There is this show that does things like none other. It’s about a protagonist so strong, to the point he can beat any opponent with one punch. And the name of that show is… Dragon Ball, back when Goku was a kid. The reason Toriyama eventually dropped the parody and turned it into a fighting shonen was because he realized the joke of an unbeatable protagonist got old very fast.So, fast forward a few decades and a satire of superheroes came out, in a way that had never been done before. It was about an unemployed and bored of his own life superhero, casually defeating any monster that attacked him. And the name of that anime was… Tentai Senshi Sunred, a very fun and self-aware plotless comedy that even bothered to make the main villains seem like sympathetic fellows, instead of generic monsters of the week that get blown up in a few seconds. And it managed to do all that with a low budget. Unfortunately, almost nobody knows of it and the rest don’t talk about it because it didn’t have pretty colors. But fear not, since quite recently we had another show about superheroes and this one had lots of pretty colors. It was also a deconstruction of the western superhero formula, a thought-provoking masterpiece that was constantly subverting everything you knew about the genre and was presenting things in a way that had never been done before. The name of that show was… My Hero Academia, a generic fighting shonen that everybody overhyped because of the pretty colors. I know what most of you will say. I am being an asshole because One Punch Man looks great. There is nothing wrong with pretty colors, if they are adding to the context. A deconstruction like One Punch Man needs it because it elevates the jokes to new levels. That’s nice and all, but a deconstruction is not defined by how it looks. If it was as good as so many claimed to be, the pretty colors wouldn’t be a defining factor. And look at that; the second season was announced to have not that pretty colors and everybody nags about not being good anymore. It’s almost as if everybody was hyping it only for the animation, while the endless analysis of its deconstructions were just bullshit for excusing their fondness of a typical satire. And by the way, that’s what it is. Just a satire, not a deconstruction. It’s not doing something we have never seen before to count as though provoking, and it doesn’t lead to a permanent, meaningful change in-series to count as a deconstruction of something. I keep hearing how it never gets old because it’s self aware, and that means … absolutely nothing if they don’t do something with it. It also feels pretentious when it tries to sound serious without having consequences, such as the dramatic scenes when Mumen Rider cries about doing his best despite being weak, and everybody blaming the protagonist for not doing his job that well. As soon as the arc is over, everybody go on with their lives, as if nothing happened. If you are poking fun at something without trying to improve it, you are embracing the very thing you ridicule, and on top of that you make it self-indulgent. It’s like a clown who makes fun of other clowns. It’s funny but it’s not subverting anything. The show is just making jokes about the stereotypes of superheroes, and it does it without even having much variety. The reason they often call the show “One Pun Man”, is because everyone keeps repeating the same one joke in every episode. It gets old and stops being funny very fast, because it becomes predictable. Just compare it to something like the recent version of Mahoujin Guruguru. A great satire of heroes in JRPGs, vast variety of jokes, many of which are plot related, and no attempt to sound serious by mentioning bullshit that are forgotten soon afterwards. Mahoujin Guruguru makes no attempt to be more than a satire, and thus does not come off as a pretentious pile of shit for overthinkers. Did I mention how it also has a plot?One Punch Man does not have a plot. The only thing that changes is adding more characters in every arc, with each one repeating the same one joke in every episode. That’s not plot progression, in the same way Bleach did not have plot progression when it kept introducing more characters and bankais that didn’t matter in the longrun. Saitama’s journey to be an S rank hero is also not plot. If he showed his true power, he could instantly get to S rank. But he didn’t because he’s bored and stupid. Just like in Dragon Ball Super the only way for a broken hero to not achieve everything he wants in an instant, is through self-sabotage. Oh, I forgot to press the Zeno button, oh I forgot to keep my guard up, oh I’m so bored to do what I want to do. Better do nothing and then complain about the injustice of the hero association while sounding like a pretentious cunt. How is it possible for so many people to be motivated by Saitama, a guy who is bored of his life and who can defeat everybody in a fraction of a second? How did he even get so strong with basic training? Not even his power makes any sense to be relatable. Many say he’s a brilliant deconstruction of superhero clichés because it proves heroic achievements or raw power do not make someone a hero. Okay, so Saitama has terrible social skills and makes everybody unable to take him seriously no matter how many times he saves them. The ranks heroes are getting do not have to do with how strong they are but rather how lovable they are in the eyes of the people. Going by this logic, he truly doesn’t deserve to be a top hero, so what’s so compelling about him when he goes against the very logic of the show?In fact, it’s extra infuriating when the show keeps trying to victimize him by having the people accusing him of not doing his job, as if he did nothing wrong besides not giving a shit about his own job and defeating cosmic horrors anticlimactically with a single punch. Which even that is overthought too much, as they keep saying there are some enemies he does not defeat in a single punch. There, see, it’s subversion, you didn’t see that coming. At least until you realize he was holding back the whole time. He could defeat them with one punch as well, and didn’t for some bullshit philosophical debate, which just like everything else does not lead to something.You just have to accept that about the show. There is not much thought put into its conception, since characters are one pun jokes, and cities are named with single letters. There is no world building, and there is no consistency, as monster factions keep appearing out of nowhere. How the hell was humanity fending them off before the hero association was formed? You get no answer because there is no answer. The author didn’t bother to think of one.How about the concept of heroism, which just like in My Hero Academia, that other super original show which does things like none other, is all about popularity instead of good deeds? How is that thought-provoking when it’s also used for nothing more than cheap laughs? There is no in-series exploration on the topic of heroism, so where the hell is the deconstruction, besides in the minds of the pretentious overthinkers? What I am trying to say all this time is that there is absolutely nothing special about this show. Everybody who watched it after the hype died, was completely disappointed with how unfunny and boring it was compared to what they expected from a show that was once in the top 10 of all major databases. One Punch Man is just another example of a bland show that got overrated by sakuga tards, before all of a sudden being considered awful because the second season will no longer have pretty colors. Just like a soap bubble, it came out, it flew high for a season, and then popped. Everybody afterwards jumped ship to the next craze that was the godawful Erased, and then to My Hero Academia, which is the exact same thing. It was the product of manchildren needing to circlejerk around something while it airs before completely abandoning it to go jerk around somewhere else. It is nowhere near as good as they made it up to be and I don’t even consider it above average.