Manga Monthly: One Punch Man
Exam season everyone! I wish you all the very best of luck and hope you all get the grades that you guys want. Exams will be the focus for many students across the UK, so I recommend if you interested in what I’m about to show you, to write it down and save it for when you have finished or taken a break. And the recommendation for May is – drum roll please – One Punch Man!
One Punch Man was first released in September of 2015, with its writer ONE, also being known for his other work called Mob Psycho 100. One Punch man was originally serialized on web version of Weekly Young Jump before it was published into a manga. The English Translations of the manga have released all the way to Volume 23, in October 2021. It has also been animated into an anime with very high ratings generally due to the humour found.
The full summary is very simple. A man who is a hero is so strong that he can kill anything with one single punch. This funny comedy follows his story of how he deals with his power of completely obliterating the monsters and the struggles that come with such power. In the first volume, we not only focus on Saitama’s backstory but we are also introduced to his loyal student, Genos, who after seeing Saitama’s power decides to follow him to get stronger. Together, they create a domestically funny comedy for anyone to enjoy.
Saitama is the main character of this story. Despite the fact the Volume 1 contains around 200 pages, you understand a lot about this character. You get to experience his past, his dreams, parts of his childhood which helps you understand his worries and what he truly wants. Saitama’s initial introduction presents him as a mysterious figure and the funny entrance of him being drawn bald and in a weird suit contrasts the overwhelming power, he delivers to the enemy is what makes it exciting to see what everyone’s thoughts are on this.
Genos is a character that comes later in the volume, but he becomes an essential character in the later series. Genos is characterised as a dark emo edge lord only for readers to quickly understand he’s just a cyborg on a mission. His interest in Saitama is in his power, which allows for very comedic moments where he puts him on a higher level and gives him a lot of respect than Saitama thinks he should be deserved of. Their relationship of friendship develops as the manga continues further.
One of my favourite comedies, for anyone who’s looking for a good laugh. Sometimes, a lot of comedy can be forced or cliché so people lose interest in this genre but the balance of humour and action is perfectly balanced so that it’s not annoying but it’s also engaging with the audience. ONE’s art styles is one of my favourite art styles that I aspire to be able to craft up as well because of how detailed it gets. It’s more visible in the later novels but the shading and contrast of highlights and shadows really create some of their most beautiful and majestic art pages in the manga community. It's also a easy premise for beginner manga readers to enjoy, as it’s easy and available to get your hands on a copy.