One Punch Man 2×03 Review: “The Hunt Begins”

“The Hunt Begins” could not be a more apt episode title. Everyone is hunting everyone on One Punch Man – Garou is out hunting heroes while they, in turn, are hunting for him. And Saitama is out hunting for wigs. Because of reasons.

“The Human Monster” did a good job of establishing Garou as a force to be reckoned with, but “The Hunt Begins” really hammers this point home. As he is out hunting heroes to take down, we see that his strength isn’t just a physical ability; he is skilled at martial arts, his reflexes are quick, and he is smart, as well. He flips through the Hero Almanac to learn about the heroes and then uses that information in his fights. This is a tactic that I’m sure the heroes aren’t used to, since most of the monsters they’ve fought don’t tend to do their preliminary research.

I am a little angry at Mumen Rider; it’s good for people to have morals, especially heroes, who have the capacity to do some serious damage, but surely he’s heard of the kind of person Garou is. Then again, we as the audience have the benefit of knowledge that Mumen Rider doesn’t have. Mumen has a lot of faith in humanity, and in return he gets his face smashed repeatedly into the ground.

I was absolutely not expecting Garou to meet Saitama this early, but I am not at all surprised at how that meeting turned out! The look on Garou’s face when he realized that his neck chop had no effect whatsoever on Saitama was the perfect TIFU look. This is not the end of Garou’s story by a long shot (I don’t need to read the manga to know that, they’ve spent too much time building him up to dispatch him so quickly) but I do hope we get more of his backstory. Why does he hate heroes so much? Is this like a Syndrome situation?

The humor was great in “The Hunt Begins”. Between Saitama offering everyone bananas in exchange for information, his deadpan, “Oh, are you trying to rob me?” when Garou attacks him, Garou chillin’ like a villain, and Genos scheduling a “hair implant” appointment for Saitama when he spots him in the wig, this was a very funny episode.

I also thought that, overall, the animation and direction were better in this episode.

Have you seen “The Hunt Begins”? What did you think?

Author: Jamie Sugah

Jamie has a BA in English with a focus in creative writing from The Ohio State University. She self-published her first novel, The Perils of Long Hair on a Windy Day, which is available through Amazon. She is currently an archivist and lives in New York City with her demon ninja vampire cat. She covers television, books, movies, anime, and conventions in the NYC area.

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