One Punch Man is one of the most popular anime and manga series running today, but the series does not have much merchandise outside of Japan. It seems this is an issue within One Punch Man‘s universe as well.
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The Hero Association has popular heroes, and those heroes understandably have merchandise. But hilariously, like Saitama’s low ranking status, “Caped Baldy”s merchandise is terrible and Saitama has a few choice words for it.
TIL Saitama has his own (shitty) merch in-universe. I doubt I’m the only one to miss this greatness. from r/OnePunchMan
In an extra gag found in the pages of the One Punch Man manga, Saitama holds a funky looking key chain in front of Genos. Saying that the face is “way off,” the keychain is hilariously off-putting and definitely not reflective of Saitama’s true power and status.
Genos, the ever vigilant pupil, vows to talk to the manufacturer (revealing a photo of Saitama as his wallpaper) and asks for them for fix the problem. But before he complains about it, he orders every single key chain they have. The hilarious dynamic between the two proves that even if Saitama’s work and effort is never reflected in the world around him, it’s most certainly enhanced by Genos’ love and dedication to his master.
Illustrator for the Weekly Shonen Jump version of the series, Yusuke Murata also regularly shares art that sets the Internet on fire like his sketches of famous Dragon Ball characters. He previously shared a sketch of the series’ second lead Genos in a much cooler pose to also celebrate the new chapter.
Murata’s art is so great, he has also contributed to Marvel projects, even going so far as to draw an official poster for Spider-Man: Homecoming to commemorate its Japanese boxset release. His latest project is a manga adaptation of Back to the Future, which picks up after the end of the series.
For those unfamiliar with One Punch Man, the series follows Saitama, a regular working Joe who one day puts a stop to a violent villain attack. After this fight Saitama is inspired to become a hero. Training his body hard everyday, he’s eventually granted with extreme strength. Looking for a worthy opponent, Saitama joins the Hero Association in the hopes of fighting them. But every fight he gets into ends after a single punch! Forced to wander through life increasingly bored of his supreme power, Saitama has become hilariously disconnected with the world of action around him.
One Punch Man started life as a webcomic by series creator ONE in 2009. After going viral, surpassing seven million hits in June 2012, illustrator Yusuke Murata approached ONE about redrawing the series for a release in Shuiesha’s Weekly Young Jump spin-off webcomics. Thirteen volumes of the series have been released as of this date.
