Saitama and Genos try out for the Hero Examinations, meanwhile how are other heroes in the city doing in their monster fights? Find out what happens in vol. 3 of ONE and Yusuke Murata’s “One-Punch Man”!
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MANGA TITLE: One-Punch Man Vol. 3
STORY BY: ONE
ART BY: Yusuke Murata
FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: Shueisha, Inc.
PUBLISHED IN USA BY: VIZ Media, LLC
RATED: T for Older Teen
Available on November 3, 2015
Nothing about Saitama passes the eyeball test when it comes to superheroes, from his lifeless expression to his bald head to his unimpressive physique. However, this average-looking guy has a not-so-average problem – he just can’t seem to find an opponent strong enough to take on! For three years, Saitama has defeated countless monsters, but no one knows about him… That’s because he isn’t in the Hero Association’s registry! Together with Genos, Saitama decides to take the Hero Association’s test! But can they pass?!
Saitama and Genos take the Hero Certification Exam, which determines a ranking of a hero who will take on various monsters or crime cases.
As Genos pays money to Saitama to be his mentor and also to live with him, we get to see how other “heroes” in the city are doing against the monsters.
Meanwhile, Speed-O-Sound Sonic is still wanting his revenge against Saitama, but what happens when he gets in Saitama’s way?
Find out in vol. 3 of the hit manga series “One-Punch Man” by One and Yusuke Murata!
What is “One-Punch Man” all about?
When it comes to success stories of web comics becoming viral, ONE’s “One-Punch Man” is one of the well-known titles that have taken the world by storm.
Created back in 2009 and having surpassed over 7.9 million hits in 2012, “One-Punch Man” would receive a digital manga remake featuring illustrations by Yusuke Murata (best known for his illustrations for the manga series, “Eyeshield 21”) and would be published on the Shueisha’s “Young Jump Web Comics” website.
In September 2015, Viz Media released the graphic novel for “One-Punch Man” in the United States and in October 2015, the anime adaptation for “One-Punch Man” began airing on Japanese television.
“One Punch Man” is set in City Z and monsters have been appearing in the city causing massive destruction.
But standing in their way is a skinny, bald man named Saitama who also happens to be extremely powerful and can defeat monsters with one punch. But because he often wins all the time, Saitama has grown bored and is often trying to find more powerful opponents.
In volume 1, Saitama takes on Vaccine Man who wants to eliminate humankind’s constant pollution of the environment by eliminating humanity. He also takes on the strongest of the Strongest Brothers.
One day, Saitama comes across a cyborg named Genos who is taking on a lady who is also a mosquito and can suck one’s life dry. Should Saitama help Genos?
In vol. 2, a group of monsters began attacking Saitama at his home. They have clearly targeted him and as Genos tries to assist, Saitama shows the cyborg his power once again.
But having learned that a mad scientist wants Saitama captured in order to study his body for research, the scientist gets ready to unleash his killer creation, Carnage Kabuto.
Meanwhile, a terrorist group is about to make its war on the rich of humanity, but a ninja known as Speed-O’-Sound Sonic goes to confront him. As Saitama comes across this ninja, is he friend or foe?
In volume 3, seeing how Saitama can defeat these tough monsters just with one punch, Genos wans Saitama to teach and train him to be a better hero. And while Saitama accepts Genos to live with him (thanks to Genos offering him a huge amount of money), Saitama scores lower than Genos in the Hero Exam. As Genos ranks S-class and Saitama ranks C-class, what happens when monsters run lose in the city? And how will the other heroes respond?
With the third volume of “One-Punch Man”, the story continues with Genos wanting Saitama to mentor and train him to be a better hero and to be powerful.
As Saitama keeps telling Genos to train hard and work out, Genos has a hard time believing that is all it takes (in truth, that’s all Saitama really did). And now, both will not just live together but also take the hero exams to determine what rank they are.
And as the two focus on hero duties, the story then shows us other heroes who take on the monsters and seeing the challenges that are ahead for the many heroes who must take on the deadliest of villains.
Meanwhile, what happens when Speed-O’-Sound Sonic confronts Saitama yet again?
If anything, this latest manga series is very interesting because it let’s us know of the various super heroes out there but also the trouble that many of them faced because the villains are overpowering many of the heroes.
So, we are starting to see introductions of other super heroes in this third volume and learn more of their abilities.
For the most part, I’m really enjoying this series because the protagonist is quite unusual. You think of a strong and charismastic super hero as your main protagonist, but the protagonist of “One-Punch Man” is a skinny baldheaded man named Saitama who doesn’t look menacing at all.
A person who became strong by working out constantly, he then lost all his hair an became super powerful.
And where most heroes are proud of their work, Saitama is somewhat wanting the attention and respect that comes with being a hero, but yet hasn’t received it. So, Saitama is an interesting contrast to the stereotypical hero who is typically a person that is athletically fit, has a remarkable IQ or tremendous skillset, but for Saitama….he looks like a normal guy.
Having seen ONE’s original “One-Punch Man”, the artwork from the original versus Yusuke Murata’s artwork is night and day. I always enjoyed Murata’s work on “Eyeshield 21” but his work of bringing ONE’s “One-Punch” man to life is fantastic. It was Murata who approached ONE to redo the artwork and if anything, it had helped ONE’s creation become well-known internationally.
So far, I’m enjoying the series, especially its really crazy and outlandish characters. But I like how the series manages to balance humor and fighting violence quite well. And Saitama is so different from your usual protagonist character in a super hero comic, so I am enjoying what I’m reading so far.
If you love action-driven manga series with a good amount of humor, definitely give “One-Punch Man” a shot!