One Punch Man (2016)

[ワンパンマン]

Volume 11

Author: ONE
Artist: Yusuke Murata
Publisher: Jump Comics

Synopsis:
While Metal Bat fights off the Elder Centipede, Garou drops in to enter the fray.

Story/Characters:
As if Metal Bat didn't have his hands full as it was, Garou jumps him while he's worn down and at his breaking point, but right now that's the only way there'd be an even fight between the two of them. It is interesting that Garou has no sense of honor about fighting, like most villainous martial artist characters would. He just wants to say he's beaten heroes, no matter how he does it. We also get to see Metal Bat's sister Zenko appear on the page for the first time. She's cool. I'd like to imagine a future where she takes up the hero mantle too.

The Monster Association does a good job of raising the stakes and really playing in smart in their fight against the heroes. You would think the sheer scale of their attack would be enough, but instead of simply overwhelming the heroes with numbers, they're also specifically preying on heroes' weaknesses and such. It's good for ratcheting up the tension.

We're just getting the ball rolling with the tournament and in a volume like this, I can sympathize with people who feel it's a distraction. However, I appreciate its value in the larger scheme of things and taking it for what it is, it's fairly amusing. I particularly like how you would expect former Bang disciple Nigamushi to be as antagonistic as he presents himself, only for him to play the doting sempai for "Charanko", doing stuff like fixing Saitama's belt when he ties it wrong and so on. It's rather cute, really.

Art:
Metal bat delivers some solid action scenes and we get a nice range of Monster Association representatives. Fanservice-wise, you get a pool party scene for the synopsis at the beginning and if it's your kinda thing, there's Do-S of the Monster Association. (Never been a fan of that kind of outfit personally, but her psycho eyes are a neat design element.)

Other:
We have a side story about Saitama giving teamwork a try (it goes about as well as you would imagine) and an omake about how Metal Bat got his signature weapon. The back cover and under the dust cover features another omake about Metal Bat attending his sister's piano recital. It's cute.

Conclusion:
We get good action scenes and some great setup for the battle royale that's going down. If you really don't like the Tournament Arc side of things, the latter part may annoy a bit, but if it doesn't bother you, this volume is definitely worth having.

Rating:
Own It