One-Punch Man

Plot

On a supercontinent version of Earth, ravaged by monstrous threats, the Hero Association mobilizes superheroes to defend humanity. Among them stands Saitama, an unaffiliated hero from City Z whose rigorous training regimen granted him invincible strength—capable of ending any battle with a single punch. This absolute power has left him disillusioned, longing for an opponent who can reignite his passion for combat. His solitary existence changes when he encounters Genos, a cybernetic warrior seeking vengeance against the machine that annihilated his hometown. After witnessing Saitama effortlessly defeat the monstrous Mosquito Girl—an adversary who had nearly killed him—Genos becomes…

Production

One began writing the original webcomic of One-Punch Man in 2009. The Japanese shortened name Wanpanman is a play on the long-running children's character Anpanman, with wanpan being a contraction of wanpanchi ("one punch"). One became interested in creating a superhero who was already the strongest in the world. He wanted to focus on different aspects of storytelling than those normally relied on in standard superhero stories, such as everyday problems. One said: "Punching is oftentimes pretty useless against life's problems. But inside One-Punch Man's universe, I made Saitama a sort of guy who was capable of adapting his life to the world that surrounded him, only armed wit…

Manga

The manga remake of One-Punch Man is illustrated by Yusuke Murata. It has been published on Shueisha's Tonari no Young Jump website since June 14, 2012. The chapters are periodically collected and published in tankōbon volumes, with the first volume published on December 4, 2012. A radio drama CD was bundled with the ninth volume released in August 2015. As of March 4, 2026, 36 volumes have been published.

In North America, the series began publication in Viz Media's Weekly Shonen Jump (Shonen Jump Alpha at the time) on January 21, 2013. The first e-book was released in February 2014. In June 2014, One-Punch Man was one of a number of series that Viz made available on the digital…

Anime

Season 1

An anime adaptation was announced in the 15th issue of Weekly Young Jump on March 10, 2015. The first season was directed by Shingo Natsume and written by Tomohiro Suzuki [ja], with animation by Madhouse. The series features character designs by Chikashi Kubota, who also served as chief animation director. The music was composed by Makoto Miyazaki [ja], with art design by Shigemi Ikeda [ja] and Yukiko Maruyama. Ken Hashimoto served as the color key artist, Akane Fushihara served as the director of photography, Kashiko Kimura served as editor, and Shoji Hata served as sound designer. One-Punch Man's first season ran for 12 episodes. …

Video games

On June 25, 2019, One-Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows was announced for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. It was released in Japan on February 27, 2020, and in North America and Europe on February 28 of the same year. On August 22, 2019, a mobile game titled One Punch Man: Road to Hero was released for iOS and Android.

Blizzard Entertainment announced an Overwatch × One-Punch Man crossover collaboration event in February 2023, which ran from March 7 to April 6 of the same year. The collaboration included multiple skins and a custom loading screen; the skins included a Saitama-inspired one for Doomfist, a Genos-inspired one for Genji, a Mumen Rider-inspired one for Soldier…

Reception

Webcomic

The webcomic was a success shortly after its inception, receiving thousands of views and comments within weeks. It received 7.9 million hits by June 2012. According to One, by the time he had written the fifth chapter, he was receiving 30 comments per update (on Nitosha.net, a series was considered "popular" if it consistently received at least 30 comments). The number of comments gradually increased, and by the time One had published the 30th chapter, he was receiving nearly 1,000 comments per update.

Manga

One-Punch Man was one of the Manga Division's Jury Recommended Works at the 17th and 18th installments of the Japan Media Arts Festival in 2013 and 2014, respe…