One Punch Man Season 3 Announced [2023 Updates]
“ONE PUUUUUNNNNNCCCCHHHH”. I don’t even need to mention how incredible this series was back when it hit the TVs.
Like come on, an overpowered character defeating every villain in one punch is so amazing, right?
It may not sound THAT exciting but One Punch Man does it beautifully. This show has made its name in the domestic and international markets for anime.
Its recognition is outstanding as it stands as one of the most popular anime of all time.
The anime had its initial season as an absolute hit so fans wanted a sequel.
And they got it. Nevertheless, after the second season, fans haven’t gotten any significant push to the story.
When will it happen? What is the release date? Before we take any step ahead, let’s just look back at the whole series of One Punch Man so far.
Everything We Know So Far About One Punch Man
One Punch Man is a 12-episode TV series that aired back in the Fall of 2015.
It is an anime adaptation of a manga of the same name. The manga was written by ONE and illustrated by Murata Yusuke.
The anime was directed by Natsume Shingo and animated by Studio Madhouse. The series is about a guy named Saitama, who decides to be a ‘Hero’.
As silly as it may seem, the world is filled with Monsters and the presence of ‘Heroes’ is indeed real.
These heroes fight these monsters and try their level best to save humanity from the predicament.
All these heroes work as ‘Heroes’ in their profession. They function as lifesavers under the ‘Hero Association’ that provides them recognition and money.
However, our boy Saitama doesn’t take that route. Unlike many others, Saitama is a ‘Hero For Fun’.
He is a hero because he wants to have fun. The most interesting attribute about Saitama is that he can beat any monster with just a single punch.
That’s right, One Punch! That’s where this anime’s name comes up. With this incredible strength, he ends up making a disciple named Genos.
Now Genos and Saitama register themselves in the Hero Association to get recognition as ‘Actual Heroes’.
With that begins the ‘actual’ journey of our One Punch Man who seeks a true battle but never gets it.
I mean, how would he get it? He just defeats the other side with a single punch.
He is incredible but bored. The anime is one of the funniest and most iconic series of all time.
Author ONE made this series so unique and outstanding to challenge the perception of ‘Heroes’.
He annihilated the stereotypes and cliches. And this approach is what made this series, so freaking good.
Now as you might have guessed, the series is put forward in a season distribution.
In other words, unlike Naruto or Dragon Ball Z, One Punch Man’s story is divided into seasons.
The first season was done by Studio Madhouse but the second season was done by J.C. Staff.
And now the anime fandom is eagerly waiting for the next season. The third season would continue the overall story.
However, is there any official announcement or release date you may ask? Well, let’s take a look.
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Official Announcements And Release Date Of One Punch Man Season 3
And now the question that had you hooked for so long. Is there any official announcement or release date for One Punch Man Season 3?
It was reported by Crunchyroll on August 18, 2022, that the official One-Punch Man anime website has announced that season 3 is finally happening and is under production for now.
The announcement also had an artwork of Saitama and Garou drawn by Chikashi Kubota. But it doesn’t come with any trailer or teaser for the upcoming season. It is speculated that the release of season 3 could happen in early 2024.
The fans are extremely excited and curious to know what plotlines will be continued and what different characters are going to be introduced.
Well, we are going to look at all the possible storylines and plots that could be in the new season.
Analyzing every decisive factor is essential for prediction and that’s exactly what we are going to do here.
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More Source Material Information On One Punch Man Season 3
One Punch Man is adapted from a manga of the same name. The Manga was written by ONE, the renowned author who is also responsible for Mob Psycho 100.
The artwork for the Manga was done by the very talented Murata Yusuke. He is also the man behind Eyeshield 21.
The Manga started publishing on June 14, 2012 and is being published even to this day.
It is being serialized in Tonari No Young Jump. Till now, the manga has around 24 volumes and 159 chapters.
Now the manga journey of One Punch Man is not as straightforward as you may think.
You see, technically, One Punch Man manga has 3 versions. So here’s the deal, author ONE created a Web Manga named One Punch Man which had a great narrative but a really bad art style.
Therefore, Murata Yusuke contacted ONE and offered his help. Thereon began the journey of a new One Punch Man manga with a much better art style.
However, these are only 2 versions, where’s the third one? Well, Murata Yusuke drew his art from the online version of One Punch Man.
Therefore, he used to redraw a few Mangas of the series for the sake of physical copies.
Thus, One Punch Man had 3 different versions of itself. For the most part, the physical print of the One Punch Man manga is looked upon for any sort of reference.
The initial version which had ONE’s art style is still published and is a bit ahead in the story.
This manga gained massive recognition overseas thanks to its unique narrative and approach. The manga has around 150,000 votes on MAL which is an incredible number.
The anime adaptation was done concerning the first 7 volumes of the manga.
This is true for the first season. However, the next 8 volumes of the manga were adapted in the next season.
In other words, Season 1 adapted volumes 1-7, and Season 2 adapted volumes 8-16. Therefore, we can assume that the next season would consist of at least 7 volumes of the manga.
The Manga does have 7 volumes now and a few more chapters not in tankobon format yet.
| Volumes | English Release Date |
|---|---|
| Volume 1 | September 1, 2015 |
| Volume 2 | September 1, 2015 |
| Volume 3 | November 3, 2015 |
| Volume 4 | January 5, 2016 |
| Volume 5 | March 1, 2016 |
| Volume 6 | May 3, 2016 |
| Volume 7 | July 5, 2016 |
| Volume 8 | September 6, 2016 |
| Volume 9 | November 1, 2016 |
| Volume 10 | January 3, 2017 |
| Volume 11 | March 7, 2017 |
| Volume 12 | September 5, 2017 |
| Volume 13 | March 6, 2018 |
| Volume 14 | July 3, 2018 |
| Volume 15 | January 1, 2019 |
| Volume 16 | May 7, 2019 |
| Volume 17 | August 6, 2019 |
| Volume 18 | December 3, 2019 |
| Volume 19 | March 3, 2020 |
| Volume 20 | July 7, 2020 |
| Volume 21 | October 6, 2020 |
| Volume 22 | June 1, 2021 |
| Volume 23 | October 5, 2021 |
| Volume 24 | November 1, 2022 |
Now we know that manga has enough volumes left, we should continue to focus on other factors that can alter the decision as well.
One of them is obviously, ‘Popularity’.
Popularity Information Of One Punch Man Season 3
Popularity is a crucial metric for judging a specific anime’s success. If it’s as popular as Attack On Titan, it would most probably get another season.
One Punch Man is extremely popular already, especially the memes. They are all over social media and shared by tons of fans.
If it’s as obscure as Haibane Renmei, it might not get a sequel. Either way, fans would like to see their favourite anime once more with a new and broad story.
And this stays true for One Punch Man fans as well. So to take a look at One Punch Man’s popularity, we are going to judge it based on performance.
Its performance on 3 platforms. Those platforms are Google Trends, Twitter, and Google Searches. Let’s begin
Google Trend
Google Trends is a great way to know about an anime and the consistency of its demand.
So, let’s have a look at One Punch Man and its performance on Google Trends.
In mid of 2019, we saw a huge surge for season 3 as the trend shows, and afterwards, it has been falling and rising in a range.
Aha. Twitter is another platform where fans can judge the popularity of any anime. This is even more decisive because a lot of anime creators themselves are on Twitter.
Staff members like directors, producers, animators, etc. are present on Twitter. More specifically, there are official accounts of certain anime.
So let’s take a look at what Twitter has to offer with regards to One Punch Man.
The official Twitter account of One Punch Man has over 181K followers. That is an insane number considering that the anime has been ‘season-less for almost 2 years.
Thus, fans of the series have always been connected to the franchise on such social networking sites.
This massive number is a clear indication that another instalment of this anime is something to look up to.
These numbers would be worth considering for creators on different levels. So the anime has made its name on Twitter as well.
They recently tweeted on their official Twitter account that season 3 is under production and will hit the big screen soon.
Now that we know how popular it is on Twitter and Google Trends, let’s take a look at one final criterion, Search volumes.
Search In US, UK
The number of searches on Google is directly proportional to the popularity of the series.
If it’s high in terms of popularity, it is bound to be high in terms of Google Searches.
So it would be a great subject to judge the spread of a specific anime.
So what do Google Searches have to say? Oh My God! Oh My Freaking God!
One Punch Man Season 3 has over 228K global search volumes. That’s incredible! That is incredible!
The highest number of searches are from the United States (obviously) with a number over 67K.
Expected Plot Of One Punch Man Season 3
Now let’s just assume that the third season of One Punch Man hits the TVs.
When that happens, what is going to be the plot or storyline for it? What would be the content of the sequel?
How would the story flourish? Let’s just have a look at it as well. So as we already know anime is adapted from Manga.
Therefore, Manga is the source of the overall story. Thus, in the upcoming season, we can say that the series will follow the same story as the Manga.
The series ended with the Monster Association making a massive impact on the world as well as the Hero Association.
The next season would most likely cultivate more of the Monster Association and its conflict with the Hero Association.
The issue of ranks and status has always been concerning so they can use it as a plot device as well.
It is claimed that the next season is when Garou and Saitama will have a face-off.
Combat that we wanted for so long. It is being speculated that this time around, Saitama wouldn’t be finishing Garou in just One Punch.
Instead, he would be making more effort during his combat. Overall, the series would be filled with great action, stunning fights, and a bit more drama.
We love our characters and their interactions so it’s bound to be amazing. Now that we know that the sequel would be appreciated, let’s take a look at the online reaction to One Punch Man.
Online Reactions To One Punch Man Season 3
Online reactions are a great way to know if fans are eagerly waiting for the sequel or not.
If they are then it’s amazing since every positive sign matters. So just like we did for popularity, we are going to take a look at 3 platforms where many anime fans hang out.
These platforms would tell us their opinions and thoughts on the idea of One Punch Man Season 3.
Let’s go!
To start it up, we are going to draw our eyes toward Twitter. As stated earlier, Twitter is a great platform for anime fans mainly because it has anime creators.
Thus, a positive notion on Twitter would directly motivate the creators. So let’s see what Twitter fans have to say about One Punch Man Season 3.
Just as you would expect from this massive fandom, One Punch Man fans are craving for the next season.
Countless memes are being made concerning the sequel and its potential release. Needless to say, fans are desperately waiting for Season 3.
So the Twitter fandom of One Punch Man is as motivating as ever. Now let’s take a look at the fans on Reddit.
This is another platform where thousands of anime fans hang out and have their say.
It would be wise to take a look at Reddit and its fandom for our research.
Let’s see. So apparently Reddit fans are more into speculation about the release of One Punch Man Season 3.
A great discussion was put forward by Reddit user @scumerage stating the release of Season 3.
He says that due to a delay in the release of a specific fight of the Manga, the anime won’t be able to have Season 3 in October 2021.
As you all know, the anime industry is going through a lot of trouble thanks to a certain virus and stuff.
The absence of source material was a reason for no Season 3 and this fight might be the game-changer. But now we don’t have to worry about that as the new season has been announced.
Overall, the reactions of fans on Reddit are more optimistic than you would expect.
Now that we have got some positive reactions from Twitter and Reddit, let’s take a look at one final platform, Quora.
Quora
Quora would be our final metric for judging online reactions. It isn’t necessarily a platform where anime fans are ruling but it still has a considerable amount of anime fans over it.
This website is known for its interrogative nature. So let’s have a look at what these fans have to ask.
From what we can see, Quora users are concerned about the release of One Punch Man Season 3.
They are theorizing the date for the next season to hit the TVs. Something worth noting on this platform is that people who are answering these questions, answer them with comfort.
In other words, there’s an essence of assurance in their statement. None of them are pessimistic about the release.
Across the board, we can see that Twitter, Reddit, and Quora, have completely positive ideas about this franchise and its sequel.
The fans on each of these platforms have shown a positive notion of the series.
Therefore, we can conclude that the online reactions are incredible.
Why Do We Want Another Season So Badly?
Now then, time to answer a really important question. Why do we want another season so badly?
What is the need? Or what starts the craving? Well, to tell the truth, it’s pretty simple.
The storyline of the franchise is so great that ending it without a conclusion would always make it feel empty.
The entire appeal of One Punch Man is its high-octane action and parodic nature.
Even though the series has ended with serving both of these factors, fans would STILL love to see more of it.
This is even more considerable since the last season ended with a massive cliffhanger. The monster association and the Hero association’s conflict hasn’t been resolved and the Manga is still going on.
This means that there’s more to the story than what has been served. And as fans, WE WANT IT!
Therefore, we want another season so freaking badly. But is it only the fans who are so absorbed by this anime or is it a general opinion?
If the love for One Punch Man is so high, what are the ratings and reviews of this series?
Let’s have a look.
One Punch Man Ratings And Reviews
| Website | Rating |
|---|---|
| Myanimelist | 8.54/10 |
| IMDb | 8.8/10 |
| Crunchyroll | 4.4/5 |
Ratings and reviews are great metrics to judge the success of any anime. High ratings mean people who watched it liked it a lot.
So for this metric, we are going to head toward 2 platforms. IMDb and MyAnimeList.
Let’s take a look at them individually.
IMDb
IMDb is a massive platform where anime fans or entertainment fans in general, give their thoughts and opinions about a specific series.
The website has a large user base so ratings on them would be worth talking about.
Let’s see what we are dealing with. Just as you would expect from this amazing series, One Punch Man has an amazing score of 8.8 bestowed by 120k+ people.
As incredible as it is, the reviews are even more positive. The biggest selling point of this series was its stereotype-annihilating narrative.
And this approach is appreciated by fans with all their heart. Overall, IMDb seems to be loving this series but what about MyAnimeList, you may ask?
MyAnimeList
So let’s take a look at the most loved website of the anime community, MyAnimeList.
So as you may know, this website distinguishes different instalments as different entries. In other words, both seasons of One Punch Man have different ratings and reviews.
Let’s start by looking at the first season. The very first season of One Punch Man was animated by Madhouse and directed by Natsume Shingo.
This installment got a fantastic score of 8.54 with over 1 million people doing the honors.
That’s Insane! Such incredible ratings set the bar a bit too high for the series and that situation backfired.
The second season of One Punch Man was animated by J. C. Staff and directed by Sakurai Chikara.
This season performed a little bit less than what you would expect. It was rated 7.41 by 600k+ users.
And THIS is where another theory popped up. As you know, changing anime studios is a major deal, and it creates a lot of room for criticism.
Just as Attack On Titan received heavy criticism on the initial release of Season 4, the same happened with One Punch Man.
Therefore, many fans believe that this season was a bit of a letdown. The reviews are filled with slander but the ratings prove that the second season was great.
It was indeed a step down from its prequel. However, it was still, pretty breaking good.
All around, both IMDb and MAL show favourable approaches toward the series. The second season indeed got a bit of criticism but overall, the One Punch Man franchise shone with its high scores.
Top 5 Best-Rated Episodes
| Episode Name and Number | Ratings (MyAnimeList) |
|---|---|
| The Ultimate Master (Episode 5, Season 1) | 4.8/5 |
| Unyielding Justice (Episode 9, Season 1) | 4.8/5 |
| The Strongest Hero (Episode 12, Season 1) | 4.8/5 |
| The Lone Cyborg (Episode 2, Season 1) | 4.7/5 |
| The Obsessive Scientist (Episode 3, Season 1) | 4.7/5 |
So now that we have an idea of the ratings and reviews received by One Punch Man, I want you all to focus on one of the most essential aspects of any anime sequel.
That’s right, I am talking about Sales.
One Punch Man Manga, DVD/Blu-Ray Sales
Now, THIS is important. As we all know, anime is not made for charity. It’s made to earn tons of money.
And we all know that humanity has always craved money. They would make a living from being’s precious life to make some bucks or they would make a sequel for your favorite anime.
Either way, profit is essential. Money is essential. So let’s take a look at the details of One Punch Man and its earning methods.
Manga sales
Manga sales are important to know the performance of a specific franchise. Let’s take a look at what One Punch Man Manga sales have to say for themselves.
The Manga sales for One Punch Man have been amazing as you would expect. Volume 22 and Volume 23 sold 400k and 350k copies respectively.
Moreover, the franchise sold over 1.7 MILLION copies in 2020. This achievement made One Punch Man, a rank holder in the Top 25 Best-Selling Manga.
This makes it the second-highest hero manga right after My Hero Academia. Overall, the Manga sales have been promising for the franchise and can be accountable for Season 3.
Now let’s take a look at DVD/Blu-ray sales.
Blu-ray/DVD sales
The first season of One Punch Man sold over 10,000 copies of Blu-ray on average.
That’s huge. However, the tube turned for season 2. This is because the second season of One Punch Man only had around 1300 copies sold on average which is a massive decline.
For those of you who don’t understand Blu-ray sales that much, 10k copies are an amazing number but 1.3k isn’t.
This goes to show that the One Punch Man franchise had a major dip in its sales when it came to Blu-ray.
To its credit, One Punch Man season 2 aired during the age of Digitalization where streaming is the ruler.
I mean, come on. Have you bought One Punch Man’s Blu-ray? I am 10 billion per cent sure you haven’t.
Thus, even though Bluray sales are not THAT significant in this era, it is still a considerable factor.
Therefore, the One Punch Man franchise fell a bit behind on this one, especially for the second season.
Let’s take a look at another significant metric for any anime’s money-making, Merchandise.
Merchandise
Talking about merch sales is important as they can account for a significant portion of the profit from the series.
You see, merch not only indicates how passionate fans are for a series but also how popular a series is in general.
If we talk about One Punch Man specifically, it has a great number of 130, available for purchase.
Now the sad part is that most of those are Genos and Saitama. The third most popular character is Garou so he has his share in that merch as well.
However, as you might have guessed, this indicates that Season 2 is not as popular as Season 1.
But overall, the merchandise numbers are great as well.
Video Games
Another important source we need to talk about is Video games. Multiple One Punch Man games have hit the market.
However, their overall performance is not THAT fascinating. The series had two games under its brand.
An Android/iOS game called One Punch Man: Road to Hero, and an Xbox, PS, and PC game called One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows.
The Android/iOS game’s initial release did poorly and the same was the case for the other game.
The Xbox, PS, and PC games only had like, 10k copies sold. It might seem great at first but we should keep in mind that One Punch Man is a massive shounen.
And with that respect, this number is not as impressive. Overall, the One Punch Man franchise should have enough profits for the sequel.
The manga is still performing well and even though the franchise had a dip due to Season 2, season 1 made it profitable enough for another sequel.
Popular One Punch Man Characters
Now that the third season is announced, what characters will be making their return?
Well, let’s find out!
Saitama
Our GOAT, our MAN, is bound to make a reappearance in the sequel. His fun and humorous tone makes this anime and its absence is what made season 2, a bit lacklustre.
However, I hope that won’t happen in the next part.
Genos
The cyborg that we all love and cherish will be back in Season 3 as well.
This man-made Season 2 is a great watch for us and his actions are funny.
Speaking of action, Genos is one of the cores for high-octane action in the series.
He would be having another banger fight soon and bam! Our love for him would skyrocket.
Again!
Garou
One of the most important characters from the last season was our boy Garou. His ideology and approach are what make us notice him.
Moreover, his anti-hero vibe makes him an ideal person to watch in this narrative. He is something that we wanted and we got it as well.
Can’t be happier, can we? Apart from his contribution to the last season, his contribution to this season would be crucial as well.
Therefore, waiting for him in the sequel is gonna be worth it.
Other Decisive Factors for One Punch Man Season 3
Now let’s quickly take a peek at a couple of factors that we haven’t talked about yet.
Let’s discuss them in a bit of detail here. These are a few decisive factors that can shape the creation of Season 3.
One Punch Man Ending Explained
The ending of an anime is crucial for its sequel. This is because an ending opens the path for the narrative to continue. If an anime season ends properly it also creates an effortless and smooth transition to the next season.
However, for that to happen, the climax of the last season has to be conclusive and have room for the next part.
So let’s quickly revise the ending of One Punch Man season 2. The ending of One Punch Man Season 2 was focused on Garou escaping from our heroes Silver Fang and Genos.
Moreover, the monster association has declared an outright war! Indeed the next season is going to be filled with action and drama.
But more importantly, the last season had a great ending for the next season to florist upon.
In other words, the last season gave a great ending to itself and this ending can be further elaborated for an extension.
This is positive since an opening is essential for the next season to happen and One Punch Man made sure that it has one.
We still haven’t seen Blast make an appearance in the series so there’s a chance that the number 1 hero would join the squad as well.
All and all, the next season has great potential, to begin with, with no conclusive hurdles whatsoever.
Controversy Around One Punch Man
Now, we have to talk about a major controversy that revolves around One Punch Man.
The change of Studio was the actual game changer. Let me explain a bit. The banger performance from Studio Madhouse was heavily degraded as J.C. Staff took over. The first season had incredible animation thanks to many talented artists like Yutaka Nakamura.
The fights and their choreography are stunning and the flow is just too good. One Punch Man Season 1 is looked upon as one of the most beautiful pieces of animation out there.
However, the sequel degraded so adversely that fans were disappointed. To put it simply, fights and animation were major selling points for the series along with its humorous and unique narrative.
J.C. Staff took that and threw it out of the window. The animation wasn’t bad on its own BUT since the benchmark was so high J.C. Staff just wasn’t able to meet it. They tried their best but Madhouse is Madhouse.
They are difficult to replace. Thus, the change of Studios caused a major controversy amongst One Punch Man, which ultimately contributed to the second season’s collapse.
Top Similar Anime Like One Punch Man
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4. Mob Psycho (2016-2022)
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5. Haikyu! (2014-2020)
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Conclusion
Now to sum it all up, One Punch Man season 3 has been announced and is under production. Many experts think that it will be ready by 2024, and fans cannot keep their excitement contained.
And despite the fact that the second season fell short of expectations, the series is still well-known enough to make up for it.
I hope you got to learn something new. Thanks a lot for reading. And Until next time, Sayonara!
