I'm really on a roll with watching TV shows, as my wife has graciously allowed me to watch a few in our nightly TV watching. One of the ones we recently watched that we both greatly enjoyed was One Punch Man. Based on a web comic, One Punch Man focuses on Saitama, an impossibly strong super hero who fights for fun, but is so strong that he kills every enemy in one punch. As a result, Saitama struggles with boredom and lack of satisfaction due to the fact that he lacks any credible enemies against whom to fight.
One Punch Man is a primarily a comedy that plays delightfully with the tropes of shonen, or manga/anime for teenage boys. Examples of this include Dragon Ball, Naruto, Bleach, and Rurouni Kenshin, and to any even casual watcher, the tropes are clear. The genre generally follows males protagonists with exceptional abilities. These protagonists are challenged by an unbelievably strong opponent, forcing the protagonist to pursue some attempt at growing strong enough to beat the enemy. Frequently these growths take the shape of transformations (i.e. Super Saiyans in Dragon Ball), although it can often just be intense training, learning new techniques, etc. For as long as the show or comic goes, the characters must increase in power over the span of the episodes/volumes, growing impossibly powerful by the end of the series.
One Punch Man turns much of this on its head through a skillful satire of shonen. Rather than attaining his unbelievable strength through impossible training (training at intense levels of gravity in Dragon Ball), or exposure to intense trauma (the death of a friend unlocking the Super Saiyan transformation), Saitama manages to grow into the unstoppable one punching juggernaut that he is by doing 100 pushups, 100 situps, and running 10 km per day! His transformation, rather than the ever more elaborate ones experienced by Goku, is to go bald.
It just never gets less cool!
The over the top tone of the show and animation style are also pitch perfect recreations of shonen, making the gag all the better. Saitama will frequently witness an impressive series of transformations by his opponent, endure an attack that is capable of destroying a city, and be left standing at the end, to deliver one punch and deal impossible amounts of damage.
All of these are clearly loving jabs at shonen as a genre. It's obviously a silly concept, but one that has a certain niche appeal, and someone who didn't truly love it couldn't poke fun at it with the deft, yet obviously loving touch that One Punch Man delivers.
If there's one weakness present in One Punch Man, it's that it drags on a bit too long. I think this concept would have worked extremely well as a movie, as it feels like the gag has run on for a few too many episodes by the end. I really hope that they have a good idea for season two, as it may really struggle to produce original material.
But in all One Punch Man is a really clever and original lampooning of shonen, albeit in a kindhearted fashion. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys shonen, as I do, but it may struggle a bit to translate to those who aren't in on the joke. I'll give it a 9.2/10.
Up next is a tale of mind control and super strength, so stay tuned!
-TRO
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