「金属のバット」 (Kinzoku no Batto)
“Metal Bat”

Well you know you have a OPM episode on your hands when you’ve got increasingly large monster fighting, the usual Saitama humour, and the taste of even greater battles to come all rolled up in one tasty bite-sized sushi package. That’s right boys and girls, the big baldie and friends are back in their regular groove, and while it may not be exactly like it was before, you know damn well you’re excited for the over the top carnage to come next.

With Garo being enemy numero uno this season it’s easy to forget the primary villains of OPM are actual monsters and their various (and hilarious) forms, but this week returned to form by offering us not one, not two, but three (ok, technically four) exceptionally monstrous abominations worthy of a little bat bashing. Say what you will about OPM man overall, but the series has a fantastic imagination when it comes to its enemies and their various motivations and appearances. Centikouhai and Centisensei? Yeah you’re not finding such glorious names in many other shounens—or for that matter some of these character designs. At its core OPM is all about enjoying good guys beating the ever loving crap out of even more nonsensical baddies, and we certainly got that in spades this time around.

Of course OPM has shown itself to not only be about basic good vs evil, and this episode also continued the trend. Garo’s raison d’etre for example, while probably simpler than originally expected for some, lines up nicely with a few of the questions OPM has been putting forth regarding to heroes and their own collective reason to be. Is being a monster wrong? Is a monster’s desires always to be denied? It’s easy to find fault with blatantly destructive goals when paired with equally horrific faces, but it doesn’t mean the good guys are inherently “good” because of it. I imagine few would argue our most recent encounters with Hero Association executives are particularly upstanding individuals for example, or that they should be effectively allowed to shamelessly profit off the backs of the real workersreal workers. Much like with Blizzard’s fan base building back at the start the divide is never as black and white as we try and make it out to be. There will always be blurring of the lines, and in the end it’s up to us to decide when grey veers too far in the wrong direction and act accordingly.

Well, at least if you’re someone who doesn’t go by the name of Saitama mind you. Going to jail for wanting to test your strength and earn a little cash on the side for doing so? Now that just won’t do at all. Oh yeah, you know exactly how this martial arts tournament is going to go.

 

Preview

12 Comments

  1. At least King has his priorities right!

    Great episode – nothing too deep or philosophically meaningful,
    just over-the-top monster bashing fun! They’re doing a good job
    with a coherent storyline – everything makes sense (in it’s world).

    I love how Saitama’s biggest challenges are not monsters, or other
    heros, but trying to into the system’s rules and regulations while
    trying to get ahead just a little. So funny!

    mac65
  2. https://randomc.net/image/One-Punch%20Man/One%20Punch%20Man%20S2%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2003.jpg
    I like to know who is the nice person that dumped our villain on the trash
    https://randomc.net/image/One-Punch%20Man/One%20Punch%20Man%20S2%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2024.jpg
    This guy doesn’t have a home? King probably has the best living condition.

    ” Hero Association executives are particularly upstanding individuals for example, or that they should be effectively allowed to shamelessly profit off the backs of the real workersreal workers.”
    IF you think about it. I feel the Hero Association is more realistic compared to the Justice League, corruption can be found in almost any company. Not only do the heroes, in this anime, get paid but using Tanktop Black Hole and Tanktop Tiger as an example with their encounter with Saitama, these heroes don’t mind the idea of crushing other heroes for their own petty reasons, in this case “fighting together against evil for the sake of justice” is just a propaganda; the heroes of the Justice League are all doing volunteer work and are not competing with each other, which I feel is too ideal to exist.

    The most ideal hero organization, in the fictional world, would probably be the Avengers with Tony Stark providing the funds and so forth for his organization, at least until the Civil War occurred.

    Greed
    1. Oh yeah it’s more realistic, but that’s what arguably makes it more surprising in this case—you’d expect the realism to occur in a more “serious” superhero show rather than the firmly tongue in cheek OPM. Nothing wrong with it at all though, it shows as you mention the reality of the world: some people will always find a way to get ahead on the work of others, and often the only thing you can do is play the same game or wind up being left behind.

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