00:00One Punch Man Season 3, Episode 9 Review
00:03A return to form sidetracked by forgettable battle One Punch Man Season 3, Episode 9 Review.
00:10The animation is improving, which shows hope for the finale, but Saitama is still absent.
00:16One Punch Man Season 3, Episode 9 offered a great battle between Child Emperor and Phoenix Man.
00:23Or at least it is great compared to the majority of Season 3's episodes.
00:27While fans can definitely praise the animation and the action scenes, it wouldn't be fair to call the episode engaging.
00:35The entire episode focused on Child Emperor and his efforts to save Waganma,
00:40while the Entitled Kid tried to annoy the audience as much as possible.
00:45Yet even great episodes can be dragged down if the battle just can't resonate emotionally.
00:51Episode 9 embodies the shounen spirit it was meant to parody One Punch Man
00:56is a parody of shounen anime and the traditional battles in them.
01:00The entire premise of the anime is built on establishing the common tropes of the genre before mocking them.
01:07Yet, as Season 3 aired, the anime seems to have given up on the satirical part completely.
01:13Episodes seem to keep focusing more and more on battles, and Saitama is nowhere to be seen.
01:18The protagonist did make an appearance in Episode 9, but only for a brief few seconds towards the end.
01:25Child Emperor might have pulled out one new gizmo after another, and they were indeed interesting, but nothing felt engaging.
01:33As a viewer, it is hard to connect with Child Emperor's struggle to defeat Phoenix Man,
01:38especially when Saitama is meant to be the last showdown anyway.
01:42Phoenix Man's backstory was also extremely shallow, but it was the only thing that actually felt like a satire
01:49on the last-minute flashbacks that villains tend to receive in shounen anime.
01:54One Punch Man Season 3 Episode 9 plants hope for the finale.
01:59Despite the forgettable battle, One Punch Man Season 3 Episode 9 does plant hope for the season's finale.
02:06After airing one ridiculous episode after another for seven weeks straight,
02:11episodes 8 and 9 feel like shining stars in comparison.
02:15It is clear that most of the budget and time were reserved for the latter episodes of the season.
02:22This is a hopeful indication of what the finale might be like.
02:26If the animation stays on the same level, then the finale might actually be watchable
02:30instead of another invitation to create memes.
02:33Still, Saitama's absence from the show is too striking.
02:38The season is focusing on every character other than the protagonist,
02:42which is messing with the magic of the anime.
02:45Saitama's absolute deadpan face and emotionless punches are the backbone of the series,
02:50and they are sorely missed.
02:52What do you think about One Punch Man Season 3 Episode 9?
02:56Let us know in the comments below.
02:58One Punch Man is currently available to stream on Crunchyroll in the U.S.
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