One Punch Man Gets The Honest Trailer It Deserves

Leave it to the guys over at Screen Junkies to ask the right kind of anime questions. The popular Youtube channel may be known for its live-action film commentaries, but not even anime is safe from its Honest Trailers. Not long ago, the channel debuted a brand-new Honest Trailer Anime, and the video turns its gaze to one of the industry's most popular series.

That's right; It's time to hit back at One Punch Man.

The video begins by framing the anime with a blunt caption. "One Punch Man: the story of a world where being Earth's Mightiest Hero makes a man so depressed that he loses all his hair and wears pajamas every day," Screen Junkies writes.

In the trailer, the channel says One Punch Man tells the story of what would happen if Superman got "really, really bored of his job."

As the video moves forward, Screen Junkies points out some of the anime's most noteworthy pitfalls. The channel questions why the Hero Association is ranked based on popularity rather than merit. However, much like life, the anime organization doesn't operate in a way that is fair.

When it comes time to introduce Saitama and Genos, the pair have plenty of jokes cracked on them. The bald hero is poked at over his inability to handle life's little annoyances, and the cyborg has his face compared to Nick Carter. Still, the roast isn't bad; The trailer only gets testy when it takes time to lambast One Punch Man's villain knockoffs.

Ah, the joys of parodying a parody.

"Get ready for the anime you never knew you needed as One Punch Man turns all the action anime tropes you knew on their heads while staying true to what you really want: gratuitous violence and action," Screen Junkies concedes before addressing Saitama's ridiculous workout regimen. In the end, the husky narrator admits he'd rather be fat than to stick to the hero's routine.

For those unfamiliar with the One Punch Man series, here is a summary of the plot from Viz Media:

"Nothing about Saitama passes the eyeball test when it comes to superheroes, from his lifeless expression to his bald head to his unimpressive physique. However, this average-looking guy has a not-so-average problem—he just can't seem to find an opponent strong enough to take on!"

The series first started as an ongoing web-comic by the author that goes by One, in early 2009. The comic went viral and so a full remake and publication of the series began in 2012 on Shueisha's Young Jump Web Comics website. Viz Media brought the manga to America in 2016 in the Weekly Shonen Jump digital magazine. One Punch's anime series was created by Madhouse and first aired in Japan in late 2015, and was dubbed for English in the summer of 2016. The anime and manga both have had huge international success and recognition since release, winning New York Times Manga's Best Sellers List, was nominated for an Eisner Award, and the anime was also featured on the popular Toonami block.