One Punch Man (2021)
[ワンパンマン]
Volume 23
Author: ONE
Artist: Yusuke Murata
Publisher: Jump Comics
Synopsis:
Now free of Do-S' mind control, the formerly imprisoned rescue team and Atomic Samurai's apprentices launch a ploy to infiltrate deeper into the Monster Association's headquarters.
Story/Characters:
We never got to see the rescue team in action before their capture. The apparent ease with which they were taken was intended to highlight just how ill-equipped anyone outside the Hero Association was when it came to combatting the threat of the Monster Association. However, now that they're back in sorts, we come to discover that they're actually quite competent in combat, at least against zako-level monsters. We get an interesting exchange of philosophies between the rescue team's leader and Atomic Samurai's apprentices, particularly Bushidrill. As always, Iaian is great. And if you were wanting to see a little more attention given to Okamaitachi, you get that, too.
We then segue into Atomic Samurai's fight with... Black Sperm... (I had to check and it would seem that we get a straight translation of the character's name. I guess they weren't being coy about it in the Japanese, so why do so in English?) I will say that BS manages to go from apparent joke character to legitimate threat rather quickly. And as BS was chasing Tareo, we cut back to the surface, where Child Emperor and Saitama deliver Waganma, who manages to develop a bit of a conscience. And as things are wrapping up with AS and BS, we cut to Zombieman versus the Homeless Emperor. I may have actually met the latter when wandering the streets of Tokyo one time...
Next, we go to Puripuri Prisoner, who fends off mid-ranking monsters, only to take on the more formidable Baquma, then his monsterized "honeys" and Nyaaan. Maybe it's just because I'm a cat person, but I like Nyaan. I also like the relationship between Maiko and Electric Catfish Man. Next, Chapter 111 is a short encounter between Pig God and the monster Gums (Haguki). Hard to say which is the more monstrous. Chapter 112 is similarly short, pitting Darkshine (Kurobikari) against Bug God. Nothing much plotwise there at the end, but we get some decent action set pieces out of it.
Art:
As you've come to expect, the art doesn't disappoint in the slightest. It's nice seeing the rescue team's action chops and the apprentice trio impress in their fight against Malong Hair (Maronge). As mentioned before, it was striking when Black Sperm was revealed to be a legitimate threat even to an S-Class hero like Atomic Samurai and the visuals definitely deliver on that.
Much as is the case with Genos, because Zombieman can get away with taking a lot of damage, we can get far more brutal action scenes with less consequence, so the dust-up with the Homeless Emperor is suitably messy. If you like the visual comedy of Puripuri Prisoner fights, you get plenty of that, complete with two new abilities he learns. I found the design of Baquma to be rather striking, this sharply-dressed sinister elephant. Pig God vs. Gums is basically a fight as to who can out-monster the other. (At least the cover of Chapter 111 gives us Fubuki in sailor fuku.) There's also a really nice hero shot of Kurobikari in Chapter 112.
Other:
We get a short bonus comic about Pig God as he's being rated by Amai Mask. Now there's a pair that goes together.
Conclusion:
Though this volume is fairly light on plot progression, we get a few nice character moments and some pretty good action set pieces as you've come to expect from the series. I won't say it's a must-have, but fans will surely want to give it a read.
Rating:
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