Everyone’s a critic.
What They Say:
An enormous meteor hurtles toward City Z, forcing the Hero Association to ask its S Class heroes to respond. When all their efforts prove in vain, Genos decides it’s up to him to protect the home of his master and stop the meteor, no matter what the cost.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The Hero Association is tasked with quite the challenge: a meteor is heading straight for City Z and will surely be catastrophically destructive should it reach the surface. If you couldn’t tell, City Z for this story is essentially what Japan – or sometimes just Tokyo – is for countless others: the one location in the world with an irresistible magnetic pull for all danger, but also with the only powers capable of stopping such danger. Similarly, the staff of the One Punch Man anime faces a challenge that would be insurmountable in the hands of any lesser team. At the beginning of the series I mentioned that there are scenes in the manga that actually play out as animation, and as such the actual anime had to be of the highest caliber to live up to both its source material and its own medium. Murata was on a roll for a while, because the majority of those scenes from the manga are close enough together that they find themselves being adapted within this single episode. One of them is even originally drawn in full color, and Murata takes full advantage of the additional elements that allows for, giving it a sense not only of movement, but of photographic detail. It’s a good thing this series is made by S Class animators (perhaps Saitama equivalents).
Yes, these top-notch scenes get the treatment they deserve, as impossible a feat as that might’ve seemed if you hadn’t already seen half a cour of some of the most impressive visual work in television animation. They may have a far shorter span of time to work with than anyone would want, but they’re certainly making the most of every second, only becoming more masterful with every passing moment. It might be impossible not to love this show, or at least inconceivable.
Compared to that, this episode doesn’t necessarily have the most compelling plot considering how deceptively intricate the writing of the entire series has in fact been. Coming off of the immense world-building of the previous episode, it’s more about getting to know more heroes and the massive association to which they all belong. In particular we get to spend some quality time with one of the highest-ranking heroes of all, an old man known as Silver Fang. The fact that he prefers to be called by his real name of Bang is a good indication of how different he is from most of the heroes our protagonists have met, and his jaded outlook on the corrupt society around him and the association he serves despite being at least as bad in that regard.
This point is proven most clearly as Saitama’s most visible sign of heroism results in a mob going after his head. Being Saitama, this doesn’t faze him physically or psychologically, and so despite it all, it’s a pretty good day for him. He even shoots way up in the rankings, the first real reward for his incredible work that goes beyond what possibly any other hero would be capable of, even if it’s still a drop in the bucket compared to what he actually deserves for it all.
In Summary:
The big test of whether the anime can match the manga’s sense of movement and artistry has arrived, and unsurprisingly the team passes with flying colors. Outside of that, it’s another fun ride at the very least, with the introduction of Bang being especially welcome for the sake of getting a new and more seasoned perspective on the very involved Hero Association we’re exploring.
Grade: A-
Streamed By: Hulu
Review Equipment:
Roku 3, Sceptre X425BV-FHD 42″ Class LCD HDTV.
