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theomnicode · 2 months

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Meta for the Ninja Arc (so far)

I thought about reviewing the chapters 195-202 (fan numbering), but summarising the action was annoying me, so let's just skip to the good stuff! This arc has been a grower: what it lacks in up-front showiness it makes up for in depth once you take the time to reread and think about it. I'm just going to pick up on a few things.

Recontextualisation

I have been thinking a lot about how much what we make of the information we receive depends on what we already understand [1]. I've written a bit about ONE's use of salience within the story. This arc though, I'm going to talk about recontextualisation and how important it is to be able to look back and understand events and even people anew in the light of new information.

This has been a huge thing for Flashy Flash. Many years ago, he and Sonic sneaked into a forbidden section of their village and saw many strange things that made no sense to them at the time. It's only very recently, after hearing about the enemy that is 'God' and Blast's efforts to counter him (chapter 173) that things started to make sense to him.

It's only after seeing Gale Wind and Hellfire Flame, not as monsters, but as the former security guards who had trounced them for trespassing that 'where' he'd seen the cube before came back to Flashy Flash, as did the significance of the sights they'd seen. And then it all started to fall into place, reinforced by his going back to the Village to find it destroyed in what he had now come to recognise as Blast's signature attack pattern.

Of course, Flashy Flash has terminal Main Character Syndrome, so he's tried to organise things so that he's the one who takes down Empty Void and reaps the accolades. It's kinda backfired but we'll come back to that in a bit.

There's another bit of recontextualisation that is not so explicit but I think is just as important. It's clear that the Tenninto were no match for Flash and that he could have killed them any time. It's also been established that Flash has never hesitated to kill anyone who came after him. It's been his policy after all. So what gives in his sudden rush to mercy?

As the chapters have gone on, it's become clear that Flashy Flash has come to see the Tenninto as fellow victims of Evil Void's dehumanising process intended to turn them into potential vessels for 'God'. Something else that Flashy Flash is probably responding to is that rehabilitating Village members was once Sonic's dream, and there's a part of him that would love nothing more than to help make it happen. Of course, if you point that out to him he'll tell you to stop being stupid.

It's amazing but Flash is outraged at the way he and his fellow victims are seen as things to be used, abused, and discarded as Void pleases, and he's looking to get justice for all of them.

Ah yes, Sonic. It's been clear that Sonic has been a much better friend to Flash than he has to Sonic, and yet, yet it would seem that Sonic is the one person he cares most deeply about: anything bad happening to Sonic would devastate him. He just has a funny way of showing it.

An irresistible vision. To think that in his heart, this is what Flashy Flash most wants.

We hope he comes to do better.

Insight

Let's talk about Sonic now. For many years now I have been hoping that something would happen to shock Sonic out of his futile rounds of attacking Saitama, being beaten by Saitama, training maniacally, attacking Saitama... his world has become very small and circular, like a round circle.

I had fantasised about maybe Genos grabbing him mid-attack and stuffing him into a narratively-convenient bin without so much as breaking stride. Something so outrageous that he could no longer ignore the need for him to change. The webcomic has sidestepped solving this problem by gifting Sonic some magic scrolls and a sword and just not having him cross paths with Saitama again. The manga is tackling the problem head-on.

Something I have loved, loved, loved about ONE is that he hasn't hesitated to give characters what they've earned. There's been enough morons bellyaching about the two not being neck-and-neck in skill like they were in the webcomic. Sonic's not weak in the manga -- Flashy Flash has experienced more battles and has had to struggle and learn more and so he's been able to progress to the point that he's left his friend in the dust.

Translation: The Back Of A Friend I Once Stood Shoulder-to-Shoulder With. There'd have been a lot less bellyaching if the translators had translated this bit.

That's the shock Sonic needed to open his eyes to the stupidity of his actions. More than that shock, seeing what Flashy Flash has been able to achieve has given Sonic the inspiration to strive for, achieve, and surpass what Flash has accomplished. His fire is back in a good way.

More than that though, the disrespectful way in which Sonic was offered more monster cells rather than a more interesting vision peaks to two things, external and internal.

Externally, it speaks to the way that we tend to think that people are only what they first show us while we understand ourselves to be complex creatures with many competing moods and wishes. Empty Void had heard that Sonic had once reached for a monster cell and assumed that he knew the sort of guy Sonic was: someone whose inferiority complex was such that he'd reach for any offer of power. But of course, that's not Sonic. Sonic has been the stubbornest person ever, who has been able to keep his sense of self despite the Village's best efforts. He reached for a monster cell because even the strongest person can despair, at least for a while.

Internally, man, the bleakness of Sonic's life is such that he doesn't have anyone to offer him a nice fresh monster cell and the monster cells must perforce cook themselves to offer themselves to him... he looks to no one and believes in none. That's painful to see.

When we think of how close he and Flash used to be, the bitterness of his mocking the prisoners for depending on each other grows sharper every time we learn a bit more about him. I don't know if he'll ever forgive Flash for betraying him.

Yes, there's a betrayal right on screen now: that of Blast by Empty Void. Blast thought they were in the business of putting God out of business but Void was using him to obtain cubes so as to raise an apostle of God.

Longer Blast: I'm not mad. I'm just very, very, very disappointed.

That said, I'm not going to let Blast off the hook entirely. He has some explaining to do!

Complicity

Blast has a lot of explaining to do. Sure, he's been refreshingly honest about what he's been doing with monster experiments, and his link to 'That Man'.

I have a feeling that Flash has been too quick to absolve Blast of blame.

We know that Blast and Empty Void went back at least 20 years. And yeah, we can just about buy that he didn't know his partner was fixing to betray him. However, given that we know that the Village takes young boys and that there were at least 43 graduating classes before Flashy Flash escaped years ago, that means that the Village had been a thing for at least 50 years. How long has Blast known about Empty Void's activities? Did he turn a blind eye to it? Or was it not a problem until it bit him in the ass? [2] What else is Blast permitting that shouldn't be?

We need answers.

I am very invested in seeing how this arc ends and what else it'll lead to.

Asides

[1] A very neat non-fictional example: this man escaping from his pursuers by lying down and thus changing their understanding of him to 'homeless guy'.

[2] A part of me notes that Blast falling out with Empty Void and beating the shit out of him coincides neatly with the time Blast's son was born. Maybe shit became a bit too real for him to ignore.

#OPM #one punch man #opm meta #review #long #Blast #Flashy Flash #Speed o' Sound Sonic

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theomnicode · 2 months

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Happy Valentine’s!

#opm #one punch man #saitama #genos #genosai #saigenos #fanart

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theomnicode · 2 months

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don’t feel like touching anything but my sketchbook these days

#opm #one punch man #saitama #genos #genosai #saigenos #fanart

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theomnicode · 3 months

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"It struggles but it still obeys" -- OPM webcomic chapter 150 review

Summary

The trap we've been waiting to see sprung has finally started to close. Everywhere we look, the triumphant Neo Heroes are stopping, stuttering, and freezing, their pupils fixed and dialated like a corpse's. Then, they move, reanimated to a new existence, one they have no control over. Only lucky individuals who've modified their suits in some way -- or had them broken -- have escaped. And as Accel, Puri Puri, and Amai Mask will testify, the new Neo Heroes attack former allies savagely on sight.

Elsewhere, we see Genos encounter 'Boros's' brain-dead corpse. It has been kept functional on life support in the second of Metal Knight's labs. Noting that the creature is an incredibly powerful one that can't be allowed to rampage. Genos nevertheless feels for it: it's being kept alive to fight. Like him. While Google Translate isn't the best, the translation it comes up with, of Genos saying that at least one of them should have an easy escape when he moves to kill 'Boros', really hits hard.

We see how clearly Genos sees the situation he's in. The rampaging cyborg screwed him out of his past and any social context. Dr Kuseno screwed him out of a future. And now Saitama, the lackadaisical, uncaring Saitama, has been screwing him out of any chance to salvage anything of value out of his situation. Damn straight he's angry.* And in a hurry. There better be a kindly deity willing to pour cooling water on Dr Bofoi's soul, for unless there's a miracle of understanding to stay Genos's hand, that soul is about to be parted from its body with flames so hot it'll arrive in the afterlife still on fire.

Speaking of the lackadaisical Saitama, he's been doing a good job of eliminating the robots wherever he's encountered them. Blue follows the trail of the storm of robot parts he's been flinging hither and thither and accidentally gets steam-rollered by Saitama. That's where the chapter ends.

When we'll continue, your guess is as good as mine.

Meta

Insects. That's all that people are worth to The Organization. It's been nearly three years since I first pointed out the difference between the cyborgs we'd been seeing to date to what the Neo Heroes were doing. I brought up this harrowing reality of using insects as cyborgs and forcing them to move according to an operator's instructions:

youtube

"It struggles but it still obeys," is what the lead scientist says. In the story, we see human beings living this reality. Raiden must have incredible willpower: despite everything, he's able to stutter a few words to Puri Puri, begging the latter to save him from his torment even as he rains blows down on the hero.

Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePunchMan/comments/1agdu1y/translation_of_raidens_muttering_webcomic_spoiler/

For luckless souls who fall into the tender mercies of Erimin and Destro and their 'recovery' capsules, there's an even crueler fate waiting. I'll save that for another day. We'll find our way back to what's happening at Neo Hero HQ in time.

Yes, we the readers have been sitting on high being fed the answers to the evil behind the Neo Hero facade. We may not know who is ultimately responsible, and we may not yet know why, but we know a lot and a lot looks 'obvious' to us. However, the characters in the story can only discover the reality based on the evidence they actually have access to and what they already know/think. ONE is very strict on rules of evidence. If it's taken various individuals until now to start to know, it's not because they're stupid. Never think that, oh person given the answers from the back of the book.

The question is what are the individuals who have begun to understand what's happening going to do? They're all scattered in a deeply hostile and dangerous world -- and there isn't much time to do something before civilization is too broken and cowed to function.

That is, of course, the most urgent problem. Speaking of saving civilization, is the Hero Association going to be saved? But there are other urgent problems. Like, one cannot help but worry that Dr. Bofoi is the wrong target to eliminate. He surely deserves some karma but it may well be a gross miscarriage of justice. What's going to happen there? What's going to happen with 'Boros' (I'm not going to take away the quotations until the critter has a mind of his own again)? And really, who truly is behind all this and what do they want?

Tune in sometime in the future to find out.

Aside

*Yes, I have a lot more to say about this, but I need first to set the context to what I'm going to say. So look for additional meta. Nag me if I'm tardy!

#OPM #OPM webcomic #review #one punch man #opm meta

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theomnicode · 3 months

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#opm #one punch man #saitama #genos #vampire au #fanart

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theomnicode · 3 months

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Don't ask him twice

#opm #one punch man #saitama #genos #genosai #saigenos #fanart

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theomnicode · 3 months

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As if a storm with a will of its own passed through.

Webcomic page redraw, for fun. I was awestruck by how impactful it is, and I decided to somewhat redraw it in my style, sorta. More like added stuff I use, like motion blur and a 3D effect, to really feel it's moving, and the bots fill up the screen. It was fun.

I was wondering if I should draw it in Saitama's manga suit, but ultimately decided to leave that up to Murata. This is a wc redraw after all, so I made sure to stick true to form, including the webcomic canon that Saitama didn't get his outfit from a tailor friend, but rather just on an online party catalogue. The tailored hero outfit is strictly manga/anime canon. I tried my best drawing Blue's suit lmao, it's really difficult to dissect the finer details of ONE's rough style.

#one punch man #opm #OPM webcomic #fanart #Blue #Saitama

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theomnicode · 3 months

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The OPM Webcomic in 2023

This is late: it's deleted itself three times, damn!

By the Numbers

There is a reason I call ONE the bad boyfriend. He’s exciting, unpredictable. Swans up, love bombs us with interesting webcomic updates, then ghosts us for months and we can’t say anything as we see him gallivanting around working on other things… and just as we start giving up, he’s back! It makes everything he gives us feel extra precious.

On the other hand, Murata is the good boyfriend. Steady, reliable, shows up when he says he will, lets us know if there’s been a change of plans, and we often have an idea of what to expect from him. It’s easy to start taking him for granted, or even to feel entitled, but that’s a mistake.

So, after ghosting us all of 2022, ONE has returned in 2023 and given us 8 updates! All have been between 16 and 20 pages long.

By the Story

The only game in town is genocide

The problem that Genos has is that he is so very easy to dismiss. He has come to us with wild stories about out-of-control cyborgs destroying absolutely everything in sight, improbable survivals, mad scientists, and blood quests. In a world that is to all intent and purpose a sober, serious, modern world. One that yes, is plagued by monsters, but where apocalyptic destruction by cyborgs is nowhere in sight. So it's easy to think less of what he's got to say. His stories since have only gotten wilder and more improbable… only they're absolutely true.

Finally, the truth of what Genos has been saying, and the thing he's been desperate to prevent, is evident. And it's too late to say that he's right. I'm going to stop here for a second to invite the reader to consider what it takes to kill. Go to a mall with a gun and shoot at least one person? Easy. Shoot and kill at least one person? Probably not too bad. Kill several? Harder. Kill EVERYONE given that there are lots of exits? Are you kidding? It would take sustained bombardment, not a guy with a gun. We see in OPM world that scary and terrifying as monsters are, the death toll they inflict is much smaller than you'd initially expect, even allowing for the presence of heroes. It is really, really hard to kill a lot of people -- people don't sit still and wait for death. So for one individual to walk into town and leave nothing standing and no one alive is an extremely deliberate action of incredible violence. Back to the story. Now, we're no longer talking about the extermination of one town full of people. We're seeing the simultaneous, systematic destruction of multiple entire cities.

Not a single one of the owners of these voices is left alive.

Against such evil, who can prevail?

Well, heroes will, of course. But what's this? Something a couple of Neo Heroes (Ryomon in an interview and Accel when he pressed a suit onto Mumen Rider) said earlier on in chapter 138 about pro-heroes getting culled is coming to pass literally. We've seen for a while that the Neo Heroes appear to be on scene first to deal with monsters. Appear to have the right tools to defeat the monsters effortlessly when it's a brutal struggle for the pro-heroes. Child Emperor has been giving the situation the side eye for a long time as he's noticed that many of those monsters appear to have been modified.

Now it all comes together. While the robot army appears largely hapless in front of the Neo Heroes, it's a different story for the Pro Heroes. The S-Class heroes are managing but the other pro heroes are being overrun. Lightning Max gets not just targeted, but his feet, his specialty weapons, shot out from under him. Fortunately for him, Mumen Rider, no, sorry, Neo Mumen, comes to his rescue. Some other heroes are not so lucky: Bun Bun Man is killed. :( As the surviving pro heroes note, this is a systematic slaughter.

Things are no better at Hero Association HQ. There is nothing half-assed about the robots being sent to target them: at least four million mill around, hemming in the few heroes there and preventing any help from reaching them. Not that there will be help coming their way...

It's a different story for the Neo Heroes. They're working hard to save people, but increasingly, we realise they're in no danger. Even when they can't cope with the robots, all that happens to them is that the robots blow past them. Webigaza is so outraged and stricken by the sight of the neighbourhood she grew up in being obliterated that she pushes herself far too hard -- we hope someone grabs her before it's too late for her.

There is one hero who doesn't appear to be working. Drive Knight appears to be just robot spotting. Maybe he works when we're not looking but he seems to be just enjoying the show.

And what about the people who aren't heroes? Well, anyone with the means to fight back is being targeted too: a group of vigilantes who sometimes take out monsters were eliminated first thing. The Machine Gods are also active, targeting S-Class heroes and powerful individuals like Garou (yes, he's found another job!) and Sonic alike.

Why? Ah, you'll have to see the next section.

In war, truth is the first casualty

A lot of what's happening isn't entirely surprising to us as readers having the luxury of seeing things from high up, but our knowledge doesn't matter. It's how the characters within the story, particularly the characters with the wherewithal to do something about it, make sense of what's going on.

As you might imagine, the tables being tipped in favour of the Neo Heroes means that they're getting cheered on by the general public while the pro-heroes, even those strong enough to make a difference, are increasingly scorned.

The Machine Gods have no trouble explaining what's going on, if you care to ask them a direct question. Zombieman willingly allows himself to be beaten down and be taken to their headquarters to find out. Eguro tells him that in the new world, humans won't have their pesky free will and will thus be happy. They're here to capture and eliminate or reform the 'irregularities,' the exceptionally strong individuals capable of giving them problems.

Elsewhere, we have Genos going through Metal Knight's laboratories. As of the end of the year, he'd gotten through the first one.

Someone else with beef with Metal Knight is Child Emperor. He has finally put together the source of the robots and goes to confront Metal Knight. We leave off without a conclusion, but what transpires is interesting. Reasoning that it's unlikely that Metal Knight would be so careless as to leave his fingerprints on the robots now attacking the world, it's likely that someone is trying to frame Metal Knight. However, his erstwhile mentor isn't off the hook. Has he abandoned his humanity in an attempt to finish an uncontrollable AI?

We leave off with a tense standoff between Isamu and Bofoi, the old man giving nothing away as he faces off against the increasingly agitated boy.

No idea when ONE will return to this. No idea if Genos will crash the party before we can get those answers.

When you chase sweetness, you drink antifreeze

McCoy is at the nexus of the great deception. His help was instrumental in undermining the Hero Association, stealing data and plans, helping recruit pro-heroes and give vital information on manipulating those heroes. As the attack has progressed, he has been having increasing misgivings. He wanted money and the sweet benefits of enjoying a top position with a hero organization. But he never intended to facilitate evil. He's greedy, not evil.

Everywhere he looks, things are increasingly suspicious. Starting with Mr. Fuzzy, whose precognition appeared to have mysteriously failed just when it would have been most useful. What if he isn't actually a psychic at all? The implications are bothersome, but they fit all too well with the rest of the occurrences. The cold refusal to help the Hero Association in any way, not even to save them. The way the Neo Heroes have been stockpiling fuel, raw materials and an insane quantity of weaponry. The way the two wealthiest heroes have mysteriously started preaching becoming cyborgs and giving away their manpower and wealth to the Neo Heroes. The way he McCoy is being pressured to become a cyborg himself as the way Mr. Fuzzy puts it, there's not going to be a place in this world for anyone who hasn't accepted his (Fuzzy's) implementation of cyborgization.

We end 2023 with the sight of McCoy scrambling in vain to try to get either Superalloy Darkshine or Metal Bat to help. The former refuses and the latter is locked up in a self-healing prison. McCoy tries to retrieve Metal Bat's original metal bat, but he's caught by A and Ryomon. The sweet juice he sought to sip now turns out to be poison. Poison that he notes is going to kill a lot of people. Including himself.

I'm praying 2024 sees this arc reach its climax and end! Pray our Bad Boyfriend is in a generous mood this year.

#OPM #one punch man #OPM webcomic #meta #2023 summary

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theomnicode · 3 months

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Saitama’s favourite heated weighted blanket

#opm #one punch man #saitama #genos #genosai #saigenos #fanart

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theomnicode · 3 months

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Augh, ok I wasn't certain if I could still draw some opm and honestly I was a lil curious how they would look like after what, a year, so some Genos for practice. Intriguing that Murata decided to draw him with sleeves one day, it's like seeing a pink dolphin. I'm honestly just doing whatever.

#opm #one punch man #genos #fanart

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theomnicode · 4 months

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One of the most wholesome things

About the aftermath of the Monster Association showdown in the manga is this image.

Initially, it's yeah, they're having lunch together, big deal. Where Saitama is, his disciple is usually not too far away. However, the story continues and we see that Genos doesn't set foot in Saitama's apartment until he's properly suited and booted and ready for action. He makes it very clear when he's in a position to be a disciple.

Sure, he came out to help Saitama recover their apartment, but that was business.

Here, he's here with Saitama to check out that nice place that Forte recommended because he wants to hang out. He's not here because there's a task to complete. He's not here because he's a disciple. He's here because he genuinely enjoys Saitama's company -- and vice versa.

That makes me so happy.

#opm #one punch man #saitama #genos #opm meta

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theomnicode · 4 months

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The OPM Manga in 2023

By the numbers:

23 updates (most 14 days apart, shortest interval: 9 days, longest: 33 days).

662 pages (range 12 - 41 pages, mean page count: 29 pages).

Volumes published: 2 (Volumes 28 and 29). 1 bonus chapter included in Volume 28 -- Olfaction.

By the story:

Psychics and Temper Tantrums (chapters 176 - 184)

Well, the Monster Association is behind us but the fallout from it is slowly beginning to settle. Most of the heroes are now back at work and some of the consequences of a world that's increasingly scared of monster attacks are beginning to show up. The first quarter of the year was taken up with Tatsumaki's temper tantrum -- and Saitama once again daring a strong person to do their worst -- it's like he didn't learn his lesson with Garou, which disappoints me. [I love Saitama, but when brains were being handed out, he was not at the front of the queue.]

That said, even though I did not care one whit for Tatsumaki throwing Saitama around (it wasn't terrible, but really it could have been condensed into 1-2 chapters), the start of the Psychic Sisters arc was fantastic, and its ending was very interesting. I made a nuisance of myself at the start of it, pestering everyone in earshot with my excitement that Tatsumaki was taking Fubuki into her confidence to try getting Psykos out rather than trying to do everything herself.

Her complex feelings of disappointment, betrayal, and the sense that she'd made a mistake were some of the most complex and nuanced we'd seen in the story. She may be paranoid and misanthropic, but she's not crazy: there's a basis for her actions, and being knocked back just when she'd taken the risk of opening up was harsh. Unfortunately, Tatsumaki's default response is rage.. and I'm not going to waste time on recounting what happened then.

I felt pain for her here.

The end as well, expanding as it did on Tatsumaki's thoughts about how she'd accidentally woken Fubuki's psychic powers by scaring her so badly and the guilt she felt at having made her sister a target, was great. Her feelings about Blast are great, as this is the first time we get what she actually thinks of him. I still want her to learn that Blast doesn't work alone -- it'll blow her mind. The session ending with her giving the Fubuki group a chance to grow stronger and prove themselves is a fantastic development.

Even when she's giving someone a chance she still has to be scary.

Schemes (chapters 184, 187 - 191)

I really love how seamlessly the Psychic Sister arc flows into the next big theme: that of schemes and threats to the Hero Association's future. ONE has done a lot of work reworking the webcomic story so that the storyline is a coherent whole rather than two-three apparently unrelated storylines. Fubuki taking advantage of the chaotic aftermath to extract Psykos while securing immunity for her sister, and Tatsumaki brazenly using the HA's need to keep the rich clients sweet to scupper an investigation into Psykos's whereabouts was all clever. However, they're just amateurs and their antics played beautifully into McCoy's hands, who leveraged the crisis to make himself appear indispensible to the HA, thus making it very hard for him to be removed, even as he works to implicate the Hero Association in scandals (many of which he's running).

You can't call McCoy hasty: this guy has played a good long game.

The Hero Association is already having issues recruiting new heroes as they're going to Neo Heroes, which is also pinching existing heroes. However, it's not 100% going McCoy's way. Something I started praising in my review of chapter 173 is the greater self-efficacy of the characters in the manga. Sekingar and Sicchi haven't just been sitting on their hands watching McCoy sell the HA down the river. They've teamed up with Child Emperor to find out what he's really up to.

I think that this is the best cover of 2023: a collection of individuals who embody heroism, whether or not they're recognised as such or work in 'regular' ways. Well, there's one impostor…

Critically, they're not assuming that the Neo Heroes are necessarily evil: they want to understand what this outfit is actually doing. After all, heroism is heroism, no matter what guise it takes. To see that Sekingar has so earned Metal Bat's respect that the latter follows him into the heart of danger did my heart good [1].

Please, my poor heart, it'll burst if things get much more awesome.

Ninjas, Ninnies, Nintendos (193 - 199, ongoing)

That Blast has some connection to the ninjas from Sonic's Ninja Village has been clear for a long time in the webcomic. [2] However, it is only here in the manga that we're getting a full explanation of what that connection is.

Yes, yes, my partner may be a monster but he's a useful monster.

The intertwined story of Blast and his attempts to reach his former partner, Empty Void, who was also running a horrifying 'school' for grooming boys into assassins, and that of Flashy Flash and Speed o' Sound Sonic isn't done yet, but it looks to be reaching at least one turning point. It's a pity that the fan translators stopped translating the cover text because that for chapter 199 was incredibly pertinent: 'Staring at the back of a friend you used to stand shoulder to shoulder with.' Sonic has so much to process.

And like that, Sonic's world has been turned upside down.

Since Blast has an ongoing relationship with Empty Void, we get troubling questions as to how long Blast had known about the Village and whether he disapproved, or had been content to ignore it as long as he had his partner by his side and found his talents indispensible. It's going to be interesting when those two meet! Also, if Blast is hoping to reverse Empty Void's monsterization, he'd better hope that the guy isn't like most people who became monsters. Most ex-human monsters *want* to be that way and there doesn't seem to be a good way to undo it. Well, maybe if you chop them up, have Phoenixman (oops, he seems to have lost his powers) resurrect them, then shock them incredibly hard, that might work. It's unlikely that anyone present can deduce what happened to Gale Wind and Hellfire Flame, much less put all the working parts of that together.

Still, they're going to try. This *is* going to be interesting. Also, potentially heartbreaking.

Reappearances

Genos: the disciple returns to his duty

Unlike the webcomic, Genos has not been completely absent. He's been quite busy: helping Saitama recover their apartment, meeting the Hero Association to discuss important matters, and also, hanging out with Saitama as a friend rather than as a disciple. It's been fun to see that he's finally ditched his flip phone for a smart one, heheh.

Nevertheless, it's not until Dr Kuseno finishes his new upgrade that Genos sets foot in Saitama's house, formally reporting for duty, so to speak. I praise Saitama's self-discipline and good sense in not breaking eye contact and in politely ignoring his disciple's new-found exhibitionism until he had the sense to put a shirt on [3].

Less positive, it's been painful to see that Genos is frustrated at how he doesn't seem to have grasped the kind of growth he's looking for and is unsure whether Saitama truly sees him. It's not been helped by Saitama trying to reassure him, pulling his best 'Reigen' face and instead made everything worse. There are two interesting shames, which will surely be built on at some point. 1: We see Saitama seeing Genos's strength but he doesn't say anything. 2: Genos is right that the strength that comes from within is different from that granted to one by upgrades. We see in another chapter from Nichirin, that having artificial parts is no hindrance to pulling out that great inner strength. The funny thing is that Genos has shown that kind of strength before, when he was fighting Elder Centipede, but he doesn't know it.

Ah, despite everything, those fools are no better at speaking to each other than they were before! It'd be hilarious if it weren't so tragic.

Rarely have the words 'open your mouth and solve your problems' been more apposite. Sadly, that's exactly what they don't do.

Garou: the other disciple tries to learn duty

Now this really threw a lot of fans for a loop -- ONE making clear that he's aware of how young Garou actually is. It was very easy to read Garou as a guy in his early twenties, but strip away the pretensions and he's really young. His over-simple understanding of what was wrong with the world and his over-large sense of responsibility to fix it are thoughts of a teen. It's just a good thing that teenagers don't have world-shattering power, and so can be extreme and wrong without hurting anyone. But it has really jarred with a lot of fans.

I may be giving Bang the side eye as he implements his idea of reformation (apparently, it involves hitting Garou over the head often), but the sense of lightness Garou feels at having a reliable mentor, the relief he undoubtedly feels at having a way to work his crimes off -- being a social outcast may seem cool in a 'reject-the-corrupt-world' way but it gets old fast -- and being able to contribute meaningfully to the dojo's re-establishment is palpable.

His life is sure to start sucking again soon, but for now, it's a joy to see him.

Let him gambol for now. Go Garou!

King: ugh

Sorry, King just irritates me some days and this was one of them. Not because he was running around trying to find someone who could help him: that was fine. But because, unlike the webcomic, once Saitama told him to work out, he's continuing to stick around and play videogames. In a world where everyone is trying their best to make sense of their world and help themselves in some way, however imperfect, the sight of this poster child for mediocre white men overpromoted for looking the part continuing to laze about just pisses me off.

Let him start helping himself and I will praise him.

He's been told what to do but he's not doing it.

GAY!

This year, ONE said: here, my children, I have brought you a pint of homo milk. Drink. What else are we to make of Fubuki triumphantly cradling Psykos as she makes a clean getaway?

This has to be the smuggest 'got the girl' face I've ever seen.

Or Blast continuing to call Empty Void his partner, despite everything that the guy has done, including turning into a monster? He wants him back so badly, and though he says it's strictly professional interest, we think the man doth protest too much.

And then whatever's going on with these two:

Flashy Flash, you ain't got no business calling Blast soft when you're handing Sonic tissues and smiling at him.

Fandom Follies

Do we need to do this? Yup! This year, we discovered that a lot of dudebros who have been against the idea of romance in OPM have just been shippers afraid to come out and own it. The sheer number of Saitama x Tatsumaki fans has been incredible. Nothing wrong with SaiTatsu but the obnoxiousness of fans new to shipping has been hard to tolerate. Learn some manners, folks!

Asides

[1] I think this is great foreshadowing of something Forte says later in the webcomic to paraphrase, risking your life for another hero is something you do as a favour for a friend, not because someone's declared themselves the boss of you and ordered it. It's nice to see Sekingar embodying that ideal.

[2] It's hard to believe it, but to this day (chapter 149), Blast is not yet seen in the webcomic. At this rate, he'll show up at the very end to get jobbed by God (no ID), but not before giving an over-long exposition about what he's been up to. That is, if he's not already dead, only nobody knows yet.

[3] I can see SaiGenos shippers worried that my saying that it's good that Saitama isn't taking Genos up on his obvious attraction means that I might be disapproving of the ship. That is not the case. I'm going to assume that most of us here are old enough to vote, enter into contracts, and pay taxes and so can think of things with nuance and context. A fandom that needs the reassurance of canon to decide what's permissible is a weak, timid, and pallid imitation of one, and one I want no part of. For certain, we're here to discuss the story as it exists, but please, we're also here to consider and explore scenarios and make works that cannot and often should not exist in the canon because they are FUN. Even more pertinent, ONE is on record as LOVING that fans spend their time and creativity doing things with his stories. So please, don't allow any in-universe discussions on what is helpful or unhelpful in the story affect what you draw and write! PLEASE SHIP! Gimme!

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