Genre(s): Action, Comedy, Seinen (for relatability)
Age-Appropriateness: 13+ (Violence, occasional suggestive themes)
Platforms: Netflix, Hulu
Episodes: 12 (+6 OVA episodes if you can find them)
TheAwersome Rating: 8.5 / 10 (Definitely worth your time)
Premise: Saitama is a bachelor who decided to spend his time as a “Hero for Fun.” After just three years of training, however, he’s become so ridiculously strong that he can defeat any enemy with just one punch. Struggling with the ennui of being the most overpowered super hero is only second to the struggle of making ends meet and the fact that nobody seems to know he really exists. Only when a cyborg sees his prowess and begs to become his apprentice does Saitama begin to truly find meaning in his life again.
TheAwersome’s Thoughts: One-Punch Man is a hilarious satire piece on the entire Super Hero genre, from comic books to anime. The absurdity of the myriad of heroes and villains (and their convoluted motivations) is a key winning point for this show. Contrast that with Saitama’s utter apathy toward just about everything and you get a ridiculous show that makes fun of how seriously we take our super heroes. Imagine if Superman was your average bored millennial and you start to get the picture. While it isn’t necessary to have a strong background in anime and comic books to enjoy this, it makes it that much better. The action sequences will often have a really neat sketchy/hand-drawn quality to them that adds to the “comic book” flavor of the show.
TLDR: A hilarious satire piece on the entire Super Hero genre, from comic books to anime. The completely overpowered and apathetic protagonist leaves no shortage of bizarre situations.
Season 2 is confirmed for April 2019
You’ll likely enjoy this if you enjoyed:
- The nonsensical parody nature of Kill la Kill
- The millenial depression portrayed in Aggretsuko
At a Glance Anime 