Second Swing a Miss- One Punch Man Season 2

One Punch Man Season 2 Header

 

The rules for the first season of “One Punch Man” were fairly simple in the whole grand scheme of things.  Simple Saitama, simple ability, simple struggle, simple plotline and simple episodes.  Color me very skeptical until watched it and was more than impressed.  It was a series focusing on entertainment and not taking itself seriously, but it had a balance so as not to seem too slapstick.  It could have been longer, of course, which led me to act more than intrigued once the second season of the series was announced.  Would the second season stick to the same easy recipe as the first season or would it evolve into something more complex, introducing new elements into the mix?

 

Well, first of all, the second season of “One Punch Man” keeps several aspects what made it enjoyable intact- Saitama’s airheaded personality, character interactions, and the series’ constant whiplashing between serious and silly.  Most characters keep their personality assigned to them from the first season, thankfully building and expanding upon it.  However, a new season of this anime also means new characters get introduced, and the second season of “One Punch Man” still falls into the trap of its predecessor- not allocating enough time to expand on said characters.  Actually, let me clarify:  certain new characters get a proper introduction, especially the main villain Garou, and also secondary characters Fubuki (1st rank of Class B heroes) and King (7th rank of Class S heroes).  However, most side characters introduced in the first season who didn’t get sufficient screen time then only get a little bit of screen time in this season.

 

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King holds some deep, dark secrets, though feels comfortable confiding them to Saitama.

 

There are also several other problems with this season.  Season 1 had several substories masterfully interwoven into the main story of how Saitama struggles with finding joy and direction of being a hero, including his journey to becoming a member of the Hero Association and his pseudo-master-student relationship with Genos.  However, while season 2 had several substories, the transition amongst each of them is clunky and the fitting of these stories altogether is haphazard.  In this season, the first new character to get expanded more on is the hero King, who viewers quickly find out is nothing but a complete fraud, almost in the same vein as Harry Potter’s Gilderoy Lockhart, and whose main forte is playing video games instead of fighting monsters.  Now, the series also tries to combine this with Garou, a former disciple of the S-class hero Bang, whose soft spot for villains resulted in his mockery and drove his descent into becoming one.  The fine line that Garou operates in, independence in how he operates, and reasons for doing so is a sight to behold, not to mention his immense strength.  Then the series also tries to introduce Fubuki, sister to S-class hero Tatsumaki who suffers an intense inferiority complex but whose storyline of trying to recruit Saitama into her little group of “second rate” heroes is left half-baked.  There is also one story arc of Saitama entering into a martial arts competition which does provide for a few humorous moments but once again falls into the trap of introducing new characters who don’t get focused on enough.  The series then tries to delve more into the Hero Association itself and show that it is not all it seems, but introducing politics into the mix just unnecessarily complicates the plot, doubly more so when it is then revealed how the monsters themselves have an association of their own.  Now, each element on its own is well-done, but the big issue here is that the series tries to combine all of these together and expand on these subplots all at once, and the resulting mix is confused, unfocused, and clumsy.

 

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The martial arts tournament arc is also where we are introduced to the Monsters Association.

 

Needless to say, the main components of the first season which made it memorable took a severe backseat.  Sure, Genos’ relationship with Saitama is as quirky as ever and his desire to improve his abilities is still intact.  But the main themes of Saitama’s unhappiness from being too strong of a hero and his idiosyncrasies from the first season which made him such a likable character are almost entirely glossed over as if they are no longer relevant.  Side characters from the first season only make brief appearances, oftentimes appearing even less than new side characters, as if their diminished importance from the first season is justified rather than contradicted.  Case in point, see Speed-o-Sonic.

 

Thankfully, one can at least be awed at the action sequences, as the fight scenes are a sight to behold- extensive exchange of back-and-forth amongst characters, flashy moves, and a healthy dose of tactics are thrown into the mix.  The drawings, colorization, and integration of foreground and background carry on their standard from season 1 as well.  Turn off the part of your brain which is trying to decipher relative power levels of characters not named “Saitama” and you’ll like this season more.  And speaking of Saitama, this is a very large elephant in the room.  See, the reason why the fight scenes are more extensive and less one-sided is due to the fact that Saitama is not present for a majority of them.  Oh sure, he makes his presence in the martial arts tournament known, but this is a tournament against others for a ranking and there is a certain degree of sportsmanship required and rules to be followed.  When it comes to monster/villain-hero fights, the fact that the vast majority of them do not feature Saitama in the battle pushes his character aside, with his prolonged absence in several episodes unintentionally “demoting” him and leading to questions as to who the main character actually is.

 

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The more battles we see involving Garou, the more we realize just how strong of an opponent he is.

 

Now, this does begin to turn around towards the series’ end, but that is the problem- the turnaround comes too late, and before you know it, the series is over, only having 12 episodes to work with, and most of the storylines are left unresolved and suspended in midair.  The series begs to continue, and it would be a severe disappointment if the entire franchise were to end on this note.  In fact, can it even be considered a note?  It’s more a noise or lyric that the singer hasn’t finished with yet.  The series is not a catastrophe in the sense of it being poor quality, but it is a disappointing step back from the first season and does not live up to its predecessor’s standard.  There is not enough followthrough on elements and characters from the first season, too many new elements introduced, and an overall feeling of being scatterbrained as the second season tries to convey too many messages and work on too many things at once.  One can only hope that a 3rd season can rectify these problems.

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