Manga Review: One-Punch Man 01 story by ONE, art by Yusuke Murata
Saitama wanted to be a hero when he grew up, the sort of good guy who could beat any monster or villain with a single punch. Like many people, he forgot that dream as he prepared for a more realistic career as a salaryman (white collar worker.) That didn’t really work out for him, and Saitama became unemployed and stuck in the hell of applications and interviews and rejections. Until he saw a monster about to attack a child, and it reawakened his desire to be a hero.
He managed to beat the (fairly weak) monster, and started training to become a hero. After three years of intense training, his hair had fallen out, and Saitama had gained great power, the ability to defeat any foe with a single punch. Now you may be thinking, “that sounds way too easy; surely there is some horrible down side to these powers.” And you would be right. For a hero who lives to battle evil, defeating any opponent in one punch makes the victories hollow.
Comic book fans sometimes talk about the “Superman problem”; a protagonist so grossly overpowered that he can solve most difficulties is difficult to write interesting stories for, since normal challenges just don’t work. A skilled writer can overcome this problem, but you also end up with a lot of Kryptonite stories where the hero’s powers are arbitrarily reduced to provide a challenge.
This series takes a different approach to the problem. The first few chapters set up what would normally be world-threatening dangers, which Saitama defeats with ridiculous ease as he notes how he’s become detached from his own emotions, mechanically going through the motions of fighting monsters, but feeling hollow inside.
Things start to change with the appearance of angsty cyborg Genos. He’s the first person to really see Saitama in action and understand just how impressive he is. Thus Genos becomes Saitama’s sidekick (although “disciple” is closer to what he acts like) and his first real friend. They battle the Mosquito Lady, which brings them to the attention of the first arc villain of the series, the House of Evolution, which specializes in uplifted animal monsters.
This manga has a different backstory than many, as it started as a webcomic by ONE, who is an okay artist but not first-rate; as far as I know it’s still running. However, the webcomic had strong writing and a good sense of comedic timing, and became a huge success. A deal was made to have top notch manga artist Yusuke Murata (of Eyeshield 21 fame) redraw the series for magazine distribution, with some minor story edits where ONE felt it was a good idea. This also became popular, and now there’s an animated adaptation as well (currently streaming on Hulu.)
There’s quite a bit of over-the-top superhero violence in this series, so more sensitive young readers might be uncomfortable. Mosquito Lady is simultaneously a parody and example of oversexualized female supervillains (why does an insect need mammary glands?) but Saitama is fully naked during the same sequence so you may think it balances out.
The characterization is relatively simplistic in these early volumes, but as more continuing characters appear, the storyline gets deeper.
Highly recommended for superhero fans.
