9 Lessons I Learned From One Punch Man

Disclaimer: This post contains spoilers and important plot details of One Punch Man anime.

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Japanese anime are widely considered as weird cartoons for weird people. Still, every now and then one becomes globally popular. Particularly big commercial success was achieved by franchises intended for children (Pokemon have generated more revenue worldwide than both Star Wars and Marvel sagas).

However, not all anime are about yellow creatures that go „Pika, Pika“ and 4 hour long fights where characters spend 3 hours and 50 minutes talking and screaming AAAAAAAAAAAAAA, ⁽¹⁾Sorry Dragon Ball fans, but Goku vs Frieza is NOT the greatest fight ever, but probably the longest time wasting filler in the history. Grow up please!. There are anime for the older audience that have gained international recognition.

Anime that introduce thought-provoking ideas.

Anime that offer depth and substance.

Anime that shock you and make you think.

I have written about Death Note, which explores the definition of justice and moral righteousness. Today, I would like to write a post based on a recent anime that has become incredibly popular – One Punch Man.

One Punch Man tells the story of Saitama, an extremely powerful superhero, capable of beating any opponent he encounters with a single punch. He fights and defeats monsters who threaten an Earth-like supercontinent planet where he lives.

Despite his uncanny abilities, Saitama is not your average superhero. He does not have a backstory. He does not have a specific reason to become a hero – he claims he does it for fun. He does not have a noble goal – he just wants to find a worthy opponent. He is not happy to beat the crap out of anyone – he grows bored by the absence of challenge in his fight against evil. Earthly matters like eating or getting a discount in the supermarket are more important to him than his heroic deeds.

Saitama is the embodiment of anti-hero. One Punch Man is a superhero parody. It mocks every superhero cliche. It also pokes fun at the entire anime genre. Even its Japanese name, Wanpaman, was derived from another superhero anime Anpaman.

However, One Punch Man offers much more than cheap humour. It is very subtle and layered. Through irony and satire, the authors try to convey several messages. They criticize society, bureaucracy, our way of life, our pursuit of happiness.

Everything!

Just 12 episodes of the first season taught me a lot. ⁽²⁾And the second is coming in April 2019. Can’t wait! One Punch Man is the most instructive anime I have ever watched. Hell, the most instructive TV show I have ever watched.

So without further ado, here are 9 lessons I learned from One Punch Man:

1. Don’t judge a book by its cover

What’s most special about Saitama is that there is nothing special about his appearance. In contrast to shredded, strong and mighty superheroes flooding our popular culture, he looks ordinary. Dull. Average. He is not the type that women fall for. The authors even made him bald to pronounce his mediocrity.

Due to his comic appearance, nobody takes him seriously. Monsters he encounters don’t perceive him as a threat. Other heroes underestimate him. When he appears in the training hall at the Hero Association to take the physical exam, everybody laughs at him.

Until the exam begins.

The major point is we all judge a book by its cover. We all assume what someone can or can’t do on the basis of their appearance. Which doesn’t only make us as superficial as the Voice jury (and the audience). 

It also makes us incapable of appreciating others. Observing their greatness. Learning something from them. Realizing that beauty has nothing to do with the appearance.

That the beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

2. We don’t really know what happiness is

In the first episode titled „The Strongest Man“, we find out Saitama is unbeatable. He only needs one punch to defeat any opponent. He hasn’t encountered someone who could seriously challenge him ever since he became so strong.

And it makes him miserable. He is bored. Emotionless. Stuck.

In the same episode, he dreams of a subterranean race who invade the Earth. They pose a real threat to humanity. Facing such a dangerous enemy, Saitama suddenly feels challenged. Excited.

Alive.

When he wakes up, a huge disappointment awaits him. The real-life subterraneans are extremely weak. He gets rid of one of them. The others retreat as fast as they can.

There are multiple lessons we can learn from this. The main one is that we are terrible at predicting what makes us happy. We spend decades pursuing things like power, money and status. In the end, we realize unlimited amounts of them don’t improve our well-being. Most of the goals we perceive as desirable are completely overrated. But we often realize it way too late.

The other lesson we can extract is that some sort of progress is a key to living a good life. I have already mentioned Mark Manson defining happiness as solving high-quality problems. In his book Reinvent Yourself, James Altucher has written something similar:

Freedom. Relationships. Competence. Increase those every day and you will find well-being. If all you do is the same thing every day, you will never increase those three things in your life.

This is precisely what Saitama is lacking. High-quality problems. Challenges. Opportunities to increase his competence. His main issue is what to eat and when to shop for groceries. Every fight feels the same. He does the same thing every day. Despite being the most powerful man on the planet, he feels empty and unhappy.

3. CONSISTENCY IS THE KEY

In the third episode titled „The Obsessive Scientist”, Saitama encounters monsters from the House of Evolution, an experimental laboratory where mad scientist dr. Genus works with humanoids and animals to artificially evolve humans. After Saitama defeats them all, Genus releases the most powerful monster of the House, Ashura Kabuto to deal with him. Kabuto recognizes Saitama’s overwhelming power. He asks him the secret to his strength. Saitama happily says he has been doing the following:

• 100 push-ups
• 100 sit-ups
• 100 squats
• 10 kilometer run
• no use of air-conditioner

for every single day for the last three years. Consistently. Without a rest day.

When they hear that, both Kabuto and Saitama’s disciple Genos get angry. They assume Saitama is lying. They don’t believe him when he says something ordinary led to such a result. Something everyone could be doing.Something they could be doing. There must be something more. A magical key to success.

For me, this is the most iconic scene of the entire series. The sheer symbolism is brilliant.

The main point is that there are no shortcuts to success. Consistency is the key. In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell mentioned 10 000 hours as the magical barrier. You simply have to put in the hours. It is not a guarantee of success, of course. But it is one of the prerequisites.

Many people have trouble accepting that they could have done the same. They react just like Ashura Kabuto. With disbelief, anger and denial. Instead of accepting the responsibility. Instead of admitting to themselves they never even tried, they blame the government, the parents, their friends, their education.

Everything.

That’s when they get jealous. And put those who succeeded down. Because they had a better starting position. Or that magic ingredient. Or they were simply lucky.

Oh, how unfair this world is!  Boo-fucking-hoo.

4. YOU CAN ONLY GET GOOD AT SOMETHING IF YOU ENJOY DOING IT

Also in the first episode, Saitama encounters a monster called Vaccine man. The monster asks him who the hell he is and Saitama answers that he is just a hero for fun. Not because he wants to end all evil. Not because he wants to avenge his dead parents. Not because a spider bit him and he has no choice now.

For fun!

I think it is not a coincidence he became so good at being a hero. He enjoyed it from the beginning. He was never focused on the final result. He was doing it for the sake of doing it. I think he managed to sustain his rigorous training, to stay consistent, precisely because he never perceived his training as a job.

This is an important lesson we all tend to forget. If you are not enjoying doing something, then you probably shouldn’t be doing it. You probably won’t become good at it. Even if you will, you will be doing it for all the wrong reasons.

And it won’t make you happy.

5. WE ALL YEARN FOR RECOGNITION AND VALIDATION

In the fourth episode titled „The Modern Ninja“, Saitama is struck by the realization that nobody really knows who he is. As he sulks over his lack of recognition as a hero, Genos suggests they join the Hero Association, which has a public ranking system of the heroes based on their accomplishments. Saitama happily accepts and they apply for the entry-exam at the beginning of the fifth episode („The Ultimate Master“).

The point is that even someone like Saitama (who does things for fun and is not overly concerned with what people think of him) yearns for recognition and validation. We all do. And there is nothing wrong with it. You might remember Eric Barker’s formula for happiness contained the Legacy part. How are we supposed to create a legacy if nobody gives a damn about what we do?

Of course, there is a difference between yearning for recognition as a side-effect and yearning for recognition for the recognition’s sake. I often think about this when I post things online. In the past, I used to craft my Facebook feed in order to maximize the likes. My self-worth was largely dependant on their number.

Luckily, with years, this trend changed.  Today, I use social media as a tool to express myself. Either I post something I find silly and humorous. Or something I care about. I no longer post things because others might consider them important. I post things because I consider them important.

Of course, that is not to say I don’t care about the reactions AT ALL. It is even nice to get positive feedback in general. It is even nicer to get it when you post things you believe in. Besides, feedback offers valuable information. It tells you whether you are doing something right or wrong. ⁽³⁾It would be perhaps more precise to say it is just one piece of information. As we have learned in the previous post, you shouldn’t really give a fuck about what the majority of people think about you. But you also shouldn’t be foolish and ignore it completely

But validation is not the most important thing any longer.  It is not the sole purpose of my activity like it used to be. Yes, being recognized and validated feels good.

But ultimately – Facebook likes don’t really matter.

6. institutions are mean to their own end

So, in episode five, Saitama and Genos decide to join the Hero Association. This is the moment when animet REALLY starts to mock our society and the modern world we live in. Because we can easily imagine an institution trying to regulate hero activity in real life, if the heroes actually existed. ⁽⁴⁾Yes, I know all of you have your own personal heroes, but I am afraid they don’t really count

The remainder of the season one demonstrates problems that arise when something is institutionalized. Although an example used in One Punch Man is absurd, these problems are apparent in real life as well. The reasons institutions are means to their own end are as follows:

• They are extremely bad at evaluating the capabilities of the individuals

The Hero Association ranks hero into four classes. Class C is the weakest class. Classes B and A followed. Finally, the most elite class is class S.

After the entry-level exam (which consists of the physical and written part), the Association decides to assign a class to every applicant on the basis of the results. Saitama and Genos demonstrate how painfully inaccurate the selection process is. Saitama, despite breaking every conceivable record in the physical part, gets assigned to the class C due to his terrible – written exam.

Let me repeat. Saitama, the most powerful hero on the planet, gets assigned to the worst class because he didn’t WRITE the correct answers. Meanwhile, his disciple Genos, who is infinitely weaker than Saitama, gets assigned to the highest class, class S, because he is young and promising.

The absurdity of the situation is painfully relatable. Everyone who has ever gone through a job interview or passed an exam in a university knows the final evaluation often has nothing to do with the actual capability. That it has everything to do with an arbitrary system of value certain institution (or part of the institution) has created.

• They are ineffective

In episode seven titled „The Ultimate Disciple“, a meteorite passes over the planet. It suddenly changes the trajectory and threatens to destroy the entire city. The Association calls all Class S heroes, but only Genos and the other two (out of 20) appear. They try to stop the meteorite, but in vain.  If it weren’t for Saitama appearing and crushing the meteor with a single punch, a whole city would be wiped.

And the Hero Association wouldn’t do anything. They wouldn’t do the JOB they were supposed to be doing.

It is not uncommon for institutions in real life. Just think how slow and ineffective things are when you have to deal with bureaucracy. Although they should be organized and make your task easier, their size and the redelegation of responsibility often achieves the opposite.

• In the end, the institution becomes more important than the idea behind the institution

In his article about the problems of feminism, Mark Manson remarks the following:

But the problem is that, like I said, feminism, in the process of enacting all of the progress of the last 50 years, became more than a philosophy—it became an institution. And institutions are always primarily interested in sustaining themselves first and engaging with the world as it is second.

The authors of One Punch Man wholeheartedly agree with this assertion. Because everybody in the Hero Association is more focused on their own reputation and their well-being than in being a hero.

Aman Sai, Class A rank 1 hero ⁽⁵⁾And Class A asshole. God I hate this guy! is a perfect example. He is constantly criticizing other heroes’ failures because they ruin the Association’s reputation. When the heroes led by Saitama manage to defeat mighty invading force led by Lord Boros, Dominator of the Universe, he doesn’t congratulate them – he accuses them of acting too slowly.

Also, the ranking system and the carrot-and-stick reward system it is based upon is disastrous. Most heroes are concerned only with their ranking. In a couple of scenes, higher ranked heroes refuse to engage monsters because they are „not worth their time“ – they don’t offer chances of advancing.

The worst thing is – some heroes want to advance at any cost. So they cheat and manipulate. Which leads me to the next point of the article.

7. PEOPLE ARE ASSHOLES. THEY TAKE THE CREDIT THEY DON’T DESERVE AND DON’T GIVE THE CREDIT OTHERS DESERVE

Very soon after Saitama becomes a hero, he starts progressing along the rankings. After he destroys the meteor, he leaps from rank three hundred and something to rank five of class C. Instead of praising or admiring him, other heroes behave like assholes. They doubt him. They refuse to give him credit. They call him a fraud. They accuse him of cheating.

Something similar happens in episode nine titled „Unyielding Justice“.  Saitama K.O.s Deep Sea King, a monster that defeated two class A heroes, class S hero Puri Puri Prisoner and Genos. People accuse him he was only able to beat it because it was tired. They claim it wasn’t that strong at all. That those other heroes sucked.

We also find out that class S hero King, famed for his incredible strength, owes his ranking to Saitama. Before Saitama joined the Association, he defeated a number of monsters. King, who found himself at the same place, got credit for these heroic acts. Without hesitation – class S offers way too many benefits.

It is terrifying how close to real life this is. Everyone who has ever worked in a corporation knows how wicked and competitive “Office Games” can get. Another example – I am amazed subreddits about famous chess youtuber agadmator such as: How on Earth did this guy get 200k subs within a year? actually exist. Maybe by doing something he enjoys ⁽⁶⁾Number four on this list, doing it consistently ⁽⁷⁾Number three on this list and doing it well?

Give the guy some credit.

8. PEOPLE ARE DUMB. PUBLIC OPINION IS EASY TO MANIPULATE

The behaviour of other heroes is not the darkest aspect of One Punch Man. It is the behaviour of the broad public. It is hard not to be jaded and cynical when you see how easy it is to manipulate the public opinion. How dumb people are.

A scene that made me scream at my monitor happens after Saitama deals with the meteorite in episode seven. After its destruction, it shatters into smaller pieces and destroys parts of the city. The next day, Saitama is confronted by two heroes, twin brothers Tanktop Tiger and Tanktop Black Hole. They start rallying the mob. They start blaming Saitama for the destruction of the city.

The worst part – the MOB BELIEVES them. Instead of appreciating that Saitama saved them all, they quickly turn against him. They listen and repeat lies served by Tanktop brothers. They don’t even STOP to think with their own head.

You think no one is actually that dumb? Well, we humans have a track record that proves otherwise. You might have heard of Joseph Goebbels, among others.

So please guys, don’t be dumb. Sixth World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik wasn’t. He was stubborn and difficult. But he never gave a rat’s ass about the opinion of the majority. He used to think with his own head.

Be like Botvinnik.

9. everyone you meet has something to teach you

In the book Reinvent Yourself by James Altucher, one of the chapters is titled „10 things I learned from the Pope Francis“. I was quite skeptical before reading it – what could an atheist like me possibly learn from the head of the Catholic Church. Altucher proved me wrong – the chapter is surprisingly good. The lessons he extracts are insightful, valuable and useful. For instance:

“The media only writes about the sinners and the scandals, but that’s normal, because a tree that falls makes more noise than a forest that grows.” The media sells subscriptions. But every day we have a choice. To focus on what is growing in our lives, or the negativity and fear that try to bring us down. Another quote: “How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure but it is news when the stock market loses two points?”

That’s when I realized you can learn something from everyone. No matter how different or weird he is. No matter whether he is educated or not, intelligent or not, smart or not, employed or not, black or White, men or a woman, religious or not. Everyone knows something you don’t. If you don’t just scratch the surface but dig deeper, you are bound to found a treasure.

Even in a character from Japanese anime.

A bald and ordinary guy with an unordinary ability.

A guy like Saitama.