First Impressions / One-Punch Man

「それぞれの矜持」 (Sorezore no Kyouji)
“Everyone’s Dignity”

Well it may not fully make up for the path OPM has recently been following, but this episode? Yeah, I quite liked it. As if proving the point OPM functions best when doing, well, OPM things, we got a half decent swath of action coupled with some sly development on the side, and a good teaser of more to come. It may not be what many were hoping for from the start, but this week shows OPM can still give it.

Although fair to rip J.C. Staff a new one over the treatment of fights thus far, when they put their mind to it they’re certainly capable of more than simple static blur. Garo and the Class A showdown for example was definitely not the best fight of the ages, but with a little attention to detail and some actual animation it succinctly shows why a lot fell in love with this series in the first place. Just have your heroes and villain actually live motion beat each other to a pulp and yes, you too can enjoy the fruits of audience love. Hell even Genos got a bit of love for this go-around, even if those metallic arms will forever remain the OPM 2 meme of choice. I know you’re trying to throw pretty much everything and the kitchen sink into this one J.C. Staff, but damn could you have at least tried making the metal look a little more like metal?

On another positive note as well was the attention lavished on Garo’s frame of mind. While the guy is still largely “evil” for evil’s sake (that love of monsters will need some further elaboration eventually), the guy is entirely correct when it comes to barriers and hierarchies. Who honestly cares what level or limit someone else sets for you? If you believe them you’re only holding yourself back and what you could accomplish with a different mindset. If you want more then take more, the only thing stopping you is yourself. Our loyal support proved this point in spades, for while thoroughly demolished, he still took a step towards being someone greater than his current self. In a sense Garo (as described before) is the flip side of Saitama: he may want to be the monster of the story, but he’s not particularly evil at heart. The guy simply wants to show why one side shouldn’t have a monopoly over what’s fair and right, because as is true in all situations, no one has full ownership over the truth. The world is full of various shades of grey, and it’ll be up to the current crop of heroes to recognize the legitimacy of some of what Garo preaches through his fighting.

Whether we start seeing any of that with next week’s finale is anyone’s guess of course, but there’s no denying OPM, for better or worse, is going to go out with a bang.

 

Preview

21 Comments

      1. Bang’s pose you get in a bunch of arts, including tai-chi.
        Garou’s pose is something that just looks damn cool, but totally not usable and not from a real art.

        I advise you to read the manga, season two doesn’t even come close to doing justice on the awesomeness there.

        Aizen
        Reply

  2. The subs were in French so not clear on what was said but the action was good. One thing that annoys though is Garou being able to fight so many adversaries that are fully healthy while he is not and still come out on top. Poison, wounds and all. Distracting.

    Kurik
    Reply

  4. Good episode. I’m happy too, because this fight in the manga was quite refreshing after the tournament.

    There were two things that bothered me, and those relate to dialogue that seems to have been changed from the manga.

    One is: When Genos comments on why none of the A-class heroes could beat Garo, Genos has a little innerlogue where he comments that Garo devotes all of his effort solely into evasion, until he finds a weakness. It’s much better than Genos’s anime excuse which is something about Garo’s kicks because it offers insight into why Garo is still able to survive despite his injuries >.>

    The second is: When Garo comments on Death Gatling, he notes the hypocrisy of A-ranks telling others not to care about ranks, while in-fact they care about ranks more than anyone else. I just thought that came across better in the manga.

    In any case, notice that Garo seems to be an example of a classic shonen trope where the hero gets a sudden power-up because “he can’t lose”, thereby allowing him to beat impossible odds. Except this time, the trope is applied to an antagonist.

    SuicuneSol
    Reply

  7. I read the manga but I’m glad I forgot how this ends… This fight is getting fairly exciting. I think I must have read the manga too quickly and not gotten as emotionally attached as I should’ve.

    Player
    Reply

  9. Hng. I noticed during Garos close combat fight with Genos that at one point the two arrows was still attached in Garos shoulder, even though he had already pulled them out earlier. Bit of a goof.

    Cruiser
    Reply

  10. https://randomc.net/image/One-Punch%20Man/One%20Punch%20Man%20S2%20-%2011%20-%20Large%2030.jpg
    Look on the bright side, Saitama… At least you’re not getting stressed from in-game microtransactions, DLC, pay-to-win loot boxes, “fee-to-play” mechanics, and incomplete content–among other things wrong with the “Triple-AYYYYY” video game industry. (Though I do wonder if that’s also the face of someone suffering from “crunch time” at that industry.)

    Incognito
    Reply

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