One-Punch Man season 2 is now over, but a teasing little cliffhanger has left fans all too eager for season 3 to happen! After the crazy long delay between One-Punch Man seasons 1 and 2 (four years!) fans are hoping that One-Punch Man season 3 will arrive sooner before later; however, there’s also another big hope for the next installment of One-Punch Man: They want to see the series to return to production at Madhouse!
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So, could that be a possibility? Could One-Punch Man return to Madhouse for season 3? In two words: it’s possible.
There was a lot of controversy when One-Punch Man hopped from Madhouse to J.C. Staff for season 2. After all, season 1 of the anime had near universal-praise for its awesome visuals and action. The early looks at season 2 cast a lot of doubt over whether J.C. Staff could measure up; even though the season 2 production managed to impress at many key points, the general opinion seems to be that Madhouse definitely did it better.
Behind the scenes, it’s no secret why One-Punch Man season 2 made the jump to J.C. Staff, as reports pointed to one main focus of the change: Shingo Natsume, who directed One-Punch Man season 1. Natsume didn’t come back for season 2, as reports pointed to scheduling conflicts with other projects he was working on. It was no secret that Natsume’s star power attracted a lot of the freelance animators that contributed to One-Punch Man season 1, and that the director’s departure likely killed that interest.
…Which brings us back to the subject of One-Punch Man season 3. Given what happened with season 2, the question doesn’t seem to be so much whether the series could land back at Madhouse, but rather Shingo Natsume would be brought back onboard to direct it.
Since One-Punch Man season 2 wrapped, there’s already been a petition launched to bring back Shingo Natsume as One-Punch Man’s director. It’s a pretty tiny petition, to be fair, but it could signal the beginning of what could be a growing chorus of One-Punch Man fans who want the anime to return to form. Count us among them.
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.
