One-Punch Man Season 2

It would be hyperbolic to say that One Punch Man Season 2 is a bad anime, but it is equally disingenuous to call it good. Though some of the animation is noticeably mediocre (especially when compared directly with it's prequel), the meat of the issues arise with the complete lack of substantial content. This may be the epitome of phoning in what should've been a slam dunk.

Subjectively, something just feels off from the very start. The once crisp, carefully-made, animations have an almost blurry quality to them that never lives up to the predecessor. There is no greater sin than a worse looking sequel. If something made enough money to earn a second go-'round, it should be invested in more, not less.

This entire cour feels like an old fashioned filler arc from a mid-2000's shounen. There is no pay off at the end, not even a decent cliffhanger, episode 12 ends like any other. I have no idea if it's like this in the manga (I haven't read beyond where Season 1 ends), but even if it is, I'm sure the show exasperated the problem. Are we even going to get a third season? Will we have to wait another 4 years? What was the point of these episodes?

Somehow, they've made a satirical super hero anime about a man who can one-hit kill every opponent dull; they even kill a major character off screen in less than three seconds. It's not funny or creative, there's barely even an antagonist, and the main character feels like a sideshow in his own story (which, ironically, is perhaps the most accidental Saitama-esque thing about the season). It's like they really wanted to be Boku No Hero Academia, but were saddled with Saitama's egghead instead.

You can really feel the corporate doldrums throughout. They seem to have made a checklist of things to include in the season and gone about adding them like a record label pushing out some over-produced, trite, pop music. If you're desperate for Saitama, just rewatch Season 1, you'll feel better.

Uninspired is not a word that I thought I would be associating with One Punch Man, but here we are. Looking back, the first season had a few little cracks in it that signaled what was to come, yet that makes it no less disappointing to witness. One Punch Man Season 1 was, and still is, a great entry point into anime, especially in the West. Unfortunately, it's for the best if the community as a whole pretends the second season doesn't exist.