The Truth About Saitama Fighting Anyone

Written by Shiggins

Since the anime adaptation of "One Punch Man" was released in 2015, the fandom community has essentially been on fire due to their burning passion for the gag-like shonen series about a bald man who is so powerful he can defeat all his enemies with one single punch. Thanks to the stellar animation by Madhouse, the amazing soundtrack that fits perfectly with the crazy action scenes, and the comedic monotone of the protagonist Saitama, the anime was a hit and One Punch Man has enjoyed plenty of success even to this day two years later.

Me trying to look like I don't care about One Punch Man for... supremely childish reasons.

However, with every blessing, there is always someone trying to muck it up and even One Punch Man is not exempt from the drooling drivel that excretes itself out of the more rabid fans out there. Every fandom has "those fans", the ones we don't like to discuss so we just call them "those fans", and One Punch Man's fandom has had its cases of madness. Some insist that One Punch Man is the greatest action series of all time, or has "saved anime" as if all anime before it was suddenly a hot burning mess of excrement. (Just a side note: It wasn't).

The strangest calls from the fandom however, at least in my opinion, are the hypothetical battles. To put it simply, the idea of Saitama fighting another hero or villain from a different anime series. And immediately, you all know exactly what I'm talking about. Characters like Goku and Madara are constantly brought up, with both lovers and haters screaming at each other over whether or not Saitama could succeed to destroy them with his trademarked punch of death and destruction. People scream about power levels and intelligence and tactics and sudden hypothetical locations are brought up that would give characters advantages and it all becomes a hot steaming mess.

The series literally telling you that he'd easily defeat a Titan.

So why do people do it so much? Well, some like to feel superior. They want their series to be the best series, and if your series isn't their series then your series is the worst series. They relish the thought of seeing your face in utter shock and dismay as your beloved candidate is utterly swept away, and they get to say "I told you so" in a smug, pompous way that even they probably know is worth a strike to the genitals. And sadly, that's not what One Punch Man is meant to be about. In fact, I would argue that by doing these hypothetical battles, you've lost sight of what One Punch Man is supposed to be.

To help prove my point, I'm going to talk about a filler episode of Dragon Ball Super known as "Goku vs Arale! A Ridiculous Battle Will End the Earth?!". This was a special crossover episode between the characters of Dragon Ball and the characters of Akira Toriyama's previous work, Dr Slump. It's a stupid episode, and only those with a huge sense of humour can even have a shot at enjoying it, but we're not here to review it. Instead, we're going to talk about Dr Slump's Arale.

Often referred to as "a gag character" in the episode, Arale breaks all the rules of Dragon Ball. She breaks the Earth in half, gets her head cut off, easily fights both Goku and Vegeta and commits even more grievous harm against the laws of physics. Vegeta himself even admits to not being able to defeat Arale, because she is a gag character and they follow no rules.

By the way, Dragon Ball Super... Surprisingly great right now. Just saying.

The same can be said of Saitama. He is a gag. A joke. A satire of Superman, someone with impossible strength that can never be defeated and should never be taken seriously. A series like One Punch Man stays within the genre of comedy, only briefly leaving it to provide some great actions and then immediately go back to the joke of one punch. While Saitama vs Boros had its serious moments, Saitama was never a serious character during it. Much like Arale, he broke physics by jumping from the moon to the Earth. His punch on Boros literally separated the clouds, it burst out fire... It didn't follow the rules.

And that is why One Punch Man works for so many people. It has no rules. Saitama doesn't follow them and he never will, because the joke is that he breaks the rules to use one punch. If Saitama ever loses a battle and is weaker than someone else, the joke is over. Permanently. Watching One Punch Man in the hopes you'll get a tense face-off is pointless. We watch it because it's funny and awesome and insane. It's a break from other series that have rules. If Saitama went against Goku, he'd be placed in a world with rules and the joke would continue.

One Puuuuuuuuunch.... Damn it, I am not trying to love you!

All these articles and comments and theories about "these characters that could beat Saitama" or vice versa are 100% pointless. In fact, they're worse than pointless. They're cynical. They are an attempt to ruin the joke, stop people smiling and just try to feel superior. These hypothetical battles are battles that can never be won, because one is serious and the other is a gag. I love Goku, and Naruto, and Ichigo, and Wargreymon and Batman and Jasmine, but none of them can defeat Saitama. And they never will. Ever.

The joke is that Saitama wins every battle. Accept it and stop trying to ruin a series you clearly enjoy by going on about it!

Besides, Genos is by far the best character.

Look at him and tell me you don't want his steel. And I'll look at you and call you a liar.

Shiggins:[Admin]
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Born under the stars of the Dark Gods, Shiggins owns the power of the Great Eye and is utterly magnificent in his omniscience. If you dare to discover more about someone as great as him, then go ahead. And to all my friends and family members, YOU are wrong and I should be disappointed! Not the other way round!,. You can find out about him or ask him stuff on ask.fm/shigginsishere or go to his tumblr page http://otakugajeel.tumblr.com/