I mean, who doesn't like an anime where the main character actually follows the name of the anime? Really the protagonist is front and center with all the other things ending up revolving around him. His hilarious sidekick, other supporting characters, and the main governmental organisation in charge of most of the characters in the anime are really, in the end, foil for his one liners, his antics, his pearls of wisdom before he drops that punch.
On a technical note, there is nothing really cringeworthy to see or hear; everything feels about right, with the fight scenes rendered well and standard typical anime responses to hilarious dialogue. Whilst not particularly innovative, that isn't really the point; the point is to find it fun where evil is defeated with a single punch, and it really makes it so!
Yet I cannot help but feel that the entire premise, whist being so funny and interesting and engaging, is really just a one shot thing. There is nothing really engaging about it, nothing really visceral, nothing that tugs you at the strings of your heart, nothing that really makes you question anything important or relevant.
And whilst it doesn't really affect the anime in itself, for an anime that feels set up for another season, OPM has yet to really ask the question: will there really be something challenging? Or will it just continue with the entire premise of OPM. It has yet to be answered and a failure to really hint at what path it would take is, to me, a disappointment.
The producers are to be commended for creating an anime that is interesting, fresh and generally innovative for the genre. But in the end, OPM made me sit down for a few hours, enjoy some comedy, then stand up again. But better works make you sit down and never stand back up again.
Score: 9/10
