One-Punch Man Finally Delivers its Most Anticipated Fight Yet

Warning: contains spoilers for chapter 159 of One-Punch Man

There’s one fight that One-Punch Man fans have been eagerly anticipating for years, and at long last the time has come: Garou and Saitama are ready to face off.

In recent chapters of One-Punch Man, Garou has been behaving more like a hero than a villain, cutting through many of the Monster Association’s most elite, including the absurdly massive Centisennin. This provided cover for the helicopter carrying the children and injured heroes to escape, and even saw Garou fighting back-to-back alongside the S-class hero Metal Bat. The recently arrived Saitama took care of the other biggest threat, Evil Ocean Water, with a similarly powerful blow. And, now that those monsters were defeated, the previous chapter ended with Saitama and Garou speaking directly to each other for the first time.

Chapter 159 (of the English release) opens with Saitama confused about Garou’s appearance, unsure of whether he’s a monster since he witnessed Garou saving the helicopter. Despite Garou’s insistence that he is a monster, Saitama dismisses the idea, which only serves to infuriate the hero hunter and prompts him to launch an attack. Saitama’s reflexive reaction ends up sending Garou flying, which causes a wave of recognition from their previous chance encounters, riling him up and causing another transformation. The English chapter release ends there, splitting the Japanese chapter in two. The back half of the chapter (which maybe 159.5 or 160 in English) involves the boy who has been saved by Garou several times, Tareo, begging Saitama not to kill Garou when they inevitably fight.

One-Punch Man‘s Monster Association arc began in the manga in 2017, and the first appearance of Garou in the manga dates back to 2014, so fans have had plenty of time to build hype about the inevitable showdown with Saitama. This has only been amplified by the fact that One-Punch Man was originally a webcomic with laughably poor art, and that webcomic has continued, placing its story far, far ahead of where the manga is. The most dedicated fans already have a good idea of what’s to come, and since one of the manga’s big draws is Yusuke Murata’s incredible artwork, the thought of seeing events that were compelling in the webcomic rendered in Murata’s detailed style is enough to get anyone excited. That, of course, spreads to other fans who don’t read the webcomic in the form of rumors and spoilers, further adding to the hype and speculation.

With a fight that’s been nearly 8 years in the making finally here, it may be tough for One-Punch Man to live up to everyone’s expectations, and certain fans have already expressed their discontent with changes from the webcomic, fearing how these differences might impact the battle. All that can be done for now, however, is to wait for the next chapter of One-Punch Man and find out if Garou vs. Saitama really will end up as one of the greatest manga battles of all time.

About The Author

Carlyle Edmundson
(231 Articles Published)

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Carlyle Edmundson is a news and features writer with an affinity for science fiction and fantasy. He graduated from the University of North Carolina Wilmington with a BS in Film Studies and is glad that it’s relevant to his work. A lifelong fan of anime and manga, he has attended dozens of conventions over the years and may or may not have cosplayed at them. He is also the author of the Dystopian Detective series, available from most places ebooks are sold.

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