Anime Review: One Punch Man Season 1

photo:www.viz.com

So they say, conflict is at the heart of every good story, and we say even if it is a comedy.

One Punch Man is an anime that makes you laugh about other animes. It is a brilliant parody of all that is trite about other titles.

Remember the dialogues during grand battles between the villain and the hero?  the dramatic declaration of their own creed, why they fight for good, why they do evil? and how about eh the unending flashback to freeze all combat time? Better yet, think of the the grand battle itself, where the monsters and heroes undergo transformations upon transformations, and cause destruction upon destruction of the world or the whole universe?

One Punch Man lets you see only half of them, the other half is dismissed by Saitama's(the MC) cartoonish  caped hero costume, his shining bald head, the bored look on his face, his often simple take on things otherwise serious, and his finally, the fight ending one punch, that has no flair, just a straight punch.

And mind you, he always wins with one punch (or a series of "normal" punches"). 

So is this as boring as watching a Steven Segal movie- an almost always invincible, never getting hit, always winning action figure? Thus  not as exciting as other series I love where the uncertainty of victory and the constant shock of dying characters is always there. (like Claymore and Attack on Titan)

Far from it because this is where the series shines, not with anticipation and the suspense for the coming battle between good and evil, but with all the drama of being good, too good it is already comedic.

Saitama is bored, bored of being too strong that no one interests him. Thus you will watch this wanting to know if the next opponent will last longer than one punch, or if he ever meets his match. But nowhere do you expect him to lose. In this battle between good and evil, good is assured the win. But you will ask how? and until when?

and there is also suspense, Saitama is not the only hero, he is joined, or rather he joins other heroes in a hero organization ala Avengers, to show how strong the villains(adding that missing struggle) are and how strong and simple Saitama is(the comedy).

This is one technique of reinforcing characterization by the placing characters vis-a-vis other different characters- the trick is to pair a character with another character that has dramatically different traits. Saitama is followed by his loyal disciple Genos whose serious demeanor mixed with Saitama's simple one is the bread and butter of the anime's comedy.

(other titles that come into mind would be how Death Note places the two arch rivals close to each other)

There you have it, a parody with just the right humor for anyone who watches anime. Watch this for the laugh.

And a conflict

We learn in  Literature of the different conflicts of stories, that of man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. himself, and man vs. society. Knowing that there is more to conflict helps us appreciate stories that do not fall into the general type that involve a lot of fighting. We can see more or often expect more aside from the climactic battle scenes. There are battles inside of the characters against themselves. and these are as real in life as conflicts with others are.

Possible Spoilers Below.

 One Punch Man's main source of conflict, its main moving force, is a struggle of a man mainly against himself, his boredom of being the strongest,  vis-a-vis being a normal person, paying the bills, buying groceries, playing a computer game.

And secondly against society, the acceptance of the society that he protects and the competition with those that protect with him. Because in the story there is this "society" of heroes he tries to belong to.

The last one is what really piques me, who were those unmentioned heroes? and of those others that have been shown to be really strong, how would they fare against Saitama? While he has proven himself effective against the champions of evil(killing them all), how would he act in a serious fight against the champions of good?

(can't wait for the next season.)

On a side note: parodies are important in the growth of any literature, they provide not only a much needed laughter, a break from an art becoming too serious, and a constructive criticism. I am curious how other anime would be influenced by this one when it has shown what has become clichéd in most series.