One-Punch Man Manga Review

The biggest highlight of this season has hands down been One-Punch Man. Only one or two anime appear every year that get this kind of hype. And that hype is understandable considering the backstory that this anime has. The manga was initially released as a webcomic by an artist that goes by the name ONE. It went completely viral, surpassing 7.9 million hits in June 2012. Later the series was remade with art done by Yusuke Murata and began publication on Shueisha's Young Jump Web Comics website in 2012. Considering the inconsistent rate at which the new chapters come out, fans had never expected that the series will ever get an anime. When it was announced that the series was going to get anime, and that too done by the western audience's favourite Madhouse, it led to unbelievable amount of enthusiasm among the fans. It was due to these fans that the huge hype was generated and has resulted in the anime getting huge viewership. But does the manga live upto the hype? Here are my thoughts about the series.

I ended up reading the manga after watching eight episodes of the anime since I couldn't live with the anticipation that the episode created with a cliffhanger at the end. I have only read the remake done by Yusuke Murata, since the art in that version is hugely better. But I don't think art plays that big of a role in this series since even original comic with art done by ONE got huge viewership. Anyway, since a version with better art was available, I could not find any reason to choose the original version over the remade one.

The series follows the story of our main character Saitama, who is a hero for fun and has ended up becoming so overpowered that he ends up defeating all his opponents with just one punch(hence the name). The story is actually intended to be a parody of the conventional shonen battle series which usually have an overpowered main character who simply can't lose because he is the mc(or because he has plot armour). Similar to these main characters, Saitama also gains followers as the series progresses. But the big difference here is that Saitama isn't even enjoying this journey. Since, he can destroy all his opponents with just one punch, there is no fun in the battles anymore and everything has become boring for Saitama. The series parodies several characters from other series as well as takes several plot points from other every famous series too. Its fun to recognize what they are referring to as different scenes come up.

The jokes are actually funny and create an great upward experience in the beginning of the series. But they get tiring after a while. I get it that its a parody series, but nonetheless, it should atleast have a moving story. A sign of a moving story was seen when they introduced the existence of Hero Association but that too very soon became just an excuse to introduce a new character in every episode. Character development is almost absent in this series. As the main character is too overpowered, he just keeps on defeating his opponents again and again and thus this kind of story leaves no scope of character development for him. A new villain is introduced in almost every chapter and chapters end with Saitama finishing off his opponent with just one punch. This really lead to the manga getting boring for me in its later part. But then again, I have a critical mind so I guess its natural I wouldn't enjoy this kind of a story that much.

But all is not negative with this series. It has actually in my opinion been very successful in what I believe it was trying to do. Although the series is a parody series, a lot of the fanbase doesn't even realize that. And that just proves that people just love anything that has been put into the shonen formula, even if the whole story is intended to be joke. The so called elites of the anime-manga community have this stereotype of shonen fans about them being kids who are just action hungry and don't care about the plot or characters. People taking this series seriously just proves that in their eyes. Although, I disagree with this view about shonen series as I believe some truly inspiring and meaningful stories can and have been told using shonen mangas, I still think that people really shouldn't take this series seriosly. I see people all over the internet analysing every episode, and making comparisons between powerlevel of the characters and trying to analyse the story, I think they should just stop. If taken for what it is, this manga actually made an enjoyable light read. Just go along with the chapters and absorb yourself into the hype and you would really have a great time.The art is phenomenal and the backgrounds are really detailed so that will also keep you gripped.

So if you are looking for a light comedy series to pass time and want to become part of the huge culture that has been created around this series then go and give it a read. Whether you like it or not will really depend on your taste but still think everyone should give it a go even if just ti become part of the conversation and getting to know the series that has arguably been the biggest highlight of this year.

B Gata H Kei Anime Review: The Ecchi Quest Continues

Since I started watching anime I have always tried to maintain my distance from ecchi. I had this image in mind of bouncing titties and cheesy jokes and always skipped on it thinking I should rather watch porn. I have had several friends recommend it to me repeatedly so I had to finally give in and decided to find out what the hype is all about. Recently I watched Golden Boy and loved every bit of it. But then I quickly realized that that was a rare gem and I am probably not gonna find anything like that again. So now I am watching a more conventional kind of anime that fits a bit more into the general ecchi image. But it was enjoyable and funny nonetheless and did have a moving story and meaningful characters. Let's get into the review.

B Gata H Kei is about Yamada, a 15 years old virgin who goes on the quest to make 100 casual sex friends. She is exceptionally beautiful but at the same time is highly self-conscious about her body and thinks that her vagina looks weird. She thinks that an experienced partner will tease her about her weird vagina and thus wants her first partner to be a fellow virgin. She meets Kosuda Takashi, a very generic looking guy. From his generic looks she deduces that he must be a virgin and thus begins her quest to seduce him. But due to her lack of experience she has no clue of how to go about it and thus begins the journey of Yamada and Kosuda.

When I read the plot summary my first impressions were like isn’t this a bit too much? But then I thought what am I afraid of (I had already watched those toilet licking scenes in Golden Time) so I decided to give it a go. And surprisingly the anime isn’t nearly as crude as its plot summary. Instead I found it to be quite light hearted and easy to watch. It contains a proper storyline and somehow makes the lead character believable even with all her craziness. This is not your typical romance(like in Bakuman, for example) and finds a new and unique way to present it. Even someone like me who is quite impassive was rooting for Yamada and Kosuda actively throughout the show.

The best thing about the show is Yamada herself. Rarely do you get in a show made mostly for men a female character as crazy and open as Yamada. She has no idea about how the world works but her libido level is so high which leads her to doing crazy things. Her mind is completely filled with perverted things but she is still a shy girl who doesn't like it when her true feelings are out in the open. She wants Kosuda to always take the incentive to begin things. Kosuda is equally clueless about what is going on as he is as inexperienced as her. On top of that he is not that good looking so he lacks confidence. This creates a situation where neither of them can express their feelings and thus begins a chain of events where they try to take there relationship forward but fail at it miserably. But those are the scenes where the comedy lies. Just their thoughts and expressions while they are on date and are in uncomfortable situations will make you laugh out loud.

Other characters include Kosuda's neighbour girl and the "ideal housewife" Miyano. She is his childhood friend and secretly loves him. I found her adorable and felt really bad for her when she found out that Kosuda loves Yamada. Then there is Yamada's rival Kyuoka who is too perfect but she is not interested in other boys and only likes and wants her brother(lol). There are more side characters like Yamada's best friend, her little sister, Kosuda's elder sister and more but the characters which steal the show are the Ero-Gamis(Sex Gods). They greatly enhanced the comedy and helped give quick uplifting to the show in some of the slow scenes.

The show has average music but happens to have a great opening and ending song. I completely watched the opening without skipping in almost all the episodes. The opening has that cute feeling and I found it to be strangely addicting. Its the same with the ending but I think the opening was better. The animation is also fine and I didn't feel any problems on that part.

The anime has 12 episodes with no second season. But this is one of those anime for which I want a new season. The ending is not really conclusive but is satisfying. If you find yourself yearning for more you can go read the manga(although I don't plan to) which is complete. The anime had a decent beginning but got slow in the middle. But in the last two episodes you will find yourself laughing like crazy so do watch till the end as you will be missing a lot if you don't! Overall its a cute little anime you should not miss if you are a fan of ecchi.

Golden Boy Anime Review: Ecchi Comedy

So I am only recently starting to get into ecchi anime and was looking for an ecchi comedy and this title came forward in the top recommendations in my search. I must say I wasn't disappointed. This anime is hilarious!

Golden Boy is about a 25 years old, easy going, job hopping, part-timer Kintaro Oe who loves to observe people he comes across on his journey. And of course he meets a lot of women along the way and somehow ends up seducing them(you gotta love ecchi for these crazy plots :p). Character of Kintaro is of a very simple minded yet super intelligent boy who is kind hearted and loves doing new things. I found him quite similar to Onizuka from GTO(except for the intelligence, of course) and this kind of character fits quite well in a comedy setting. We see him going job to job meeting new people and learning about several professions. He is always taking notes which mostly are sketches and measurements of women he meets and occasionally his observations about people. He seems to have a fetish of toilets and really gets turned on by cleaning toilets while imagining women sitting on them(those scenes are hilarious xD). The only thing that always stays with him is his all time partner, his bicycle. He rides it everywhere using it for jobs and we even get a complete episode with his bicycle in the limelight. As the show is episodic, the side characters aren't very complex and mostly include non-important people working at offices with one main female lead in each episode whose life Kintaro dramatically changes with his charismatic personality and surprising actions.

At only six episodes, the anime is very short and is actually a OVA series. Each episode has a separate story but we do get a finale episode which features characters from all six episodes. Half of the episodes are complete crazy with unnatural plots and other half are kind of more serious. You will get plenty comedy in all of them though. I personally liked the crazy episodes more. The anime features mature content with occasional scenes that involve female nudity, orgasms and a lot of sexual settings so parent guidance is recommended. From what I read, the anime is actually a toned down version of the manga, which almost seems pornographic. But I was surprised at the amount of detail it showed in some of the professions it featured.

Art and animations is typical 90s style animation but like most classic anime it just works. I never felt anything lacking on that part. Classic animation has its own taste and can sometimes feel better suited in some settings. The kind of expressions that you get in this anime, the quick transitions from poker faces to surprised perverted faces, I doubt they would come out this good in modern animation. So I don't really have much complains on the animation part.

Music is also on point. There are several OSTs for different situations and all of them work really good for building up and preparing you for the scenes to come. Sometimes sexy peppy songs with english lyrics will pop up in really weird situations that will make the scene even funnier. There is nothing special about the opening track but it works according to the vibe of the anime and even without any lyrics will prove to be memorable and is sure to give you that nostalgic feeling when you listen to it after a while.

Overall Golden Boy is a great anime and is very well written specially for an ecchi. It is short and will keep you gripped. You will find plenty of hilarious scenes with high rewatch value. Watch this anime if you want to lighten up your mood and get a big freakish perverted smile on your face. This is surely a memorable one. Highly recommended!

Who is going to be the 10th member of the Straw Hat Pirates? This theory might surprise you.

The answer is Monet. I know it sounds outrageous and it is but there is some serious evidence backing this theory and I think it is very likely to happen. Let me break it down to you point by point.

1. Monet is alive: But didn't Monet die? No. Her heart was not fully stabbed. Caesar passed out before fully stabbing her heart as you can clearly see in the panel below:

But then why did Monet pass out? Well even Law passed out when Caesar pressed his heart so its possible that Monet just passed out in a similar way but is still alive as her heart wasn't fully stabbed. C-Block was also never shown to be fully destroyed. And anyway characters don't die that easily in One Piece so its very likely that she might be alive.

2. Monet isn't a bad person: We see in a flashback that she is being very nice to the children and doesn't seem like a bad person. I believe that she was the one who threw that "Don't do anything" note to Chopper. She was protecting Caesar because his SAD was important to Doflamingo. Other then that she didn't really care about Caesar and his giant project so she helped Chopper so he can cure the children.

3. Monet is an astronomer: Look at the book in the background of the panel below. It reads "ASTRO" which is short for Astronomy.

In another panel shown below there is this book in the background with "CLIP" written on it which is short for Eclipse. So Monet is studying books on astronomy and it all just points to the fact that she is an astronomer.

4. Strawhats need an astronomer: Ok so Monet is an astronomer, so what? For those of you who don't know, space has a big role in One Piece world. A complete article of itself can be written on this topic so I will just mention it in short here. One Piece world has six moons and it is a well known fact. Don't believe me? Look in the background of the panel below:

It is believed that many different species originate from space and there is a well established theory that claims that Celestial Dragons are from one of the moons. It was mentioned in the cover pages that the Skypian races are from the moon.

But these are topics for another day. Anyway, there is definitely going to be a space arc in One Piece and Strawhats are going to need an astronomer to go to space. It is possible that even Doflamingo appointed Monet because he needed her help for going to space.

5. Trends in One Piece: There are repeating trends everywhere in One Piece. It is full of foreshadowing and symbolism. Dressrosa arc is very similar to Alabasta in many ways. A schichibukai king trying to take control, the real king, reunion with brother etc. How things are going on in New World in general are very similar to how they happened in the Paradise. At the end of Alabasta arc Robin joined Strawhats and she was an ally of Crocodile. Monet is the Robin of Dressrosa. Characters of Robin and Monet are also very similar. So Monet joining Strawhats is going to be continuation of this trend of similar things happening in second half of grand line.
Also there is this pattern in the Strawhat crew that female members have more sophisticated jobs. Nami has the job of a navigator and Robin of an archaeologist. I'm not saying that men in the crew don't have important jobs but their jobs like cook, sniper etc. are much more simple as far as knowledge and complexity is concerned. So I believe the job of an astronomer would go to a female character. There are only two females right now in the crew so the next member should definitely be female anyway.

Now the only question remaining is how she will join the crew. Honestly, I'm not sure. There is a theory that she herself wished to go to space so she joined Doflamingo as she truly believed he will be Pirate King one day. But if Doflamingo dies in Dressrosa then she would have nowhere to go and will join Strawhats as they will seem to be the best bet to fulfil her dream. But this is a complete speculation and she might join in another way and some other event might occur which leads to her joining. But one thing that I'm sure of is that right now she is the best and most logical choice for joining the crew.

P.S. : I sourced a lot of this theory from Alpha2late17 so do check out his channel.

Staw Hats new bounties after Dressrosa prediction

Its almost certain that Straw Hats are going to get new bounties after Dressrosa. Its been a long time time since there last bounties and they have successfully demonstrated that there strength has increased manifold. They have been involved in something that genuinely has a potential of creating a big disturbance in the world. Even Fujitora himself refused to arrest Doflamingo as he knew the extent to which world order could be disturbed by doing so. Doflamingo is a former celestial dragon and even now effectively has the power of one. He controls a large part of the underworld and has ties with one of the yonkous. His going down will create huge waves in the new world which could have long lasting effects. Government takes these kinds of things very seriously as one thing that is most important for the government is balance of the three great powers. And luffy is targeting two of them at the same time. Although there is a chance that when Doflamingo's real face is revealed government will create a big cover up giving credit to Fujitora for saving Dressrosa just like they did in Alabasta (Dressrosa arc is similar to Alabasta in many ways) but even after Alabasta Straw Hats still got a bounty raise despite the cover up. Even if something like that was to happen people who really matter would know who was responsible for what happened in Dressrosa and Luffy will still become an even bigger and more respected name among pirates. So let's get down to it and see what I think will be the new bounties for the Straw Hats:

Monkey D. Luffy (B 400,000,000 --> B 480,000,000)

It has been told many times that bounties don't increase that easily after it goes above 300 million so I don't thing it is going upto 500-550 million as many people have been saying. Let's look at the past for explanation. Luffy's bounty was 300 million after Enies Lobby. After that he defeated a schichibukai, punched a celestial dragon, invaded impel down leading to escape of most dangerous criminals in history, played a major role in war of the best, it was revealed that he had conqueror's haki, he is son of dragon, he is brother of Ace, and after the war he returned to marine headquarters with a former schichibukai and first mate of pirate king and rang the ox bell sixteen times. That's a lot! And still his bounty was increased by only 100 million!
After the time skip straw hats have been involved in creating chaos on Sabaody, defeating New Fishman Pirates (assuming marines know about it as smoker got the information out of a pirate), kidnapping Caesor Clown and other events on Punk Hazard, forming an alliance with Trafalgar Law, and finally the events on Dressrosa including revelation that he is brother of Sabo. Those are big things definitely but this is just the beginning of Straw Hats in the new world and I don't think government is going to give Luffy that big bounty that soon. Bounties in the range of 500 million are possessed by pirates who have stayed in the new world for several years and have been involved in several big events.
One of the main reasons I thing that Luffy will get this bounty raise is due to the strength he has shown. He demonstrated his haki in front of marines in Sabaody by defeating a pacifista in one hit. Also Fujitora with his extra ordinary observation haki has been observing luffy and others very closely. With gear fourth and his great control over all forms of haki, Luffy is now placed in top tier pirates in the new world. Combination of this kind of strength with the danger he poses to the world government is going to lead to this bounty raise.

Roronoa Zoro (B 120,000,000 --> B 210,000,000)

A lot of people are predicting less than what I am saying and lot of them are saying more. Well I think this middle one is about right. The main reason that Zoro is going to get this bounty is because he is widely recognized as the first mate and vice captain of the straw hats. In the past in the Alabasta arc, he was the only one who got a bounty raise except Luffy, and the main reason was because he is the vice captain of the straw hats. After Enies Lobby his bounty doubled. Vice captains are given importance by the marines and he also demonstrated his strength against the pacifista in Sabaody. He also took down Monet in front of Tashigi in a terrifying way. He took down pica with strength that amazed pirates on Dressrosa so much that they couldn't believe he didn't participate in the tournament. So its not unrealistic that he would get a bounty this high. Besides, he is most probably also going to have a big role in taking down bird cage and that would add to his reputation.

Sanji (B 77,000,000 --> B 95,000,000)

Sanji has been away from the island for most of the time in Dressrosa but I think he is still going to get a raise, albeit lesser than others. He was involved in taking down a pacifista at Sabaody, fought with Vergo, and also fought with Doflamingo for a short time while the marines were observing.

Usopp (B 30,000,000 --> B 150,000,000)

This one is the best.  This arc has truly been a great arc for Usopp. He was announced as God Usopp on the whole island and got major pirates of the new world as his followers. A 500 million bounty was put on his head. While some people might disagree, I think that bounties shouldn't really been taken too seriously. Except very strong characters, bounties are generally used as a gag. Imagine Sanji's reaction when he finds out that even Usopp has a higher bounty then him. That scene would be epic!
And even if you keep humour aside, Usopp isn't really a weak character anymore. He just obtained enormous observation haki and if he can learn to use it properly, he can hit people from miles away. He has proved to be a valuable member on several occasions and deserves to be taken seriously.

Nico Robin (B 80,000,000 --> B 100,000,000)

Robin has improved her devil fruit powers greatly during the timeskip. She has been visible several times during the events on Dressrosa and also participated in the fight with Gladius. Another reason why I think she will get this much increase is because her ties with the revolutionary army will become known to the marines.

Franky (B 44,000,000 --> B 86,000,000)

Franky went through a major overhaul during the time skip, he substantially increased his knowledge due to Vegapunk's notes and attained several new powers. He defeated Senor Pink of the Donquixote Pirates and will possible have a role in taking down bird cage. So this much bounty raise is apt for him.

Besides these, Nami, Chopper and Brook will not get any change in the bounty. They have been away for most of the arc and haven't been involved in any major event. But it remains unknown what happened to them and Sanji after they faced Big Mom. So there is an uncertainty towards those events. If something major happened that got noticed by the marines than it may affect their bounties but that seems to be a stretch.

Also, most probably we wouldn't immediately get to know about these changes in their bounties. It would be in the middle of the next arc or somewhere around that time. So many things are happening in One Piece at the same time and I'm hoping the next arc (probably Wano kingdom arc) is going to be even more epic!