For those who do not know, One Punch Man is a teenager to young adult oriented anime whose premise centers on a hero, Saitama, who has become so powerful that he defeats every foe he faces with a single punch. Because of this, and also because he originally became a hero just for the fun of it, Saitama now finds his work as a hero and his life in general boring. This does not stop him from facing whatever foe may arise, but it does push him to question himself and what he is doing. The first episode of the series sums up the core idea of One Punch Man with the "Overwhelming power is boring as hell." line delivered by Saitama has he fells a one hundred foot-tall colossus with a single hit. The remainder of the series constantly reiterates this sentiment as it becomes more of a theme than a thesis for the series. So what is the thesis of One Punch Man then? The answer can be found in the most challenging obstacle that Saitama must face: bureaucracy.
The world that Saitama inhabits has a unique system in terms of how it handles its super heroes. Officially sanctioned heroes must apply and go through a rigorous physical and mental evaluation. Saitama (eventually) does so and sets records in every aspect of the physical evaluation where his performance is so strong that some would-be heroes leave simply after seeing him perform. However, the mental evaluation does not treat Saitama so kindly, as he fails it miserably and thus assigned to the lowest denomination for heroes: Class C. Out of the four hero classes, S, A, B, and C, heroes in the class that Saitama finds himself in must meet weekly quotas of heroics to stay sanctioned. They are also the first ones to be called away from potential threats as they are considered the weakest, and therefore useless against many, if not all, of the superhuman threats that arise. But Saitama is hardly deterred by his incorrect classification, but instead the classification deters the system that assigned it. Saitama is never assigned to any of the threats that he faces, and in one instance he practically has to ask permission to go fight. He is also subject to attempted initiation practices by other lower level heroes. But Saitama overcomes all of this by way of his unwavering determination.
One can only imagine what might happen if Saitama were to be deterred by any of the non-villain foes that he comes up against. But he is not, and so he continues to fight in and for a system that barely values him at all. The show repeatedly demonstrates that Saitama is far more capable than any of the other heroes around him, but at the same time he is deemed to be beneath almost everyone else. Even after Saitama's hero rank increases, he moves from C class to B class, the resistance from the system does not dissipate, and in many ways it increases as well. Rumors are spread that he has cheated to achieve this rank, and other heroes that feel threatened by him become more hostile as well. Saitama is only present for the final fight of the series, which happens to be against a threat that is of the highest possible level, because he tagged along with his disciple who happens to be ranked in class S.
One Punch Man serves as a good exploration of a variety of concepts that are often only touched upon, or completely ignored in other series not only limited to the anime variety. While it is determined that there is not any physical threat to Saitama because of his power, the series introduces the seemingly unmountable obstacle of bureaucracy and all of the limitations that the system Saitama exists in attempts to impose on him. It is only when someone or something goes counter to the system that Saitama is able to perform as a hero and save the day. But when all the protocols are followed, almost nothing is accomplished, and yet the system continues to follow its standard order. Saitama is deemed to be an unstoppable force, but in the end his most dangerous enemy is that which claims to be on his side.
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