One Punch Man (2015)

[ワンパンマン]

Season 1

Director: Shingo Natsume
Studio: Madhouse
Starring: Makoto Furukawa, Kaito Ishikawa, Aoi Yuuki
Episodes: 12

Synopsis:
A nigh-invulnerable hobbyist hero looks for a challenge, but no enemy can survive more than one punch.

Impressions:
When second-rate writers want a character to be cool, they make him invincible or close to it. There's a reason the boring invincible hero is a trope. Well, it takes someone special to turn something uninspiring and actually spin an entertaining yarn. By parodying the God Mode Sue, One Punch Man makes for a hilarious sendup of both shounen manga and superhero comics. It's great that Saitama is terribly dissatisfied with his overwhelming power and the ever-escalating hazards become part of the joke. By including a host of quirky lesser heroes, you still get fights that can be lost to provide at least a little dramatic tension and the fact that Saitama gets no respect whatsoever in-universe nicely keeps him from becoming some sort of lame power trip wish fulfillment fantasy. The humor is great and the action set pieces tend to be lavish and gorgeous. They bring the series to a nice close on an arc villain that comes close to providing an actual challenge. Will we see more? I don't know. You may have to seek out the manga to continue the story. In the meantime, though, definitely give this a watch and add it to your collection when you get the chance.

Rating:
Own It