This particular volume of One-Punch Man features more Garo, S-Class hero Metal Bat, Saitama enters a martial arts tournament, and S-Class hero Child Emperor develops a mask that allows him to estimate a hero's power level.
Pros:
- A few ongoing pros: the draftsmanship, Saitama (who's characterization has been more consistent over the last few volumes, i.e. with him showing less interest in public opinion), and all of the interesting characters (Metal Bat definitely included).
- Even though the fight scenes in this volume were smaller in scale than those in previous chapters (notably chapter 7), they were just as enjoyable.
- I got a bunch of laughs (both comedic and from excitement) out of this one, whether it was Metal Bat being a bad-ass, or Saitama misreading a situation.
- Tornado (Blizzard's older sister) is another welcome addition to the cast. I wish she received more "screen time," in this volume, but I can only assume that she will continue to make appearances throughout the series.
- A few on-going cons: Puri-Puri Prisoner (the whole character, though he did not appear in this volume), the mismatch between the right-to-left orientation of the visuals and the left-to-right orientation of the "sound effects," and details being lost in the binding process.
- (nit-pick) There are so many interesting characters that show up in the story that it is a shame that they don't appear more often. Then again, the manga is called, "One-Punch Man," not, "interesting side character manga."
I am happy to report that this volume was still a pleasure to read, even after all the material from the anime has been covered. It was also much more character-focused than the last few volumes. I'm still invested in the characters and excited to see where the story goes next. Plus, ONE has an opportunity to subvert yet another shonen trope: the tournament arc!
Final Score:
10/10
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