So this past weekend saw the end of the run of One Punch Man on Cartoon Network’s late night Toonami. For those who missed it, is it worth catching? I would say so. This is a pretty good dumb, but fun spoof on the superhero sub-genre, which takes everything from that sub-genre and turns it on its head.
Saitama is your average, everyday nebbish who works hard to become strong just so he can become a superhero – for fun. His particular talent is to take out an adversary with just one punch. He gains a follower in Genos, a former human turned android who also seeks to become a superhero. Genos accepts Saitama as his master, even though Saitama has nothing to teach him. If anything, Genos is the one guiding Saitama through the organized world of superheroes overseen by the Hero Association. Saitama is under-appreciated, despite the fact that he is the strongest of all. Meanwhile all other superheroes come across as – well, parodies.
That’s the run down. Keep in mind despite his heroics and strength, Saitama is really an everyman. He represents the greatness which we all which to achieve, but is beyond our abilities. And he does this with unintentional humor.
Just out of curiosity, I did find clips with the original Japanese dub on YouTube, and I must say I like the English dub better. Max Mittleman (the name is perfect for this series) is much more suited to the role than his Japanese counterpart Makoko Furukawa. Mittleman gets the character totally right with almost a naïve innocence which takes even the most desperate situations as nothing abnormal.
One Punch Man is good for a laugh or two. There is violence and non-sexual nudity, so no this is not a kids’ anime. Just watch and don’t take too seriously.
Bookmarks