Ani-Mondo-me: One Punch Man (Season 1)

I haven't done any Anime in a while.  Let's fix that, shall we?

This is One Punch Man.  Some people don't like it.  Some people love it.

I was vaguely-aware of it (through Adult Swim's promotion of it).  So let me see what it is all about...

In a World with so many threats that Superheroes have formed together into a National Conglomeration, one man emerges.

He can defeat even the greatest foes with only one punch.  You either hate this or learn to accept it as the Premise.

We learn that he was once a normal man who decided to save a kid from a freaky Crab guy.  How did he change so much in only 3 years?

Throughout the Show, our Hero faces many threats.  Most importantly, the threat of not being recognized as a true Hero!

...also giant Mutants, underwater Monsters and all sorts of insanity.

The whole Show builds up to an epic battle to save the Earth.

To the Show's credit, other Characters get a chance to shine as the action separates them.  In other words, this isn't 'Superman Solves Everything.'

The Show is currently available Subbed on Netflix and dubbed just about everywhere I imagine.  Check it out.

For all the hype and/or disdain, I kind of liked it.  One Punch Man isn't the be-all-end-all of Anime.  One Punch Man isn't something so critical that I can't enjoy Anime either.  It is...a Comedy Series that satirizes Anime Tropes in a light-hearted way.  I was actually expecting it to be more over in the Parody than it actually was.  The giant guy you see early on is probably a broad Parody of Attack on Titan, but it isn't in your face about it.  Other than that, it covers the more general silliness of the Genre, as opposed to 'picking on' more Shows.  In other words, it is more of a silly Anime than a Parody of Anime.  That make sense?  Getting past that, it is just plain fun.  You know that most fights/situations are going to end in a bit of anti-climax.  With that in mind, they make it work pretty well still.  In one two-part Episode, they keep Saitama away from the main Villain through silly contrivance.  That allows other Characters to make big stands and fight before he arrives.  The Finale does something similar, which I definitely liked.  Can it work in a second Season?  Time will tell (as a second Season was recently announced).  More importantly, One Punch Man is here to set off whole new nerd fights with fan-art like this...

Next time, I cheat a little with a short American-ised Anime that is getting all sorts of attention.  Will it bite?  See you then...