One-Punch Man Tests Saitama’s Martial Arts Skills

One-Punch Man’s second season gave Saitama a new goal to strive for. While the first season had Saitama facing all sorts of monsters in the hopes of a challenge, the second season has turned his attention toward more human opponents as he wants to dig into the world of martial arts. This lead him to donning a hilarious disguise and entering a big martial arts tournament in the hopes of getting a good fight and winning the huge prize.

As a monster invasion brews outside of the arena, the latest episode brought the martial arts tournament to a surprising end. But before Saitama found himself disqualified, he was able to test his understanding of “martial arts” against the powerful Suiryu.

Suiryu was confident in his ability and power, and when Saitama proved to be much stronger, Suiryu lost his cool and unleashed an onslaught of powerful attacks and flurries. Suiryu then asks if Saitama has fully grasped martial arts, and Saitama comes to conclusion that “martial arts are essentially moves that look cool.” He angers Suiryu with this “shallow” remark, and twists the knife even further when he suggests he’ll use the same kind of spinning technique Suiryu did.

When Saitama starts spinning around, Suiryu tries to go in for one final attack but Saitama’s butt knocks him clear across the arena and Suiryu is left unconscious. Unfortunately for Saitama, this is the most he’s able to test his “cool moves” against an opponent as he’s soon chased out of the arena for faking his identity. But this is a much bigger moment for Suiryu, whose whole foundation has been shaken after facing someone so strong. At least one of them will have a better understanding of martial arts from her on forward.

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), for new production studio J.C. Staff. Yoshikazu Iwanami serves as sound director, and Chikashi Kubota contributes new character designs. The second season will run for 12 episodes, and Viz Media has licensed the season for an English release.

Viz Media describes One-Punch Man Season 2 as such, “Saitama is a hero who only became a hero for fun. After three years of “special training,” he’s become so strong that he’s practically invincible. In fact, he’s too strong—even his mightiest opponents are taken out with a single punch. Now, the great seer Madame Shibabawa’s prediction about the Earth being doomed seems to be coming true as the frequency of monster incidents escalates. Alongside Genos, his faithful disciple, Saitama begins his official hero duties as a member of the Hero Association, while Garou, a man utterly fascinated by monsters, makes his appearance.”