English Dub Review: One-Punch Man “The Wiping of the Disciple’s Butt”

Overview (Spoilers Below)
The battle between master and pupil ravishes on! Plus, Bang’s brother Bomb decides to get in on the Garo-fighting action. Garo’s just about beaten when his past memories remind him of his purpose to fight. Thus, his will to fight reinvigorates with electric energy.
Before he can enact any of his new-found fury though, Phoenix Man swoops down from above and takes Garo away from the scene. Meanwhile, Centichoro returns to enact his own furious rage upon Bang, Bomb, and Genos.

The three of them each attempt to attack Centichoro (with Genos taking severe battle damage). However, despite always seeming like a victory, the beast always regenerates itself. With all hope lost, the three make a run for it. Unfortunately, Bomb points out to his brother that Centichoro is leading them straight towards the city. Bang quickly stops in his tracks, prepared to give up the rest of his life energy into defeating the monster.

Just before Bang prepares his move though, King shows up to taunt Centichoro via megaphone. The provoking works, as Centichoro comes charging towards King. With little time to spare, Saitama pops in and takes out the monster with one whole punch.

Back up in the sky, Phoenix Man tells a now-passed out Garo that he’ll soon meet Lord Orochi, the king of the monsters (wait a minute…).

Our Take
Doesn’t feel like a finale, does it? I had exactly the same thought by the episode’s end. The only thing this episode barely wraps up is Garo’s main arc. Despite that though, certain circumstances largely make it feel like this chapter is far from over. Yet, Season Two comes to a close here. On its own, the episode’s decent enough, with some appealing fight sequences and movement. As a finale though, it fails spectacularly.

As stated above, Garo’s main character arc receives a “conclusion” of sorts. There’s the fight between master and pupil, with Garo largely getting his ass handed to him. However, with Garo now in the hands of the Monster Association, it doesn’t really feel like a conclusion at all. His convenient escape seems like a cop-out to conclude the major focus on him. No one really bothers to see Garo’s way of thinking, and as such, his dealings are still on-going. Of course, I don’t condone his actions, but his train of thought may have some merit to it. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any finite ending to any of that.

Additionally, the Monster Association arc is practically forgotten about here. Sure, there are monsters here and there. But, all the set-up thrown about throughout the season just ended up leading to…nothing! It leads into the direction that there’s a ton more of this story left, yet no more episodes to expand upon it. It’s a risky move to leave everything off on a cliffhanger here, especially given the lackluster reception from fans to this season as a whole. On a creative level though, this would be okay. If the story needs more room to expand, by all means, expand it to whatever length is necessary. However, nothing feels wrapped up here. It’s all on-going, everything’s still in a state of chaos. In other words, nothing here feels like a true ending to the season.

The only positives I can give this episode are if I examine it away from the season as a whole. There are some enticing action-packed fights throughout, enough to make anyone’s adrenaline go up. The attack moves are a sight to behold as well. Garo’s reflections on his will to fight were a nice touch as well. In all honesty, it’s an entertaining array of interesting elements. It just doesn’t really work as a cap-off to the season though.

In conclusion, if you’re here for entertainment value alone, you’ll still get it here. If you’re looking for a satisfying conclusion to Season Two, however, you can kiss that goodbye. Nothing feels wrapped up here, and there’s not even a hint of a third season on the way. This is a rather disappointing way to end thing’s off on.