One-Punch Man is my first manga review posted on this site. I thought about doing classics like Naruto, One Piece or Bleach but in the end, I thought I should go with something more current. The classics will be coming, I promise you that. Something that a lot of people don’t realize is that One-Punch Man was a self-created and self-published work by a Japanese artist known as One and was released on his website for free. This series became so famous and popular in Japan that Shonen Jump decided to remake the series and release it on Young Jump Web Comics. The rest, as they say, is history.
One-Punch Man is set in a universe much like ours but with a twist, superhero’s and villains are real. This is about Saitama, a person who’s a bald, skinny and weak looking guy with no future or hope for one. With his deadpan face and that unmotivated look in his eye, watch as he reveals that he is the superhero One-Punch Man, fighting for justice, fighting to save the world and occasionally fighting, well, just because.
Did I do a good job writing a marketing blurb?
The name is catchy, the eye-catching cover art did give me a pang of concern that the graphics inside wouldn’t be great. Being a parody manga usually means that artwork is not the best, but as soon as you see the first panel you realize that for One-Punch Man, its not the case. The graphics are gorgeous, the sound effects are appropriately placed and compliment the stunning artwork. Right off the bat you are introduced to the first villain of the series, a villain that looks a lot like Piccolo from Dragonball Z on steroids. Enter the hero, One-Punch Man. The superhero that looks like he is wearing a one-piece janitor outfit with a cape attached, with his looks and his introduction as an average guy who serves as an average hero creates a striking dichotomy with the gorgeous artwork. I like how this series pushes the third wall without going over it, the villain calls One-Punch Man a shitty superhero with a shitty background setting and then starts a rant about his own origins before attacking One-Punch Man, only to be obliterated in one punch. I couldn’t help but laugh as Saitama screams in frustration that he once again finished a fight in one punch. Saitama longs for a soul-stirring battle and even dreams of it, but to no avail.
The gorgeous artwork, combined with mc’s distinct look and rich humor creates a series that is a manga masterpiece. The enemies are perfect parodies of super villains found in the movies and comics, with most of them being based on animals. I especially liked his superhero origin story with the crab-guy villain and the kid with a ballsack for his chin. Typically, as in most Shounen Jump series of this type, the series starts with the villain of the week and once it’s established itself only then will it branch out into deeper storylines. Currently, as of this post, 61 chapters have been released of this remake in Japan.
Verdict: Buy, this series is great.