After the disastrous second season, the One Punch Man franchise took a massive hit. However, defying all expectations, we now have One Punch Man Season 3 confirmed.
Unlike before, where One Punch Man used to be one of the most discussed series, the climate changed. In fact, just like Tokyo Ghoul, people were slowly forgetting this series.
A bad anime has the potential to bring death to a series. Tokyo Ghoul Seasons 2 and 3 were absolute garbage and due to them, people forgot the masterpiece manga.
Even Season 1, which brought in a huge popularity boost, got lost. Fans thought that a similar thing is happening to One Punch Man as well.
Now, let us take a deeper look at Season 2. Was it really that bad? Myanimelist stats show that despite a lot of glaring flaws, the series managed to hold its own. It even had an 8/10 rating back in 2019. In 2022, it is rated 7.47/10 and is the 62nd most popular anime.
Those figures are not too bad. Plus, the season had its own share of good moments. What really sucked was just the final episode. Yes, it was a major downer, but that is fine.
One bad episode should not be allowed to kill a whole franchise.
And on that note, we are back to OPM Season 3. Will it match up to the incredible first season? Or will it be mediocre and get lost amongst the other seasonal anime?
After all, the manga is still very popular and the story is incredibly good. We will see how great this season does.
One Punch Man Season 3 Anime Announcement
On August 17, 2022, the official website of the One Punch Man anime posted the update. After releasing a teaser poster, they declared that the third season of the show has been greenlit, 3 years after the last season.
As of now, we have only this much information. After all, the anime has just been announced. It will go into the production phase and there is a huge amount of work that needs to be done now.
Some sources say that JC Staff will not be in the Studio anymore. However, the new studio has not been revealed yet.
Other than the fact that Shueisha will be a producer, we do not have more information. We do believe that the anime might air in the late 2023 or early 2024 seasons. But there is no surety.
Although, there is a chance that it will air after the release of the One Punch Man live-action which is also under production currently.
One Punch Man Season 3 Plot
Given its past, we believe that One Punch Man Season 3 will have 12 episodes, like its predecessors. However, we are hoping that the creators choose to go with 24 episodes instead, divided into split cours. Doing so will allow them to properly handle the Monster Association Arc.
Season 1 left us after the defeat of Boros. Season 2 ended after Elder Centipede was decimated. However, following that, the Monster Association arc really flourished. Continuing from where Season 2 left off, there are 86 chapters to be adapted.
And each of these chapters is over 40 pages, mostly. That makes it quite challenging to adapt the whole thing into 24/26 episodes. This means, that if the creators plan to adapt the manga faithfully, they have a difficult task on their hands.
As for the story, we have the Dine and Dasher portion coming up. It is somewhat of a preparation arc, where both sides start to feel the heat. Many events will occur here, hence a lot of heroes and villains will get impressive screentime. Also, the concept of limiters will be introduced here.
And then, there will be a special kidnapping case, that will trigger a grand battle between heroes and monsters. We are very excited about the release of One Punch Man Season 3.
Hopefully, it will be able to bring out the full potential of ONE and Murata’s creation. The confirmed One Punch Man Season 3 release date will be announced soon, and we will keep you updated here on Orianime.
