Editor’s Pick (Anime) – One Punch Man ワンパンマン

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The much awaited One Punch Man anime is finally out! It follows the titular one punch man, Saitama, as he deals with his daily life. One day, his city is attacked by a large crab-like creature. During the attack, he manages to save a child and subdue the monster.

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Saitama undergoes intense training and pushes himself beyond the physical limits of ordinary humans, causing him to be bald.  Saitama becomes the most powerful character in the anime, and he breaks most of the typical tropes in the shounen genre.

Saitama is usually deliberately drawn in a simpler style than all the other characters, with a very rounded head and only a simple mouth and eyes. When drawn in a more ‘action-oriented’ style with more detail, Saitama is revealed to have sharp features, dangerous looking eyes, and a chiseled musculature. His costume is a plain yellow jumpsuit with a short zipper at the collar and a belt. The costume is finished out by a red ensemble of boots, gloves and a white or red cape

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One Punch Man accepts the dilemma and uses it to drive Saitama’s initial conflict; “overwhelming strength…is boring.” In that way, the completely aloof and unrelatable Saitama gains a foothold in our mind, presenting a common human conundrum in an outlandish fashion.

One Punch Man is a manga that was originally a web comic series created by an author known as ONE back in 2009, that gathered an enormous amount of attention. The series has gotten so popular that renowned manga artist Yusuke Murata  known for his work in the popular manga “Eyeshield 21”  contacted ONE to collaborate and remake “Onepunch-Man.” With the brilliant art of Yusuke Murata and the hilarious mind of ONE, came one of the most popular, newer mangas in Japan. The manga was nominated for the 2014 Manga Taishou Award.

‘Nuff said. Go scour the internet for the anime, and enjoy the show! (Hint: Check the screen shot)

 

 

 

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