Anime Review #1: One Punch Man (Spoiler-Free)

Anime Title: One Punch Man ワンパンマン
Production Studio: Studio Madhouse
Director: Shingo Natsume
Composer: Makoto Miyazaki
Air Date: Fall 2015
Episode Count: 12
Genres: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Demons, Shounen, Supernatural

Okay… OPM is a weird show to describe my thoughts on, but I will try my best.

This show started out actually fairly mediocre for me, it never really hooked me right off the bat, and didn’t excited to watch the show until around the Sea King arc. But even tho it did hook me really late in the game, it still never sold me on it being a show worth watching again, or even recommending to someone else. But just as each episode went by I found myself enjoying it more and more.

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~Art/Animation 10/10~

The animation looks solid, even tho I am personally not the type of person who enjoys watching the more cartoony hand drawn type style that both One Punch Man and Space Dandy have, but would rather take a more realistic type art/animation style such as Nagi no Asukara/Kara no Kyoukai/Garden of Words. However this cartoony type art style just  works so well for this show. Even tho the art/animation is not entirely “the best animation I’ve ever seen” like how some people might say it is, however if you pay attention close enough then you will notice how much time and effort and love that the animation team put into this show.

~Music 10/10~

The soundtrack is fantastic and listening to it in the background while reading a character brawl in a manga just works so well, especially in Boku no Hero Academia. As for the ED I felt as if it is was really lacking something important even tho I can’t pin point what it is exactly, as well as it being extremely boring and forgettable. But for the OP… at first I hated the song, but over time it began to grow on me even tho it still isn’t the best opening of the fall season… but short version of the story, I really enjoy listening to it and all of the numerous amounts of covers that it has youtube.

~Comedy 8/10~

It was really hit and miss for me, some of the witty dialogue just didn’t get to me. But the one thing that i found the most hilarious about this whole show was where in the very beginning of the whole show when Genos first met saitama and started asking him a lot of questions and just continuously speaking faster and faster until saitama snaps and yells “Enough you idiot! Shorten it to 20 words or less!!!”.

~Story 6/10~

I found it to be lackluster at first, just being the same shit after each episode: terror in city by some strange monster, Saitama shows up, the monsters make fun of him, Saitama throws one single punch and the match is over. But over time you were introduced to the hero system, and each class rank. And you met more and more bad guys, then talked about the danger system and other stuff. Tho the plot is super basic, i feel as if just keeps going and might never have a definitive end until Saitama decides to retire and hang up his suit forever.

~Characters 6/10~

As I explained earlier about the hero system and the ranks and stuff, this is where I believe how the writer simply used this as a ploy in my opinion to shoehorn in other “heroes” just for the sake of them being there and having witty dialogue. But the thing is, the show introduced like 10 or more different characters in the last few episodes and we never learn anything about them until the end of the show. But I will say this, they all have very unique and interesting (sometimes) character design and powers.

~Final Thoughts~

My thoughts on the last episode were it was fun and good, and left me wanting more… but the thing is, there isn’t more. So I’m really perplexed about this “ending” for say, because I know that the manga keeps going, but i feel as if the anime just ended and didn’t have any closer for this series. So I really hope to see a season 2 to this series, because I just want to learn more about this world/characters while also seeing how the “story” progresses.

In the long run, I can wholeheartedly say that I would recommend this series to other anime fans to watch… but for all the people saying it is the “savior of anime”… well it isn’t so deal with it, and it isn’t even the best show to air this season. Anyways, I would give this series an 7/10.

~Similar Anime Recommendations~

Gatchaman Crowds, Punchline, Tiger & Bunny, and the upcoming Spring 2016 anime adaptation of Boku no Hero Academia

~Upcoming Review~

Stay tuned in until next week where I review Ushio to Tora 2015.

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