It's a shame that such a disclaimer is necessary, but there really only seem to be two kinds of people when it comes to One Punch Man - those who consider it a cancer on the anime industry, and those who worship it as though it were the second coming. And while, in all honesty, this would probably not be as hyped as it is if it weren't the only thing coming out at the time worth being hyped over, it's a lot closer to the latter than the former.
Of course, there was always going to be a divide with this show, because it's a comedy series that doesn't really have many jokes in it. Much of the humour of One Punch Man is achieved through tone and through juxtaposition, and that's not something that works for everyone.
One of the best methods of humour comes from the unexpected - juxtaposition between what you'd expect to happen, and what does. One Punch Man uses this to great effect, by building up a fictional universe in which everything takes itself completely seriously with the same dramatic stakes that would apply to any battle shonen anime, totally unaware that absolutely everything they believe to be true, and which they take so seriously, is completely and utterly meaningless, because Saitama makes the entire setting redundant. It's a hilarious farce that forms the core of the show.
In fact, Saitama is the perfect protagonist for a show like this. His inability to read the mood, lack of concern for any of the extremely threatening Eldritch Horrors that attack him, and his nonchalance towards... well, everything, make a great setup for the contrast of tone between over-the-top badassery and comedy that this show runs on.
The rest of what makes this show work is that it's actually pretty good as the action series it's making fun of. While it is impossible to take seriously, it's still hard to not be impressed by how well-drected and inventive the fight scenes are. The animators have really outdone themselves here - in particular, the way they show off some of Saitama's most ridiculously overpowered attacks are impressive.
The downside, however, is that sometimes the show takes itself too seriously - in particular, during the mid-to-late episodes. While the balance between action and comedy is usually well maintained, it suffers when it skews more towards action. Also, OPM is often accused of being repetitive, and this isn't entirely unfounded - again, the show doesn't really rely on jokes for its humour, and instead goes for tone-based humour, so this is not as much of a problem as it would be for a show that was specifically focused on gags. But it repeatedly uses anticlimaxes as the source of its humour, and while there is plenty of variation in the execution of them, it can still feel like the same thing over and over, and this may be a dealbreaker for some people.
At the end of the day, though, One Punch Man delivers a unique brand of comedy, and is extremely well-presented. Even at its worst point, it's an average action series, and it's best, it's a fantastic farcical comedy.
Final Words: Not actually the greatest thing ever made. Still well worth watching.
Story/Plot: 5/10
Characters: 7/10
Animation/Art: 10/10
Music: 7/10
Acting: 8/10
Overall: 8/10
For Fans Of: Samurai Flamenco, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
