One Punch Man fans forget that Murata is not responsible for destroying the Manga

One Punch Man fans have recently felt a bit frustrated with the direction the story has taken, particularly because this manga has the original webcomic for comparisons. For those who don't know, the series' author, ONE, had originally written One Punch Man as a webcomic, and then, artist Yusuke Murata joined him for the official publication on Jump Comics, which is why fans have blamed the latter for the changes in the current series.

Of course, this is very unfair, especially considering the arrangement that both Murata and ONE have had throughout the course of the series. Be that as it may, a lot of One Punch Man fans have felt that the manga's direction in recent months has been disappointing and that long-term concepts and plots have been cast aside in order to set up a forthcoming threat.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the One Punch Man series.

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One Punch Man fans are not happy with the recent changes in the story and blame Murata for that

Some fans haven't liked how the manga is moving away from the webcomic (Image via Twitter).

One Punch Man fans are in a different situation to other fandoms in the sense that the author, ONE, had originally self-published the series as a webcomic in the early 2010s and then Yusuke Murata did the art for the official manga most people know. Therefore, they have the opportunity to contrast and compare both versions, which often leads to criticism aimed at certain aspects of the story, such as the resolution of Garou's arc.

For example, the webcomic didn't have God giving Garou powers to challenge Saitama and the others, but rather had everybody's favorite bald hero beating him up until he regained some sense. It wasn't a visual spectacle like in the manga but most fans of the series agreed that it was a much more fitting resolution to that antagonist's arc, considering his development until that point.

Garou's resolution was divisive in the fandom (Image via Twitter).

This is why a lot of fans have criticized Yusuke Murata as he is considered the one difference between the webcomic and the manga. Since Murata is known for being a world-class artist, some fans have argued that he is trying to put some of his input into the story so the manga can look better and he can show off his amazing drawing skills even more, although this is purely speculation.

A lot of One Punch Man fans think that the manga has become a lot more of flashy pages than strong storytelling, which was shown in the way that Garou's arc was resolved through time traveling. A good percentage of the fandom found that resolution to be a bit tasteless, especially considering Genos' death and how the duo of Murata and ONE backtracked from that.

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Making a case for the One Punch Man manga

It has become very easy to blame Yusuke Murata for the changes, as some One Punch Man fans have shown in recent days, but the truth of the matter is he has no control over the story. ONE continues to be the main driving force and the other developing the manga, especially considering he has been writing about it for more than a decade.

Other One Punch Man fans have a different stance (Image via Twitter).

Sure, it can be argued that the webcomic had a different style and perhaps a better narrative, but no one should attack Murata or ONE for the changes. After all, ONE wrote the webcomic many years ago and he is probably going for something different in this project, especially considering Murata's brilliant art.

It's obvious that the One Punch Man manga is going to change a lot of things in the near future but that is not going to make it better or worse. It's a different take on the story as a whole.

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Final thoughts

One Punch Man fans can have valid reasons to say that the manga's quality has declined a bit in recent months, but both ONE and Murata have worked very hard on this manga and deserve constructive criticism rather than abuse.