one punch man

Onepunch-Man
Story: ONE          Art:Murata Yuusuke

Date Released: 2012
Genre(s): Action, Comedy, Seinen, Supernatural
Magazine: Young Jump Web Comics
Summary: Follows the life of an average hero who manages to win all of his battles with only one punch! This ends up being the cause of much frustration as he no longer feels the thrill and adrenaline of fighting a tough battle.
Maybe all of his rigorous training to become strong wasn’t worth it?
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QUICK REVIEW

OnePunch-Man is an interesting manga that will keep you laughing at it breaks down the genre of classic Shonen manga with its simplistic main character and its overly-manly and stereotypical battle manga archetypes. When I first saw the manga I thought it would be a little hard to get into, but within a few pages I was hooked and now I can’t stop laughing at this great parody manga. A great read for any lover of old battle mangas or likes to point out those manga’s stupid points.

ART 1/1– Clean and Nostalgic

The art in One Punch-man has such a good feel to it. You can feel the influence of manga’s like dragon ball, especially form a certain alien in the first chapter. You can’t help but be drawn it the detail Yuusuke-Sensei puts into his work and his mastery of lighting effects and overall destruction.

STORY 0.5/1- Great Parody but Somewhat Simple

ONE-Sensei has done a great job at making this manga on the surface feel like an average battle manga while also adding in all his subtle parodies. You can clearly see from his characters that they are there to draw upon a nostalgic effect of the simple, villain of the week battle manga, but in a more hyperbolic manner. ONE-Sensei also does a good job in making the jokes funny even if you have no knowledge of the parody by making the story actually entertaining with how Onepunch-Man breaks the through the routine of these types of stories.
However, this word routine is a good summary of each chapter. You will find that the story follows a very similar route every chapter, albeit with some extra details. Bad guy comes with his cliché ideology and backstory, he causes destruction, Onepunch-Man shows up and is underestimated and then promptly beats the enemy in one punch. Even so, I feel this is best for the style of this manga and a do feel the overarching story will evolve soon. I expect great things with this story.

CHARACTERS 1/1- Best Part by Far

Onepunch-Man is a great parody of a hero; he became so strong that he can defeat any villain in one punch! He’s so strong he WISHES there was someone who could challenge his power! He is a great parody on the classic hero who seems so strong that we the reader could never understand how he is ever truly opposed.
Each villain is a great parody of a classic battle manga archetype. Each villain is taken to its basic form and makes for a good parody of the genre. You will see various characters that you will feel you’ve seen before and smile as you see them here. Honestly, they are definitely one the driving points of the story. Without them there would really be no story to begin with!! I commend how well they are used in this story to drive plot.

WORLD 0.5/1- Dry, but relevant

The world of Onepunch-Man is… well… non-existent really. The world is literally a sandbox for destruction, similar to the cities in the old power rangers shows. They just break apart in the wreckage of the battles that seem to take place consonantly. The best example I can give you is that the town are named by letters (Onepunch-Man lives in X-ville or something like that.)
In saying this I would like to point out that the world is a parody too; in battle manga places get destroyed all the time, but no one really cares. They are generic and made to be destroyed like a Lego village when you are a kid. Even so, I would have like to feel as though I was drawn into the world more. ONE-Sensei is starting to build up the world so I hope there will be more engaging points in the future.

ORIGINALITY 1/1- What We All Thought in Manga Form

This story really is a good parody. It takes all our thoughts on the stupidity of some things and the nostalgia of others to make a story that we all will enjoy. It takes the ideas of others and builds upon it in a funny way. I personally enjoyed each story and how it has progressed.

BOTTOM LINE 4/5 Hilarious, Action-Packed Parody

This story is so good that I really can’t do I justice. Check it out for yourself and see how much fun you’ll have with the story. I really see this manga only going up as of this point and can’t wait for more.

Until next time readers, READ MORE COMICS!
~~Z-ComiX