Anirban Bhattacharya‘One Punch Man’ is one of the best anime series ever. The show has a total of 12 episodes with each episode being around 24 minutes in length. It is highly entertaining and is the best superhero genre anime, in my opinion. The show revolves around Saitama who is a hero for fun. Saitama trains hard and becomes so strong that now he is able to destroy any enemy with just a single punch. This frustrates him a lot since he cannot enjoy his fights. With all that said, here’s the list of top ‘One Punch Man’ episodes. Don’t forget to mention your favorite episode in the comments.
6. Episode 10, Unparalleled Peril
Episode 10 is the one where we see the Dark Matter Thieves for the first time. They are a group of aliens who arrive on Earth boarding a spaceship which starts destroying city A and causes some heavy casualties. In the beginning of the episode, we see all the S-class heroes assembling at the headquarters to discuss a matter of urgency. Despite being a class B hero, Saitama is present at the meeting after Bang requests him to come too. There, the heroes learn that an imminent danger is just lurking around the corner. They also learn that Madam Shibabawa, who was a great seer, is dead now. Her last prediction talked of Earth’s imminent doom. The heroes begin showing genuine concern as the seer’s prophecy are 100 percent true.
What is funny, though, is that Madam Shibabawa is not able to predict her own death and chokes on a pill. Stitch is the one to assemble the heroes for the meeting. He says that they have around six months to prepare. As soon as he says it, they are attacked by the Skyfolk. But their attack does not last long as Melzargard, a member of Dark Matter Thieves, slays them quickly. The spaceship of his group starts destroying city A. It seems as if the peril that Shibabawa mentions in her prediction is already here. The heroes engage with Melzargard and learn that cannot be defeated so easily as he seems to have regenerative capabilities.
Another group of heroes tries to find a way to destroy the spaceship. Meanwhile, Saitama makes his way towards the ship, dodging enemy projectiles in the process. He is finally able to enter the ship and starts destroying it from the inside. There, he encounters one of the alien guards by the name of Groribas. The fight is brief as Saitama defeats him with a single punch. Genos, along with other heroes, discusses various strategies on how to bring down the ship. He then notices that Saitama is already inside the ship. In the last scene, we get to see Boros sitting on his throne.
5. Episode 7, The Ultimate Disciple
A hero is someone who does things selflessly to benefit other people. Saitama is a hero for fun and it is sort of his hobby. He does not really care about fame or anything. Though in the later episodes we get a clear understanding of this, here, we are provided a glimpse of it. In episode 7, we find out that a meteor passing over Earth suddenly changes its course and is about to strike city Z. The impact will be deadly and an evacuation notice has been sent out. Also, all top ranking S-class heroes have been made to assemble in order to find out a solution to the crisis. Genos being an S-class hero receives the news and heads out. Turns out only he and Bang are the heroes to respond to the situation.
Bang lets Genos know about the evacuation notice and tells him that he should leave too. He begins to tell him that he is not going to leave for sentimental reasons and as he is about to give Genos the introduction, he finds out that Genos has already left. Genos sees that there are still some people in the city. They do not have any remaining hope and does not care to evacuate. Genos calculates that there is no time to evacuate them either. He feels that he should stay in the city too as he simply cannot abandon his master Saitama. Meanwhile, Metal Knight arrives and tries to destroy the meteor with his new weaponry but fails to even make a budge. Genos decides to use all his force to divert the meteor but is overcome with self-doubt. Bang encourages him and motivates him to do what he can do. Genos attacks the meteorite and but fails. In the end, it is Saitama who saves the day by destroying the meteor. But the fragments fall on the city end up destroying many homes. People blame Saitama for it.
Later, Saitama learns that he has jumped from rank 338 to 5th in class C. He asks Genos about the threat levels. Genos tells him that it helps heroes monitor whether to face an attack or not. Saitama says that he doesn’t care about it since he just believes in fighting for the helpless even if other heroes run. When he is out patrolling, two heroes by the name of Tanktop Tiger and Tanktop Black Hole start bullying Saitama but learn it the hard way that he is way above their league. People start booing Saitama who tells them that he does not really care about getting attention and he is a hero just for fun. He is in this profession because he likes it and does not care what others think about him.
4. Episode 5, The Ultimate Master
Episode 4 is on this list for two reasons. One is the funny and awesome physical test examination that Genos and Saitama take as a part of the exam for applying for the membership of the Hero Association. Another reason is the sparring scene between Genos and Saitama. Previously we saw that Saitama and Genos wanted to register to the hero association and become professional heroes. But before they can become a hero, they must take on a physical test and a written examination. The physical test is a piece of cake for Saitama and Genos. Saitama overperforms in his physical test, easily surpassing every other opponent present there. This is one of the funniest and most awesome scenes I have seen in this anime. I mean, when it’s time for high jump, Saitama jumps so high that his head gets stuck in the ceiling.
Saitama and Genos score a perfect point in the physical test. Now it is time for the written examination. Here, too, Genos performs well and gets a perfect score while Saitama performs poorly and gets just a point. When the result arrives, it turns out that Genos receives the S-rank while Saitama receives the C-rank. This really frustrates Saitama. This time only Genos and Saitama are the ones to pass the examination. An A-class hero by the name of Sneck welcomes them and is the one who will take their class. Sneck is too confident of his skills and gets angry on Saitama who is not listening. He tries to teach him a lesson but learns the hard way that Saitama is someone you should not be messing around with. He is one of the few people who knows about his formidable strength.
Later, Genos asks to spar with Saitama since he wants to check out his latest upgrades. Saitama reluctantly agrees and the duo starts sparring. Even though Genos gives it his all, Saitama is just fooling around not taking it seriously. When Genos gets frustrated, he asks Saitama to be more serious and give it his all and as soon as he says it, Saitama finishes the fight by launching a punch and stopping right before Genos’s face. He then tells Genos that the fight is over and they should go to eat. Genos turns back and realizes the difference in the power level between him and Saitama as the entire landscape had changed behind him with that last punch. The duo then goes to an Udon shop to eat where Saitama passes out. Later, Sweet Mask approaches Genos and commends him for his performance.
3. Episode 11, Dominator of the Whole Universe
Up next on the list is the penultimate episode of the series i.e episode number 11. It is in this episode only that Saitama comes face to face with Boros for the first time. The heroes of Earth have been successful in weeding out the alien guards and now only two powerful guards are left, namely Melzargard and Geryuganshoop. Geryuganshoop is a powerful telepathic being who communicates with Melzargard and lets him know of the situation that they are the only fighters remaining. Melzargard, in the meanwhile, is giving hell to the heroes since their efforts to defeat him are not working as he can regenerate. But still, he keeps on receiving attack after attack from the heroes who say that they don’t know what else to do.
Melzargard contacts one of his head to go and inform Gergyuganshoop that the artillery crew needs to start the bombardment. But while the head is going towards the ship, Metal Back smacks him. Geryuganshoop and Melzargard connect for a moment in which they exchange reports concluding that both in the inside and the outside, they are taking heavy damage and the artillery crew needs to execute the bombardment. Geryganshoop passes the message and the ship starts dropping bombs. Downwards heroes like Genos and Child Emperor are busy evacuating people when the bombs appear. Tatsumaki appears in the nick of time and stops the bombs in mid-air, reverses them and launches them back to the ship. This results in a great deal of damage to the spaceship and the aliens are shown crying and wanting to go home.
Meanwhile, the heroes have figured out Melzargard’s weakness and are destroying the marbles present within his head. Inside the spaceship, Saitama encounters Geryuganshoop and disintegrates him by just throwing a pebble at him. In the end, he meets Boros who commends Saitama for being able to reach that far and shows him respect by telling him his name and stating his reason for attacking Earth. Boros tells Saitama about the prophecy that he will be meeting his match over here. This angers Saitama who punches Boros which breaks his armor telling him that he cannot go on attacking planets just to liven up his life. The armor held Boros’s powers in check but now his true form is released.
2. Episode 9, Unyielding Justice
One of the main reasons why episode number 9 is my second favorite episode of the anime series is because we get to see the humble side of Saitama. We understand the fact that he is the greatest hero not just because of his godly strength but also because of his humility and kindness. Episode 9 revolves around the heroes trying to defeat the humongous monster by the name of the Sea King. Sea King is extremely powerful and possesses a real threat to the heroes. We see Saitama waiting for the decision of the Hero Association with regards to him fighting the sea king. One of the heroes to respond to the attack is Genos. He executes a massively powerful move against the Sea King and seemingly defeats him. But then he makes the mistake of lowering his guard and had to pay with one of his hands.
Genos tries his best to evacuate the people and attack the monster but fails when sea king attacks a little girl with a glob of acid but is saved by Genos who acts as a shield. This completely incapacitates him and he lies there waiting for the Sea King’s final move. Just then, Mumen RIder arrives and tries his best to engage the monster but to no avail since he is easily defeated. But thanks to him, Genos is saved as Saitama arrives just in time. He then exchanges a few words with Sea King and then finally disintegrates him with a single punch. Everyone starts praising him for saving them.
Later, we see that Saitama has been promoted to class B from class C. He and Genos have received fan mails and one of them abuses Saitama and talks about him being a fraud. We then see Genos thinking about the events which occurred after the sea king is defeated. People start praising Saitama and at the same time blames the other heroes and label them useless. But Saitama tells them it was easy for him to do so since the other heroes have already weakened the monster and also because can prosper off their achievements. People start calling Satama a fraud and praise the fallen heroes. Yup, this episode shows the kind and modest attitude of Saitama.
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1. Episode 12, The Strongest Hero
No surprises here. This is simply the best episode of the entire first season of the series and not only that, but it is also one of the best anime endings ever. Here we get to see Saitama fight against the alien monster Boros and the fight continues on for some time as it takes Saitama a bit more than one punch to defeat him, although we later get to know that Saitama wasn’t even using his full powers.
In the earlier episodes, we were introduced to the powerful alien force aboard a big strong spaceship. Their leader claimed to be one of the strongest beings in the entire universe. He got so powerful that he is bored and travels across the galaxy to look for some thrill. In this episode, we see the fight between Saitama and Boros continuing. Saitama is able to destroy Boros’s armor which made his suppressed powers to finally emerge. His body started glowing and his hair grew longer. The fight continued and at one point, Boros kicked Saitama so hard that he literally ended up on the moon. Thankfully, he makes it back to earth safely with just a single jump. After that, both the fighters use their most powerful moves and obviously, Saitama is the one to dominate Boros and defeat him. thus making him the strongest hero.
While Saitama and Boros are fighting, other heroes were shown fighting one of the toughest guards of the spaceship by the name of Melzargard. The heroes are able to decipher his weakness and then end up defeating him, with Bang being the one to destroy the final marble. After the heroes have defeated the aliens and Saitama defeated Boros, he comes out to see Tatsumaki acting like a child throwing tantrums. Genos asks her to shut up but pays the price as he is smashed on a rock. In the post-credits, we see a huge monster attacking the city and Saitama defeats him with just a single punch. This frustrates him as he is back to square one, i.e., he can defeat any monster with one punch.
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