This series is a highly addictive blend of comedy, action, and camaraderie between unlikely friends doing their best to be superheroes. It’s sort of like the anti-Watchmen, of there is such a thing. Where Watchmen is veiled in angst and darkness, this is really about an average guy who worries about specials at the grocery store who made himself the most powerful hero on the planet and just wants a challenge and some recognition. The different levels of heroes in the Association provide lots of comic relief as well, particularly Mumen Rider, who’s really just a well-meaning guy on a bike in body armor catching criminals. Still, near the end when he shows a lot of heart trying the impossible to take on an incredibly powerful monster that takes out even the S level heroes, one can’t help but root for the guy.
For those fans of series like Dragon Ball Z and Naruto in particular, this series will hold many similarities, from the driving heavy metal soundtrack to the constant, over-the-top fight sequences. And those sequences are gloriously animated with a style that at times mimics the manga, but with a real sense of kinetic energy and detail and seamless blend of CGI. The character designs and backgrounds are really creative and keep your eyes engaged.
[envira-album id=”101402″]
The Video
One Punch Man is encoded in a beautiful AVC 1080p framed at 1.78:1. I’ve sampled the HD stream of this series on Netflix, which looks solid, but this Blu-ray is legions above that. No color banding, no compression noise, no softness, and excellent colors and contrasts define this reference quality anime release.
The Audio
The original Japanese-language soundtrack and an English dub are both offered up in dynamic mixes with wide stereo imaging and clean, full dialogue encoded in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. The English vocal cast and Japanese cast are pretty evenly matched on this one and the English subtitles are solid, so take your pick. I’m a fan of Japanese original soundtracks, so I go with that as my references, but I can’t complain about this dub at all.
The Supplements
The 6 OVA’s continue the quirky fun and additional swag like the art cards and 96 page booklet make this Limited Edition set well worth the extra coin.
- 2 DVDs with series in standard definition
- OVAs:
- 01: The Shadow that Snuck up Too Close (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:12:30)
- 02: The Disciple Who Stinks at Storytelling (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:11:41)
- 03: The Overly-Complicated Ninja (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:12:06)
- 04: The Excessively Pushy Bang (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:12:06)
- 05: The Sisters with Too Much Going On (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:11:55)
- 06: The Zombieman Murder File (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:12:21)
- English Credits
- Clean Opening
- Clean Ending
- Cast and Staff Interview (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:10:12) – With English and Japanese Cast
- Viz Media Trailers
- 6 Art Cards
- 96-Page full-color booklet includes Chapter 1 of the One-Punch Man manga, interviews with the director and writer, character bios, and more.
The Final Assessment
An action-packed series with stunning graphics and a compelling every-man superhero who packs a powerful punch, One Punch Man offers up great fun mixing together comedy, sci-fi, and monster of the week hijinks. This Limited Edition set provides a good bit of collectibles for otaku, but a standard Blu-ray set is available as well sans the art cards, booklet, and DVDs.
[amazon_auto_links id=”101405″]
Be the first to leave a review.