First Impressions / One-Punch Man

“The Lone Cyborg”


「孤高のサイボーグ」 (Kokou no Saibougu)

Endlessly Enjoyable Animation:

Throughout this episode I had one prevailing thought: all the animators involved in this project must be having a blast with this material. I remember when this adaptation was first announced many people were worried that it might not actually work as an anime, or that it would struggle to live up to the standard of the manga. Thankfully, after two episodes it would appear we have absolutely nothing to worry about. One-Punch Man is a feast for the eyes, and for anyone who has appreciation for animation (like myself) you couldn’t possibly ask for more; the blend of webgen and endless sasuga makes for a magnificent viewing experience, and I have no doubts that this quality will be maintained throughout the course of its run.

That being said, if I were to bring up one gripe I have with the visuals it’d have to be the greyish colour palette. In parts the colours used are quite uninspired, which is a shame compared to how damn good it all flows. Thankfully, it isn’t always the case, as there are plenty of vibrant and colourful moments throughout this episode – enough to make it much less of a problem than it could be.

A Dedicated Cyborg & Various Powerful Opponents:

Last week I mainly spoke about how brilliant Saitama was as a main character, and my thoughts are still the same. Not only are his punches brutally hilarious, but his one liners always give me a chuckle. We didn’t explore much of his character this week, but that’s fine, because seeing him struggle to kill a fly and then decimate some overpowered super villains was enough to keep me satisfied.

This time around, the standout of this episode would have to be Genos (Ishikawa Kaito), the 19-year-old cyborg with the drive to improve. I didn’t know what to expect from his personality given his stoic robotic appearance, but he proved that he’s not a mindless drone and actually has his own aspirations and opinions. His action scenes are less impressive than Saitama’s – they are still enjoyable, make no mistake – but the witty back-and-forth they shared with each other in this episode has to be the highlight; it was all seriously funny and perfectly paced. Whether the characters are fighting animalistic villains of all shapes and sizes, or just speaking over a living room table, One-Punch Man knows how to deliver the goods.

Exposition Done Right:

Now this is how you do exposition! Compare this lengthy infodump to what we get in many other anime (I’m looking at you, Heavy Object), you can’t help but acknowledge how well done this was (and what a fantastic job Ishikawa Kaito did with his voice acting). Genos telling his whole life story in great detail at a rapid-fire pace was an ingenious way to learn more about his character, whilst also forcing the viewers to listen to an infodump. We learned a whole lot about the cyborg that ruined his life and killed his family when he was only 15, and now 4 years later he’s hoping to become strong enough to one day take down his final foe. His insistence on telling his story to Saitama was amusing, as was Saitama’s shaking knee and growing irritation. I kept think “how long will this go on for?” and it just kept on going, and going, and going, leading up to the Saitama’s perfectly timed eruption. And with that, we’ve got a teacher-student relationship forming, which I’m sure will never fail to amuse. I’m definitely looking forward to more of these two together.

Overview – What’s Next?:

While the first episode delivered everything I was expecting, this one has me excited for what’s to come. I was secretly worried that I would get bored with Saitama’s routine if that’s what each episode would focus on, but the introduction of Genos and the promise of more characters in the future has my anticipation levels raised. Also, I’m glad there is some purpose and intelligence behind all these big baddies being sent Saitama’s way, and now that they’ve taken notice of him I’m sure the stakes will continue to be raised. I’m excited to see what other villains are thrown his and Genos’s way, and whether an overarching story will take shape over the course this season’s run.

42 Comments

      1. It’s not a plot driven story exactly, it’s just satire. Ridiculous things happen that parody Western and anime tropes, playing some straight and averting others in funny ways. On top of that is some social commentary poking fun at today’s society.

        Savor the comedic timing and the incredible animation, but honestly the plot is not why I watch it.

        CarVac
        Reply

      2. Those watching for the “plot” will be sorely disappointed. As CarVac said, this is parody, and it’s quite refreshing from the oh-so-serious standard action fare. I mean just the fact that the cities are referred to as “City A” or “City D” should alert you to their direction.

        Bamboo Blade Cat
        Reply

      4. It does seem like a villain of the day sort of story, but as it goes on a solid story starts to actually form. Probably in the next 2 episodes this will be clear so be a little patient

        Fate/animu
        Reply

  5. The mosquito girl half was greyish because it was a cloudy day, because of mosquitos colors and because she was engineering a localyzed bug apocalypse.

    About action scenes, Saitama’s are cool displays of power and comedy. The other characters are proper struggles and fights. One of the charms (and theme) of this series is the contrast between these two. Paradoxally Saitama wants the fights Geno’s went through the episode (since he is seeking for the lost thrill) while Geno wants Saitama’s power (he is focused on his justice caring little for the thrill).

    Grahav
    Reply

    1. I understand the explanation behind it being a greyish day, and it makes sense, but it still wasn’t aesthetically pleasing. For me, at least. It could be a one time thing, since I never noticed it last week.

      As for the different ways all the characters fight, I’m definitely looking forward to seeing more of that. If they all own their enemies like Saitama does it would be very boring, so I’m looking forward to more of that.

      Samu
      Reply

      1. I wonder if it was a greyish color palette because of Genos. He’s really a very serious character, unintentionally amusing infodumps aside.

        Loved the clone scientists, I totally thought they were just Scientist Extras at first. And I guess, they sort of are? Just, more than I realized.

        Guile
        Reply

  6. Saitama’s facial expressions are priceless. And the way Genos kept droning on and on about his life when talking to Saitama… I was on the floor laughing long before Saitama told him to shut up. Classic comedic duo here, folks. This show knows its superhero tropes well.

    @Samu
    Is anyone planning to write something on Owari no Seraph S2’s first episode? You’re busy enough as it is, so I’m not expecting it to be picked up for weekly coverage, but I heard somebody would do a (re-)introductory post for that show.

    N
    Reply

    1. Cherrie will be introing the first episode of Owari no Seraph S2. I can tell you won’t be blogging it this season, and I think all the others are full as well, so it’ll be up to Cherrie to decide whether she picks it up for weekly coverage. You’ll need to nag her about it 😉

      Samu
      Reply

    2. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, in the manga, we got 2 pages of Genos’s infodump in wall of text. Here, they let us listen to the wall of text without a single flashback to what happened, which conveyed the same message while actually letting us share Saitama’s pain.

      BigFire
      Reply

  8. Genos infodumping on Saitama was hilarious. “Say it in 20 words.” Please, dear Crom, make the creators listen! Say less, show more!

    My other favorite Saitama thing is how every single villain talks for about a minute or so, while Saitama does something like digging in his ears or something, then the villain winds up a grease stain in under 3 seconds. Lecturing in my action is always like finding some random guy’s hair in my food when I go to a restaurant. But OPM does it in a way that is funny.

    Also, “Series of normal punches!” was an awesome attack. XD

    There’s not a whole lot I really like this season, but I really like this show. A lot.

    s_w
    Reply

  10. I like Genos’s serious personality. I read a little of the manga before, but I think the seiyuu really brings that out. I guess we’ll see how One-Punch Man balances comedy and seriousness.

    Player
    Reply

  11. >] “Throughout this episode I had one prevailing thought: all the animators involved in this project must be having a blast with this material.”

    I see what you did there…

    Ahem, right then.

    Really, I don’t think One-Punch Man could’ve struck a better tone for itself after its first episode. It was always going to be interesting to see how Saitama’s god-tier status as a character (and honestly, even that may not be doing him appropriate justice) would be handled and keep it from dragging down the anime as a whole. I’m very happy to say that it exceeded all my expectations and more. Keep the fun times rolling. 🙂

    Ryan Ashfyre
    Reply

    1. In the Murata manga, the scene where the House of Evolution scientist was evaluating Saitama, they did show a very moe picture of Mosquito Girl. Instead we got some brief picture of Show Spoiler ▼

      BigFire
      Reply

  19. I was controlling my expectation about the series but damn… it had plenty dose of laughter and moments of awesome that my bae thought I was going insane while watching it.

    Genos is a very clever addition to the cast to prevent it from becoming stale. While Saitama us boringly OHKOing his enemies, it is contrasted by the adrenaline pumping action scenes from Genos.

    Animation quality was top notch when it is required especially in highlighting awesome.

    Great series. Sasuga Madhouse.

    Raiu
    Reply

  21. Didn’t think they could top the first episode but they did it!! As a reader of the manga I am having a lot of fun watching this.
    It’s been a while since we’ve seen a Sakuga anime like this.

    Gustave154
    Reply

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