One-Punch Man has dealt a fatal blow to its fanbase, dropping both the release date of season three alongside its second trailer depicting a taste of what’s to come. While this has generated some excitement among the most patient of crowds, these announcements have also brought with it the anxieties that still simmer beneath the surface.
ONE’s capital success, One-Punch Man originally aired to a resounding cheers underneath the direction of Madhouse, displaying top-tier animation that utilized all of the best angles and cuts from the original source, bringing it to life in a way that did fans proud. The second season didn’t quite make it up to the hype after the project was transferred to J.C. Studios, who were unable to capture that same sense of dynamite visual flair. As October looms ahead, fans can’t help but feel a little doubt that the anime will exceed their rising expectations.
One-Punch Man Needs to Highly Reconsider its PR Strategy
Two Pre-Animated Trailers in the Past Year Isn’t Exciting Audiences
It’s been six years since the last One-Punch Man season, and while J.C. Studios did confirm that it has been working on the third, the updates have been few and far between. The official announcement of season three was released more than a year ago, featuring Garou in combat training, and showed significant improvements from the last season. This generated hype back into a hibernating franchise, only for the studio to fall quiet once again, failing to share any more information.
Now released back to back, One-Punch Man delivers an official date alongside a new promotional video. With only eight months to prepare, this only raised tensions among the most hopeful of fans, wondering if this was going to be enough time for the anime to get its production in order. In such a short time-crunch, fans were expecting an official trailer, showcasing what J.C. Studios has been cooking animation-wise to quell the fears the crowd currently has, and what would have performed a lot better alongside a release window rather than a promotional video.
After spending so long not properly communicating with the fanbase, these sudden updates are firing at rapid pace and feel a bit messy. Almost as if the management team was behind on delivering a few of these key hurdles. The PV should have been released a lot sooner, revealing One-Punch Man’s return in October made for great news during this month to properly build up the official trailer’s debut.
Fans Need a Real Teaser Showcasing One-Punch Man’s Animation for Season Three
Stills Don’t Show Off The Studios’ Skills
Promotional videos are a great way to generate attention back into a franchise, especially one that’s been as dormant as One-Punch Man. The latest installment showcased that season 3 is going to revolve around the S-Class Heroes, featuring many of them in the short snippet, but not failing to include Fubuki, Handsome Kamen Amai Mask, and Saitama himself who all technically fall under lower classes. While the short video does entertain some animation, a majority of it is allocated to stills of the upcoming characters and that’s because it was made by one person.
Animator Kazunori Ozawa put together the trailer with supervision from the studio animators, which is probably why this promotional video doesn’t focus on season 3’s highlights. The reel does offer some pros because it reveals that the art for One-Punch Man has improved since the last season, showing more care to detail and shadowwork that was previously overlooked. It doesn’t go into much animation since major scenes in the upcoming arc would require a lot more hands working on it.
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While this still does offer insight into how far J.C. Studios has come along, it should have been planned and released a lot sooner than when it came out. If it had released a few months ago, fans could be talking about the art rather than the lack of animation. Since the window for the anime’s release was announced just prior to the PV, fans are mostly concerned about what the end product is going to look like. The announcement would have been better reserved for airing alongside an actual trailer that teases more of the studio’s animation improvement.
The result is leading many to feel that the end product is being rushed in its promotion to consumers, which is not entirely the best of signs. March is already proving itself to be quite a busy month for the One-Punch Man team between these major announcements, J.C. Studios’ renewed commitment, and an expected official trailer to drop during AnimeJapan 2025.
Should Season Three Ultimately Be Delayed For Better Animation
How Much of a Wait is Too Long for Fans
There’s already talk circulating about whether it would be better for One-Punch Man to reserve its time in the spotlight to improve itself on the backburner. In light of all of the amazing releases coming out, such as Solo Leveling’s astounding popularity, there’s a rising question of whether the anime is even going to be able to compete on the same level as its rivals. Despite the industry’s struggles, expectations for anime only continue to rise as new talents and technology pop out of the woodwork. For a fight-intensive show like One-Punch Man, it can’t be lacking in any category.
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Fans have been waiting six years for the next installment of the franchise, so they’ve proven they can wait for as long as needs be until a proper continuation can come forth. If a delay is necessary for J.C. Studios to nail those final details, it won’t find much opposition from this fairly forgiving fanbase. Many believe that getting the animation right and delaying that end product is a far better justification than waiting this long only to receive a lackluster season for One-Punch Man’s greatest arcs with Monster Association.
The latest look at One-Punch Man is not the anime’s official season 3 trailer. It’s a pre-animated, promotional video meant to get the gears greased up for what is likely going to be a year of heavy marketing. There’s still time for the studio to feature some of its best animation when it premieres at AnimeJapan with the Bandai Namco Booth. At the rate it’s going, One-Punch Man is going to need a win under their belt, and that’s the best spotlight it has currently to prove to fans that J.C. Studios can handle the best upcoming shōnen.
One-Punch Man
- Created by
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ONE, Yusuke Murata
- First Film
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One-Punch Man: Road to Hero
- Cast
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Makoto Furukawa, Kaito Ishikawa, Max Mittelman, Zach Aguilar, Robbie Daymond, Hikaru Midorikawa, Marieve Herington, Laura Post, Rich Brown
- Video Game(s)
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One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows, One-Punch Man: Road to Hero
