Saitama (One-Punch Man)

Saitama is the main character of the manga and anime series *One-Punch Man*, created by the author One. He lives in Z-City as an unaffiliated superhero, taking on heroic work as a hobby while hoping to become famous. After three years of intense training, Saitama gained limitless physical strength that grows exponentially, allowing him to defeat any opponent with a single punch. This overwhelming power, however, leaves him bored and empty, since he never faces a real challenge. He becomes the reluctant mentor to Genos, a cyborg seeking revenge for his family’s death and his hometown’s destruction, after Saitama saves him from a powerful monster. Through Genos, Saitama learns about the Hero Association, a professional group that fights monsters and protects Earth.

One created Saitama as part of a webcomic, wanting to explore a superhero who starts out as the world’s strongest and mostly deals with everyday problems. For the manga’s serialization, Yusuke Murata illustrated the character. An anime adaptation aired in October 2015, with Makoto Furukawa voicing Saitama in Japanese and Max Mittelman in the English dub.

One was interested in making a comic hero who was already unbeatable, focusing on ordinary struggles rather than typical superhero plots. He noted that punching doesn’t solve life’s problems, but in *One-Punch Man*’s world, Saitama adapts to his surroundings using only his immense power, facing mundane issues like running out of money. One gave Saitama a simple design because he felt the world is full of cool-looking heroes. The story’s premise involved Saitama growing bored with heroics and turning to daily life. One believes a hero’s coolness comes not from strength but from mentality and understanding others. Drawing scenarios for Saitama was difficult because he would just punch away any problem, but One found his journey interesting; the challenge was making his allies seem not too weak. Murata initially drew Saitama in a cool, handsome style with stars in his eyes, but scrapped those ideas because One wanted the opposite. Murata enjoyed drawing the character, and Saitama’s blank expression was intentional for comedy. Murata added that while overpowered characters are hard to relate to, One wrote Saitama in a way that works.

Furukawa learned about the series from a friend who had the manga.