One-Punch Man's Most Epic Fight is Jaw-Dropping in New Fan Animation

Ahead of the highly anticipated third season of the One-Punch Man anime, one fan has already animated the manga’s most epic fight between Saitama and Garou. While it is unclear if when the anime will even reach that fight (it still has a lot of other chapters to get through first) this animation can satisfy fans in the meantime. In addition, given the drop in art quality in the second season of the show, this animation may even be more satisfying than the eventual version of the fight in the official anime adaptation.

One-Punch Man initially started as a webcomic written and drawn by ONE with art that was a bit lacking. It does certainly hold a certain charm to it, and can enhance the comedic elements of the series extremely well, but it is also not the most pleasing to look at. Eventually, veteran manga artist Yusuke Murata worked with ONE to turn One-Punch Man into a more traditional manga with extremely impressive art. Murata’s art is so good that it can even feel animated to the point that many fans recommend reading the manga instead of watching the second season of One-Punch Man’s anime. This art reached its peak during the Monster Association arc, which culminated in an epic, planet-shattering fight between Saitama and the God-enhanced Garou.

YouTuber landberry has animated the final stages of that fight in an epic YouTube video that is almost ten minutes long. Animating Murata’s already incredibly dynamic art, they are able to give each of the extremely powerful punches featured real weight. They are able to make extremely epic moments like Saitama’s sneeze that blew away half of Jupiter somehow even more awesome through both great animation effects and through awesome sound design. Their attention to detail also elevates more subtle details of the fight, such as causing the universe in Garou’s face to swirl like real stars, giving him an even more ominous sense of power.

The highly detailed and incredibly dynamic nature of Murata’s art can make his work difficult to animate. The stellar first season of the anime was able to capture its feel well and Murata himself was able to brilliantly incorporate animation briefly into a chapter of One-Punch Man itself. However, the disappointing second season shows how badly even moments that were incredibly epic on paper can look when animated poorly. Thankfully, landberry’s epic animation is able to perfectly complement Murata’s style and the video manages to enhance the fight instead of ruining it.

While fan works don’t always live up to the promise and quality of the series they are based on the ones that do can be extremely rewarding for fans of the series. The best fan works can even improve upon the source material they are based on (as fans of many Shonen Jump series can attest). Landberry’s animation definitely falls into this category and fans of One-Punch Man should check it out if they haven’t already.