One-Punch Man Monster Cells Transforming Ability Revealed

This season of One-Punch Man has thrown down the gauntlet in introducing more monsters than you can shake a stick at. Even with the large amount of monsters to be found as part of the Monster Association, currently threatening humanity from its underground hideout, potential opponents to this gathering are finding themselves offered with a "devil's bargain". The fighters would come to no harm and be allowed to walk away with their lives, if they became monsters themselves.

Gouketsu, the first time champion of the Super Fight Tournament, appeared in front of the remaining combatants and told his origin story of being offered a "Monster Cell". Looking like a twisted fruit akin to something seen in One Piece, the fruit itself would grant the user inhuman strength at the cost of their humanity. Once Gouketsu ate of the fruit, he was transformed into a monster that was a high ranking leader in the Monster Association and wants others to do the same.

Nearly all of the combatants left start devouring the fruit, either deciding that they wanted to live or simply wanted to gain the power-up given to them by the Monster Cells themselves. Most of these same combatants are beaten down by Suiryu, the de-facto champion of the tournament following Saitama's disqualification. However, Suiryu remains no match for the strength of Gouketsu and his raven disciples.

Things go from "bad to worse" as combatant Bakuzan decides not to assist Suiryu, but rather to eat as many Monster Cells as he can get his hands on. After devouring multiple, Bakuzan falls to the ground, seemingly dead, only to arise shortly thereafter as a "Dragon Level threat" similar to Gouketsu. This is all unfortunate news as the monstrous Bakuzan begins to torture Suiryu with reckless abandon. Luckily, Saitama makes a last minute appearance with the episode ending with a tease at the fight between the bald hero and the newly monstrous combatant.

The Monster Cells are delivered to the strongest fighters in order to add to the ranks of the Monster Association, taking the mantra of "why must we fight our enemies, when they can join us?" It should be interesting to see if any other heroes devour the cells themselves and what sort of monsters they change into.

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 reportedly run for 12 episodes, and Viz Media has licensed the season for an English release. They describe 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."