[Note: this is a review for Issues 1-19 of the manga and through episodes 1-14 of the tv series]

Manga and superhero cartoons rightfully get crapped on for being overly predictable, shallow and filled with annoying tropes. How many times do we have to hear a character say, “I wasn’t even fighting at my full power level!!!” before that gets boring and predictable? Exactly once. Saitama, aka one punch man, doesn’t mess with that. He kills every enemy in exactly one punch, and he is bored as hell by it.

Saitama is a not so subtle allegory for the bored office worker. After becoming a superhero for fun and escaping the life of a salaryman, he trains so hard that even the most disastrous villains are destroyed...and suddenly he’s right back into the cycle of boredom he trained so hard to escape. Saitama is flanked by a cast of characters that act as hilarious foils to his super power and super apathy. A few of my favorites that oftentimes cut a little close to home if you’re familiar with corporate life:

- A cyborg student who interprets even Saitama’s grumbling for hot pot as wisdom
- A hero ranking system that is overly bureaucratic and consistently ranks Saitama as a middling hero
- A man declared to be one of the most fearsome heroes in the world. However, it turns out he has never been on a fight and just happens to be nearby whenever Saitama delivers his deadly blow to deadly monsters

So yeah, no spoilers when I say Saitama wins every fight. But I’m not here for the suspense. I’m here to watch heroes and monsters hilariously navigate yet another bureaucracy put in front of them.