In 2015, Studio Madhouse captivated the world with the first season of the action-comedy series One-Punch Man. Now, the third season is already out for the anime, but not much remains of the original hype. MeinMMO explored the background of the production – so why has one of the most popular series in the world become so poorly received?
One-Punch Man is the story of Saitama, a resident of City Z. He supposedly trains every day by doing 100 squats, 100 sit-ups, and running 10 kilometers. As a result, he has become so strong that he can defeat any opponent with just one punch – hence the title One-Punch Man. However, he is actually just a hobby hero and is completely uninterested in saving the world.
In 2015, the anime adaptation of the first chapters set new standards for action animations and created a massive hype around Saitama. Now, two more seasons have been released, but the excitement has completely flipped: Fans are shocked by season 3.
MeinMMO has thoroughly examined the series and its production, attempting to find answers in this article to the question of why.
Who is writing here?
MeinMMO editor Sophia Weiss began her journalistic career in 2016 as an intern at the German anime and manga magazine AnimaniA. After two years of training, she worked there as a permanent editor until the end of 2019. During this time, she became familiar with the industry and delved deeply into anime productions and manga publishing.
Since 2020, she has been working for Webedia GmbH, the parent company of MeinMMO. Since mid-2023, she has been active again in journalism, writing as Managing Editor for MeinMMO.
High expectations for One-Punch Man, and Season 1 is to blame
Before One-Punch Man became a series, it was an immensely successful webcomic with over 7.9 million views alone by 2012 (Anime News Network) and then a very successful manga that has been printed and sold millions of times. Volume 34 from August 2025 currently has 34 million printed and sold copies (Manga Watch).
The serial adaptation with 12 episodes in Season 1 began in October 2015. It was produced by Studio Madhouse under the direction of Shingo Natsume. As a studio, Madhouse can boast over 200 produced anime series since 1981. Some of these include action blockbusters like Black Lagoon, Devil May Cry, Highschool of the Dead, and the popular Hunter X Hunter from 2011.
Shingo Natsume, on the other hand, had produced two seasons of Space Dandy for Studio Bones before One-Punch Man. He worked with some now almost legendary animators: Yutaka Nakamura, Arifumi Imai, and Yoshimichi Kameda. All three also contributed to the production of One-Punch Man Season 1.
Specifically, Nakamura is credited on Sakuga Booru, a site tracking animators works, with some of the best fight scenes. Imai, on the other hand, is responsible for the animation of the training fight between Saitama and his student Genos (Sakuga Booru).
Several success factors came together for Season 1: An action-experienced studio adapted a popular story with a director who could attract unique animation talent. Thanks to this perfect storm, the first season became a celebrated feast for the eyes.
On Rotten Tomatoes, where the series has achieved 96% on the popcorn meter with over 250 reviews, it is stated: With its cutting-edge animation, unconventional hero, and gut-busting comedic jabs at the shōnen genre, One-Punch Man is simply a home run.
New director, new plan – One-Punch Man Season 2
This success of the first season may have been the reason that Season 2 and now also Season 3 can’t even come close to the set bar. From here, we need to speculate a bit: Behind every anime stands a production committee that decides when the series will be produced by which studio. The production committee holds nearly all the strings.
One-Punch Man Season 1 was a huge hit. Successful products should not be allowed to fade away, and as a result, they probably tried to push the second season as quickly as possible – which may not have even been planned when Episode 1 aired. They first want to see if the product resonates with the audience.
Since the middle of the 2010s, many anime studios have been heavily burdened. An article from the Hollywood Reporter cites Ted Sarandos, the then Chief Content Officer of Netflix, who stated that they currently have over 30 anime series in production. That’s a lot for just one client, especially since traditional buyers like TV networks also had productions commissioned.
It is therefore very likely that Studio Madhouse had to give up Season 2 due to capacity reasons. From the first season until 2025, Madhouse has also released 34 new productions – a mountain of content, in which One-Punch Man might simply not have fit anymore.
In addition, Shingo Natsume was no longer available as a director for Season 2. He left the project, among other things, for Boogiepop and Others or the award-winning Sonny Boy (Anime News Network). Of the artistic talents who worked with Natsume on the first season, only Yoshimichi Kameda returned for one episode.
The production of Season 2 ultimately went to J.C. Staff. However, J.C. Staff is not a studio known for particularly well-animated action animes. Their strength lies in rom-coms, slice-of-life, and magic – as can be clearly seen in Toradora!, Maid-Sama, or Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?.
Without Shingo Natsume, a new director was also needed. Chikara Sakurai took over the season. One-Punch Man Season 2 was his directorial debut. Previously, he was primarily active as an animation director and assistant director.
Season 2 thus did not have the same conditions as the first: A studio that is not known for its action productions, paired with an inexperienced director and the absence of the animation talents that Shingo Natsume had managed to attract.
Upon release in 2019 – only two years after the first season – the new episodes still achieved a popcorn score of 82% on Rotten Tomatoes. Even then, there were loud voices criticizing the downgrade in animations. On YouTube, for example, a viewer compiled the worst animations. And even three years ago, the production quality was being discussed on Reddit.
Season 3 was the perfect storm leading to failure
Season 3 of One-Punch Man started only in October 2025. A full six years after the release of the second season. And especially after such a long wait, many viewers are frustrated that the animation quality seems to have dropped again. The popcorn meter stands at 6% at the time of this article, with over 500 ratings (Rotten Tomatoes).
J.C. Staff continues to produce the series. However, a new director has once again been brought on board for the new episodes: Shinpei Nagai. His projects primarily include comedies like Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san or I Can’t Understand What My Husband Is Saying. Action, however, has not yet appeared in his repertoire. His project before One-Punch Man was the sex comedy Dogeza de Tanondemita.
The remaining staff from the second season was at least back in key positions. However, the director’s competencies are relevant because he holds the strings during production and must guide his series ship to a safe harbor. Season 3 thus faced the same problems that Season 2 had.
On top of that, since 2019, the demand for new anime has not decreased, but has rather grown. Studios are currently trying to produce more series in shorter periods. It is also likely that attention to budget has increased, and the budgets are not always high enough.
This is at least suggested by Shinpei Nagai – the very director for One-Punch Man Season 3. Even before the release of his production, he stated that the quality would likely not match that of the first. In a post on X.com, he railed against small production budgets and the lack of animation talent. This must have further complicated production, as cutting corners might have been necessary.
The result is a third season that, as noted on Rotten Tomatoes, is far from well-received. Major issues include detail-poor fight scenes, fluctuating proportions in character designs, and inappropriate shine effects on metallic surfaces.
In retrospect, it is easy to say that One-Punch Man Season 3 never had a chance to reignite the hype. Still, it is sad.
Unfortunately, One-Punch Man is just a symptom of an overstretched anime industry. Here, a very high demand currently meets overworked production facilities and talents. Additionally, the budgets may not always suffice for high quality.
The outrage here is probably particularly loud because the manga is still enjoying very high popularity. Many pure anime viewers will of course also want to know how the story continues. And due to the originally very high benchmark, current expectations remain high as well. Whether these can ever be met again remains to be seen. However, something seems to be going quite well with a live-action adaptation: Netflix shares news about Season 3 of One Piece, possibly revealing more backstory about a character
