I have been talking with a few people (thanks @numberonekingsimp) and it seems that not everyone is aware that there are OPM Audiobooks/CD Dramas (written by ONE).
You can find most of them in the OPM Wiki: here.
But some of them are on Youtube with audio and translation in sync:
A Festival with Saitama: Saitama and Genos go to a summer festival together.
Genos’ Fireworks: Continuation to the first one.
Sonic, Becoming Saitama: Sonic tries living Saitama’s life, in a disguise.
Genos, Training: Genos practices in a virtual reality and does an experiment with other heroes.
Saitama, Makeover: Genos helps Saitama transform his image as a hero, the result is... interesting. (Yes, this is the cat ears one).
They are funny/interesting/wholesome and I hope they help with what’s happening in the manga right now! If you always love getting more content (like me) enjoy!
Not all of the audios in the wiki are fully translated.
There's something to be said about Hero association and it's tendency to give awful hero names to random heroes. In the latest chapter 221 - Emerging Power, Hero Names Victims Association wants Saitama to become their executive because he's the highest ranked person with a name that bad.
And not without good reason, because their names are just as bad. Red nose, Dr. Grumpy Pervert and The Great Degenerate are honestly wild and the Hero association commitee should be fired for making people put up with such names. Names have power and they can easily give a hero bad reputation simply by associating them with the name. Nobody wants to be named pervert or degenerate or toupee or what have you.
Chapter 45 - Hero name
Taking two hours to decide horrible names without any input from the heroes themselves is honestly criminal. Sure, some heroes have fine names like Genos when he's named Demon Cyborg, but not allowing the hero to name themselves is just another strike in the long list of things Hero association could do much better in.
Saitama knows better than anyone the power of reputation and how fleeting it is, especially with his latest run-in with Amai-mask and how he turned from hero to monster and all that good reputation was gone in an instant. Saitama's hero name is bad enough, but it is easy to associate such a silly hero name with negativity, rather than if his hero name was actually great and cool, then people would actually believe in him and have faith in him instead of just making assumptions.
That's why he's so serious about this new organization at the end of chapter 221 - Emerging power, even if it's a bit humorous how he takes a simple name association organization so seriously. But no doubt he's eager to see if he could change his hero name through this organization, because he's always been really self-conscious about his bald head.
There have also been times when someone asks Saitama his hero name and he's hesitant to answer because he knows the other would laugh about it. A hero name should be something one could carry with pride and announce their name to the skies like Stinger and not have to hide it because it's that bad.
In chapter 87 - Monster side, Garou asks Saitama for his hero name but Saitama mumbles it because he doesn't want to become a laughing stock. It's no use however when Manako asks Saitama for his hero name, Flashy Flash is within eartshot and instantly makes fun of his hero name in chapter 131 - Won't lose! It's quite ironic that someone redundantly named Flashy Flash would say how little thought went into Saitama's hero name when the executives spent 2 hours deciding hero names for Saitama and Genos. Saitama is naturally pissed and starts to bury Flashy Flash back beneath rocks.
Saitama thinks his name is such bad rep that he thinks even Garou the hero hunter would not stoop to hunt him because of his silly name, thinking it's not worth it to go after that kind of hero who definitely doesn't sound very strong. It's not a flattering name and something to just get used to, it's a stain on his already floundering reputation.
That's why when push comes to shove and the Hero Names Victims Association comes knocking, Saitama gets the support and initiative to get his name changed to something more appropriate.
Yes, but have you considered that Saitama would name himself "The Collapse of the Final Strength Gestalt with Endless Possibilities - The Lone Wolf Saitama, the Boiled Egg (Terror! The monster-devouring cat man)!"?
There's something to be said about Hero association and it's tendency to give awful hero names to random heroes. In the latest chapter 221 - Emerging Power, Hero Names Victims Association wants Saitama to become their executive because he's the highest ranked person with a name that bad.
And not without good reason, because their names are just as bad. Red nose, Dr. Grumpy Pervert and The Great Degenerate are honestly wild and the Hero association commitee should be fired for making people put up with such names. Names have power and they can easily give a hero bad reputation simply by associating them with the name. Nobody wants to be named pervert or degenerate or toupee or what have you.
Chapter 45 - Hero name
Taking two hours to decide horrible names without any input from the heroes themselves is honestly criminal. Sure, some heroes have fine names like Genos when he's named Demon Cyborg, but not allowing the hero to name themselves is just another strike in the long list of things Hero association could do much better in.
Saitama knows better than anyone the power of reputation and how fleeting it is, especially with his latest run-in with Amai-mask and how he turned from hero to monster and all that good reputation was gone in an instant. Saitama's hero name is bad enough, but it is easy to associate such a silly hero name with negativity, rather than if his hero name was actually great and cool, then people would actually believe in him and have faith in him instead of just making assumptions.
That's why he's so serious about this new organization at the end of chapter 221 - Emerging power, even if it's a bit humorous how he takes a simple name association organization so seriously. But no doubt he's eager to see if he could change his hero name through this organization, because he's always been really self-conscious about his bald head.
There have also been times when someone asks Saitama his hero name and he's hesitant to answer because he knows the other would laugh about it. A hero name should be something one could carry with pride and announce their name to the skies like Stinger and not have to hide it because it's that bad.
In chapter 87 - Monster side, Garou asks Saitama for his hero name but Saitama mumbles it because he doesn't want to become a laughing stock. It's no use however when Manako asks Saitama for his hero name, Flashy Flash is within eartshot and instantly makes fun of his hero name in chapter 131 - Won't lose! It's quite ironic that someone redundantly named Flashy Flash would say how little thought went into Saitama's hero name when the executives spent 2 hours deciding hero names for Saitama and Genos. Saitama is naturally pissed and starts to bury Flashy Flash back beneath rocks.
Saitama thinks his name is such bad rep that he thinks even Garou the hero hunter would not stoop to hunt him because of his silly name, thinking it's not worth it to go after that kind of hero who definitely doesn't sound very strong. It's not a flattering name and something to just get used to, it's a stain on his already floundering reputation.
That's why when push comes to shove and the Hero Names Victims Association comes knocking, Saitama gets the support and initiative to get his name changed to something more appropriate.
Yes, but have you considered that Saitama would name himself "The Collapse of the Final Strength Gestalt with Endless Possibilities - The Lone Wolf Saitama, the Boiled Egg (Terror! The monster-devouring cat man)!"?
there should be a term for characters you personally don't care about but you defend them anyways because the way people treat them is really uncomfortable. like ok this is a very middle-of-the-road character for me but the fandom's either been super misogynistic, racist, etc. about them or harassed innocent people who try to genuinely explore that character warts and all, and i find that more annoying than the actual character.
In my case, it's how I came to be stuck on Genos as much as I am. Reading the piss-on-the-poor takes on Reddit got me speaking up for the character, and that got my interest.
One thing that I think is going to come to matter a great deal soon(ish) in the webcomic, less soon in the manga.
Genos is often wrong about how he understands something, but he is NEVER WRONG ABOUT WHAT HE WITNESSES.
People in the story (never mind the readership) are quick to dismiss him, tell him he must be wrong, making things up, deluded, biased, or mad, but he's never been wrong.
When he showed up at Saitama's, telling a crazy story about destroyed towns and rampaging cyborgs, it sounded crazy, but damn if there isn't a vast cyborg-led conspiracy to take over the world, and double damn if his origin hasn't been independently verified by Child Emperor.
He's not been right about people approaching Saitama with the intention of becoming his disciple, but he has never been wrong about people approaching Saitama with an ulterior motive.
Of course, the only reason we, the readers, believe Genos when he talks about the erased future is that we were there. His stories are utterly unhinged, the things he says are utterly unbelievable. And 100% true.
I'm keenly waiting to see how this truthfulness pans out soon.
And yes, webcomic readers, I'm saying that if Genos says that he saw Bofoi in his hometown, he did. WHY? That remains to be seen.
I love it. Heck, sometimes, Genos doubts the evidence of his own eyes, like when he wrongly assumed it was King who blew away the cadres and was puzzled that it didn't add up.
Thankfully, Saitama later set him straight and let him know that he was right.
Whatever anyone else says or thinks, Genos's witnessing is always on point.
One thing that I think is going to come to matter a great deal soon(ish) in the webcomic, less soon in the manga.
Genos is often wrong about how he understands something, but he is NEVER WRONG ABOUT WHAT HE WITNESSES.
People in the story (never mind the readership) are quick to dismiss him, tell him he must be wrong, making things up, deluded, biased, or mad, but he's never been wrong.
When he showed up at Saitama's, telling a crazy story about destroyed towns and rampaging cyborgs, it sounded crazy, but damn if there isn't a vast cyborg-led conspiracy to take over the world, and double damn if his origin hasn't been independently verified by Child Emperor.
He's not been right about people approaching Saitama with the intention of becoming his disciple, but he has never been wrong about people approaching Saitama with an ulterior motive.
Of course, the only reason we, the readers, believe Genos when he talks about the erased future is that we were there. His stories are utterly unhinged, the things he says are utterly unbelievable. And 100% true.
I'm keenly waiting to see how this truthfulness pans out soon.
And yes, webcomic readers, I'm saying that if Genos says that he saw Bofoi in his hometown, he did. WHY? That remains to be seen.
It started out as a throwaway experiment, a series of gags about a too-strong man and his woes with which ONE tested digital drawing tools. He gave the gag a story once he realised that it resonated with readers.
To read the webcomic is to see, mirrored on the page, a scrap of an idea that takes shape, finds direction, grows roots, and blooms with energy. From the shaky, yet understandable lines of a nameless hero telling a giant monster that he does his hero work for fun before blowing it away, to the deceptively simple yet expressive style of the present chapters, we've followed ONE's professional career through this one work.
From the earliest to the most recent punch, ONE has evolved as a writer and artist without forgetting where he started from.
However, and this is going to sound like sacrilege, the webcomic isn't perfect. I'm not going to talk about the art -- others have done that more extensively than I ever will. Nor am I going to talk about its irregular release schedule -- it's a hobby! The series has been going since 2009, and as ONE has expanded the story, its flaws have become more evident. The writing is thin -- the world-building and buildup are both hit-or-miss, which means things just happen with no real reason why they should be happening when and where they are. Exposition dumps litter the narrative as the reader needs catching up on what the writer has had in mind but not put down until now. Sudden situations that a less gracious reader would call awfully convenient are the rule rather than the exception. There's even the occasional retcon to retroactively inject continuity into a plot development. And in places, it has leaned on the manga to provide context -- ONE is probably right in thinking that webcomic readers are all manga readers.
And yet, holy fuck, is this series awesome! I remember a foreword to an old edition of Jack London's 'Call of the Wild,' in which the reviewer pointed to a lot of technical weaknesses to London's writing, not least of which was that it had many factual inaccuracies, but that these weaknesses were swept away by the fact that his writing had power: a compelling narrative that carried you along, objections and all, and then stuck with you afterwards.
That narrative power is something ONE has in spades. He's done it with his inexpert art and still-evolving writing by always having an eye for the telling detail. Even in his crudest drawings, you always knew what you were meant to be looking at and why it mattered. He has used the fact that he's never had much time to work on the webcomic to sharpen his humour and set up absurd situations that make you laugh.
ONE's love of humour and drama trading off against each other is really at its best in the webcomic -- none of his other works yet come close. Even in the darkest moments, grim scenes get leavened by some absurd juxtaposition or by Saitama negating the threat with nonchalant ease.
And like that, the all-threatening undefeatable enemy is just a person in an odd costume.
That said, I feel that it's at its very best when it uses symbolism, when the telling moment is invested with meanings so layered it gives you chills.
An example? Yes, let's have one! I think Mumen Rider taking on the remotely-controlled Suiryu has to be one of the best. The set up of a skilled, talented fighter such as Mumen Rider taking on the monstrously strong, insane martial arts genius Suiryu made one laugh at how hopeless a fight it was going to be. And yet, he tried anyway. It's heartbreaking to see that his goal isn't to win -- it's to free Suiryu. And succeeds, at a horrific price. The panel of Suiryu walking free as Mumen falls just sticks with me.
It's rare for a picture to be worth so many words.
The symbolism of the idea of heroism transcending the individual is the most obvious: as one falls, another will arise. Suiryu's shocked expression and flaking body suit is literally the symbol of hatching -- being cast into a world as a new being.
The idea of a hero stepping up as sacrifice, not glory.
The ideal that a hero takes a risk, not because they do not value their lives but because they are moved by the plight of others.
The idea of what a hero *is* at heart. There are so many definitions of what a hero is swirling around the story but this is it: a hero serves to free others. Whatever shackles one, be it external threat or internal challenge, a hero is someone who reaches out to you to help you be free.
All in one panel.
You could rewrite the webcomic to be a play -- its beautifully condensed action, pithiness, and sequential focus on one character lend itself nicely to the stage. And its charged climactic moments would transfix any audience into forgetting for a moment that they're sat watching an absurd pastiche of superhero adventures and simply see its human heart.
