In short, copypasted sentence - There was NO finale. Long reason - read this:
My speech ain't lvl 100 and I'll try to write as less mumbo jumbo as possible (This is going to fail, is it?), but to understand my view, I need to talk about several things:
First, about the success of season 1. It had a unique story along with amazing art and animation and that's it. No big flaws in my book. And if you ask me, the key of succes was the combination of all that. The cherry on top is that Madhouse knows how to deliver intense battle scenes.
Now, season 2. I hear people complaining about bad art and animation such as using CGI to cover the difficult parts and I say they're right. Sure, it doesn't look as good as S1, but honestly, it doesn't look as bad as people claim. Even the CGI parts somehow look good in it, and I have to say there were some stunningly good sound effects. The only noticeable flaw in the art section I'd adress, would be some bad changed facial designs (They made my boy King look like some hobo...)
Now that's outta the way, let's talk about season finale - in general. Every action anime with a season finale USUALLY includes a major battle, like when you play a game and reach the final level for the boss fight. In anime, these "bosses" SHOULD be the ones with a decent backstory, with a reason to fight the protagonist.
Now if you ask a crowd what was the most memorable moment from season 1, I'm pretty sure a vast majority would answer the fight between Saitama VS Boros because who wouldn't, the whole season finale episode was dedicated to this clash between two insanely powerful beings going full power (at least from one side) at it! Even Yusuke Murata's manga which I think came later, paid respects by stretching this battle through chapter 34,35 and 36!
Now, lets ask this same crowd about season 2 - best scene in your opinion? Well? Someone mentioned Garou vs death Gatling and other heroes, other one mentioned Saitama beating Elder centipede, and then other one talked how awesome was watching Garou getting beaten by Bang. The rest can't really decide. And I'm one of them.
So, in a nutshell, my problem with season 2 - There was NO finale.
Before Season 2 even came out, I was already set in my mind how the finale would go, and to my shocking surprise it didn't. There weren't many battles where Saitama participated HOWEVER there was one where Saitama was part of for quite some time. Judging by the manga, there could have been a very good finale or at least a major epic battle but the anime production team decided to just neglect it by rushing it as fast a possible, even though they included many scenes from the manga. So, which battle am I talking about? I'm talking about the martial arts tournaments god damn it - Saitama vs Suiryu.
(This is an edited manga chapter by someone with the name Anime Psycho, made many other One-Punch Man edited chapters but his channel then dissapeared from YT)
When I said that I had everything set in my mind, I was sure that the finale would go with the last tournament fight between Saitama and Suiryu along with the monsters crashing in the party and the very last scene would be after Saitama beats Gouketsu and Suiryu asks Saitama to become his disciple. And there would my version of season 2 end here.
But no. Instead the season tries to rush so hard, they decide to put ONLY HALF of an episode (7) for this fight, actually only 4 minutes for the serious Suiryu part (the whole chapter in this video). Idk what were they thinking, like sure, that scene where Saitama onepunched the Elder Centipede was breathtaking, but that was it. No epic boss fight, just Garou getting his arse beaten and some wild caterpillar making noises against two dojo geezers and a cyborg who's good at failing. All to feed Garou's background to make him as important as possible even though we're still far, FAAAAR away from witnessing the most hyped battle in One Punch Man history. (No spoilers) Even Murata's manga hasn't reach there yet, and speaking of his manga and not original ONE, Saitama vs Suiryu is the 2nd longest battle right after Boros, specificaly from end of chapter 69 to end of chapter 71. And the way the anime treated this part, is completely unforgivable.
In the end, even though it does sound like I'm raging over this (which sadly is true), I still gave it a score of 8 (apart from S1's satisfying 10), because this is the only big issue I found in this season from MY perspective.
The problem with Saitama vs Suiryu… is that it is no finale either. What does a silly martial arts tournament have to do with the Monster Association trying to wipe out humanity, or Garou trying to become the ultimate monster? Nothing, it's a sideshow, an extra, a bonus story.
Plus, can't really end there, because Gouketsu immediately shows up right after Saitama runs.
Personally, I think the pacing and finale problem of the season could have been solved better if it was 24 episodes and ended with Garou vs Orochi. Now there's a climactic battle to end the season on. and Saitama vs Suiryu could be half an episode like the Boros fight was, probably around episode 10 or 11.
NoneNone said: The problem with Saitama vs Suiryu… is that it is no finale either. What does a silly martial arts tournament have to do with the Monster Association trying to wipe out humanity, or Garou trying to become the ultimate monster? Nothing, it's a sideshow, an extra, a bonus story.
Plus, can't really end there, because Gouketsu immediately shows up right after Saitama runs.
You didn't read it carefuly. I said:
" I was sure that the finale would go with the last tournament fight between Saitama and Suiryu along with the monsters crashing in the party and the very last scene would be after Saitama beats Gouketsu and Suiryu asks Saitama to become his disciple. And there would my version of season 2 end here."
I had in my mind in a way that ep 11 would be about the start of tournament and till the 1st half is Suiryu fight. Ep 12 would be the second half of Suiryu fight and the monster association attack (Gouketsu). Watching Saitama beat Suiryu, Bakuzan and Gouketsu all in one ep would be on a satisfying level as finale. This was also an important part of the story when you learn about monsters recruiting heroes to join their team and become more powerful.
If season 3 ever comes, I think it's possible even in under 12 eps to cover most of the underground battles arc. The finale if possible would be to either have Saitama vs Orochi (even if it's filler) or if possible, Garou.
I thought that Garou vs all of the heroes followed by Heroes vs Elder Centipede as Garou was whisked away was a perfect finale. As soon as I finished that part in the manga, I immediately knew that it would be the finale. It's also the closest thing to a resolution that we have in the manga for a bit - the tournament ends, the monster invasion goes away, the heroes manage to corner Garou and almost defeat them, and one of the strongest monsters in the invasion is defeated by a giant Saitama punch. After that, it features both the heroes and monsters regrouping, while Garou wonders what his place is in the world. Can you imagine how awkward it would be if they included all of that in the beginning of season 3?
