One-Punch Man

Episode 8

Hooray! Another episode of One-Punch Man has arrived! That means it's time to get naked! The residents of J-City find themselves trembling in fear before the clothes-free army of the briny blue when ten-story deep sea monsters stampede into town. Can Saitama toss them back into the ocean where they belong? (And will he have to bare it all like the unfortunate combatants before him?)

Well, maybe we'll find out next week. This week is all about the side characters' fight against the fishes, and while the show's vaunted animation appeal doesn't suffer from the changeup one bit, the story does sag from the impromptu cast expansion. While Saitama and Genos do respond to the call, J-City seems to be located pretty far away from Z-City (if the alphabet is anything to go by at least), so they spend the entire episode hot-footing it to the battleground instead of contributing. Other familiar faces pop up in a less active capacity too, allowing the action-driven episode its tiniest forays into social commentary around the edges.

First, we see Mumen Rider doing a little google-fu to learn more about Saitama, not out of jealousy like his fellow C-Class Heroes, but admiration. Powerlessness aside, Mumen Rider really seems like a good dude who made it to the top of C-Class with nothing but a couple dozen buckets of elbow grease. Sure, he's useless in a conflict, but at least he shows up! Even though he lives many miles away from J-City, is ranked low enough to be considered a viable evacuee rather than an asset, and probably won't arrive until the fight is over, he still gets on his bike and rides off to combat the ichthian invasion. If nothing else, hard work does pay off in the Heroes' Association, and Mumen Rider is the most reassuring example of that.

By contrast, the A-ranked Amai Mask probably got to the top of his class by pounding the pavement too, but that doesn't make him worthy of being called a real Hero. When the amphibious attacks start bombarding the airwaves, he just takes advantage of the situation for his own gain. As shameless as he is pretty, Amai Mask hits up talk shows to promote his new album in the guise of discussing the ongoing conflict. He argues that he's doing his part by "encouraging" the heroes doing all the work and raising awareness of the battle, but we all know better. All that hustling that the Association looks so fondly on can be used in the pursuit of ego just as much as the pursuit of justice, and I wouldn't be surprised if his domination of the popularity polls has more to do with his status than any righteous do-gooding. Until we see him put his money where his mouth is, Amai Mask's unusually high rank will continue to be as dubious as his "sweet" personality.

Anyway, most of this episode is taken up with new faces taking on the unfathomable fish-men. There's the Class A Stinger, who fights with a bamboo-shoot-shaped-super-spear. There's the Class A Lightning Max, who sports a jumpy personality and electrifying footwork. And unfortunately, there's also the Class S Puri Puri Prisoner, whose Sailor Moon-meets-Baki-the-Grappler schtick would be amazing if the show wasn't equating his flamboyant gayness with flagrant sexual assault. It's a shame, because aspects of this character right down to his terrific name are a lot of fun, but the (multiple) "gay dude=muscled girly rapist" jokes totally ruin the character's potential appeal. One by one, these powerful Heroes fall to the Deep Sea King, who looks like he's on vacation from his tenure as a One Piece villain to terrorize the world of One-Punch Man instead. (They're basically neighbors in the anime alphabet, right?)

Puri Puri Prisoner springs Speed-o'-Sound Sonic during his eponymous jailbreak, and Sonic's duel against the Deep Sea King forms the center of this episode's spectacle. It's been a couple weeks since we've seen this level of sakuga, but once again, trying to explain the jaw-dropping feats of animation on display here wouldn't really do them justice. The detailed choreography in the delicate rain (and unsettlingly ladylike body of Sonic) form a pretty striking picture when combined with the gristle and slime of the musclebound Deep Sea King to create a fight scene that's equal parts stunning and goofy. So while it's great for One-Punch Man to devote this entire episode to putting on a show for its own sake, I do have to question introducing so many new throwaway characters in the process. Heck, it would be fine if the show itself treated them like throwaway characters, but it doesn't. Each addition to the cast is accompanied by their own internal monologue, with a brief-but-focused fight scene illustrated from their own perspective. If this was the first episode of One-Punch Man you ever watched, you'd probably assume Stinger, Lightning Max, Snek, and "Allback-man" (what?) were recurring secondary characters at least, and you'd only barely be right about one of those. It's a fine approach to take for a dark and dramatic cast-of-thousands ensemble series like Fullmetal Alchemist or Tokyo Ghoul, but not the best approach for a simple action-comedy. On top of that, most of these new heroes don't have an inherently solid gag to make their brief appearances compelling like, say, Mumen Rider does. Only Puri Puri Prisoner had a distinct joke to carry his screentime, and that just opened up its own can of worms.

Next week, Saitama and Genos will finally join the fight (and presumably end it very quickly), but if One-Punch Man is going to protract a build-up episode with filler, at least it's the most entertaining kind of filler to ever pad away at our eyeballs. There's not a dull millisecond in this episode as weird third-string Heroes try and fail to take down the Creature! from the Fab Lagoon (and frequently lose their clothes in the process). With all these new Heroes on the scene, maybe Saitama's powerhouse accomplishments will finally be recognized!

Or maybe not.

Rating: A-

One-Punch Man is currently streaming at Hulu, Daisuki.net, and Viz.com.

Hope has been an anime fan since childhood, and likes to chat about cartoons, pop culture, and visual novel dev on Twitter.