't have people running around, screaming and flexing their muscles. Praising a show for a lack of things doesn't get you anywhere though. That's like praising a show for not having plot holes, or for not being racist.

The story is pointless. We learn how Saitama gets his suit, and there's no satirical bite to how ridiculous heroes customes are. Saitama being appalled at a ... samurai custome is just one joke. The story is actually about going to beat up a bad guy who's an asshole because he's an asshole.

If that sounds like every other One Punch Man episode, that's because it is. The difference between this OVA and the series is that Saitama has no characters to interact with. The series' strength was that it gave the characters other traits than being powerful. Saitama is entertaining also because of his casual view of things, how he doesn't pretend to be anything else than a hobbyist.

Without Genos to play off from, he doesn't do much but beat up people. Our antagonist is as boring as they get. You think a series that wants to be wild and crazy would have interesting visual ideas. The antagonist is a dude with a fish-head and a BDSM outfit. This is less exciting than you think.

The world of fiction is full of quirky villains who end up more popular than the heroes. One Punch Man always failed in that department, and this OVA relies on the eventual conflict. Aside from seeing Saitama with hair and one punchline, this OVA has no reason to exist.