“I quickly knew what I needed to do”: One Punch Man Director Based Massively Popular Series on 1 Short-Lived Space Anime That Became a Major Inspiration

Want to become the strongest? All you need is 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and 10K run for a year and a half (and a sacrifice of your hairline) & voila! Or at least, that’s what Saitama followers claim. One Punch Man has a unique combination of action and comedy that has won fans worldwide. 

It inspired many who have witnessed Saitama’s journey from being an ordinary salaryman to a B-class hero (although he’s much stronger). However, do you know who has inspired Saitama? The One Punch Man Animation Director, Shingo Natsume has the answer. 

The Inspiration behind the One Punch Man:

In an exclusive interview with the OTAQUEST, the man behind the Saitama’s stunning visuals, Shingo Natsume revealed that Space Dandy, a Japanese comedy animation, heavily influenced him. Aired in 2014, Space Dandy became an inspiration for Natsume who believed that there’s hardly any difference between Japanese and Global audiences.

“When I first took a look at Space Dandy overseas and found out how popular it was, I quickly knew what I needed to do to excite them (One Punch Man fans) even more,” said Natsume.

“When we took Space Dandy overseas, I had the opportunity to watch it with the local audiences in real-time. So I was able to see what parts of the scripts they would react to,” he added. “I’m happy that the international response towards One Punch Man has been great. I actually did make it with the intention that it will be well received.” 

One, an anonymous mangaka from Japan, released One Punch Man as a web manga series. Later, due to its excessive demand, it was remade into digital manga, illustrated by Yusuke Murata. One is also well-known for his work in Mob Psycho 100 (Yes, that’s why they look related but aren’t). 

Also read: Goku Vs Saitama: Who Will Win?

Saitama has lots of challenges ahead:

One Punch Man Anime has yet to catch up with its manga releases. Season 2 of the series ended in chapter 85. So, for the curious fans out there, who are scratching their heads to know aftermath of Season 2, your lead is Chapter 86. 

However, due to the production rush, the plot has weakened significantly. Although it followed the main storyline, but the fans who want to enjoy the story in detail with some mesmerizing illustrations by Yusukuke Murata, One-Punch Man manga is waiting with 202 chapters (and counting). The Monster Associations arc ended in Chapter 169 and it has some of the best action scenes that’ll definitely forced the fans jump out of their seats when the production will air the Season 3, hopefully soon. 

One Punch Man is currently streaming on Crunchyroll