One-Punch Man Explains Garou's Hero Connection

Fans are loving One-Punch Man season 2 episode 3, which brought a mix of the big action and hilarious comedy the manga is famous for, with some nicely polished animation, to boot. The episode was titled "The Hunt Begins" and it gave us ou first real in-depth look at psychotic new villain Garou.

Garou sets out on his mission to take out a lot of the top heroes of the Hero Association, and does so in quick fashion, beating down heroes like Tank Top, Golden Ball, and Spring Mustachio. As news of Garou's violent hero-killing campaign and "Fist of Flowing Water" martial arts technique spreads throughout the hero community, the mystery of his origin also begins to come to the forefront. That's when we learn that Garou ins't just terrorizing the Hero Association community - he used to be a part of it!

We actually first heard of Garou's Hero Association past in One-Punch Man season 1 episode 10 ("Unparalleled Peril") - but that was nearly half a decade ago, so it's okay if you don't remember. We're reminded in this latest season episode that Garou was actually the former best student of Bang, the S-Class (No. 3) hero, who is a renowned martial arts master. Garou's obsession with monsters led to him going on a rampage, taking out all but one of Bang's disciples. After being banished from Bang's dojo, Garou went on to train himself, gaining formidable power for his long-awaited hero hunt, which has now begun!

Of course, the end of One-Punch Man season 2 episode 3 reveals that Garou is not nearly as powerful as he may like to think. While out taking a casual night stroll, Garou accidentally bumps into Saitama, who is wig shopping. Mistaking Saitama for a hero attempting to subdue him, Garou tries to take Saitama out with one blow - only to find the aloof hero is impervious to his attack. However, Garou quickly finds that he is not nearly as immune to Saitama's power: annoyed by what he thinks is an attempted mugging, Saitama knocks Garou out in one blow.

Earlier in season 2, Garou promised the Hero Association that he would be taking six months to boost his power even higher, to the point where he can 'walk through the front door' of the organization and slaughter any heroes standing in his way. Thanks to Saitama, he now has a measure of the new bar he needs to reach!

One-Punch Man Season 2 is now streaming on Hulu, and on Crunchyroll outside of the United States. The season is directed by Chikara Sakurai (Naruto Shippuden episode director), with new production studio J.C. Staff taking over for Madhouse. Yoshikazu Iwanami serves as sound director, and Chikashi Kubota contributes new character designs.

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