10 Second Anime - One Punch Man S2 - Episode 1

Saitama meets King, an S-Ranked Hero with an S-Ranked secret. Season Premiere.

Episode 1 - "The Hero's Return"

First Thoughts.

My main concern was how this show would look after changing animation studios from Madhouse to J.C. Staff. Madhouse had bold lines, bright colors, and using those two in combination for fluid motion that made battle scenes especially dynamic. The art style also made it seem that any scene could erupt into crazy action at any time. J.C. Staff is known for its Index anime with its spin-offs like Railgun. They're known for detailed backgrounds, weak lines, flat colors, and lots of standing around talking with few action scenes, usually hidden by clouds of dust or smoke. I was not giddy about the prospects of the second season of One Punch Man.

Then I saw the first episode with its choice of textured and graded coloring between those signature weak lines. It immediately reminded me of Taboo Tattoo. That was a mediocre show adapting a mediocre manga which could have had some interesting art direction for its action scenes, but like this show, this style is going to emphasize static elements being panned and zoomed separately to create the illusion of depth and dynamic action. Each frame is going to be its own key frame and only editing after effects are going to try to give a scene a sense of impact. This art style with textured surfaces fits J.C. Staff to a tee - weak lines, lots of standing around talking, and layered atmosphere effects. Worse, the textured surfaces will tend to over saturate, causing the whole show to look darker, which is a good way of making those weak lines look bolder.

However, there are some side benefits from this art style. For manga fans, almost every scene will look like cover art, in color even, for a manga chapter. The level of detail for character specs will hardly ever drop, at the expense of interesting scenes with lots of motion. And the textures will allow the characters to have a sense of depth that the line art guys won't have to convey through motion, saving their time for the few set action battle scenes we'll have during the season. We've gone from a moving comic adaptation style from the first season to a detailed cover art style this season. Look how pretty it is, as long as you don't ask it to move and you have ample lighting.

Thankfully, the writing, the voice actors, and the dramatic pacing are still hitting all the beats from the first season. All those pregnant pauses in Saitama's scenes are still there, where you just don't know what he's going to say next, and how he just waits for the other character to do the talking for him. This is the stuff I come back for after every episode anyway. Without good character writing, episodic storytelling would fail to connect with the audience, no matter how pretty they look on the screen.

Hmm.

"In that case, why don't you just get strong?" - Saitama

You know how the theme of One Punch Man is all about what it means to be a hero? Well, that's still here in the second season and we get our answer to the question, "If a heroic act has no witnesses, is it really heroic?" One aspect of that question is how an audience decides who's a hero or not. We saw that in the first season when Saitama showed up to save Mumen Rider from the Sea King, and he made himself look like an opportunist in landing the killing blow after all the contributions from the other heroes. He made himself look like a bad guy to keep the civilians' faith in their heroes. The truth, of course, was that the other heroes made no difference at all, and Saitama's one punch would have made everyone question what the point of the Hero Association was for.

Here, we have a different wrinkle on Saitama's one punch, where nobody can see him do it, but the first witnesses to the aftermath see another person standing there. That's the story of King, having Saitama's hero credit being pushed onto him. His S-Rank shows where Saitama would be if anyone could actually see him defeat those monsters. This is also related to Sweet Mask's irritation at seeing Saitama defeat the Sea King from video footage. He knows how important it is for people to believe someone is responsible for a monster's defeat. Not necessarily see it, because that wouldn't help Sweet Mask's image if they saw his methods, but at least know who did it. Saitama's one punch on the Sea King happened in between frames of 1/30th of a second. Who would believe that?

I also found it hilarious that Saitama was there when King got his famous scar. Saitama is responsible for the creation of the Hero Association, for King's S-Rank, and for not being fast enough to stop that monster from clawing him during his training days. I'm still of the opinion that Saitama is the actual worst monster of the whole story, because his origin story fits all the other monsters out there. He wanted to be a hero for so long, one day he just became one. A bald one, but the absolute unit of a hero. Like that Tongue Stretcher guy in this episode - he loved reptiles for so long, he finally became one. Maybe Fubuki will find that out one day as she keeps trying to recruit him to join her team.

Heh.

Yes! The Hero has returned! We need to see that reflection in his bald head.

King figurine as King casually walks in the background.

Gotta show the King Engine in action - all bad luck, all bluffing.

Tongue Stretcher is the enemy of all women.

Nice heartbeat for a nervous otaku.

Women's cruel eyes on Tongue Stretcher - pervert, the worst!

King is an otaku blessed with tall stature, deep voice, rakish scar.

Loves dating sims the best...

Ha! So meta! The game's sequel is three and a half years later from the previous version. Feeling the hype! One Punch!

Another monster - robot king with a cape.

J.C. Staff is making the most of static art and panning and zooming layers.

And King runs away by going to the toilet.

King's origin story - Took credit for Saitama's victories and it snowballed!

Genos is impatient again, which means he's going to get half destroyed again.

Genos wants to get into the top ten of the S-Ranks because Saitama told him to.

And Saitama visits King because the window was open... on the 22nd floor!

Saitama is wearing his "oppai" T-shirt underneath is "hair" button-down shirt.

Ha! Recognized him from sitting at the table for dealing with the Alien King Boros.

King noticed Saitama's utter confidence and lack of deference. It's actually "not reading the mood."

Oy, King. You're super good at video games!

Saitama's opening gambit for asking King why he ran away is if he's so strong he got bored with fighting. Saitama's hoping he finally met a strong opponent! Or maybe someone like himself so they can spar.

King sees what One Punch Man can do and reveals his secret at the same time.

King's superhero skill is bad luck and attracting monsters and heroes.

All those monsters Saitama defeated in the first episode from the first season were credited to King!

Genos still has to fight smart instead of fighting strong.

That ripped up jersey looks like it's right before Saitama got his hero suit in the OVA.

King recognized him! I got chills!

Saitama, master hero, says master hero things - "You're everyone's hero, so why don't you just get strong?" Make the lies true.

King has a better video game system, so Saitama will come to visit sometime.

Genos is still a glass sword - has the dps, but no durability.

Ah. We're getting into the overall plot for the season. Hero Association is recruiting criminals for hero work, attracting Sonic and Garou.

Sonic actually thought heroes lived at Hero Association HQ. He thought he would find Saitama there.

And there's Fubuki. Going after HER MAN!

Playing video games. Saitama has "enoki" on his shirt. Mushrooms or hackberries?

King is weak IRL, but gaming is S-Rank.

OP is quarter size for the ED... I want to join Team Fubuki!

Oh fun. They're definitely going to do the Charanko arc.

Next time, Garou plays the bad guy.