One Punch Man follows the story of Saitama, a superhero by profession, who can defeat any opponent with a single punch. Anyone who knows Saitama’s true potential aspires to become as strong as him. However, since Saitama can defeat anyone with as single punch, he is now bored due to a lack of challenge and hopes to fight a strong opponent one day who pushes him to his limits.
From this summary, you can see that it is not your typical shonen anime. Due to its unique plot, Saitama broke the mold that most Shueisha manga/anime follow, where the protagonist aspires to become strong.
Created by the mangaka ONE, also known as Tomohiro, One Punch Man was first released as a webcomic in 2009. Following its popularity, the webcomic got a digital manga remake illustrated by Yusuke Murata and published by Shueisha on their Tonari no Young Jump website in June 2012. As of February 2024, 200 chapters of the manga have been released which are compiled 29 volumes.
As a testament to its undeniable popularity, the series soon got an anime adaptation, produced by Madhouse, which was broadcast from October to December 2015 in Japan. Following the success of the first season, season 2 of the anime was broadcast from April to July 2019, produced by a different animation studio this time, J.C.Staff.
Plot of One Punch Man
Chaos reigns over the world as powerful monsters and supervillains unleash havoc upon its inhabitants. To save the world from destruction, Agoni, a millionaire creates a Hero Association intending to hire and groom heroes with one sole purpose, to protect the world from monsters.
Saitama possesses extraordinary strength, honed through rigorous training over three years. His ability to defeat any opponent with a single punch leaves him bored out of his mind.
Saitama continues drifting through an uneventful life, buying groceries and defeating monsters with one punch until one day he meets Genos, a cyborg, and saves his life. Impressed by Saitama’s strength, Genos requests Saitama to become his mentor, and Saitama’s life takes a turn for the better.
Although Saitama’s achievements go unnoticed, He starts his journey of saving the world from monsters and making friends, and enemies along the way, giving him a purpose.
Characters in One Punch Man
A world filled to the brim with monsters needs superheroes, its protectors, and that is exactly what One Punch Man offers. And with a wide array of superheroes, comes a wide array of superpowers.
Each superhero has their own set of powers and unique fighting techniques, which makes every single battle sequence in the series filled with anticipation, along with action.
But that is not all. They all have very vivid personalities and the series explores each characters purpose in life, their interaction with the world and the people around them.
| Protaganist | ||
 | ||
| Saitama | ||
| Major Characters | ||
 |  |  |
| Genos | Tatsumaki | Atomic Samurai |
 |  |  |
| Blast | King | Metal Knight |
 |  |  |
| Pig God | Drive Knight | Watchdog Man |
 |  |  |
| Metal Bat | Puri-Puri Prisoner | Tanktop Master |
 |  |  |
| Zombieman | Child Emperor | Silver Fang |
 |  |  |
| Fubuki | Mumen Rider | Sweet Mask |
| Antoganists | ||
 |  |  |
| Garou | Lord Boros | Deep Sea King |
 |  |  |
| Speed-o'-Sound Sonic | Dr. Genus | Mosquito Girl |
One Punch Man Episodes
Produced by Madhouse and J.C.Staff, One Punch Man has come up with 2 seasons of anime with a total of 24 episodes. Aside from this, it is rumored that One Punch Man is all set to receive a season 3 produced by the animation studio, MAPPA, known for it amazing work with Jujutsu Kaisen and Attack on Titan.
Season 1 (2015)
| No.Overall | No. inSeason | Title | Original Air Date | English Air Date |
| 1 | 1 | The Strongest Man | October 5, 2015 | July 17, 2016 |
| 2 | 2 | The Lone Cyborg | October 12, 2015 | July 24, 2016 |
| 3 | 3 | The Obsessive Scientist | October 19, 2015 | July 31, 2016 |
| 4 | 4 | The Modern Ninja | October 26, 2015 | August 7, 2016 |
| 5 | 5 | The Ultimate Mentor | November 2, 2015 | August 14, 2016 |
| 6 | 6 | The Terrifying City | November 9, 2015 | August 21, 2016 |
| 7 | 7 | The Ultimate Disciple | November 16, 2015 | August 28, 2016 |
| 8 | 8 | The Deep Sea King | November 23, 2015 | September 11, 2016 |
| 9 | 9 | Unyielding Justice | November 30, 2015 | September 18, 2016 |
| 10 | 10 | Unparalleled Peril | December 7, 2015 | September 25, 2016 |
| 11 | 11 | The Dominator of the Universe | December 14, 2015 | October 2, 2016 |
| 12 | 12 | The Strongest Hero | December 21, 2015 | October 9, 2016 |
Season 2 (2019)
| No.Overall | No. inSeason | Title | Original Air Date | English Air Date |
| 13 | 1 | The Hero's Return | April 10, 2019 | October 12, 2019 |
| 14 | 2 | The Human Monster | April 17, 2019 | October 19, 2019 |
| 15 | 3 | The Hunt Begins | April 24, 2019 | October 26, 2019 |
| 16 | 4 | The Metal Bat | May 1, 2019 | November 2, 2019 |
| 17 | 5 | The Martial Arts Tournament | May 8, 2019 | November 9, 2019 |
| 18 | 6 | The Monster Uprising | May 15, 2019 | November 16, 2019 |
| 19 | 7 | The Class S Heroes | May 22, 2019 | November 23, 2019 |
| 20 | 8 | The Resistance of the Strong | May 29, 2019 | November 30, 2019 |
| 21 | 9 | The Troubles of the Strongest | June 12, 2019 | December 7, 2019 |
| 22 | 10 | Justice Under Siege | June 19, 2019 | December 14, 2019 |
| 23 | 11 | The Varieties of Pride | June 26, 2019 | January 5, 2020 |
| 24 | 12 | The Wiping of the Disciple's Butt | July 3, 2019 | January 12, 2020 |
FAQs on One Man Punch
A. Although it is not officially announced, it is rumored that the season 3 of One Punch Man will be produced by MAPPA.
A. Saitama is unparalleled in physical prowess. However, he lacks in aptitude. So, even though he got a score on the physical exam, his bad performance on the mental/written exam resulted in a total score of 71, landing him in the lowest rank in the Hero Association.
A. The first season of the One Punch Man anime was released in October 2015 in Japan.
