When we last left Saitama, he was
lamenting the fact that his immense strength has made crime fighting rather
boring. Can’t say I blame him, if my punches turned anything into goo, fighting
giant monsters and what not would probably lose its allure for me too. But, in
episode 2, Saitama comes across his greatest foe, one that can take an unheard
of amount of punishment from him. A Mosquito! Seriously, he’s annoyed by one
while watering plants, and, for whatever reason, he’s unable to kill it. No
matter how many times he swats it. If that wasn’t bad enough, Mosquitos are
raining down on the citizens of Generic Japanese Town, aka City Z, like locusts
from the bible days. They’re sucking people and animals completely dry. Why?
Well, a mysterious Cyborg attempts to find out.
 |
| Such a shiny head. |
The Cyborg, later revealed to be
named Genos, starts using his fireball shooting palms to reduce the Mosquito
population. He discovers that the Mosquitos are all being controlled by
Mosquito Girl, a horrid abomination of woman and insect. She’s somehow
controlling the lesser bugs, whom deliver the blood they drain to her, for some
nefarious purpose. Genos tries to stop her. In the quick confrontation, he
loses an arm, but he takes both of her legs before Mosquito Girl flies off to
recuperate. Meanwhile, Saitama has taken to the streets, still trying to kill
that #@!ing mosquito. He meets up with Genos, right when the cyborg is about to
napalm the surrounding area to kill as many mosquitos as possible. Genos is
unable to stop the explosion, but all it does to Saitama is incinerate his
clothes. Probably would have taken his hair too, you know, if he still had any.
Unfortunately, Genos’ fire-blast
wasn’t able to stop Mosquito Girl from sucking up all the blood, which makes
her go Super Saiyan. For those that don’t recognize the phrase, it’s from
Dragonball Z. The character visibly transforms, increasing their strength,
speed, and hair length. Again, this happens a lot in Anime. Mosquito Girl
quickly wipes the floor with Genos, ripping him into pieces. He attempts to
self-destruct, in the hopes of taking Mosquito Girl with him, but is saved by
Saitama. He smacks Mosquito Girl, turning her into a giant blood stain on the
side of the building. Hi fives all around.
The next day, Genos arrives at
Saitama’s apartment and asks to be named his apprentice. When Saitama asks how
the heck Genos fixed himself when, twenty-four hours before, he’d been reduced
to a head, torso and one arm, he just vaguely explains he can make quick
repairs. Got to love vagueness, don’t you? Despite Saitama’s protests, Genos
explains his background. Basically, he was attacked by an evil cyborg as a
child, a good doctor rebuilt him, and now he seeks vengeance. I tried to follow
Saitama’s advice and “keep it to 20 words or less.” Genos does not do this,
which greatly irritates Saitama.
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| If I had to guess her power level, I'd probably say it was right about 9000. |
We quickly cut to some evil
corporate type, watching the analysis of Mosquito Girl’s demise, and making
vague comments about the evil group “House of Evolution,” and how he wants to
study our follically challenged hero. Back at Saitama’s house, he and Genos are
attacked by a group of animal/human hybrids. Saitama knocks the first monster’s
head off, a giant Mantas, before it could even say its name. He’s also very
upset about them wrecking his house. Outside, the heroes divide and conquer.
Genos fights the “Armored Gorilla,” while Saitama fights Beast King, a giant
Lion/Man, and Ground Dragon, a mole person. Not like the mole people from last time, meaning a group of humanoids that live under ground, a
literal mole that is also kind of human. I won’t ruin the ending for this one, just
know that it’s as messy as the last episode. I will point out that Saitama’s
name for his signature move is perhaps my favorite name for an attack ever.
We get a bit more development for
both Saitama and the world that he inhabits in this one. Monster and
supervillain attacks are common enough that there are evacuation and shelter
protocols for the particularly nasty ones, and people with strange powers are
rather common. That being said, Saitama is definitely the impatient sort that
can’t seem to stand the long winded speeches, aka monologuing, that others in
his profession seem to love so much. There’s a pretty great visual gag where
his entire body starts twitching while he listens to Genos’ over complicated
telling of his origins. Speaking of, he seems like he’ll be an interesting
character. He’s designed really well, the metal of his body pretty much
dominates his appearance. They also do a fairly common joke, him referring to
Saitama by various titles, which change whenever he protests. The “Master,” “Don’t
call me Master,” “Alright Sensei,” sort of thing. The monster designs are
pretty cool, Mosquito Girl, Beast King, and Armored Gorilla are some of the
most visually striking bad guys I’ve seen in a while. Shame that Saitama
doesn’t usually leave anyone alive long enough for them to be a “recurring
villain.” The humor is still top notch, as it the general grossness of
Saitama’s “victories.” All of the baddies in today’s episode get turned from
solids into liquids, it’s as awesome and disgusting as it sounds. So, in
summation, a solid episode, I’m excited to see more. Next time…One-Punch Man ep
3. See you soon, folks.
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