Wanpanman 2

Title:Wanpanman 2
One-Punch Man 2
ワンパンマン
Overall:Rent
Keywords: , , , , , , , ,
Notables: Animation - JC Staff
FURUKAWA Makoto
ISHIKAWA Kaito
R1 License - Viz Media (Shopro)
There's an ominous prophecy that a cataclysmic disaster may be on the way, and an marked increase in attacks by anti-heroes has unnerved the leaders of the Hero organization. In desperation a decision is made to recruit unsavory characters to assist the heroes, but the policy may do more harm than good.

Second season of Wanpanman TV.


Series premiered on April 9, 2019.
Animated by JC Staff.
Licensed by Viz Media.
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Rent 8 8 8 6 7 7 Ggultra2764 [series:3668#1552]
This season of Wanpanman TV is somewhat of a step down from the first one. The series appeared to have two ongoing plot developments with the threat posed by the hero hunter, Garo, seeking to cause havoc going after heroes and an attack from the Monster Association attempting to overthrow the Hero's Association and enslave humanity. The Garo plot was the more interesting of the two since it took time to flesh out and explore the man's character as to why he despises heroes, while the Monster Association plot is not as interesting to see get explored and this hindered things with focusing more on Garo. Saitama is still present throughout these developments to contribute and show off his overpowered nature much like the first season, though this second season doesn't do much new on making him more fleshed out as a character. Not helping matters is that it looked like the series was deliberately left incomplete as Garo and the Monster Association are still at large by the end of this season. Overall, I suppose my interest in One Punch Man may be waning some. It has some interesting storytelling with the introduction of Garo, but it hasn't really built up to anything major as of yet and Saitama's still Saitama. I'm actually iffy on whether or not I'll be looking into any future installments of One Punch Man.

Last updated Tuesday, July 02 2019. Created Tuesday, July 02 2019.
Rent Stretch [series:3668#628]
(Rent-)

(All episodes watched):

Now and then there's a season in which one show seems so good and the rest so mediocre that if forced to make a choice one would rather watch that one exceptional show than all the others combined. Early on, Spring 2019 was looking like just such a season, with season two of One Punch Man as the standout performer. The early episodes picked up pretty much just where season one left off, and were likewise genuinely funny and a new arc of the interesting plot seemed to be taking off. Episode one was fun as we meet King, a supposed superhero whose powers have been greatly overestimated (to say the least). I had wondered where this story could go after OPM basically saved the world (IIRC) at the climax of the last season, but I felt reassured that there was no reason to worry. The people behind this show seemed to know exactly what they were doing and seemed to have delivered a first class product. After watching the first couple of episodes I could only say to myself that the quality of the writing of this show was on a completely different and higher plane than that of the bulk of anime.

But it didn't stay that way. One difference between the two seasons seems to be that whereas in season one Saitama took on a series of bizarre opponents--the Sea King, a meteor, an alien spacecraft, etc--here the main character is arguably not Saitama at all, but rather a villain, Garo. As soon as that became clear I wasn't sure I liked it; I was impatient for Garo (who brutally beats numerous heroes) to get what he deserved and get out of the way of the story progressing. I assumed that Saitama would finally stop him, and the sooner the better. Garo is not all that colorful, like the various enemies in season one were. He's basically just another human who has somehow attained inexplicable strength and skill, like Saitama. But that is basically a joke--a hero so strong that he has little to worry about from any opponent--while there's little funny about the way Garo uses his strength. After the first few episodes, which had a mainly comic tone like season one, season two was seeming more and more like a slugfest--fight after fight, with characters getting the living ---- beaten out of them, but correspondingly less and less comedy. I think this is a mistake, because the comedy rather than the action was always the best part of One Punch Man. Season two seemed somewhat more serious and brutal than season one. Furthermore, the conclusion was rather unsatisfying. What we get is a fight against a monster that is very strong but a minor character. Garo gets severely beaten up himself, but is by no means defeated. If I remember correctly, Saitama never even learns that a new villain, Orochi, exists, much less takes him on. So, in the end season two of One Punch Man was decidedly inferior to season one. Whereas at one point I had thought that OPM2 had salvaged an entire mediocre season, in the end it wasn't even my favorite show.

Last updated Friday, July 26 2019. Created Monday, April 29 2019.

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Official Japanese Series Web Site http://onepunchman-anime.net/

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