English Dub Review: One-Punch Man “Justice Under Siege”

Overview (Spoilers Below)
The Monster Association infiltrates the Hero Association headquarters and officially declares war on the human race. They additionally give the Hero Association three days to assemble their best heroes to rescue the executive’s child. The monsters, however, intend to use this to rid the world of its top heroes.

Meanwhile, one of the Class A heroes spots an injured Garo walking away from the scene. The hero brings in backup and confronts Garo at his hideout. Garo attempts to take on the heroes, but due to his injuries, he’s takes quite a beating. With the heroes surrounding Garo at all sides, Garo ponders on what he should do next.

Our Take
To be frank, I don’t really have much to say about this episode. There’s some trademark comedy within, but not divided throughout the entire episode. The plotline has an enjoyable aroma to it, but it reeks of overused tropes. The word “average” comes to play here, and it’s not letting this episode escape from its clutches.

As stated above, there’s some fantastic comedic hilarity within. However, don’t get too excited. It’s entirely restricted to the first minute or so of the show when Saitama and King are duking it out in a Street Fighter knockoff. There are some attempts at humor elsewhere, but they either don’t land or feel stale in their execution. As much as Saitama’s one-punch hits amuse me, his knockout with a potential new group of monsters didn’t feel all that humorous to me. With most of Saitama’s one-punches, they feel integrated within the situation so that the joke can be utilized to its fullest potential. Here, it just felt unnecessary and resembles a quick way to pad out the episode. Overall, the comedy aspect is present and accounted for, but just barely.

Story-wise, it’s fairly decent. The dramatics throughout felt intimidating. However, the tropes bring the presentation down a good chunk of the time. The whole bait and switch with the supposed Monster Association cease-fire deal just ooze a tiring aroma. The whole thing has just been done to death so many times that it’s incredibly easy to see through the fishiness. It’s rather disappointing too that these monsters don’t have some sort of greater purpose to their uprising. The series could have explored the inequalities between human and monster kind and perhaps come to a mutual understanding. I’m sure this was ruled out so that monsters could continue being the villains. However, the series could have had a friendly faction of monsters alongside those with villainous tendencies. The execution of all this is ultimately saddeningly unoriginal.

I did, however, enjoy the Garo vs. the group of heroes fight at the end. It was by no means spectacular or anything, but a definite pleasing change of pace all around. Seeing Garo having to deal with heroes while struggling with injuries increases the level of excitement for that scene. There are a lot more unknowns this time around that leave viewers mystified as to how it will all play out. Sure, Garo has had to deal with foes who rough him up a bit, but not nearly to this extent. Dealing with injuries and a horde of heroes out to defeat him at the same time has got to be tough on Garo. My curiosity is peaked as to how Garo’s battle shall end up.

All in all, not the worst slice of pie one could taste. However, without the signature whip cream to top it off, it presents a lack of flavor that decreases the delectability of the course. Hopefully, the final two episodes will turn things around and have the second season go out with a bang.