One-Punch Man Season 3 Aims To Continue The Anime’s Hot Streak

Three years after the conclusion of Season 2, series character designer Chikashi officially confirmed One-Punch Man Season 3 on August 18, 2022. In addition, Kubota shared a piece of key art teasing the new season. Proof that the series is adapting the “Monster Association” arc from the manga, fans can expect to see a new side of Garou, the Human Monster, in the upcoming season.

An official One-Punch Man Season 3 trailer was released in March 2024. It centers around Garou taking on Bug God and Royal Ripper of the Monster Association alongside some of J.C. Studios’ best animations to date.

“Hero Hunter” Garou made his first appearance during Season 2, and the fan-favorite character is under the spotlight in One-Punch Man Season 3. Finding himself under the command of the Monster King, Orochi, Garou is out to prove to the other monsters that he’s one of them by taking the head of a hero. Unfortunately, Orochi wants the head of Saitama.

Meanwhile, the Hero Association tries to figure out how to handle Garou and is waiting for the Monster Association to make a move. Saitama, as expected, isn’t taking the situation all that seriously. This will also finally be the season in which Dr. Genus explains to anime fans why Saitama is as powerful as he is and the concept of the limiter.

The One-Punch Man anime may be a huge hit, but it’s been plagued by delays since its original announcement. Season 1 aired in 2015, followed by Season 2 in 2019, and now, Season 3 has continued this trend. Announced in 2022, there is still no official release date for One-Punch Man Season 3. Even following the release of key art and a trailer, J.C. Staff Studio is keeping fans waiting.

This is the one time, that it’s understandable, as the manga volumes have yet to bring the “Monster Association” arc to its conclusion. It’s not just the anime that takes forever to adapt; even the manga is taking over a decade to tell the story of Saitama.

One-Punch Man Season 3 looks like it will continue the hot streak for the franchise. Impressively, One-Punch Man was originally a webcomic before becoming a hit manga. The series has been a best-seller on both sides of the Pacific, with over 30 million copies sold, and it’s still climbing.

The series has always centered around Saitama, a superhero who has grown bored with his power. He has the ability to defeat any and all opponents with one single punch which means he feels his life is void of challenge, and he is right.

Prior to Saitama becoming One-Punch Man, it was his ultimate goal to be the greatest superhero that ever lived. To get to that point, he trained relentlessly for three years. But during this intense training, Saitama went from a full-head of hair trainee to a bald superhero. The training caused him to lose his luscious locks.

Now, after getting what he wished and trained for, Saitama has found out that being a superhero with one-punch power is not what it’s cracked up to be. He feels there is no challenge, no one can beat him, so why even bother anymore? Saitama is in need of a spark.

When One-Punch Man Season 3 finally arrives, fans will be able to watch the “Monster Association” arc on Hulu or, if you have the bundle, also on Disney+. The previous two seasons are also on the same services, and given the anime’s release schedule, there’s plenty of time to catch up or remind yourself where Saitama and friends ended last season.

Unlike other anime that go directly to streaming, however, One-Punch Man Season 3 is expected to continue airing its first run on Adult Swim’s Toonami block. However, the world has changed since Season 2 was released, and now the simultaneous worldwide release has become popular, so there is still a chance that the anime will be available for streaming sooner than expected.

One-Punch Man Season 3 isn’t the only new franchise entry that fans have been waiting on for years, in 2020, Sony announced they were working on a live-action feature film. Given how the series has contradicted itself across the different mediums, fans aren’t concerned about the movie being plot-accurate, but rather, will it capture the quirky, off-beat feel of Saitama?

In 2022, Sony announced that Justin Lin, famous for his work with the Fast & Furious franchise, would be in the director’s chair. The only other update after that was the news in 2024 that Dan Harmon, the creator of Rick & Morty and Community, would be revising the script. Oddly, Harmon is an inspired choice, as back in the 90s, he co-wrote the quirky comic SCUD the Disposable Assassin, which has the same type of off-kilter energy and feel as One-Punch Man.