The franchise ofOne Punch Man” is extremely popular, not only for its anime adaptation but also for its manga adaptation. That's right, the original story comes from a webcomic by author ONE with extremely simple art, but a pretty good story. A few years ago, Shueisha decided that this story couldn't stay that way, and assigned the talented Yusuke Murata the task of transforming ONE's precarious art into a masterpiece.
And there's no doubt that visually it is, but narratively Murata's work has been a disaster for a while now. And now, as fans rushed to get into the new manga update, They found out that we have returned to Chapter 240 and that the manga will be redrawn again! That means that all chapters published since October-2023 are no longer part of the main story.
Murata himself explained the situation in the following statement:
- Hello everyone, I'm Yusuke Murata. Regarding the specific advantages of serializing One Punch Man on the web, I consider “being able to make corrections later” to be one of them. With serialization in print, the editor is always behind me, and I have to spend sleepless nights (sometimes several) catching up. I end up submitting a huge pile of manuscripts, and when I see the finished product in the magazine, I always have the feeling that “this didn't turn out quite right here” or “I should have done that there.” Every week I am left with regrets, and I feel like it's part of the job. That's not a situation I really enjoy.
- One Punch Man It is one of my top priorities during its serialization. Once the manuscript is submitted, any corrections I make are simply a way to decrease the number of regrets I have as an opinionated person. Still, there will come a day when my skills deteriorate to the point that I can no longer surpass my previous jobs. To elaborate on this, there will come a time when my work is no longer considered adequate. Looking back at my previous works, taking into account the different circumstances, I still don't know if there is anything that shows that I am giving it my all. Am I unable to accept the fact that I have dedicated my life to drawing manga, or am I just lonely? It's something I still reflect on to this day as I make my corrections. Umm, I really am very stubborn…
- The only thing I would like to say is that repeated revisions are necessary to achieve a clear vision and correct interpretation of the plot. ONE-sensei has given me many specific clues through the story and characters, and the mountain of discarded manuscripts is a testament to his extraordinary skill. I would like to express my sincere thanks to ONE-sensei for this incredible working relationship and to the readers for always being so understanding.
This is not the first time Murata has scrapped the job and started over exactly from Chapter 240. In March-2024 the author had already published eight chapters (from 240 to 247), he announced that these would be eliminated to be corrected. Now the same decision has been made again, with double the number of chapters published, something that did not happen without criticism from fans:
- «Just when we thought the end was near, it was time for another redraw».
- «OMG we're stuck in an endless loop haha».
- «Nooo, Chat, are we stuck for another year?».
- «We can't be doing this again, haha».
- «Obviously it can't be another redraw».
- «At this point, it's kind of funny… although it makes you wonder what last year was for».
- «I've been through this before!».
- «Another redraw for this arc? Haha, this is already worse than Phoenix Man».
- «They should abandon this arc now, haha».
- «Nooo again! We are stuck in an endless loop of redraws. I feel like Diavolo, I'm not going to lie».
- «That? But we were already there, with the backstory and everything».
- «Holy shit, can we just get this arc over with?».
- «How many times have they rewritten this arc? I've already lost count».
- «Are they redrawing this mess from the beginning or what? Ha ha ha».
- «This arc is giving Murata and the readers a beating, haha. It's Sonic vs. Saitama».
- «You know, they really should have stuck with the webcomic version. It was a fun little arc to establish Flashy Flash's backstory and dynamic with Sonic before the Neo Heroes thing. It got very complicated with “Void” and Blast. And I still think that the less we knew about Blast, the better».
- «I'm beginning to believe that all these redraws are the work of the power of God, changing history when he wants».
- «You're kidding, this can only be God manipulating history, because it's not possible.».
- «Murata basically said: “New year, same bow.”».
- «I think those redraws are like a game mechanic every time things get ruined against the woke guys. There is no other explanation».
- «I'm confused, is this the third time with this bow? Two redraws already?».
- «I'm not going to lie, it's good that they redraw it, the plot was a little boring for me. I hope there is more thought behind this version».
- «Another redraw occurred in Murata's version of One Punch Man, but this time they went back about 20 chapters, and an entire year of updates were erased. Can that happen?».
- «Before I saw something on my timeline like “Shouldn't we make it normal to remake failed plots in mangas?”, but seeing the One Punch Man controversy, I feel like that's impossible. If you redo it too many times, the credibility of the work goes to the ground.».
- «Even the dimensional cut came to nothing…».
- «It's the third time».
- «I'm sure he's already depressed because of the haters.».
- «It is ONE who writes the story, is he the one who is asking for the redraws?».
- «What if the author of Jujutsu Kaisen did this? Maybe it would be better».
Fountain: Hachima Kikou
©ONE・村田雄介／集英社・ヒーロー協会本部
