i've always interpreted OPM as an allegory to modern Japanese work culture, how dissatisfaction can lead to you not even enjoying your own dreams, and how important is human connection to cure indifference towards life. at every point we see how Saitama has enriched the lives of many, but we dont see how he is enriched by them, until Genos quite literally kicks his door in and gives him something, ANYTHING else to do with life other than to loathe it. Saitama's strength IS his weakness, he's too good, and he doesnt have the mind or heart for theatrics, so he only does what he does best, punch. a punch with no heart, a fist with no meaning. its not until VERY much later that his punches have some sort of emotion behind them. human connection is the most important thing in this world, and belief is the greatest asset, as we've seen before. all powers come from belief in something, even in oneself, but how that power is applied, depends on the connection with others and the world, like Genos and his upgrades coming from the Professor and Saitama's advice on his shortcomings, or Fubuki's unexpected turnaround with how she sees people she believes to be underneath her, or how for once, Tatsumaki finally trusts another person that isnt Blast or Herself, or how King finally grew a backbone, however small it may be. No man needs to stand alone, and there's no hardship that cant be weathered with the help of your friends and family. that is where a punch is born, a punch so mighty it even rivals gods.
No reason a story can't have two themes! I never even considered that, but you make a really good point, and given the overworked nature of many mangaka, it's totally possible that One himself was overworked from his life prior to releasing his webcomic and that was his intent, commentary on that work culture.
Thank you guys so much, this means a lot to me. i literally started to read OPM when the anime came out, and read both continuities, ONE's and Murata's, and i've been passionate about OPM ever since, always looking for the undertones, and noticed not everyone had the same ideas, and that's what makes series like these so great, there's no correct interpretation, and everyone pitching makes the experience 100 times better, even the differences between continuities add so much to the discourse, it really makes one think about the different outlooks on life
@@Omegaweaponsguy2 I agree! Art is, by its very nature, subjective, so two people looking at the same piece of art can have very different takeaways! That doesn't make either of them any less valid, that's the whole point of art, to elicit introspection, thought and discussion, and I will always welcome that sort of thing on my channel. So thank YOU for leaving a well-thought out comment on your own interpretations of the series.
I agree, it's definitely up there. It's the hero going from a nobody to someone willing to put their life on the line to save someone they don't even know to realizing the thrill of being a hero. It's great.
@@FanFueledFiction Additionally, that flashback subtly explains the mechanics of gaining power in this world. [-------SPOILERS--------] Crablante became a monster through vice-his gluttony reached such extremes that he lost his humanity, mutated, and transformed into a monster. Heroes, on the other hand, follow a similar path but achieve their power through sheer willpower, without losing their humanity. Saitama openly declared his wish: 'I wanted to become a hero who could defeat a villain with one punch.' When he technically achieved that, he fully believed in his dream, gained the willpower to pursue it, and bent the universe to his will.
@@MalGanish I mean, Saitama's a little different because he's the first human - maybe the first being in the universe - to break his limiter. He gets exponentially stronger every single day. Hot take: Saitama can't be Goku, but he will be ABLE to beat Goku. Saitama's rate of growth, just looking at it mathematically, far outstrips Goku's. Goku is considerably stronger now, but eventually, Saitama's insane innate growth rate will surpass Goku. Saitama can already just sort of ignore gravitational effects that should be fatal - when Geryuganshoop created a massive gravity wave approaching that of a localized singularity, enough to threaten the lives of every person aboard Boros' ship, Saitama just basically walked through it and punched him in the face. One Punch Man has so many awesome characters, sometimes I forget that it's a gag manga at heart.
Video with great messages about need to get up when knocked down; to rise up with energy when faced with boredom and to go forward with new interests; and also deals with a superhero's difficulty in fitting in; this is a video worth your time in watching and then think about it and how it might apply to your life.
Yeah, that's what I love about all of these characters, their allegories for struggles that we as mere mortals face. Feeling out of place, stumbling and picking yourself up, overcoming depression... We deal with those issues, so those are the connections we can make.
Saitama is important because he is unique. OP done right. World needs to see the EOS fight where everything will be revealed. Thats what makes the story magical.
@@ImHereCookin Oh, I know there's enough. I'm just worried whether it will actually get adapted, there was a long gap between the first two seasons and an even longer one now between two and three.
Good video, good message. But while the analysis on One Punch Man is on point I think it misses a few things about Goku and Superman. The video wasn't exactly about that so I get it. But I'll expand anyway because it's my comment xp Goku isn't just about self improvement. Vagita is also constantly struggling for self improvement. The joy Goku feels is the joy of the challenge, is experienced are supposed to demonstrate in a society that's all about results that growth can be fun and rewarding not just because of what you can accomplish afterwards but just from the thrill of learning and growing. Superman is more about being a model minority. His struggle of self control and moral correctness is almost never the focus of his story. He's more about how someone who wasn't born in America can still become an American paragon of virtue. I agree that I think the more compelling Superman stories are when he struggles with right and wrong, or feelings of belonging or home, but that's definitely not what he is about most of the time. Which I think is missed opportunity on the Superman writers of the past but that's a separate discussion.
That's what I love about Dragon Ball, both Goku and Vegeta strive for greater and greater power for very different reasons. There's a great scene in the cut DBZ Abridged Buu saga, where Goku asks Vegeta why he let Babidi control him, and Vegeta basically explains that he's always had to prove himself, claw his way up, and Goku is his measuring stick.
I can see why! The man's an absolute legend, he's a great example of never giving up, no matter the odds in front of you. He's a genuinely kind person, too. At the end of that episode where Saitama beats the Deep Sea King, it's Mumen Rider that sends him that one positive fan letter, just saying thanks. We're not gods or atomic samurai or powerful Espers that can throw around buildings with our minds, but we can aspire to be like Mumen Rider. He's just a regular guy with a drive to do the right thing, to help wherever he can. Maybe I'll do an episode of my series Out of the Spotlight on Mumen Rider. He definitely fits the series - he's an often overlooked and severely underrated character, and it would be nice to give him that attention.
@@FanFueledFiction Agreed on all fronts! I especially love how his fight with the Deep Sea King manages to very nearly convince you that he really can win, just by how hard the crowd of survivors is cheering him on. I don't cry at much, but that scene gets me.
@@donutholebandit Oh yeah, it's a great one. Mumen Rider is an awesome character. He's exactly what it means to be a hero. Being a hero isn't about being the strongest there is or being beloved by the people, it's about doing the right thing even when that's a harder path.
I'd be curious to see how Saitama handles Doomsday. The thing adapts, so Saitama one-punches him and he explodes, but then resurrects and now he's immune to bludgeoning damage. Would Saitama just be able to sort of ignore that resistance the way he ignores some other powers, or would they be stuck in an endless loop of punching each other in the face?
Personally I am not a fan of One Punch Man, but I also recognize that everyone likes their own thing. If the majority of people see Saitama as a source of inspiration for overcoming depression than I am glad they get to see it. It just isn't for me.
i've always interpreted OPM as an allegory to modern Japanese work culture, how dissatisfaction can lead to you not even enjoying your own dreams, and how important is human connection to cure indifference towards life. at every point we see how Saitama has enriched the lives of many, but we dont see how he is enriched by them, until Genos quite literally kicks his door in and gives him something, ANYTHING else to do with life other than to loathe it.
Saitama's strength IS his weakness, he's too good, and he doesnt have the mind or heart for theatrics, so he only does what he does best, punch. a punch with no heart, a fist with no meaning. its not until VERY much later that his punches have some sort of emotion behind them.
human connection is the most important thing in this world, and belief is the greatest asset, as we've seen before. all powers come from belief in something, even in oneself, but how that power is applied, depends on the connection with others and the world, like Genos and his upgrades coming from the Professor and Saitama's advice on his shortcomings, or Fubuki's unexpected turnaround with how she sees people she believes to be underneath her, or how for once, Tatsumaki finally trusts another person that isnt Blast or Herself, or how King finally grew a backbone, however small it may be.
No man needs to stand alone, and there's no hardship that cant be weathered with the help of your friends and family. that is where a punch is born, a punch so mighty it even rivals gods.
No reason a story can't have two themes! I never even considered that, but you make a really good point, and given the overworked nature of many mangaka, it's totally possible that One himself was overworked from his life prior to releasing his webcomic and that was his intent, commentary on that work culture.
Your comment is amazing. Like this is what I can only dream of seeing below videos
@@jasonlittle6161 I agree! That's why I pinned their comment, it's a really insightful view of the series, felt it deserved attention.
Thank you guys so much, this means a lot to me. i literally started to read OPM when the anime came out, and read both continuities, ONE's and Murata's, and i've been passionate about OPM ever since, always looking for the undertones, and noticed not everyone had the same ideas, and that's what makes series like these so great, there's no correct interpretation, and everyone pitching makes the experience 100 times better, even the differences between continuities add so much to the discourse, it really makes one think about the different outlooks on life
@@Omegaweaponsguy2 I agree! Art is, by its very nature, subjective, so two people looking at the same piece of art can have very different takeaways! That doesn't make either of them any less valid, that's the whole point of art, to elicit introspection, thought and discussion, and I will always welcome that sort of thing on my channel. So thank YOU for leaving a well-thought out comment on your own interpretations of the series.
Crablante vs Saitama is the best hero origin backstory ever. It takes only 6 minutes, but goes full Hero's journey.
I agree, it's definitely up there. It's the hero going from a nobody to someone willing to put their life on the line to save someone they don't even know to realizing the thrill of being a hero. It's great.
@@FanFueledFiction Additionally, that flashback subtly explains the mechanics of gaining power in this world. [-------SPOILERS--------] Crablante became a monster through vice-his gluttony reached such extremes that he lost his humanity, mutated, and transformed into a monster. Heroes, on the other hand, follow a similar path but achieve their power through sheer willpower, without losing their humanity. Saitama openly declared his wish: 'I wanted to become a hero who could defeat a villain with one punch.' When he technically achieved that, he fully believed in his dream, gained the willpower to pursue it, and bent the universe to his will.
@@MalGanish I mean, Saitama's a little different because he's the first human - maybe the first being in the universe - to break his limiter. He gets exponentially stronger every single day.
Hot take: Saitama can't be Goku, but he will be ABLE to beat Goku. Saitama's rate of growth, just looking at it mathematically, far outstrips Goku's. Goku is considerably stronger now, but eventually, Saitama's insane innate growth rate will surpass Goku. Saitama can already just sort of ignore gravitational effects that should be fatal - when Geryuganshoop created a massive gravity wave approaching that of a localized singularity, enough to threaten the lives of every person aboard Boros' ship, Saitama just basically walked through it and punched him in the face.
One Punch Man has so many awesome characters, sometimes I forget that it's a gag manga at heart.
Excellent video. Very good discussion with a good message.
Glad you enjoyed it! It's an important topic to cover, because so many people gloss over the messages.
Video with great messages about need to get up when knocked down; to rise up with energy when faced with boredom and to go forward with new interests; and also deals with a superhero's difficulty in fitting in; this is a video worth your time in watching and then think about it and how it might apply to your life.
Yeah, that's what I love about all of these characters, their allegories for struggles that we as mere mortals face. Feeling out of place, stumbling and picking yourself up, overcoming depression... We deal with those issues, so those are the connections we can make.
Saitama is important because he is unique. OP done right. World needs to see the EOS fight where everything will be revealed. Thats what makes the story magical.
I haven't read the manga, so I haven't gotten there yet! I hope that the series does get fully adapted to anime, the first two seasons were great.
@@FanFueledFiction manga has enough for S6. it will end around season S10-12 if i had to bet
@@ImHereCookin Oh, I know there's enough. I'm just worried whether it will actually get adapted, there was a long gap between the first two seasons and an even longer one now between two and three.
Good video, good message. But while the analysis on One Punch Man is on point I think it misses a few things about Goku and Superman. The video wasn't exactly about that so I get it. But I'll expand anyway because it's my comment xp
Goku isn't just about self improvement. Vagita is also constantly struggling for self improvement. The joy Goku feels is the joy of the challenge, is experienced are supposed to demonstrate in a society that's all about results that growth can be fun and rewarding not just because of what you can accomplish afterwards but just from the thrill of learning and growing.
Superman is more about being a model minority. His struggle of self control and moral correctness is almost never the focus of his story. He's more about how someone who wasn't born in America can still become an American paragon of virtue. I agree that I think the more compelling Superman stories are when he struggles with right and wrong, or feelings of belonging or home, but that's definitely not what he is about most of the time. Which I think is missed opportunity on the Superman writers of the past but that's a separate discussion.
That's what I love about Dragon Ball, both Goku and Vegeta strive for greater and greater power for very different reasons. There's a great scene in the cut DBZ Abridged Buu saga, where Goku asks Vegeta why he let Babidi control him, and Vegeta basically explains that he's always had to prove himself, claw his way up, and Goku is his measuring stick.
I've experienced 100 times gravity I must TRAIN in 100 times gravity
~goku
Yeah, sounds about right. If he CAN do it, he WILL do it, and if he CAN'T do it, he'll train until he can.
Mumen Rider is my favourite fictional character.
I can see why! The man's an absolute legend, he's a great example of never giving up, no matter the odds in front of you. He's a genuinely kind person, too. At the end of that episode where Saitama beats the Deep Sea King, it's Mumen Rider that sends him that one positive fan letter, just saying thanks. We're not gods or atomic samurai or powerful Espers that can throw around buildings with our minds, but we can aspire to be like Mumen Rider. He's just a regular guy with a drive to do the right thing, to help wherever he can.
Maybe I'll do an episode of my series Out of the Spotlight on Mumen Rider. He definitely fits the series - he's an often overlooked and severely underrated character, and it would be nice to give him that attention.
@@FanFueledFiction Agreed on all fronts! I especially love how his fight with the Deep Sea King manages to very nearly convince you that he really can win, just by how hard the crowd of survivors is cheering him on. I don't cry at much, but that scene gets me.
@@donutholebandit Oh yeah, it's a great one. Mumen Rider is an awesome character. He's exactly what it means to be a hero. Being a hero isn't about being the strongest there is or being beloved by the people, it's about doing the right thing even when that's a harder path.
Superman and goku bleeding ... Saitama could never lol
I'd be curious to see how Saitama handles Doomsday. The thing adapts, so Saitama one-punches him and he explodes, but then resurrects and now he's immune to bludgeoning damage. Would Saitama just be able to sort of ignore that resistance the way he ignores some other powers, or would they be stuck in an endless loop of punching each other in the face?
Personally I am not a fan of One Punch Man, but I also recognize that everyone likes their own thing. If the majority of people see Saitama as a source of inspiration for overcoming depression than I am glad they get to see it. It just isn't for me.
I definitely enjoy him for his goofy and over the top action as well, but I like the message behind him.
Oh damn u dont love me 😢
Its fine dude be strong 💪🗿
@@Saitamaa-a Hey, you still have best-girl Tatsumaki!