One Punch Man is a Japanese anime TV series that started out as a webcomic written by “One,” a pseudonym, instead of the typical manga. It was later adapted into a manga. The manga was illustrated by Yusuke Murata, the show was directed by Shingo Natsume, written by Tomohiro Suzuki, the head animation director was Chikashi Kubota, and the music was by Makoto Miyazaki. It aired in Japan on 10/05/2015 with resounding success.
The story is based on a gigantic cluster of cities A-Z. The main character, Saitama, comes from city Z. In this world, terrifying monsters of all types attack the cities on an almost daily basis. Some of the monsters have a plan and a recognisable origin, like sea creatures coming to take over the land, and some are nonsensical, like a guy who ate too much lobster and became a crab man. There is always destruction and loss of life. To combat these monsters, the cities employ professional superheroes of varying strengths. Some are normal people saving cats from trees, and others have real super powers. Saitama is the strongest of them all by a seemingly infinite margin and quickly becomes bored by the lack of a challenge. To gain his powers, he dedicated himself to physical training for a few years. Because of how easy it was for him to obtain his power based on the rules of the OPM universe and reactions from other characters, it may be safe to assume that there is another secret to his power yet to be told. Against his will, he picks up a disciple along the way.
List of One Punch Man Episodes
Episode 1 starts off in a downtown area when a huge explosion sends people into a panic. He leaps into the air and shoots a ball of energy into the town. Hero Association HQ sounds the alarm and monitors the situation from afar. At the same time, the news covers the situation on scene. One Punch Man watches it on TV from home. In the next scene, a little girl is seen crying in the rubble. The alien moves to attack, but One Punch Man whisks her away to safety. He looks bored and says he is only there to be a hero for fun. The alien describes its origins, grows and strength, and is defeated in one punch. One Punch Man collapses in despair over the speed of the fight.
Three years earlier, we get a glimpse of One Punch Man’s origins. A half crab man blocks his way as he walks home. He has hair and is wearing a business suit. He says that he has no job and doesn’t care about life, so the monster lets him pass. Instead, it goes in search of a kid who drew nipples on his chest while he was asleep. One Punch Man finds the kid first, finds that he is ugly, and is almost unwilling to help. However, he protects the kid just in time and defeats the crab after taking a few hits.
Back in the present, One Punch Man was reminiscing about the past while shopping at a supermarket. A few moments later, the side of the store is ripped away by a giant monster. It was previously a human who drank a serum to become stronger. One Punch Man kills it in one punch.
Later, he talks about how bored he is with his new life because of how strong he has become. Life is more boring in general and loses its appeal. He also mentions that the amount of crime and monsters has not diminished since he became a hero. Depressed, alone, and bored, he falls asleep.
Suddenly, he wakes up to find that the “Subterraneans,” monsters that live under the ground, have come to take over the Earth. They are all strong, but One Punch Man can defeat them each in the normal way. When they are all dead, he faces their master, the Subterranean King. It turns out to just be a dream, though, but when he wakes up, he finds weaker versions of the same monsters outside his window. The fight ends in disappointment.
Episode 2 opens with him doing chores and hearing about a mosquito outbreak on the news. He is unimpressed, but a mosquito lands on him, and he struggles to capture it.
City Z declares a state of emergency. A looter tries to take advantage of the evacuation notice but dies to a swarm of mosquitoes. They then deliver the blood to their leader, the Mosquito Girl. Genos arrives and attacks with a ball of fire. She counters attacks, but he is a cyborg, so it has no effect.
In the meantime, One Punch Man wrestles with the lone mosquito. Then Genos and the Girl continue fighting, and Genos destroys the swarm. She attacks, rips his arm off, loses her legs as a consequence, and then retreats to heal.
Later, One Punch Man crosses their path. At the same moment, Genos shoots a ball of fire that envelopes the surrounding city, killing the rest of the swarm. They fight some more, and right before she lands the killing blow, One Punch Man destroys her. Genos, amazed at his power, asks to become his apprentice.
Back at his house, One Punch Man listens to Genos’ story about his past and why he wants to become his apprentice. Apparently, his friends and family were killed by a rampaging cyborg, and he was saved by a scientist. Not, he seeks revenge. One Punch Man doesn’t want an apprentice, but he eventually relents.
At the House of Evolution, Genus reviews the previous events and decides to invite One Punch Man to his lair. He sends a few of his strongest creations, along with a few weaker ones, to bring him back by force if necessary. One Punch Man destroys all but the Armored Gorilla, who tells them how to find his master. They then head to the House.
Episode three opens with Genus’ backstory. He was a genius scientist who decided to become a recluse and work on his ideas alone. After decades of research, he ends up cloning himself and establishing the House of Evolution to experiment on animals and humans. As One Punch Man and Genos head there, Genus worries about losing his work and decides to enlist the help of his strongest creation. As a buffer, he activates traps in the above ground portion of his base.
At the House of Evolution, they destroy the top portion of the base, find Carnage Kabuto quickly, and begin to fight. Kabuto easily defeats Genos and prepares to fight One Punch Man. Before he attacks, he asks Saitama how he got so strong, and he finally tells his secret. The secret to his strength is a few years of extensive strength training, which the listeners find hard to believe. One Punch Man defeats him in one punch after he goes into Carnage Mode.
In the end, he realises that he forgot what day it was, and missed an important sale at his favourite grocery store. Luckily for him, Genos reminds him that the sale is still going and that they can make it if they hurry. They leave Genus in shock, reevaluating his life.
Episode 4 opens with an armor-clad man preaching about decadence and unfairness in society. He complains that the rich have all the wealth and that people should be able to live for free. His group is called the “Paradisers,” and they want to establish a utopia where no one works if they don’t want to. No one pays attention to them until they start destroying things. They start with a building that they think is Zeniru’s, but it was the wrong one.
Meanwhile, Mumen Rider retrieves a balloon in a tree for a child and then heads towards the Paradisers. Back at home, One Punch Man sleeps in late and watches the news about the new gang on TV. He isn’t interested until he notices that they have bald heads like him. Mumen Rider catches up to the gang and is easily defeated.
The owner of the correct building, Zeniru, sends Speed o’ Sound Sonic to kill them. They encounter him on their way there and are easily defeated by decapitation. Hammerhead puts up a fight and manages to escape thanks to his thick skull.
Elsewhere, Genos is being put back together after his fight with Kabuto. The doctor shows him new, more powerful arms.
In the forest, Hammerhead runs into One Punch Man, who ends up letting him go because he sympathises with his cause, to an extent. He then runs into Sonic, who injures his crotch on his hand on accident.
Back at home, One Punch Man registers to be a hero at the suggestion of Genos.
One Punch Man Episode 5 opens with a group of officials discussing Mumen rider. The Hero Association discusses Genos and decides to make the hero exam more difficult. Both Genos and Saitama get perfect scores on the physical test, but only Genos scores perfectly on the written. Genos becomes an S class hero, while Saitama only manages to become C class. After the test, an experienced hero briefs them on being heroes and their responsibilities. Saitama isn’t interested.
The Hero Association itself had been created three years prior by a wealthy man whose child was saved by a helpful bystander.
One Punch Man regrets accepting a disciple on his way home and is attacked by the hero who briefed them.
Later, Genos and Saitama spar in an open canyon. Genos attacks with all of his might in a stunning display of power, but Saitama ends the fight with one punch an inch from his nose. He doesn’t strike, but the shock from the blow destroys the canyons behind him.
In a dressing room, Amai Mask gets a call from the Hero Association saying that Genos passed the test, and decides to meet with him. He finds him and One Punch Man at a noodle shop and takes Genos aside to talk. He merely welcomes him and goes back home.
One Punch Man Episode 6 takes place a few days after Saitama and Genos register to become heroes. Saitama feels guilt about having nothing to teach Genos. Then, Genos explains the requirements of a C class hero. Saitama leaves his house to find a job and fulfil his weekly quota. On the final day of looking for a hero job, Sonic finds him and tries to fight. At the same time, Tank Top Tiger challenges Saitama and is quickly dispatched by Sonic.
To provoke him into a fight, Sonic starts destroying the town and is knocked out right away. Back at HQ, officials make a note of the capture of Sonic and begin to investigate the “ghost town”. Then they review reports from many of the cities heroes and find that all is well. In city Z, two A class heroes investigate the ghost town and are defeated by the swamp monster that is living there. Before the second one falls, he calls for backup. Apparently, there weren’t as many monsters there as they thought. There was only the one who was voluntarily fulfilling the rumours.
After defeating the two heroes, the swamp monster spots One Punch Man in the distance. It attacks and is quickly defeated. Saitama uses the tentacles as konbu soup stock, which is supposed to be good for hair growth.
All across town, heroes review the events from city Z. No one knows who defeated the monster, and more rumours start as a result. One Punch Man episode 6 ends with Genos and Saitama talking about their hero rankings. Genos is only 17th, but is 6th in popularity, mostly because of his good looks. This doesn’t concern him in the least, but it does make Saitama jealous.
One Punch Man episode 7 open with a few scientists in a bunker laboratory looking through a telescope and gathering observing something troubling. A meteor is heading straight for city Z, and all available heroes are called to action, including Genos. He meets Silver Fang, an S-Class hero who doesn’t want to evacuate. The threat level is declared as Dragon.
Genos uses the opportunity to try out his new prototype arms, but before he can, Metal Knight attacks the meteor with missiles shot from his a drone. The missiles have huge destructive power but have no effect. Genos attacks at full strength after a few moments of stress and is unable to harm it. One Punch Man arrives and destroys it, but the pieces rain over the town.
They both rise in rank, but no one believes that Saitama was truly responsible. In fact, they accuse him of cheating and blame him for the destruction of the town. Tank Top Black Hole is responsible for fanning these flames. Saitama snaps at the crowd, telling them that it’s not his problem the city was destroyed.
One Punch Man episode 7 ends with Genos and Saitama on their way home. Genos praises him for his selflessness and declares that he will always follow him, no matter what the public thinks of him. Elsewhere, creatures under the sea discuss an up, and coming hero ranked C, referring to Saitama.
One Punch Man Episode 8 opens with the typical city scene under attack. An enormous octopus with a human body dressed in a toga rises from the depths of the sea and threatens the human race. He calls themselves, “the Clan of the Seafolk”. He seems very powerful. Genos and Saitama move up in the hero ranks.
A few heroes intercept the Seafolk and are eventually defeated by the Deep Sea King. One Punch Man and Genos make their way on foot. During that time, other heroes encounter the Deep Sea King as well but are all defeated, including Puri Puri Prisoner, an S class hero that goes all out.
On the news, Amai Mask discusses the events reluctantly. On the scene, Sonic narrowly escapes, running into Genos on the way. In the meantime, the Deep Sea King finds the human evacuation shelter and threatens their lives. One of them is a hero and surrenders on the rest’s behalf, but it is not accepted. A few lower class heroes attempt to buy time.
At the end of One Punch Man episode 8, Saitama picks up the cell phone that Mumen Rider dropped and got serious when he hears that an S class hero was defeated.
Episode 9 begins with Genos confronting the Deep Sea King. He lands a powerful blow but loses an arm soon after. Saitama asks the Hero Association for directions, and they comply with hesitation. Mumen Rider is still on his way.
With only one arm, Genos puts up a great fight but is ultimately reduced to scraps. Mumen Rider arrives and won’t stay down after getting punched. He is saved by One Punch Man at the last second. The Deep Sea King offers his backstory and plans, but One Punch Man kills him in a punch that is so hard that the rain clears.
Back home, they open fan mail. Saitama only got one positive letter. The rest were hate mail. It turns out that he pretended to be taking credit for the defeat of the Seafolk to make the other heroes look better.
At the end of One Punch Man episode 9, Saitama runs into Mumen rider, who was the one who sent the nice letter. Mumen buys him dinner in thanks.
One Punch Man episode 10 opens in a snowy, mountainous environment. Tornado defeats the leader of the Terror Lizard Clan with a meteor that she hailed with her psychic powers.
At Bang’s dojo, Bang demonstrates his martial arts style and then explains that he has no disciples because one of them scared away the rest. Afterwards, a messenger from HQ arrives to retrieve the S-class heroes. Saitama joins them, and they meet a few S-class heroes before heading to the conference room.
They learn there that a seer has died and left one final prophecy, the possible destruction of the planet in six months or less. One Punch Man mentions that “less” could mean even a couple of days or less. Just then, the alien ship attacks, destroying city A in one blast. The heroes go outside to intercept an alien fighter and One Punch Man boards the ship. Their leader waits fro him there.
Episode 11 opens where ten left off. Geryuganshoop runs the control room, monitoring Saitama’s progress through the ship, and apologises to Boros for not being able to stop him.
Across town, several old characters tune into the news broadcast that is covering the events. Under the ship, several S-class heroes fight Melzargard, an alien that can regenerate physical damage instantly. The alien requests the second bombardment from the ship and is unable to retreat and help fight One Punch Man.
On the ship, One Punch Man is unwittingly led towards Geryuganshoop in the control room and defeats him. He then asks the other aliens where to find their leader. In another room, the alien that is in charge of shooting the artillery fires, but Tornado redirects the bullets back to the ship.
In other parts of the city, heroes help rescue survivors. Under the ship, Melzargard and the heroes fight fiercely. On the ship, One Punch Man finds Boros, who calls his group of pirates “Dark Matter,” and identifies his self as the Dominator of the Universe. At the end of One Punch Man episode 11, One Punch Man punches Boros, uninterested in his history. Boros survives thanks to his outer armour and can fully release his power.
One Punch Man Episode 12 opens with a stunning fight scene between Saitama and Boros. Boros unleashes his full strength, bouncing Saitama around at incredible speeds. He is a good sport but eventually punches Boros’ arm off, which he regenerates quickly.
Under the ship, Tornado bombards the ship with debris, and we learn that Metal Knight may be Genos’ enemy. Meanwhile, the S-class heroes are finally able to kill Melzargard by destroying the marbles he hides inside his body.
Back on the ship, One Punch Man humbly allows Boros to attack to his heart’s content, even being punched to the moon at one point. Eventually, he punches Boros, who lives again thanks to his incredible regeneration. Then One Punch Man gets serious and punches so hard that the clouds across the planet part. Boros dies after a few more moments, finally admitting defeat. One Punch Man is gracious in victory and says that the battle was hard fought.
In the aftermath, the ship crashes and the heroes run to safety. Amai Mask mocks their incompetence and Metal Knight sends more drones to collect parts from the ship. He uses some of it to make HQ bigger and stronger.
At the end of One Punch Man episode 12, Saitama intercepts Pluton, King of the Underworld, a huge pig monster who curses human decadence and waste. Saitama kills him in one punch, to his great dismay.
One Punch Man OVA 1: Road to Hero
One Punch Man OVA 1 was a flashback when a young Saitama with hair was slowly becoming a hero. He encounters a frog person who is up to no good and leaps into action. In the air, he rips his tracksuit on a utility pole. At this point in his life, he is still full of vitality and eager for battle. The frog person laughs at him and ends up knocked out on the floor. In another scene, a young thug threatens an old man in his establishment for the money he owes. The old man asks for more time as Saitama walks in the shop. The thug leaves, and Saitama gives the old man his ripped clothes to fix. He doesn’t have money, but he is friendly with the old man and has it done for free. The old man then offers to create a superhero costume for him, but he declines.
In a criminal’s lair, the thug from before talks to his boss about the shop. Another thug brings in ownership of another shop.
Back home, Saitama comments on the uptick in crimes and is watching TV when his landlord comes to collect the rent.
The next day, he goes back to find that the old man is handing over the papers to the shop. He soon finds out that Niya Niya loans have been extorting him, and that they are based out of his apartment complex. He finds the leader after searching every room, and it turns into a fish monster. He defeats it and presents his landlord with the criminals as rent, but she’s mad because they were paying rent in their rooms, and now they will be arrested.
When he returns to the old man, the old man admits that he is going to close the shop anyway, but gives him a new costume that he was working on, One Punch Man’s current one. It turns out that Saitama was telling Genos the story while they ate lunch on a rooftop.
One Punch Man OVA 2: A Shadow that Snuck Up Too Close
Saitama watches a movie about a stalker and then comments that someone has been watching him as well for a few days. It puts him slightly on edge. Genos investigates Saitama from afar, hoping to learn more about his secrets. As he follows him throughout the city, he takes notes on the nonsense Saitama is up to. Then he follows him into a restaurant and takes his longest french fry to study in a lab. Saitama is angry that the longest one, his favourite, was stolen, so he tries to catch the stalker on his way home. Instead, he finds a bad guy who sucks the moisture out of people’s skin. The bad guy remembered him and was looking for him, but Saitama doesn’t remember and blames him for the stolen fry.
Genos finds out that the fry wasn’t special, and Saitama defeats the bad guy. Saitama then wonders if anyone will appreciate him for his work, and remembers that Genos wanted to be his disciple. Later, Genos shows up at his door.
One Punch Man OVA 3: The Pupil Who is an Extremely Poor Talker
Saitama and Genos split up to take advantage of two grocery store sales after a soak in the hot tub. On his way, Genos runs into a store owner/ mobster who is then captured by a mob boss of a different family. The mob boss holds the house keys he got from Saitama hostage. Genos proceeds to tell them how he knows the mobster to get them back. He describes his soak in the hot tub, his shopping, and his run-in with a monster. The story takes much too long, and the mob boss opens fire. Genos defeats them and then tells the whole story to Saitama at home after buying some expensive meat for their dinner.
One Punch Man OVA 4: The Ninja Who is Too Complicated
Speed o’ Sound Sonic relives his fight with Saitama, remembering the loss painfully. He lives in the woods with an old hunter while he trains. During that time, he befriends a boar that he saved from a huge snake. He trains with the boar at his side, fighting wild animals and meditating. The goal of the training is to conquer his fear of Saitama and work up the courage to fight him again. The old hunter relives his fight with a bear and is also preparing for a rematch. When Sonic leaves, the bear returns. Just before it finishes the old man off, Saitama happens to pass by and kill it for its meat.
One Punch Man OVA 5: Bang, Who is Too Overbearing
Bang follows Saitama and Genos around after seeing Saitama destroy the meteor in hopes of recruiting him into his dojo. After a failed invite, he lures him over with the promise of meat. At the dojo, he puts him through a series of tests and games, ending on a version of rock, paper, scissors. In this version, the winner strikes the loser’s head with a hammer, and the loser puts a helmet on as fast as he can. Saitama finally gets serious after losing and loses many more times before finally getting a turn to strike. Bang avoids the blow, knowing it would kill him even though he was wearing a helmet. The fun day wasn’t enough to convince Saitama to join, however, but Bang sees great potential in him.
One Punch Man OVA 6: The Sisters Who Have Too Many Things Happening
Fubuki of the Fubuki Group has her accomplishments overshadowed by the events surrounding the Seafolk’s defeat. To top it off, her older sister, Tatsumaki (Tornado), is mentioned in the newspaper even though she wasn’t involved. Tornado is much stronger, and this is very discouraging to Fubuki. While on a train to city Z, her and Genos attempt to stop a bomb on the train. Genos tries to stop the train, and Fubuki removes the passengers with her powers. Another passenger, a young hero girl, finds the bomb. Before Fubuki can even attempt to disarm it or redirect the explosion, Tatsumaki appears, removes the two of them, and flings the train high in the air. Fubuki is further discouraged, but her brave actions inspire the young hero girl to be better, which in turn inspires her to be better.
One Punch Man OVA 7: The Murder Case That is Too Impossible
After defeating the aliens, the S-class heroes and Saitama are treated to a hot springs retreat by the Hero Association. That night, they all get drunk, and in the morning, they find that Zombie Man has been stabbed and killed. Child Emperor questions the group one by one, trying to find the culprit. Tatsumaki enters and tries to restrain the group, but Zombie Man wakes up from his nap because he can’t be killed. It turned out that she was the one who stabbed him because she knew he couldn’t die and was just messing with him while drunk. She didn’t remember. It was Saitama who cajoled her into drinking too much by calling her a kid and telling her not to drink.
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