One Punch Man Season 3 will be underwhelming, and fans should be prepared

The One Punch Man anime has been through a tumultuous journey, with Studio Madhouse’s first season earning widespread praise and J.C. Staff’s second season garnering mixed reactions due to the visible drop in animation quality.

After a six-year hiatus, One Punch Man Season 3 is now closer than ever, officially scheduled to air in October 2025. While there are still some debates online since J.C. Staff will continue adapting the sequel, most fans remain excited, as the upcoming season will be covering the highly anticipated Monster Association Arc.

Unfortunately, based on early visuals, the studio's track record, and elements surrounding the source material, fans should start mentally preparing themselves to be underwhelmed by One Punch Man Season 3.

Why One Punch Man Season 3 will disappoint viewers

Before discussing why One Punch Man Season 3 will be disappointing, it must be explicitly stated that J.C. Staff is far from a bad studio, having adapted several beloved projects such as Bakuman, The Disastrous Life of Saiki K., and Toradora.

While the group often faithfully adapts storylines and stays consistent with original designs, animating One Punch Man is a monumentally difficult task even for the best of studios. Yusuke Murata’s art style is considered by many to be the best that manga can offer, completely elevating ONE’s story.

The One Punch Man manga features incredibly intricate and lifelike illustrations, detailed monster designs, and captivating battle sequences. Only with years of effort and painstaking hard work would any team even come close to doing justice to the series on the screen.

While the first two seasons of the anime did feature a few exciting battles, the priority remained on Saitama’s hilarious antics and the beloved gag humor. The Monster Association Arc, on the other hand, will completely dive into action, as every hero from the Hero Association confronts every villain from the Monster Association.

The head-to-head matchups between the S-Class heroes and the Dragon-class monsters keep fans hooked from start to end. Each episode will deliver exhilarating cyborg battles, mind-bending psychic feats, or some form of complex and technical fight.

It is yet to be seen whether J.C. Staff can do justice to the manga, but based on the mediocre reactions to the second season and the immense sense of scale and chaos that needs to be translated onto the screen in season 3, the realistic chances of it living up to the hype are very low.

Why is the Monster Association Arc controversial?

Apart from just the resources and near-perfect animation required from the studio itself, there are parts of the fandom that believe that the Monster Association Arc that will be adapted in season 3 has a severe fault: a lack of Saitama.

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The titular protagonist, Saitama, is the best part of the series for many, with his unparalleled strength and comedic personality drawing in viewers from across the globe. However, the Monster Association Arc will hardly have any screen time for Saitama.

The highlight will primarily be the expansive cast and the S-Class heroes, who will receive much-needed development and time under the spotlight. While this will help fans grow closer to fascinating individuals such as Zombieman, Tatsumaki, Child Emperor, and several more, others may be disappointed that the main character never shows up.

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