Reviews

Dec 20, 2015
This is a complete review after watching all 12 episodes of One Punch Man.

**CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS**

I remember when I was 8 years old, I used to be excited for a new Pokemon episode everyday. I used to run from school to my house so that I wouldn’t miss any single moment. Then as you grow up, such excitement starts to fade away. No matter how good a show is, only a few shows can generate such an excitement for a viewer. I never would’ve imagined that an anime would make me feel that excitement again at 20 yrs. And lucky for me, it aired on Sundays!

Story: 7/10

One Punch Man’s story is simple- The story of an average guy who’s a hero for fun. Now what makes this unique is that this show is a parody. For people new to that genre, it’s an imitation of other work. Basically what this anime does is it makes a parody out of shounen genre, where you have a male protagonist who gets beaten down, and then trains or in some other way defeats the bad guy. Here, the MC is just over-powered to the extent that he gets depressed there’s no one strong enough to challenge him. You might think that such a strong person would be revered as a God by the people. Sadly, you’re mistaken. The people don’t even know he exists!! . This really plays a major point in the later episodes, when Saitama has to show his strength infront of the public, and becomes one of the highlight of this series. This show was created to poke fun at all tropes in anime. This is a story made to enjoy, not to be taken seriously. Anyone who is open-minded will enjoy this anime to its full extent.

Art: 9/10

Now the only reason I gave this a 9 is because of the meticulously high standard set by Ufotable in the Fate series and Kara no Kyoukai movies. But by no means is it far behind. In most anime, usually the MC has some kind of weapon, you can just add some flashy effects to go with it. But here, we have a hero who’s weapon are just his fists . The fights had to be carefully drawn and animated. And when you have a studio like Madhouse doing it, you know they rarely disappoint. Fluid motion, spectacular effects, no weird faces, nothing overdramatic. Simple, yet awesome. The best part of this anime has to be the “Saitama Expressions”. If you didn’t smile atleast a little when you saw the “OK” face, then I guess your sense of humour is locked up somewhere. Madhouse know how to make the viewer enjoy the anime to the full extent. The way they used Tatsumaki’s “chibi mode” expressions from the webcomic, and boldly animated it in the anime deserves separate praise. Also the landscape for OPM universe is also brilliant. Even the ordinary people are drawn with careful details. Another important aspect here is the design for the villains, especially Sea King and Boros, each having something unique, and they give out the “strong, badass” vibe when you just look at them. Also, the art in the final episode is 11/10.

Sound: 10/10

God-level. Simply eargasmic. When you have an opening theme that makes you want to shout “ONE PUUUUUUUNCH!” every time you hear it, you know the soundtrack’s gonna be amazing. For me, the first thing I’d hear in my mind every morning when I wake up is someone shouting “ONE PUUUUUUNCH!” That’s how much I love that opening theme. From character bgm’s to fight themes, the music suits every situation perfectly, making them more epic. I would rewatch every episode again just to hear the music, that’s how good it is. The voice acting is also brilliant, especially Aoi Yuuki, who brilliantly brought out Tatsumaki’s bratty voice, and Yuki Kaji, whose voice fits Sonic’s character perfectly.

Character: 10/10

Once in a lifetime you watch shows where every character in it makes an impact. One Punch Man is mine. I can probably name every single character that appeared in these 12 episodes. That’s how much of an impact they make. Saitama with his care-free attitude, the loyal cyborg Genos, Jack’o Lantern Panic, Brattymaki, Justice Rider, the S-class heroes like Silver Fang, Metal Bat, Pri-Pri Prisoner, King, and all the others have a uniqueness that makes you remember them. Even characters whom play a cameo like Carnage Kabuto, Mosquito Girl, Snek, Stinger, Amai Mask manage to leave an impression, which is something most anime fail to do. And when you have such a strong character cast, the anime rarely falters.

Enjoyment: 10/10

This anime was made to enjoy, and One Punch Man nails the formula. I enjoyed every second of it. 24x12 minutes of pure awesomeness. It makes you laugh, the “wow” feeling when you watch those spectacularly animated fight scenes, even the simple dialogues between the characters make you laugh hard. There is no walking in on naked girl scenes, boob-grabbing, fan service and other shit like that. This anime makes me remember that Charlie Chaplin didn’t have to talk to make people laugh and enjoy his movies. Just his reactions and expressions were enough. And Saitama’s expressions and reactions reminded me of that again. And no matter how many times you rewatch it, you’ll never get bored. That’s the kind of masterpiece this is.

Overall rating: 10/10

One Punch Man is a masterpiece. I’ve been watching anime for about 8 years, watched around 400 anime series, and I’d only have around 5 anime which I’d give a 10/10. But this show is just simply that good. If I could I’d have given this a 999/10 for enjoyment. Studio Madhouse is just leagues ahead of any anime studio. I wish I could go to Japan and personally congratulate them for making such a great anime. While I’m at that, I could also beg them to make a Season 2 of the anime when the manga has enough material for it. Natsume Shingo, the director of this anime, deserves all the credit for bringing together an amazing team, and voice cast to create this anime. Overall, One Punch Man does what it sets out to deliver, Entertain. And boy oh boy it does so in style!!
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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