One-Punch Man’s second season has shifted its focus from Saitama to the newest character Garou, and fans have watched as Garou put himself on the path to becoming a “human monster” as he started to hunt down the heroes. The other major plot brewing in the background because of this is Bang hunting Garou down because he’s his former pupil who’s gone rogue and is using martial arts for misdeeds.
With the second season nearly at its end, it seems these two martial artists will finally clash as Bang arrives toward the end of Episode 11 and challenges Garou to a fight.
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After Garou gets done fighting a wave of heroes looking to make a name for themselves, and Genos right after, Bang soon arrives and lands a powerful kick on him by surprise. This momentarily stuns Garou as just hearing Bang’s voice make him struggle to get to his feet. Bang, however, seems to feel nothing but pity for Garou in this situation. Seeing his former student beaten and bloodied after going on his own self-righteous path, Bang just wants to put him to rest and end it.
As the two of them ready themselves to fight, Bang has a flashback to when he first met Garou as a child. Garou was worn out, and even challenges Bang to a fight. But before he can do so, his stomach audibly growls and he passes out on the floor. And rather than throw Garou out of his dojo, Bang instead feeds him and takes him under his wing.
But the Garou now is a far cry from the passionate kid he met back then. Garou, for all intents and purposes, has indeed transformed into a monster. He even scared off the one kid who didn’t treat him like a monster. It’s because of all of this, Bang’s true purpose for hunting down Garou seems to come to life. It’s not to take down a pupil who’s misusing his martial art, it’s to teach his former pupil and put him back on a less self-destructive path. It’s going to be an emotional clash as much as it is physical.
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.”
