You know the feeling when a joke just keeps getting funnier the longer it goes on? That’s basically the entire premise of Saitama. When ONE first started sketching the original webcomic back in 2009, nobody expected a bald guy in a yellow jumpsuit to redefine an entire genre. But here we are. The core of the series—the One Punch Man one punch phenomenon—is actually a massive middle finger to everything we thought we knew about power scaling and character arcs. Usually, in anime, the hero struggles. They train. They lose a friend, scream at the sky, and somehow find a hidden reservoir of energy to win at the last second. Saitama? He just shows up, looks bored, and ends it.
It’s hilarious, honestly.
But it’s also kind of tragic if you think about it for more than ten seconds. Most fans come for the spectacle of Murata's incredible art in the manga, but they stay because of the existential dread hiding behind Saitama’s blank expression. He’s achieved everything. He is the pinnacle. And because he can end any fight with a single blow, he’s lost the one thing that made him feel alive: the thrill of the fight.
The Science (and Lack Thereof) Behind the One Punch Man One Punch
Fans love to argue about how Saitama actually got this strong. If you’ve watched the first season or read the early chapters, you know the "secret." It's 100 push-ups, 100 squats, 100 sit-ups, and a 10km run every single day. No AC in the summer. No heater in the winter. A banana for breakfast is fine.
Genos, his cyborg disciple, calls it "total BS." Most of the characters in the Hero Association think he's lying.
Breaking the Limiter
The actual explanation, provided by Dr. Genus of the House of Evolution, revolves around the concept of the "Limiter." In the world created by ONE, every living being has a natural ceiling on their physical and mental potential. God—or whatever governing force exists in that universe—put it there to keep people from losing their minds or their humanity. You can train as hard as you want, but eventually, you hit a wall.
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Saitama didn't just hit the wall. He ran through it until the wall stopped existing.
By pushing himself through mundane, repetitive pain while being an "ordinary" human with no special bloodline or alien DNA, he supposedly broke his limiter. This is why the One Punch Man one punch works on everything from giant subterranean kings to cosmic threats like Boros. It isn't that Saitama has a power level of 9,001; it’s that his power level is effectively "N/A." He is as strong as he needs to be to win. Which is to say, infinitely strong.
The Problem with Infinite Power
Imagine playing a video game where you have a "God Mode" cheat turned on. It’s fun for about twenty minutes. Then, you realize there’s no stakes. You can’t die. You can’t lose. That is Saitama’s daily life.
When he lands that signature hit, the impact isn't just physical. It’s the sound of another hope dying. He wants a rival. He wants to feel his heart race. Instead, he just gets groceries on sale. The juxtaposition of his god-like combat ability and his obsession with "Saturdays are 20% off at the supermarket" is why the series works. It grounds the "One Punch Man one punch" in a weirdly relatable reality. We all want to be the best, but Saitama shows us that being the best is actually pretty lonely.
Why the Animation Matters (The Madhouse vs. J.C. Staff Debate)
We can't talk about the impact of Saitama’s power without talking about how it looks on screen. Season 1, produced by Madhouse and directed by Shingo Natsume, was a lightning-in-a-bottle moment for the industry. They brought in freelance legends like Yutaka Nakamura to animate the fights. When Saitama finally threw a "Serious Punch" against Boros, the sheer scale of the animation—the parting of the clouds on a global scale—made the One Punch Man one punch feel earned, even if it was effortless for him.
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Then Season 2 happened.
J.C. Staff took over, and the vibe changed. A lot of people hated it. To be fair, following up Natsume’s work is like trying to paint a masterpiece while someone is throwing rocks at you. The "punch" lost some of its visceral weight. It felt more like a standard anime strike rather than a reality-shattering event. This shift in quality actually proved how much the visual storytelling matters for this specific character. If we don't feel the power of the hit, the joke doesn't land. The tension between the "Normal Punch" and the "Serious Punch" needs to be visually distinct for the narrative irony to work.
Misconceptions About Saitama’s "Gag Character" Status
A big debate in the manga community is whether Saitama is a "gag character" (like Arale from Dr. Slump) or a "parody character."
- Gag Characters: They break the laws of physics for a laugh and have no consistent internal logic.
- Parody Characters: They exist within a world with rules, but they represent a satire of specific tropes.
Saitama is a parody character. The world around him is deadly serious. Mumen Rider gets beaten to a pulp trying to do the right thing. Genos is constantly being turned into modern art by villains. The stakes are real for everyone except Saitama. That distinction is vital. If he were just a gag character, his search for meaning wouldn't be moving. But because he exists in a world where people actually die and cities are actually leveled, his boredom carries weight. He is a guy who accidentally cheated at a game he really wanted to play properly.
What the "Serious Series" Really Represents
Whenever Saitama uses a "Serious" move, like the Serious Punch or Serious Side Hops, he isn't actually trying his hardest. He's just being slightly less lazy. During the fight with Garou in the manga (specifically the Monster Association arc), we saw the absolute limit of what the One Punch Man one punch implies.
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In that fight, the scale went from "city-level" to "multi-solar system level" pretty quickly.
But even then, Saitama wasn't "maxed out." The manga explicitly showed a graph of his growth. Because Garou was getting stronger, Saitama's power responded by growing even faster, exponentially, leaving the "Hero Hunter" in the dust. It confirmed what fans had suspected for years: Saitama has no cap. He doesn't have a "final form." He just is.
How to Apply the "Saitama Mindset" to Your Own Life
Look, you probably aren't going to go bald and start vaporizing monsters with a single hook. But there is a weirdly practical lesson in how Saitama handles his overwhelming strength and the subsequent boredom.
- Stop looking for external validation. Saitama is the strongest being in the universe, and most of the world thinks he's a fraud. He doesn't care. He does the work because it's what he decided to do. If you're doing something just for the "Rank S" title, you're going to burn out.
- Focus on the process, not the result. Saitama hates that the result is always the same (one punch). He misses the process of the struggle. In your own goals—whether it’s fitness, business, or art—the "win" is actually the boring part. The struggle is where the life is.
- Routine is the "Limiter" breaker. It wasn't a magic potion that made him strong; it was the sheer, mind-numbing consistency of his training. Doing the boring stuff every day when you don't want to is the only real-world equivalent to breaking a limiter.
Moving Forward with the Series
If you're caught up on the manga, you know the story is shifting. We're starting to learn more about "God" and the origins of the mysterious cubes. The stakes are finally rising to a point where even Saitama might have to do more than just swing his fist. For anyone looking to dive deeper, keep an eye on the Murata-drawn manga chapters rather than just the anime; the art detail in the later arcs is genuinely some of the best in the history of the medium.
To really get the most out of the story now, you should compare the original ONE webcomic's pacing with the manga's expanded lore. The manga adds a lot of "fluff," but it also builds out the world in a way that makes Saitama’s eventual intervention feel even more satisfying. Keep track of the "Blast" subplots—they’re the real key to understanding where the ceiling of this universe actually sits. Stop waiting for a "fair fight" for Saitama. It’s never going to happen. The joy isn't in seeing if he'll win; it's seeing how the world reacts when he inevitably does.
Actionable Insights for Fans
- Read the Webcomic: If you want the raw, unfiltered story beats before they get polished for the manga, check out ONE's original work. The art is crude, but the comedic timing is arguably superior.
- Watch Season 1 for Animation Study: If you're interested in how movement is captured, the first season is a masterclass in "impact frames" and "smear frames."
- Follow Yusuke Murata on X (Twitter): He often posts progress sketches and updates on the manga’s release schedule, which can be erratic but is always worth the wait.
- Analyze the Parody: Next time you watch, look at how the villains represent specific shonen tropes (the "evolved" being, the "alien conqueror," the "martial arts genius") and how Saitama’s simplicity deconstructs them.
The One Punch Man one punch isn't just a move; it's a statement on the absurdity of power. Whether he's fighting a god or swatting a mosquito, Saitama remains the ultimate anomaly in fiction.