Current Events > Does One-Punch Man even have a canon anymore *spoilers*

(+) Yeah! (+)

I made a topic last year (two years ago?) about how frustrated I was with the current/ninja arc completely rewriting everything that had happened and now I don't know what events were canon and which had been retconned, and after a long time of no new chapters being posted on Viz I see a new one pop up but also with a header that says that the arc was rebooted a second (third?) time

So now I don't even know if the shit that I didn't know if it was canon is still canon or if any of it ever happened to begin with

I'm really starting to get the impression that this series' writer has no idea what the fuck they're doing anymore and doesn't know where they even want the series to go from here

Just end it

This sort of thing, the rewrites, and the difference in tone are why i dropped the manga. IMO the webcomic "got" the idea better. The manga just kept getting distilled into typical shonen in my perspective

I know ONE co-writes the manga too, I just dont like the difference in direction

I was under the impression that it was a gag comic and thus canon is flexible at best

Webcomic is what I consider canon

Voidgolem posted...

I was under the impression that it was a gag comic and thus canon is flexible at best

yea that doesnt quite work for me when it doesnt seem to treat itself as a gag. it's like tryin to have it both ways (but not succeeding)

Webcomic and manga are just different canons, full stop. The canon in the manga is whatever makes it to print, pretty much.

PerseusRad posted...

Webcomic and manga are just different canons, full stop. The canon in the manga is whatever makes it to print, pretty much.

That's not the issue. The manga has been releasing chapters and then "redrawing" them with completely different outcomes. I think the ninja arc was completed and then completely rewritten.

Some of what gets changed has been very interesting. Blast actually has a place in the story. But it's been terrible to follow along.

ChocoboMogALT posted...

That's not the issue. The manga has been releasing chapters and then "redrawing" them with completely different outcomes. I think the ninja arc was completed and then completely rewritten.

Some of what gets changed has been very interesting. Blast actually has a place in the story. But it's been terrible to follow along.

i think that's what they mean by "whatever makes it to print", as AFAIK chapters that have already been printed in volumes are final and don't get redrawn

I always thought One Punch Man was like a parody anime. Nothing to take too seriously.

Isn't the main character like a Mary Stu who never can lose because of the name of the Manga? Genuine question, as I thought about giving the show a try.

Voidgolem posted...

I was under the impression that it was a gag comic and thus canon is flexible at best

asdf8562 posted...

I always thought One Punch Man was like a parody anime. Nothing to take too seriously.

This isn't in any way an excuse for completely rewriting storylines to confuse the reader and literally waste their time

mehmeh1 posted...

i think that's what they mean by "whatever makes it to print", as AFAIK chapters that have already been printed in volumes are final and don't get redrawn

That is what I meant.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Yeah. I swear the arc has been rebooted for what feels like 2 real life years straight.

While the manga is a gag manga at heart ONE's original web version still has a consistent plot that it follows. The murata redrawn version is adapting that, and so to see certain arcs constantly being rebooted over and over is just a drag. There is only so many times you can see redraws and fubuki covers before you just start tuning the series out. (Which really seems like it actually happened with this series' popularity).

Now I am sitting here imagining murata's previous works like eyeshield 21 having certain games redrawn......like imagine going through the deimon devil bats vs the ojo white knights 3 freaking times, lol.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Something like that.

Chapter 195 originally first came out in 2023

The 3rd redrawn version of it dropped in 2025.

I'm not even exaggerating when I said that this arc has had sections redrawn for 2 years straight, lol.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8ysoDDvJHo

I haven't been following the manga, but I get the sense from the way people talk about it that the plot has completely jumped the shark, and in doing so has undone the entire premise it set out on. There's only so far you can take the "omnipotent idiot" gag so far.

asdf8562 posted...

I always thought One Punch Man was like a parody anime. Nothing to take too seriously.

Isn't the main character like a Mary Stu who never can lose because of the name of the Manga? Genuine question, as I thought about giving the show a try.

He's not a Mary Stu, it's funnier than that. On the one hand he possesses a physical destructive power that allows him to destroy any enemy no matter how cosmic or eldritch with a single punch, and yet on the other hand he's going through an existential crisis at having no real purpose, is kind of loser and no one remembers who he is because he's unremarkable looking. The plot/tension all comes from him trying and failing to become more popular and liked.

In fact his sidekick is the real "mary stu" character - he's cool, handsome, intelligent, super popular and good at everything - so the main character being immeasurably more powerful than him in what is ostensibly a battle shonen is the joke. Like you have all these typical cool powerful shonen archetypal characters, and then you have a dumbass bald lazy guy who is inexplicably stronger than all of them.

His power also completely defies explanation, but this is played off more like it's stupid as hell, rather than being some mysterious force.

TMOG posted...

This isn't in any way an excuse for completely rewriting storylines to confuse the reader and literally waste their time

Like I said, I haven't gotten around to watching the series yet. So Im not here to state it is actually a gag series.

But operating on the basis that it is a gag series, it actually is an excuse. You are literally not to take continuity too seriously. The storyline isnt meant to be consistent, power scaling isnt meant to make sense, canon isnt meant to be solid. Rules are literally bent for the sole purpose of driving the gag of the series. Thats what a gag series is.

pinky0926 posted...

He's not a Mary Stu, it's funnier than that. On the one hand he possesses a physical destructive power that allows him to destroy any enemy no matter how cosmic or eldritch with a single punch, and yet on the other hand he's going through an existential crisis at having no real purpose, is kind of loser and no one remembers who he is because he's unremarkable looking. The plot/tension all comes from him trying and failing to become more popular and liked.

In fact his sidekick is the real "mary stu" character - he's cool, handsome, intelligent, super popular and good at everything - so the main character being immeasurably more powerful than him in what is ostensibly a battle shonen is the joke. Like you have all these typical cool powerful shonen archetypal characters, and then you have a dumbass bald lazy guy who is inexplicably stronger than all of them.

His power also completely defies explanation, but this is played off more like it's stupid as hell, rather than being some mysterious force.

Tagging so I can read this later after work. Thanks!

asdf8562 posted...

Like I said, I haven't gotten around to watching the series yet. So Im not here to state it is actually a gag series.

But operating on the basis that it is a gag series, it actually is an excuse. You are literally not to take continuity too seriously. The storyline isnt meant to be consistent, power scaling isnt meant to make sense, canon isnt meant to be solid. Rules are literally bent for the sole purpose of driving the gag of the series. Thats what a gag series is.

nah

True canon is the webcomic. Manga canon is the final volume release. He does most of his redraws for the volumes, but Murata has gone off the deep end in recent years on both the general plot turning into the very thing the whole series is parodying and insane bouts of redrawing stuff over and over. I'm under the assumption that ONE stopped working with him on the manga a while back because he's too busy with his own serializations, and Murata has to be going through some kind of personal identity crisis.

ChocoboMogALT posted...

That's not the issue. The manga has been releasing chapters and then "redrawing" them with completely different outcomes. I think the ninja arc was completed and then completely rewritten.

Some of what gets changed has been very interesting. Blast actually has a place in the story. But it's been terrible to follow along.

Those arent the official chapters, thats why they are subject to redraws.

pinky0926 posted...

I haven't been following the manga, but I get the sense from the way people talk about it that the plot has completely jumped the shark, and in doing so has undone the entire premise it set out on. There's only so far you can take the "omnipotent idiot" gag so far.

Saitama isnt anywhere close to being omnipotent. ONE said that Saitama is basically a character at the end of the manga at the beginning. Basically Saitama is a maxed out character on NG+.

ViewtifulGrave posted...

Saitama isnt anywhere close to being omnipotent.

he literally became omnipotent at one point, and then used it to travel back to the past from before it even happened

it was when he fought the moon god thing

hell, the dudes power is that he is as strong as whatever he is fighting at any given time plus 1

ConfusedTorchic posted...

he literally became omnipotent at one point, and then used it to travel back to the past from before it even happened

it was when he fought the moon god thing

hell, the dudes power is that he is as strong as whatever he is fighting at any given time plus 1

He never fought a god at all. You mistaking it for a fancomic? He doesn't become omnipotent either. His strength level just keeps on increasing and there hasn't been shown to be a limit although before that happens, Garou was able to keep up with Saitama going all out. Even Blast was able to redirect Saitama's attacks. And Saitama is not remotely omnipotent. He failed to save everyone and he started wangsting about it and how he's a failure of a hero. He had to be taught how to use the "time travel technique" by Garou as otherwise he would be moping that everyone died.

ConfusedTorchic posted...

hell, the dudes power is that he is as strong as whatever he is fighting at any given time plus 1

no no it is not at all

he does not have some meta power to beat anyone

the creator has stated this constantly

infact he seems rather annoyed about how people meme him as being able to beat anyone ever

Mad-Dogg posted...

Now I am sitting here imagining murata's previous works like eyeshield 21 having certain games redrawn......like imagine going through the deimon devil bats vs the ojo white knights 3 freaking times, lol.

Well technicallyyyyyyy they did play the white knights twice. Also I feel like the story faked the reader out about how close they were to the championship like 5 times. Somehow there was always actually another match or another whole tournament to compete in which we only learn after the current match. But that's a pretty standard genre-wide shonen cliche where the story doesn't want to end and the powerscaling must continue.

AceMos posted...

no no it is not at all

he does not have some meta power to beat anyone

the creator has stated this constantly

infact he seems rather annoyed about how people meme him as being able to beat anyone ever

well he's never lost a fight and ascended to omnipotence to beat someone so

idk what to tell you, if it looks and sounds like a duck, it's a duck

ConfusedTorchic posted...

well he's never lost a fight and ascended to omnipotence to beat someone so

idk what to tell you, if it looks and sounds like a duck, it's a duck

I'm glad you're here to tell us that the person who literally created the character is wrong about his power level compared to characters from other series

ConfusedTorchic posted...

well he's never lost a fight and ascended to omnipotence to beat someone so

idk what to tell you, if it looks and sounds like a duck, it's a duck

You are literally saying things that never happened. He never ascended to omnipotence. He never fought a god. You're likely mixing it up with a popular fancomic where he did that.

Kuuko posted...

Well technicallyyyyyyy they did play the white knights twice.

Come on, we all know this is obviously a completely different situation than what we are talking about with these one punch man redraws. The devil bats playing against the white knights again was two completely separate matches at different points in the story. Rematches in sports shonen is expected and pretty common.

Rematches in sports manga in general is a whole different thing compared to a theoretical situation in which 1 certain game was literally restarted 3 separate times because the mangaka is that much of a perfectionist (I'm assuming on murata's part. Its really the only thing I can think of on why he actually constantly does redraws if he is given the power/leeway to do so).

"Oh, the art that is already amazing can be slightly improved here and here. Lets redo this chapter", or "hmmmm....these guy got injured and permanently retired here. I want to actually have this rando mook appear in a random panel in the future, so lets redraw these previous few chapters to retcon their injury or deaths" "Hmmm....I don't like the way I'm taking the story here. Lets redo these events one more time...." Etc.

The murata drawn remake version of one-punch man is chock-full of this stuff. Random characters that got killed (and even in ONE's original version some of these characters have gotten killed when ONE originally did this part of the story) but murata decides that "nah, these characters should have lived, or not have gotten as maimed as they did. (and so even in ONE's original version of the story, he too will find a way to have previously dead characters just pop right back up. "Yeah come to find out their injuries and/or death wasn't as bad as we all thought", lol).

It is legitimately exhausting being a fan of a mangaka that both has that freedom to do as they please with remaking chapters they already did AND that much of a perfectionist. Again, 2 real life years of a arc constantly restarting from the beginning. Yeah, story arcs like one piece's wano and naruto's 4th shinobi world war took multiple real life years to get through, but these arcs was still like, actually progressing the entire time.

I kind of know how huge hunter x hunter fans feel now, but in that manga's case chapters/story arcs getting rebooted isn't the problem, its more so that togashi's back is all kinds of messed up but he has so much pride in his own art that he won't just pay another artist to handle the drawing part for him. Which means hunter x hunter=hiatus x hiatus and other shonen like jujutsu kaisen n' demon slayer being created then ending before hunter x hunter can make it much past like chapter 410 I think.

Mad-Dogg posted...

I know - I agree with you. I was just being pedantic and wanted to talk about Eyeshield 21 lol

Kuuko posted...

I know - I agree with you. I was just being pedantic and wanted to talk about Eyeshield 21 lol

Ah, lmao.

All I'm saying is that those rematches in eyeshield was actually damn good. That second ojo match was like, peak sports manga. Grinds my gears to even entertain the thought of murata having complete free reign back then and certain plays being redrawn multiple times just because someone's like, back wasn't looking right on a certain of panel or something.

I do agree the final, final manga arc was pretty goofy though all things considered. Finally accomplish the series-long christmas bowl game goal with the 3 original members but what the fuck all-star game in murica' is super important and its going down NOW with old characters getting a power level boost to match those dastardly americans, but dammit it was hilarious getting sena, agon and hiruma play in the all-stars game together alongside panther and his canon super power of being a black man being all-empowering.

We were robbed of a better eyeshield 21 adaption. Maybe one day.....I can dream.

Also imo we should have got more karin than what we did. That was actually pretty unique for a sports manga to do.

GiftedACIII posted...

You are literally saying things that never happened. He never ascended to omnipotence. He never fought a god. You're likely mixing it up with a popular fancomic where he did that.

his fight with garou literally transcended time, space, and reality and ended with saitama going back in time to break the fourth wall

he isn't now, no.

he was then, yes. he went back in time to before his omnipotence because he was bored with it lmao

ConfusedTorchic posted...

his fight with garou literally transcended time, space, and reality and ended with saitama going back in time to break the fourth wall

That's like saying Jimmy Neutron or Dio Brando or any characters with time or portal powers are omnipotent. He also didn't break the fourth wall at all, the narrator just made a pun. This is some ridiculous fanboy mental gymnastics.

the only fanboy mental gymnastics being done here are by the people arguing that being able to change reality doesn't mean you're omnipotent.

ConfusedTorchic posted...

he isn't now, no.

he was then, yes. he went back in time to before his omnipotence because he was bored with it lmao

You're making shit up again.

He never achieved omnipotence. Garou taught him how to travel back in time to before HE achieved it because he felt guilty about what he had done, so Saitama could stop him and he would never be able to kill everybody.

The accusations of taking OPM too seriously are stacking up...

ChocoboMogALT posted...

The accusations of taking OPM too seriously are stacking up...

I think it's more that ConfusedTorchic has noticed the lack of Toonstrack on CE and decided that there was a void that (for some reason) needed to be filled.

They've been doing this in multiple topics now.

TMOG posted...

I think it's more that ConfusedTorchic has noticed the lack of Toonstrack on CE and decided that there was a void that (for some reason) needed to be filled.

They've been doing this in multiple topics now.

...This is how I learned that Toonstrack finally lost CE access lmao

ConfusedTorchic posted...

the only fanboy mental gymnastics being done here are by the people arguing that being able to change reality doesn't mean you're omnipotent.

Omnipotence means they can do anything. Saitama can't mind control people. He doesn't have telepathy. He doesn't have the power to snap his fingers and create things out of nowhere. He doesn't have the ability to heal people. etc. etc. His "changing reality" was simply learning a technique to time travel. That's like saying Max from Life is Strange is omnipotent because she "changes reality" through her time powers. There are countless characters with much more power and abilities than that and they explicitly say they aren't omnipotent.

each sentence was an effort in mental gymnastics, but you didn't stick the landing so you get a 2

ConfusedTorchic posted...

each sentence was an effort in mental gymnastics, but you didn't stick the landing so you get a 2

You talking about yourself? Not a single sentence I've posted was mental gymnastics.

TMOG posted...

I think it's more that ConfusedTorchic has noticed the lack of Toonstrack on CE and decided that there was a void that (for some reason) needed to be filled.

They've been doing this in multiple topics now.

lmao

GiftedACIII posted...

You talking about yourself? Not a single sentence I've posted was mental gymnastics.

well, it was, because you were wrong.

GiftedACIII posted...

Saitama can't mind control people

he can go in and out of people's mental dimensions

GiftedACIII posted...

He doesn't have telepathy

aside from him and garou talking to each other in their minds while they're in space

GiftedACIII posted...

He doesn't have the power to snap his fingers and create things out of nowhere

he literally snapped his fingers and erased a black hole

GiftedACIII posted...

He doesn't have the ability to heal people.

guess you got me here, since he's never had to, unless you want to consider curing boros as healing someone, but you don't typically say someone is cured when the cure is death

TMOG posted...

I think it's more that ConfusedTorchic has noticed the lack of Toonstrack on CE and decided that there was a void that (for some reason) needed to be filled.

They've been doing this in multiple topics now.

you're still upset that you didn't know what "only" meant huh

ConfusedTorchic posted...

he can go in and out of people's mental dimensions

That's not mind control and he goes into one specific dimension that only "costumed mascots" can be in but that can simply mean that he's one himself.

ConfusedTorchic posted...

aside from him and garou talking to each other in their minds while they're in space

There's nothing indicating this was talking through minds instead of just that they can communicate in space.

ConfusedTorchic posted...

he literally snapped his fingers and erased a black hole

No he doesn't and that's also not just immediately creating something out of thin air.

ConfusedTorchic posted...

guess you got me here, since he's never had to, unless you want to consider curing boros as healing someone, but you don't typically say someone is cured when the cure is death

Or you know, cure the heroes that had died of radiation and revive Genos that had been killed. Instead he was mourning and lamenting how useless he was until Garou realized he was given the knowledge of the time travel technique and teaches it to Saitama.

So you've really just gone into full shitposting and making things up out of pure mental gymnastics. That's pathetic.

ConfusedTorchic posted...

you're still upset that you didn't know what "only" meant huh

For anybody confused about the context here, Toonstrack is talking about a topic about the PS5 where he argues that the Digital PS5s aren't designed to be purely digital out of the box because you can spend extra on an optional accessory to play physical games.

Because he doesn't know the difference between a console and an add-on to that console, just like he doesn't know the difference between actual events that happen in the manga and his own headcanon/fanfiction.

Wait, hold on, is he trying to fill Scotty's old role too? Let's test this: Bulma is the most important character in Dragon Ball.

TMOG posted...

For anybody confused about the context here, Toonstrack is talking about a topic about the PS5 where he argues that the Digital PS5s aren't designed to be purely digital out of the box because you can spend extra on an optional accessory to play physical games.

for anyone who wants to actually know, he and a few others decided to argue that every ps5 is digital-only, with no method existing to play physical discs, because that's what only means.

it really is quite stupid of an argument, but they died at the foot of that hill.

just like they're trying to argue that an omnipotent reality transcending character, somehow, isn't an omnipotent reality transcending character in a series where that's the entire point.