One-Punch Man blew up in a big way in December. Originally a webcomic by One (pseudonym), One-Punch Man was adapted first into a manga and then into a hit anime series. The concept is pure absurdity. The greatest hero humankind has ever known is Saitama. Saitama can defeat any enemy with one punch. His infallible technique begins to bore him, so he starts seeking out stronger and stronger enemies who might offer him a challenge; they never do. The challenge is an acceptance of his strength and limitations, and the perception of his powers in the real world.
Saitama had all his dreams come true with a wonderful power. He is a hero. No matter what, if he is there, good will prevail. Yet the mundane routine of always winning so easily not only bores him, it leads to ridicule and disbelief from the people who rely on him. No real hero could so easily win every fight the same way every time.
Sisyphus, in Greek mythology, is the craftiest king. He uses advice from the Oracle of Delphi to eliminate everyone who stands between him and the throne without consequence. He succeeds by getting everyone else to commit his crimes for him.
When he is going to die, he tests his wife's devotion by demanding she throw his body into the public square instead of providing a proper burial. Sisyphus uses this as an excuse to escape the River Styx by demanding a chance to confront his wife over her inexcusable behavior. One imagines that he would demand that chance if she gave him a proper burial instead of following his dying wish. Either way, he's sent back to Earth and cannot die.
That is, until he betrays Zeus and is punished with the most well-remembered part of the myth. Sisyphus is condemned to roll a bounder up a hill for all eternity. When it reaches the top, it rolls back down, and he must start again. The tip of the peak cannot hold the boulder and his task will never be complete.
Saitama as Sisyphus is an easy comparison, to be sure. He seeks a challenge in his life that will never come because of his heroic nature.
It's not just that he can defeat any enemy with one punch; it's his desire to always fight for good. No matter how bored he becomes, he always does what's right. Seeking out stronger enemies just means that he will be able to protect people from more destructive villains sooner rather than later.
His peers despise him because he rejects the tropes of superheroes. He doesn't want fame, acclaim, and glory; he wants to be good.
in One Punch Man, an entire echelon of heroes exists. You have to pass an exam to even be considered a hero. Saitama's limited but powerful ability resulted in an initial classification as a C-Class hero. When the series starts, he already worked himself up to A-Class by sheer force of will. He never loses a battle, so he can't be demoted. He defeats villains other heroes cannot, so he rises above them.
Sisyphus is a character motivated by greed; Saitama, by the common good. Their singular focus and constant reach for growth in their goal is what sets them into their respective ruts of repetitive, unfulfilling tasks.
Much of my reading of pop culture comes from an appreciation of existentialism and absurdity. Albert Camus is my spiritual father in this sense, and his essay "The Myth of Sisyphus" is perhaps the seminal text in my critical voice.
Essentially, Camus argues Sisyphus' eternal struggle of rolling a boulder up a hill makes him the epitome of the everyman. The thesis of "The Myth of Sisyphus" suggests we are all repeating futile, pointless tasks in an uncaring world that will never offer us true guidance, meaning, or values. Only in rejecting society's traditional notions of success and satisfaction can we ever find true meaning in our lives.
There's a darker element at the forefront of the essay; Camus is grappling with suicide. If one realizes that life is ultimately a meaningless exercise, is one obligated to end it? Even Camus, with such upsetting works as The Stranger and Caligula, rejects the notion of suicide. The existence of life is absurdity; absurdity cannot exist without life. Only in acknowledging absurdity can one truly begin to appreciate what good there is in a life lived on one's own terms.
Saitama, unlike Sisyphus, does have the choice. Sure, every battle he faces will end the same way--one punch and he wins. Sure, the system of celebrity that has overtaken the nature of superheroism in this universe means that he--a humble, thin, bald hero with a selfless drive to help--will never be appreciated by his peers, his superiors, and his society. It is ultimately up to Saitama himself to find satisfaction in what he does.
His fellow heroes in One Punch Man will never be satisfied. They compare themselves to other heroes. They judge themselves on adulation from the masses and the flashiness of their powers. It doesn't matter if their abilities are totally useless against a real enemy; they want the biggest and best impression above all else. In a life led to become the epitome of what everyone else desires, these heroes can never find satisfaction.
This contradiction is what makes One Punch Man such fascinating satire. He is the hero we need, but not the one we can ever appreciate. The humor in the series comes from Saitama's despair at always winning with no external struggle. It's not satisfying to be infallible, and it's not appreciable by his peers, his leaders, and his community who must struggle so much to even come close to his level. The system games itself against a hero as powerful as Saitama, even though Saitama is the hero that can always stop the existential threat of intergalactic destruction.
One Punch Man is published and distributed in America by Viz Media. All of the episodes are available on Hulu Plus. The manga is available through all major book retailers.
