One Punch Man: The Secret Behind Saitama’s Multi-Punch Fights Revealed!

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Summary

  • Subversion of tropes allows One Punch Man to break its own rules, keeping the audience guessing about how a fight will go despite Saitama’s strength.
  • The show’s true premise is about playing with audience expectations, not just Saitama’s power.
  • One Punch Man‘s real strength as a show lies in creating better punchlines, surprises, and real tension in fights rather than adhering to its premise.

The One Punch Man series often challenges typical battle anime patterns. This unconventional approach to what viewers usually anticipate is a major part of the show’s appeal, but it also results in an intriguing twist on its concept. In other words, contrary to its title, fights in One Punch Man can sometimes last beyond one punch, even from our main hero, Saitama.

The fundamental concept of One Punch Man initially expands as fresh elements are introduced to maintain interest and tantalize viewers with potential challenges. For instance, Saitama, originally capable of defeating any opponent in a single punch, gradually switches to delivering multiple punches to vanquish enemies. With each new adversary, tension escalates, leading viewers to wonder: “Could this be the foe that forces Saitama into a real battle?” This pattern persists until the goalpost shifts so far that Saitama no longer concludes fights with a single punch, but viewers anticipate he might if he’s being serious. However, why does this occur? Does the show risk undermining itself by allowing battles to extend beyond a solitary punch? Let us examine the root essence of One Punch Man to understand how its premise has evolved from its one-dimensional origins.

Subversion as a Strength

The Show Is Founded on Defying Tropes, to the Point It Even Defies Itself

Season 1 Airdate October 5, 2015
Season 2 Airdate April 10, 2019
Season 3 Airdate October, 2025

In the anime “One Punch Man”, it appears that the creators aimed to incorporate an invincible character such as Saitama into a storyline centered around battles, exploring how events unfold when confronted by his immense power. Various characters are used to represent typical anime archetypes, offering an intriguing twist as they encounter Saitama’s formidable might.

Even though the basic concept of the show is straightforward – Saitama defeats enemies with a single punch – it’s the subversive nature of the story that allows it to disregard its own rules. For instance, while Saitama can easily knock out most opponents with just one strike, some are able to withstand even a single blow. An example of this is Lord Boros, who required multiple punches from Saitama, including a series of regular punches known as “consecutive normal punches,” which might seem to contradict the show’s premise on its surface.

Actually, this suggests that the core concept of the series has been clear from the start. It wasn’t merely about a man who defeats things with one punch. Instead, it was skillfully designed to surprise viewers, initially lulling them into a false sense of security before flipping their expectations upside down.

Never Let Them Guess the Punchline

A Classic Comedy Rule

In the world of One Punch Man, comparisons to comedy and punchlines effortlessly create humorous wordplay. Saitama serves as an actual comedic punchline due to the frequent conclusion of jokes with one of his powerful punches. This narrative strategy adheres to a fundamental rule in comedy: always ensure your audience doesn’t anticipate the punchline until the end of the joke.

I’ve noticed that the show deviates from its initial premise of a man who usually settles things with just one punch. This creative choice is crucial to keep viewers intrigued and guessing what will happen next. What makes it captivating is that it unfolds within traditional Shonen character settings. While it appears to satirize typical main characters from other shows through humor, it does so respectfully without belittling or appearing cruel.

In my observation, rather than adhering strictly to its one-punch premise, One Punch Man focuses on crafting the most hilarious or heartfelt payoff instead. At its core, it delivers unanticipated moments of raw emotion and action sequences laced with genuine tension, which makes viewers’ experiences akin to receiving an unexpected uppercut. Despite its many contradictory elements, the show keeps me engaged, thanks to the intrigue generated by not knowing if Saitama will end a fight with a single punch or not. This element of suspense adds more excitement than a story where a single punch always solves everything, regardless of the situation.

One Punch Man can be streamed on Crunchyroll.

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2025-03-29 21:26