English Dub Review: One-Punch Man “The Martial Arts Tournament”

 

Overview (Spoilers Below)
Over at Hero Association HQ, the monitoring staff notice that the number of monster threats is rising to exponential levels. With this many threats, the staff horrifyingly realize that the heroes won’t be able to keep up with them all.

Back at the fighting grounds, another Class S-hero Metal Knight enters the Centichuro fray. Meanwhile, the two heroes continue to drag the executive and his son to safety. However, the two are confronted by three more monsters, ready to pummel some heroes.

Whilst all of that goes on, Metal Bat vs. Garo revs up to a start. Unlike most heroes, Metal Bat holds his own between Garo, almost outmatching him! The battle continues until Metal Bat’s younger sister shows up and calls off the fight. Garo surprisingly listens to her and heads off. With one fight concluded, Metal Bat attempts to get back into the fight between Centichuro, but his sister knocks him out with a chop before even getting close.

Noticing the conclusion of the battle, two of the three monsters from before now confront Garo. Phoenix Man offers Garo a place in the so-called Monster Association. Garo swiftly declines this (shockingly), and the monsters make their exit.

Seeing their work as done, Phoenix Man calls off Centichuro. One of the monsters from before (a Rhino one) takes the executive’s son and makes his exit. Across the other cities though, monsters continue to rear their heads upon the heroes, defeating them left and right!

Meanwhile, the Martial Arts Tournament prepares its grand beginning. After a knockout round between two low-level opponents, Saitama (still disguised as Charanko) faces off against another low-ranking opponent, Zakos. Unsurprisingly, Saitama knocks him out with one hit.
Behind the scenes, a high-level opponent named Suiryu notices Saitama’s immense strength and states that he’ll be seeing “the new guy” at the finals.

Our Take
I’m delighted to say that this episode was a major improvement over the last two installments. There’s plenty of creativity and high-paced action here that’s enjoyable for all eyes out there. With that being said, let’s take a closer look at Round 5.

The series best elements, comedy and action, are back in action here, excelling to new heights. One cannot mention comedy without mentioning the centerpiece: Metal Bat’s little sister. I swear, I just about cracked up each and every time she appeared on the screen. I certainly wasn’t expecting her to karate-chop knock-out her brother either! Other bits that tickled the funny bone were the classic booing at Saitama at the tournament, as well as the ironic twist of Zakos being a low-level opponent despite his arrogance. It was additionally a nice change of pace to see a wide variety of heroes taking on monsters in excitingly choreographed fights. I’m glad to see that this series hasn’t lost steam yet in terms of its comedic punches and kick-ass action sequences!

The creativity of the monster designs throughout was certainly mesmerizing this time! I honestly wasn’t feeling the multiple centipede monsters last time, so it was certainly interesting to see such a wide variety here. There’s practically a hero for every tick here, from fierce, hot-headed rhinos to seductive temptresses.

I was delighted to see that we’re finally getting some backstory on the sudden uprise of monsters. The reveal of the monsters banding together into an association of their own was definitely enticing. There were also some hints at some humans actually being turned into monsters as well! All this excites my inner thoughts on where things will go from here. Will there end up being a whole army of human-turned monsters? Will Garo end up banding together with one side or continue on his own? Is Garo going to end up thinking that being a monster isn’t all that great, now with human-turned monsters afoot? It just makes me wonder how much more odd and outlandish this series will end up getting!

Surprisingly enough, the thought-provoking inner depths return this week, this time from the monsters. While two monsters combat against a hero, one quips how when they’re together, they can defeat Class A-level heroes, despite being crushed by them as individuals. This goes to show how in some cases, we might be better off working as a team rather than by ourselves. While individuality shouldn’t be sacrificed, sometimes banding together to fight off a common threat is the correct move. You certainly wouldn’t see just a singular firefighter battling against a firey blaze. It takes a whole team of powerful individuals to combat the wicked combustion. By all means, one should definitely be themselves. However, there are always some cases where being a part of a group can increase the strength of all those involved.

The only negative that I really saw here was the show’s pacing. It continues to switch back and forth between certain scenes way too often, most notably during the various fight sequences featured throughout. Just as one fight gets started, the show tends to head off in another direction, only to come back to that fight later on. I just cannot understand why this is necessary. While it’s okay to break up scenes here and there, this show does so at an alarming rate. It ultimately creates a somewhat confusing experience for viewers, trying to piece together what happens when.

Not to mention the fact that for an episode called “The Martial Arts Tournament,” there’s a severe lack of the tournament here! The entire first half of the episode devotes itself to the ongoing monster crisis throughout the various cities. By the time we actually get to the tournament though, it’s mostly just the opponents chatting and boasting with one another! Where’s all the fighting that we love from this show? I can only hope future episodes focus equally on both the tournament and the monster crisis. Both elements are crucial to showcase, but in an equal way, not one more so than the other.

Overall, to say that this episode is an upgrade from the last two is an understatement. The comedic bits and thrilling action sequences come back into swing in full force, alongside some deeper thinking that adds a nice touch to an already shiny vehicle. Perhaps the previous two were just a fluke, with hopefully the remainder of the series staying on track in top-notch form.