One Punch Man: Season 1 (VIDEO SCRIPT)

Today on Anime Saturday, I take a look at Season 1 of One Punch Man. Let’s begin.

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(Bursts into laughter) I’m sorry, I’m sorry... I just... I just can’t for the life of me keep a straight face when I hear the beginning of this song.

/Anyway, One-Punch Man is an action comedy anime that was adapted from a 2009 webcomic created by ONE - the same guy who made Mob Psycho 100 - that got super popular after going viral in Japan and received a manga adaptation three years later. It tells the story of Saitama, a guy who trained his ass off to become one of the strongest superheroes in the world - just for fun mind you - and is at the point where it only takes him one punch to defeat anybody. AND. HE. HATES IT./

(“Damn It” scene)

Now before I started watching this anime, I was introduced to the character of Saitama in the form of memes, which I wholeheartedly regret.

I say that because the memes in question were like, one-on-one matchups created by hood anime fans. AKA the ones who legit believe that Goku can beat someone like Darkseid in a fight. These memes would find their way on my facebook feed because of the people that I’m friends with, and they would just get more and more ridiculous as time went on, especially after I found out that One Punch Man is a superhero parody and isn’t meant to be taken seriously.

I became completely uninterested in checking the anime out because of it, which, yes, I know now in retrospect is a stupid reason to not check out something in order to gain my own opinion on it. Then one Saturday afternoon, I was hanging out with friends and my friend and podcasting partner Reggie - aka Shadow Akuma from D Saint Radio - decided to put on the first two or so episodes of One Punch Man.

/After watching them, well... Let's just say that I insisted we finish off the rest of the season right then and there./

And honestly, I’m glad I did. Despite this being a parody comedy, there are a lot of things that I like about the anime.

But at the same time, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have any critiques or strong opinions regarding one or two things they decided to do here.

Some of you may already have an idea of ONE of the things I’m talking about, and don’t worry; I have every intention on talking about it, so we’ll get there.

But for now, let’s focus on the stuff that makes this anime so great to me, starting with the dynamic between Saitama and Genos

/We’re introduced to the cyborg Genos in episode 2 when he’s fighting a villain appropriately called Mosquito Girl. After seeing Saitama fight and beat her, Genos asks to be Saitama’s apprentice and he accepts. From then on out, the relationship between the two is pretty much clockwork, and while Genos is interesting in his own right, the way he interprets Saitama’s actions over the course of the season makes for an interesting POV from time to time./

Sometimes in retrospect I wonder how both the dynamic between the two and the show would work if the entire thing was from Genos’ point of view?

/Kinda like how the first series of Russell T Davies’ revival of Doctor Who introduced us to the 9th Doctor through the eyes of Rose Tyler (run) before switching over to the 10th Doctor’s POV after she left in series 2 (Rose Tyler, I-)/

/Because along with there being a lot of stuff involving Genos’ past that the show hints will be touched upon in season 2, there are a lot of strong moments and morals over the course of the season that are made and delivered by Saitama that are driven to the audience better because they were through the point of view of Genos as opposed to Saitama’s own. A great example is the selfless decision he makes at the end of Episode 9 -- Unyielding Justice -- when he pretty much pulls a Batman from The Dark Knight and purposely degrades his own character to keep the reputation of the other well-known heroes in tact. Having us see that moment through the eyes of Genos as opposed to Saitama, then having him realize why he was doing it and not act on it was some strong-ass shit!/

On the other hand, if we just had the series told from the perspective of Genos, we wouldn’t be able to see Saitama’s own faults and appreciate his growth.

/One of the best examples is AFTER that scenario, when Saitama receives a letter that just said “Thank You,” and sits down for dinner with the hero who sent it to him, Mumen Rider/

aka THE GOAT

The scenario in question was a 2-parter, beginning in episode 8 and ending in 9, and is the second-longest “arc” in this season; the longest being a 3-part season finale consisting of episodes 10-12

Which brings me to another thing I like about this show; the way it handles long-term storytelling.

I say that because this was the first anime I’ve ever seen that adopted the traditional season format. As an old school anime fan, I usually enjoy mini-series and 25-50 episode anime with a full-fledged plot right out the bat, as opposed to the story arc model made famous by Naruto, Bleach, One Piece and Dragonball Z.

And yes, I know that Dragonball Z technically DID have seasons, but because of how they were promoted on Toonami, they never really FELT that way to me.

I especially DOUBLE-felt that with shows like Bleach and Naruto when it came to their use of filler. Combine that with the fact that I was constantly unlucky and accidentally caught reruns while waiting for new episodes in the states because, due to the way networks advertised new shows before tv channels realized the internet could be used as a decent info distribution tool, taking a break meant that I may miss said episodes when they DID air, resulting in long-running anime quickly becoming my least favorite

But ever since One Punch Man properly introduced me to season breaks for the medium, I gained a GREAT appreciation of this model for long-running anime, mostly because it allows me to properly digest arcs without being limited to filler, and still have a sense of closure while simultaneously anticipating what’s coming next.

And they weren’t afraid to use one-shot stories in this format, either. Which being a fan of Cowboy Bebop, I absolutely LOVED.

/My favorite would have to be episode 3, The Obsessive Scientist, where they introduce my favorite villain in this show to date, Doctor Genus. The way they handled his backstory, took proper time explaining what he did as far as experimenting on animals and everything he did to himself -- not to mention why he wanted Saitama in the first place -- made me immediately think that because this is an anime based on superheroes that he was gonna be the big bad of at least the first half of the season./

Nope. One and done with one of the most HILARIOUS outcomes to a scenario like this I’ve EVER SEEN

But if I have to talk about all of the awesome stuff I appreciate in this show, I have to talk about the obvious stereotype in the room.

(Puri Puri Prisoner’s introduction)

*Stares at television intensely, then at camera* So I hate this

Okay, let me do my best to properly phrase this. I have strong feelings about this.

And before any of my fellow Queer Readers put it in the comment section, no. It’s not because the character is flamboyantly gay, or a gay femme; we don’t tolerate that Masc 4 Masc bigotry in the Readus Household

I’m just overall not a fan of how gay characters -- specifically gay MALE characters -- are depicted in Shonen anime in general, because the fact that they ARE gay is amplified so that it’s played for laughs

I’ve seen this done in Dragonball GT with the gay announcer always hitting on Trunks, done just for the sake of finding humor in Trunk’s level of discomfort, and I can’t help but see it here with Puri Puri Prisoner with all that he does attached to his heroics.

/By that he’s gone to jail because he’s constantly grabby with men and proud of it, and breaks out of prison to either save dudes he thinks are cute, or capture criminals he thinks are cute for his own harem./

My initial reaction to that info about him when it was revealed on screen during his debut was just one word: WHY?

Because not only did that tell me the only defining trait about him was that he’s gay - which I’ll elaborate on my feelings regarding THAT topic in a minute - but that despite how powerful and how much of an asset he proves to be in the show in the last few episodes, Puri Puri Prisoner is a vehicle created specifically for comedy that can easily turn toxic.

Not only are two out of the three things I previously mentioned about his character highly inappropriate and can get you arrested for sexual harassment and human trafficking, but Puri Puri Prisoner’s existence has the high possibility of amplifying the already irrational fears homophobic straight men have by over-exaggerating said fears and putting them in the form of a joke character for a popular medium that’s aimed at impressionable young boys

*Pauses* On the other hand

That’s not to say that this character and the other less than positive example I gave previously are the only way male queer characters that are presented in Shonen anime.

/With homosexuality and queer pride in general still pretty taboo in Japan, finding decent male queer representation in Shonen manga and anime that ISN’T Puri Puri Prisoner is a bit hard to come by without subtext, but not impossible./ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkkLQGUfuW8

There are, in fact, Shonen anime that treat male queer characters as CHARACTERS as opposed to caricatures; I’ve definitely seen one that I plan on talking about later on in this segment

Also - while I haven’t seen either of them yet - from what I’ve heard, both Tiger & Bunny and Gurren Lagan have both femme and flamboyant gay male characters that aren’t played up for laughs by being an exaggerated representation of irrational homophobia.

Then of course there’s Tokyo Godfathers. *Thumbs Up*

I also have to factor in multiple things, which initially causes me to hold my tongue whenever the topic of Puri Puri Prisoner comes up

One: While I understand and fear the negative implications he can spawn as far as representing LGBT people in the still popular genre of Shonen anime, I don’t know the true intent of ONE when he created Puri Puri Prisoner, so I don’t want to slander his name undeservingly. For all I know, all of this could’ve been intentionally done by ONE as a stance to show how ridiculous these fears are, by creating a character that embodies it.

Not my preferred tactic, but I get it. I felt the same way when I found out the recent “twist” about the Titans in Attack on Titan.

And Two: My personal queerness is not and SHOULD not be the end-all-be-all as far as how queer people should be represented in media, just because of my personal feelings regarding how this character is handled. I’m absolutely sure that there are plenty of male-identifying queer weebs and otakus out there who saw Puri Puri Prisoner in season one of One Punch Man and just immediately decided to stan the fuck out of him, despite being a character only known for being gay.

/Also, considering everything SonicFox -- one of, if not, the best fighting game players in the United States who is also a black gay furry -- has done to help empower queer people to claim ownership of their queer identities, especially since identity and personality go hand in hand when it comes to things like what you stand for, what your morals are, and how you choose to portray and live in those things respectively, I don’t wanna take that away from anyone, because of my feelings./ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyR-8Fcbf48

But does this stop me from believing that One Punch Man season 1 is good and worth watching? Not at all

It helps a lot that I went into it knowing I’m not supposed to take it seriously, but at the same time I really appreciate the moments it had with the arcs that had a sense of weight and depth to them

Considering that this was the first new-ish anime I’d seen in like, 3 years -- and actually wanted to see more of afterwards -- I’m glad that this show and the way it solved my issue of watching long-running anime is being adapted in other projects, despite it more than likely not being the pioneer.

Right now you can stream One Punch Man season 1 on Netflix and Hulu, with the latter exclusively airing season 2 starting April 9th, 2019

I say that if you have either of those streaming services, or don’t mind paying $2 an episode on YouTube, Amazon Prime, Google, etc., then it’s definitely worth checking out

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So with that being said Readers, your homework assignment for the day. Write in the comment section what you thought of One-Punch Man: Season 1 if you’ve seen it.

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