Chapter 166 and the Direction of the manga
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If Murata-Sensei want to instill some serious tone and Saitama finally struggling after oneshotting the previous villains, i'm totally on board with it. Maybe i'm different from you guys, but i'm extremely annoyed with someone as talented and art-oriented as Murata-sensei doing a meaningless gag story where the MC is oneshotting everyone. The least he can do is giving a proper story, power struggle, and induce character development to Saitama.
So tldr entirely support Murata-Sensei if he want to change the story direction into a more serious one where the final villain (God, not Garou) giving Saitama a true struggle and hurdle even by indirect power-bestowing to other characters. As long as he also make a solid plot alongside it. Simplistic plot is okay as long as the plot execution is solid.
So tldr entirely support Murata-Sensei if he want to change the story direction into a more serious one where the final villain (God, not Garou) giving Saitama a true struggle and hurdle even by indirect power-bestowing to other characters. As long as he also make a solid plot alongside it. Simplistic plot is okay as long as the plot execution is solid.
Not sure what you mean. Saitama also was removed by Boros to the moon. Came back, used a serious punch to counter Boros' blanet buster. Used a serious punch against elder centipede and evil ocean water too. Yeah, Saitama is pissed now, but how does Saitama being pissed destroy his character? He hasn't been damaged at all by Garou, and even if Garou demands more effort, it will still end up with Saitama obliterating him, because more effort means little when Saitama has a virtually endless pool of energy to draw from.
On the other hand, Saitama looked quite "worn down" after Boros' barrage of attacks, even though we know that in the end, they did nothing.
And he praised Boros for still being conscious after the serious punch punched through his blast.
I personally appreciate the route it is going. Adding a layer of seriousness and threat to the story with God (who ONE introduced himself), with us knowing that ultimately, Saitama cannot be defeated anyways and will punch his way through.
On the other hand, Saitama looked quite "worn down" after Boros' barrage of attacks, even though we know that in the end, they did nothing.
And he praised Boros for still being conscious after the serious punch punched through his blast.
I personally appreciate the route it is going. Adding a layer of seriousness and threat to the story with God (who ONE introduced himself), with us knowing that ultimately, Saitama cannot be defeated anyways and will punch his way through.
Not sure what you mean. Saitama also was removed by Boros to the moon. Came back, used a serious punch to counter Boros' blanet buster. Used a serious punch against elder centipede and evil ocean water too. Yeah, Saitama is pissed now, but how does Saitama being pissed destroy his character? He hasn't been damaged at all by Garou, and even if Garou demands more effort, it will still end up with Saitama obliterating him, because more effort means little when Saitama has a virtually endless pool of energy to draw from.
On the other hand, Saitama looked quite "worn down" after Boros' barrage of attacks, even though we know that in the end, they did nothing.
And he praised Boros for still being conscious after the serious punch punched through his blast.
I personally appreciate the route it is going. Adding a layer of seriousness and threat to the story with God (who ONE introduced himself), with us knowing that ultimately, Saitama cannot be defeated anyways and will punch his way through.
On the other hand, Saitama looked quite "worn down" after Boros' barrage of attacks, even though we know that in the end, they did nothing.
And he praised Boros for still being conscious after the serious punch punched through his blast.
I personally appreciate the route it is going. Adding a layer of seriousness and threat to the story with God (who ONE introduced himself), with us knowing that ultimately, Saitama cannot be defeated anyways and will punch his way through.
With the moon kick, saitama came back in like seconds. And that's exactly the problem. We know that even if garou sent saitama to other planets with the gamma ray burst, he could get back in an instant. We have precedent for that.
But he didn't come back. Garou somehow managed to send saitama away long enough, and during the time saitama was gone, garou gave cancer to everyone, clashed with the no 1 hero, and has seemingly killed saitama's desciple who was arguably saitama's only relationship.
All that is on saitama's hands. Because he underestimated garou, or thought garou was still human and could be saved. And that is what my problem is. I don't think saitama has failed to out down anyone he actively fought with and that lead to loss of life. Sure, saitama arrives late, or his attacks causes destruction. But he gets the job done when others can't. That's been his premise as a hero.
But right now, he's just like a shonen protagonist, where they couldn't or didn't use their full power. And they lose someone and is raging. And then obliterate their foes.
And that makes saitama seem incompetent.
If Garou(granted he is a very skilled prodigy) with a little power from God can stall saitama for that long, then what's he gonna do when God gets involved.
Also about God....
Is he gonna get defeated this arc.
Because garou clearly isn't in control. God is influencing him. Even if he is not, garou got the power up to wreack havoc, and even clashed with and potentially could even defeat blast. He is a clear threat. And he has "killed" Geno's, causing saitama to get pissed. So why would he spare garou after all that. And even if he does spare garou and not completely vapourise him, saitama will come to know of God. From garou and from Blast. Do you think he'll just say "not my problem", " Or I'll deal with him later" ?.
Of course this is not a problem if they don't make saitama address Blast's presence and garou going full on evil. But that is not good writing. And that's not the only problem with writing that just this chapter has caused.
You could definitely just shut your mind off, suspend your disbelief and enjoy the fight and story as they disregard previously established facts and character. But opm was never about fights or art for me personally. It's the story that has kept me coming back for more. And I'm not liking the direction it's taking. If you do, you should enjoy it. But as I said, the next chapter or chapters are gonna be crucial. If One and Murata manage to write a good story with addressing and explaining all the problems and inconsistencies, that would be the best outcome.
But he didn't come back. Garou somehow managed to send saitama away long enough, and during the time saitama was gone, garou gave cancer to everyone, clashed with the no 1 hero, and has seemingly killed saitama's desciple who was arguably saitama's only relationship.
All that is on saitama's hands. Because he underestimated garou, or thought garou was still human and could be saved. And that is what my problem is. I don't think saitama has failed to out down anyone he actively fought with and that lead to loss of life. Sure, saitama arrives late, or his attacks causes destruction. But he gets the job done when others can't. That's been his premise as a hero.
But right now, he's just like a shonen protagonist, where they couldn't or didn't use their full power. And they lose someone and is raging. And then obliterate their foes.
And that makes saitama seem incompetent.
If Garou(granted he is a very skilled prodigy) with a little power from God can stall saitama for that long, then what's he gonna do when God gets involved.
Also about God....
Is he gonna get defeated this arc.
Because garou clearly isn't in control. God is influencing him. Even if he is not, garou got the power up to wreack havoc, and even clashed with and potentially could even defeat blast. He is a clear threat. And he has "killed" Geno's, causing saitama to get pissed. So why would he spare garou after all that. And even if he does spare garou and not completely vapourise him, saitama will come to know of God. From garou and from Blast. Do you think he'll just say "not my problem", " Or I'll deal with him later" ?.
Of course this is not a problem if they don't make saitama address Blast's presence and garou going full on evil. But that is not good writing. And that's not the only problem with writing that just this chapter has caused.
You could definitely just shut your mind off, suspend your disbelief and enjoy the fight and story as they disregard previously established facts and character. But opm was never about fights or art for me personally. It's the story that has kept me coming back for more. And I'm not liking the direction it's taking. If you do, you should enjoy it. But as I said, the next chapter or chapters are gonna be crucial. If One and Murata manage to write a good story with addressing and explaining all the problems and inconsistencies, that would be the best outcome.
Given Saitama was not illustrated to have landed on a planet, maybe he ended up in outer space and had to swim back through vacuum? :D And I mean, as for Genos, we know he will survive anyways, and Saitama coming late to the party is not unusual.
I mean, he probably will be saved. In the webcomic, it ended up with Garou losing his monster form and becoming human. I'm sure it will be the same here, as Saitama obliterates that form until god leaves.
I think it was more than "little" power from god. God tried to use Garou as an avatar and partly controls him. We can assume that god uses a large quantity of his power through Garou. Homeless Emperor for example, that was what I would call "little power" from god. I doubt Murata will betray the original premise of One Punch Man. Since that is what the name is about and as far as I know, Murata is also in contact with ONE and wouldn't fuck up the story beyond what ONE would see as acceptable.
I wouldn't draw conclusions before the fight is over hence.
Murata still communicates with ONE though, he doesn't create the story with sole authority.
I mean, he probably will be saved. In the webcomic, it ended up with Garou losing his monster form and becoming human. I'm sure it will be the same here, as Saitama obliterates that form until god leaves.
I think it was more than "little" power from god. God tried to use Garou as an avatar and partly controls him. We can assume that god uses a large quantity of his power through Garou. Homeless Emperor for example, that was what I would call "little power" from god. I doubt Murata will betray the original premise of One Punch Man. Since that is what the name is about and as far as I know, Murata is also in contact with ONE and wouldn't fuck up the story beyond what ONE would see as acceptable.
I wouldn't draw conclusions before the fight is over hence.
Murata still communicates with ONE though, he doesn't create the story with sole authority.
C
Yep, subjectivity comes into play as well. Not everyone cares to read a totally brainless story with zero stakes, tensions and endless repetitive gags. Two of my cousins dropped OPM after the first season because they think Saitama's shtick is boring. Imo there should be a solid balance.
Garou so far has been the only proper antagonist of this show, not some one-dimension villain of the week like Boros or DSK. All that build up only for him to get underwhelmingly stomped is dog shit storyelling as far as i'm concerned and not what i'm here to see.
Garou so far has been the only proper antagonist of this show, not some one-dimension villain of the week like Boros or DSK. All that build up only for him to get underwhelmingly stomped is dog shit storyelling as far as i'm concerned and not what i'm here to see.
But I thought that was the entire point of opm and saitama. To make fun of the ever exceeding power creep and the invalidation of stakes that brings in other shonen.
If you want stakes and tension, there are a plethora of well done shonen out there. Opm was concieved to be a parody and satirical take on them.
How is garou a good antagonist?.
He is now basically not even himself. Do you really think garou would willingly kill the hero's and civillians with radiation, and out right impale hero just so he can draw out his master and try to gain his power?. This is most probably God controlling garou. He has little to no agency.
And if this truly is garou himself, then that counters and runs opposite to what he was a few chapters ago. He went from reluctantly teaming up with hero's to save the kid and accidentally saving civillians to killing them with just his presence alone. How do you explain the 180 in his behavior.
Also, "all that build up" as you put it, is because it'll be that much more impactful when saitama inevitably stompes him. Garou in the webcomic had similar degree of build up, and even more scenes showing his ideals and views, like the S class vs garou. And he still got stomped. And the monster association arc is regarded as amazing in the webcomic by almost everyone in the fandom.
if you say that you want to see the mc struggle a bit and otherwise it's dogshit storytelling, I don't get how you read opm all this time at all. That is the entire fucking point of saitama.
You can't balance saitama, because that defeats the purpose of saitama.
If you want stakes and tension, there are a plethora of well done shonen out there. Opm was concieved to be a parody and satirical take on them.
How is garou a good antagonist?.
He is now basically not even himself. Do you really think garou would willingly kill the hero's and civillians with radiation, and out right impale hero just so he can draw out his master and try to gain his power?. This is most probably God controlling garou. He has little to no agency.
And if this truly is garou himself, then that counters and runs opposite to what he was a few chapters ago. He went from reluctantly teaming up with hero's to save the kid and accidentally saving civillians to killing them with just his presence alone. How do you explain the 180 in his behavior.
Also, "all that build up" as you put it, is because it'll be that much more impactful when saitama inevitably stompes him. Garou in the webcomic had similar degree of build up, and even more scenes showing his ideals and views, like the S class vs garou. And he still got stomped. And the monster association arc is regarded as amazing in the webcomic by almost everyone in the fandom.
if you say that you want to see the mc struggle a bit and otherwise it's dogshit storytelling, I don't get how you read opm all this time at all. That is the entire fucking point of saitama.
You can't balance saitama, because that defeats the purpose of saitama.
C
And it can only work till a certain point. Answer me this, why is Saitama in the backround 99% of the time ?
Ah yes, because only shonens can have stakes. It's baffling how far some of you will go to excuse your love for formulaic garbage.
That "stomp" was still a drawn out battle unlike anything that was shown before. Many of you are asking for Garou to get abruptly one-shotted next chapter when shit just barely hits the fan.
Where the fuck did i say i say i want Saitama to struggle lmfao, you realize there's more than one way to introduce tension ? This chapter did it well with him getting pissed, for once he's not being reduced to a meta plot device. If that's what you're into be my guest though. Reason i hate this fandom is for vilifying those of us that couldn't care less for this tired shit. I'm all for original and interesting ways to defy tropes, not being fed the same tired fuckery till the end of the series.
Ah yes, because only shonens can have stakes. It's baffling how far some of you will go to excuse your love for formulaic garbage.
That "stomp" was still a drawn out battle unlike anything that was shown before. Many of you are asking for Garou to get abruptly one-shotted next chapter when shit just barely hits the fan.
Where the fuck did i say i say i want Saitama to struggle lmfao, you realize there's more than one way to introduce tension ? This chapter did it well with him getting pissed, for once he's not being reduced to a meta plot device. If that's what you're into be my guest though. Reason i hate this fandom is for vilifying those of us that couldn't care less for this tired shit. I'm all for original and interesting ways to defy tropes, not being fed the same tired fuckery till the end of the series.
All right. I understand what you mean about it being formulaic. Also there were stakes or tension before too. Just that the moment Saitama entered the scene, that went away. The deep sea king fight is a good example. But you cant have stakes/tension AND saitama at the same time. For that, something has to be sacrificed.
In this instance, that was the absence of Saitama after gamma ray burst. For a guy that can travel from the moon to earth in seconds, what kept him away for long enough that Garou had time to do the shit he did?. I guess if they can explain and make it make sense, im fine with it too. So we'll see in the next chapter.
Here's the big problem. Why would Saitama not one shot Garou abruptly next chapter?
He already underestimated him and it cost him Genos. So he'll humor Garou next chapter and pull his punches so garou can hang with him a little longer before getting one shot?.
Saitama is seriously pissed here right?. And if a pissed of Saitama cant one shot Garou, or Garou somehow survives him, then wouldn't you say Saitama is struggling? That's what i was talking about.
Anyway, as you said, art is entirely subjective. So i am gonna wait for the next few chapters to see if my fears were right or if i was a complete dumbass who couldn't understand what they were going for.
In this instance, that was the absence of Saitama after gamma ray burst. For a guy that can travel from the moon to earth in seconds, what kept him away for long enough that Garou had time to do the shit he did?. I guess if they can explain and make it make sense, im fine with it too. So we'll see in the next chapter.
Here's the big problem. Why would Saitama not one shot Garou abruptly next chapter?
He already underestimated him and it cost him Genos. So he'll humor Garou next chapter and pull his punches so garou can hang with him a little longer before getting one shot?.
Saitama is seriously pissed here right?. And if a pissed of Saitama cant one shot Garou, or Garou somehow survives him, then wouldn't you say Saitama is struggling? That's what i was talking about.
Anyway, as you said, art is entirely subjective. So i am gonna wait for the next few chapters to see if my fears were right or if i was a complete dumbass who couldn't understand what they were going for.
C
Yep, the DSK arc provided the balance i’m talking about. Gags but overall gives you the sense the story is going somewhere.
You know what, fair point about Saitama one-shotting him, it makes sense at this stage. I’m just curious what would come out of him being matched properly for once. Who knows when we’ll get a fight of this scale again.
Sorry if i see a bit heated btw, it’s Zolo’s mindless ranting that initially pissed me off.
You know what, fair point about Saitama one-shotting him, it makes sense at this stage. I’m just curious what would come out of him being matched properly for once. Who knows when we’ll get a fight of this scale again.
Sorry if i see a bit heated btw, it’s Zolo’s mindless ranting that initially pissed me off.