Why was One-Punch Man's Animation so Good?

Yutaka Nakamura, Chikashi Kubota, Yoshimichi Kameda, Arifumi Imai, Bahi JD...Just by credits alone, One Punch Man was shaping up to feature some incredible animation. But why were all these animators here and where did they come from?
Well, join me today as we go into the answer as to why, One-Punch Man's animation, was so good.
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💿Music credits:
Jungle - Aakash Gandhi
向井秀徳 - Dandy Beat
KenKen - The Morning Will Come, The Dawn is Soon
Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro - Dandy's Fly
ZEN-LA-ROCK - スペース☆ダンディ
One Punch Man OST - S Rank (Original)
One Punch Man OST - BATTLE!! (Original)
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[@Ayeato]

I really hope we get a team like this for season 3 season 4 because after whats been happening in the manga for like the past year its really gonna need it to do it justice

[@dairyqueenrestaurant8800]

Word!!

[@theidirianthinker108]

It all might change though. They might just stick with the original source. And not cosmic Garou arc.

[@Ayeato]

@@theidirianthinker108 doubt it, the anime is a manga adaptation not a web comic adaptation. Even if what you said where the case it would still required a big animation team cuz a lot of crazy stuff still happens which a team like the one who animated season 2 wouldnt be capable of.

[@theidirianthinker108]

@@Ayeato that's why im saying. Though the mango is cool and different. It would either be an altered version from the exact copy. Or the traditional story One had intended.

[@loveonepieceforever8203]

Nah I’m opposite hope they get begining one peace treatment

[@J_productionss]

You can really tell the staff had fun with what they were doing in s1. It's so kickass and cool. More animation companies should consider just sitting back and letting their staff have fun

[@forgottenrelics1197]

For sure 👍

[@haroldnecmann7040]

@@forgottenrelics1197 space dandy is direct continuation of cowboy bebop

[@luis-sophus-8227]

Hear me Toei Animation...

[@shiken69420]

@@luis-sophus-8227 ur youtube account gon get deleted

[@TheIrrelevantYT]

I think what's sad is that OPM Season 1 was such a crazy union of the best animators out there that it's near impossible to do it again.

[@fitzhugh7463]

I’d imagine that directors and supervisors have a very important job when it comes to motivating the artists and getting them in synch with their artistic visions. OPM season 1 seems like a good example of what happens when the creative leads made a great work environment and everyone was on the same page creatively.

[@Elfo_Scuro]

Like Araki and Himeno for Saint Seiya's movies.

[@forgottenrelics1197]

And also the power of connections and team building!

[@luis-sophus-8227]

I may not know a lot about how it feels. But despite the crunch, I feel the creators feel proud of OPM nonetheless.

[@guscfer157]

It's the power of teamwork!

[@alsimmonshellspawn6021]

@@Elfo_Scuro we need those back for saint seiya next dimension

[@PlatinumSperms]

I don’t know if any studio can animate what’s happening in the manga currently correctly

[@juanmjx]

Yeah it's an insanely high bar

[@hirochi0362]

probably only Bones or Ufotable cuz bones is animating mob psycho 100 (also made by the writer of opm) & my hero academia and ufatable has the incredible visuals

[@Kaimax61]

I don't why you guys are talking about "studios" when it's all about the people inside it, heck, in OPM S1's case, People outside of the studio.

[@hirochi0362]

@@Kaimax61 because some of the studios have so said "people".

[@Iamnotracistlmao]

Did you watch the video?

[@skillet9141]

I hope season 3 can hold a candle to season 1, at least….. whenever it may come out.

[@Elfo_Scuro]

The work of the first season was like the servant for the pyramids in Egypt. They destroyed phisically so much workers. Maybe only the work of Rob Bottin for John Carpenter's The Thing for the special effects it's comparable for the stress.

[@LlednarHugh]

@@Elfo_Scuro no wonder it's so good.

[@shanhh1141]

i mean there is one fight that may come out in season 3 or 4 (which recently came out in the manga) which i'm really looking forward to being adapted in anime

[@dilltamacipher8374]

@@shanhh1141 let me guess, the cosmic garou vs saitama, i also wish to see that adapted

[@shanhh1141]

@@dilltamacipher8374 yup (Especially the serious sneeze that one was just amazing)

[@ms.antithesis]

ooh, well i mean opm's first season had basically all the best animators in the industry circa 2015. s2 went downhill becauase yenno.. they lost most of them, and the new animation director was obsessed with highlights. but the manga is still amazing, prolly the best art in current Shonen.

[@bear576]

I hope they come back for future seasons, some of the recent panels by murata deserve to be brought to life by legends.

[@keb7777]

Both dragon ball super manga and OPM manga have the advantage of being monthly, so the artists are given more time to be more detailed and precise with their work.

[@ms.antithesis]

@@keb7777 opm isn't exactly months, it's roughly monthly but because it's a digital exclusive it goes between bi-weekly to bi-mlnthly whenever it pleases

[@chrisblanc663]

I thought the second season was passable. It wasn’t nearly as good as the first season. But it’s not horrible either. It’s just because everyone compares the two seasons.

[@ms.antithesis]

@@chrisblanc663 well its the same show so ofc peiple compare it...

[@PrOxAnto.]

If you do a video on One Punch Man season 2 please talk about the audio design too, that was one of my biggest gripes ... they literally used the same impact sounds for like 10 different things. And it's a shame Season 2 had such mediocre animation and art style, the way metal looked so dim compared to that shiny real look we get in Season 1 for example. I do think the last 2 episodes were great, as close as we could've gotten to Season 1's animation.

[@forgottenrelics1197]

Yeah the compositing wasn't all that great 😬

[@luis-sophus-8227]

The sound design in Season 2 was just pathethic.

[@PapaBearIsHere]

though the music was great I'd say, Garou's theme is exactly what I picture, and there are still good bits early on such as Garou's first time reusing Silver Fang's style.

[@alsimmonshellspawn6021]

Jc staff is worst than toei

[@PapaBearIsHere]

@@alsimmonshellspawn6021 Im a one piece fan, and JC atleast didn't hyper-extend multiple arcs to only adapt half a chapter at a time, and screw over content creators for bs reasoning.

[@mechajay3358]

It's amazing when a group of talent animators come together and help make One Punch Man's 1st Season into a Visual Spectacle.

[@kulrajsingh2017]

Its a miracle that will unlikely to happen again

[@Zuronicks]

Wow this was really well written, structured and edited. I’m glad you’re continuing to grow and branching out from DB videos! Keep it up!

[@forgottenrelics1197]

Thanks man, I had a lot of fun putting it together!

[@themollymachine]

Dragon ball super sucks

[@dalemurman]

@@themollymachine how iv never watched but i would like to know why

[@themollymachine]

@@dalemurman poor story. Poor art. Milking a dead cow. There's literally nothing more Goku can do as a character that he hasn't already done

[@dalemurman]

@@themollymachine ok fair enough

[@renvanacker4510]

I hope more people watch this video, especially those who were blinded by the "unlimited budget works" or "madhouse goat" misinformation

[@diegovaldes1408]

It honestly feels surreal to me that we're already in 2022 and there's still people that think the reason why season 1 of opm looked so good is because "iT hAd a hiGh bUdGeT"

[@tganims9804]

Honestly too many people think the quality of all anime in general revolve around "budget", its ridiculous, when will people come to realize throwing more money in an animator's face wont magically make the animation better?

[@Luke-eo8dj]

@@tganims9804 yeah it comes with skill, talent, creativity, and time

[@orang1921]

i mean money can often attract talent

[@Elitus]

@@Luke-eo8dj and time is money if they have more money they will get more time

[@HerMi.T]

@@Elitus how? their are big game studio who force their empolyee to work longer and already fixed their release dates. how did reach this conclusion that more budget give more time. infact, with higher budget. they hire lot of animators than usual. so no it is not like with higher budget animators suddenly started to get more money.

[@xan42O]

Shingo Natsume is amazing and all of the work that he produces is 🔥🔥💖

[@smcrevival1467]

Let's pray opm even gets a season 3 and that it gets the same love season 1 got. Or the same lobe mob psycho 100 got. Yall probably read the recent chapters of opm and those just have to look perfect in the anime

[@cristianrodriguez6982]

I'm glad you made this change in your content. This is an animation channel now, and that's awesome. I hope you do a follow-up to this video and also talk about OG Naruto and Shippuden's animation differences down the line.

[@forgottenrelics1197]

Thanks, glad you enjoying the content man 👍

[@Cbas619]

We were spoiled with sakuga in OPM season 1 which made season 2 seem bad in comparison. I would love to see a follow up on season 2

[@jesuspernia8031]

I still prefer season 2. Thanks to Garou. And the current arc in the manga is amazing

[@Bakagii]

@@jesuspernia8031 agree, season 2 has garou arc and a little bit of king arc which is really good in terms of story telling. Something we didn't quite get in the first season which i could only recall the mumen rider and early saitama moment as pretty touching

[@Cbas619]

@@Bakagii It will be tough for any studio to adapt season 3 from the manga because Murata's art is S tier

[@Bakagii]

@@Cbas619 bro even the creators of season 1 was afraid they couldnt live up to murata's insane art xd

[@fortnitesexman]

season 2 was bad, the animation is mid af and that's a massive detrament, might aswell cut out all the fights at this point cause they're not entertaining

[@nazarenomilohanich4883]

Damm, I did know Space Dandy had influenced OPM production, but not to that insane degree. Looking back at it, it does make sense given the staff they share. Also, please do make a video on the second season, its definitely as much of an interesting talk as season 1, but sadly for all the wrong reasons. Plus what Aoki managed to pull off amidst that hellish production truly is something else lmao

[@Popotato7777]

Just the existence of a video talking about it 7 years after it happened is pretty much a proof by itself of how good it was.

[@kyleh1494]

Kameda’s one of my all-time favorite animators. So glad to see you analyze his work on OPM

[@anlexaify]

They elevated the source material to a whole new level.

[@tengoodquestions]

Great research as usual. Season 2 was poor due to sponsors trying to capitalise on the hype

[@ultimaweapon6]

I would love it if we went through and did animation break down's of this show. Also I really look forward to seeing Y season 2 wasn't as great. But there was one question that was always burning in me when I was watching season 2 comparisons to the manga. I always saw things like impacts were less strong or monsters were less big and vicious I get the animation being not so great but I would reyally like to know why theMonsters were less impressive. An example that I have is The scene where a giant bird attacks the building with one punch man and king. In the manga the bird was like the size of the building but not in the show

[@luis-sophus-8227]

Poor proportions and the color palette that makes everything less clear...

[@Amplifymagic]

You’re the best at what you do buddy, love your channel keep it up.

[@Joeondeeznuts]

Thank you for giving more credit and information for these legendary people, artist. Your videos are awesome, keep it up

[@forgottenrelics1197]

thank you man, much appreciated

[@laforestadeimillepugnali3865]

Just wanted to make a bit of a precision, but a lot of the names that appeared in One Punch man, asides from the some obvious connections from Natsume, also came from the animation producer Fukushi Yuuichirou! Very often, animation producers gets forgotten about in the production of things, but many of them are often the glue that finds the resources for the shows and locate them in the first place! In this case, Fukushi was a real war machine, finding for the director a lot of incredible names. It' s thanks to him that Yutaka Nakamura, the famous Bones animator that everyone knows about, partecipated in the finale of the show! In a very funny interview, Fukushi jokes about the fact that he basicaly "courted" him via sending "love messages" about his work, and even made him have a tour during OPM production to convince him, just like you said in the video ahah. A lot of other contacts as well came from his work on the second movie of HxH, where he was able to gather an impressive roulette of young talent and veterans alike, and a lot of them had the pleasure to work on OPM! Fukushi is an amazing producer!

[@forgottenrelics1197]

Interesting, I briefly mentioned him in regards to Nakamura and that humourous interview but yes great point!

[@laforestadeimillepugnali3865]

@@forgottenrelics1197 Producers can be a very interesting beast to get into ahah. I' m animator, so I dealt with a lot of them while doing freelancing on anime, but the best ones can basicaly shape an entire production around their persona ( Umehara is a big example, producer of Wonder Egg Priority, Bisque Doll, and the future Bocchi The Rock)

[@forgottenrelics1197]

@@laforestadeimillepugnali3865 For sure, looking back I should've probably given Yuuichirou more credit for bringing Natsume on :)

[@laforestadeimillepugnali3865]

@@forgottenrelics1197 Yeah, no prob, your video is still very very good!

[@qva4318]

You should do “Why was Black Clover’s animation so bad” and explain what went wrong behind the scenes.

[@AirStyle88]

Im Glad that some awesome Animators from Black Clover went to One piece.

[@homomagii]

@@AirStyle88 do you hate black clover???

[@AirStyle88]

@@homomagii No i love it, thats why im glad the good animators going to One piece Weile black clover is on the break. Cant wait for the Anime to return.

[@shin1300]

This was like the avengers assemble in terms of animators 😮

[@jeffguan3786]

Such an amazing timing!! I just finish rewatching One Punch Man and reminded how the first season is magnificent.

[@drewsipherthehedgehog388]

gosh how the heck do ur videos analysis and editing keep getting better and better

[@KDuncanJr]

Space dandy goated so underrated!

[@forgottenrelics1197]

100% man

[@crowsguard]

Hey this was a great video, super informative! I was really wondering how the animation was so good and u answered all my questions and more :)

[@Pi7on]

Absolutely amazing video man. Hope this blows up, you deserve the views. OPM S1 was what got me into sakuga back in 2015. It gave a name to that amazing feeling you can get only from those amazing cuts that literally puch you in the guts with their impact frames, super dynamic poses, and flashy effects. I really hope we'll get another "Natsume and friends" type of project soon.

[@forgottenrelics1197]

Thanks man and I hope so too :)

[@Dat_F00]

Binge watching all your videos , great stuff man

[@crazypanda9870]

I thought you would struggle a bit with non-db videos but holy shit, I couldn't be more wrong! Great job, man!

[@sabinakoka7967]

Why I discovered this channel only today? Its years that I was fascinated with animation and how it works...now I have so many new info I'm eating your videos one by one!!! I LOVE THIS

[@konza02]

I really enjoyed this video! Keep em coming!

[@mikes3kgt]

LOVE these videos! Awesome work and great detail. It’s amazing that you can pump these out in the time that you do. I would love to see coverage on Soul Eater. The effects were something that always stuck with me after watching it. Like how the smoke of an explosion would turn into a pumpkin, or a skull. Little details that made me appreciate it. Maybe even some Samurai Champloo.

[@forgottenrelics1197]

Thanks dude, this one was even more difficult because I had to get it done 3 days early as I was going on a holiday haha, but yeah a lot of hours lol. Really happy you enjoyed it :) Defintely need to get around to watching Samurai Champloo and Soul Eater one day!

[@mikes3kgt]

@@forgottenrelics1197 You’re welcome! Definitely share all these with the homies as they come out. Love the content! You absolutely gotta watch Soul Eater for the catchy animation and story is pretty good. Ending sucks because the manga wasn’t done yet.

[@micah_d2]

this video just blew my mind, thank you.

[@acunit5627]

Two of some of my favorite anime of all time mentioned in this video, one punch and space dandy. Nice video

[@ab-hx8qe]

This was killer! Exactly the kind of anime animation breakdown I was looking for for YEARS! Instant sub and bell ring, like and stalking you on social media (kidding about the last part).

[@jeanerasmus7]

Many thanks for this video. You see a lot of people over the internet sing their high praises on Madhouse for "animating" season 1 without knowing the whole story behind it and it still annoys me to this day.

[@ezequiel6575]

the first seanson producction was basicly a MIRACLE

[@joshorganika]

what a great video. one punch man is a masterpiece. i'd love a video about some of your favorite freelance animators!

[@indigo4740]

I feel like we won't see this team up again. That's ashame. Hopefully they can produce the next seasons with possibly also Murata's animation team. Us fans can only dream

[@chickenchowmein6802]

Well there are rumours that mappa will be abimating season 3 but im not sure how credible it is

[@default6287]

so great to hear they enjoyed working on it! The passion really shows in the work. I genuinely interested why the second season came out less good; a followup would be much appreciated!

[@Waqas_Khan02]

Even though I have not seen other anime but its fun to see animation videos of others show to get to know more about animators Also love your new style of editing I hope you will do more on animation breakdowns and animators That have work not only on dragon ball but other anime. Such as One Piece, Naruto and much more

[@jeffkain9073]

Great video! Love the editing style!

[@forgottenrelics1197]

thanks man, i've been trying to change it up lately!

[@andrewgrime8389]

MAPPA and Ufotable should join forces to animate season 3 of OPM.

[@forgottenrelics1197]

Mappa have way to much on there plate. Tbh it would probably turn out similar to S2 even if another studio helped handle a portion. They are just to busy.

[@renvanacker4510]

Joining forces is the last thing ufo would like to be glued upon because they mostly do in-house production. The last time they did that was back in 2004 I think and during that time they were still on baby steps but things are different now

[@theultimatebestboigigachad293]

Kyoto animation

[@megamanatee2351]

awesome vid, would love to see another about season 2 in the future

[@Blurple]

0:04 is a good frame to pause on

[@Furugeru]

Saw that old ass nfkrz pic in the preview and gave it a watch. Good video :)

[@basheerc.7245]

Glad someone mentions Space Dandy. Such a great show haha

[@KashNoK]

Great video dude! You analyzed the animation like Genos would xd

[@prisma.]

short answer, goated staff

[@BogleArts]

So awesome as always

[@Lwyntheundefeated]

People think madhouse was the reason why Season 1 is so good. They don't know it's because of the power of Shingo Natsume.

[@shmevanriceballz2857]

Manga is almost a masterpiece. It’s incredible. WE NEED these guys back on the team for future seasons

[@pingutune]

damn, the video hasn't even cracked 10 minutes yet this feels like an eternity.. (but in a good way) good video!

[@chinopuertorico]

The crazy thing how I know we live in a simulation. I was thinking of opm sat v.s bor. Watched it on KZbin this morning. And now we have this gem. Thanks for the upload. God bless everyone.

[@zahabkhan6832]

Amazing video

[@alfredsandell9916]

Very cool video :)

[@rhinuu045]

rlly good video! never knew any of this

[@maadacoomber9090]

Why thank you, would love a season 2 video

[@MrGoodCompany]

Please do a part 2!

[@drewventura7]

This is the best channel on KZbin.

[@YaBoiDoi]

While I like This video alot, I feel like you gave more focus on the animators themselves instead of the animation itself. Alot of what I saw was very big things about who the key directors were, and then short explanations of the actual animation itself. Other than that, this is a well made video! Huge props to you man.

[@thatweirddude5910]

almost to 30k baby

[@forgottenrelics1197]

Slowlyy getting there!

[@justsometokyodollar1842]

i gotta love mr. president's sense of humor slowly leaking into his vids, I'M HYPED FOR A MOB PSYCHO ANIMATION VID

[@rule665]

My biggest complaint with S2 was the direction of, not the animation itself.

[@jeanerasmus7]

Been looking for this comment. You can see that JC Staff actually tried their best in the aesthetics department. But that could only go so far as creativity is another thing.

[@ultimaweapon6]

I thought space dandy had amazing animation I'm really happy to see you talk about one punch man

[@lil7725]

OPM is one of those mangas that really deserves the best adaptation possible. Anything less than great wouldn’t be doing the series justice.

[@epRivera]

Opinion on s2?

[@J_B12321]

@@epRivera everyone says it sucks but i enjoyed it but season one was a lot better

[@lil7725]

@@epRivera It was disappointing. I always tell people to read that portion of the manga instead, because its so much better that way.

[@vladimirbarac84]

bruh your channel is so good, just discovered it. You gotta talk about that new one piece 1028 episode which seems so good in animation but also so bad at the same time in terms of adaptation

[@scaratlas3347]

I really love this channel

[@krtc4102]

Great vid. One punch man is such a masterpiece.

[@mrtubakapro2949]

“hey time for another genos fight” Animators: 😭

[@creampielover69]

No wonder why the first season of One Punch Man is one of the best pieces of animation I've ever seen. It came out of no where and blew me away so hard, that it's the only anime I've rewatched over ten times.

[@mreoooooooooooooooooooooooooow]

Season 3 has just been confirmed, let's goooooo

[@valliantkhallild.dumilao3414]

Can't wait for season 3

[@maxsuki75]

forgottenrelics never misses

[@Sponsorbagel]

well, now you can speculate how good season 3 will be. needless to say i hope we see natsume's name in the eventual full on announcement with all the details etc

[@cetitanenthusiast776]

Shingo Natsume: "I'm putting together a team..."

[@primus3217]

I pray i live long enough to witness a miracle like this happen again

[@chrisarts__]

always gonna love the art and animation in one punch man

[@ibrahimahm3d]

Hopefully we get this animation for season 3 and 4 and hopefully if there’s more

[@PinkPoop69]

With all these big names + Murata's already insane art in the manga as the layout for what will be animated, it isn't surprising that the result would be this good.

[@corbinroberts949]

They're gonna need a great team to animate the monster king Orochi's body alone

[@shounen-guy]

I really want this team to animate S3 as well

[@shadowmomochiuchiha6839]

the animation is superb for an anime about a guy who takes out everything he fights in one punch

[@MASTERCRAFT938]

It was made at the right place , the right time, the right way. Almost like a A1 Pictures miracle.

[@shadowninja1059]

Rip the camera man when the characters would fly straight towards him

[@greengarnish1711]

They really need to get this team back for the future seasons especially S3 and S4 given it has so much fighting going on, after that we get a little downtime so it's more lax i figure animators could take a break then. But yeah this series really demands the best of the best in the industry.

[@rekhamakwana9918]

My most favourite animated series and most favourite character.

[@thatonenoob7854]

So basically the equivalent of NBA All Stars.

[@kon.1896]

I hope the Chainsaw Man anime can become the next One Punch Man in terms of production. Considering the staff of CSM, especially the Action Director, they could do something close to OPM's level. I mean, the guy directed most of Black Clover and still managed to make some amazing fights with such a strict schedule. Now with CSM, he has time and talent with him.

[@forgottenrelics1197]

Ohh they got Tatsuya Yoshihara? That's definitely promising!

[@lorenzorizzi864]

@@forgottenrelics1197 yes, yoshihara is the action animation director of csm

[@nickmf8461]

Idk about that, one of the best qualities of OPM s1 is that not a single frame gives you an eyesore. What I mean is like MAPPA's JJK anime, where the fights sometimes lack sense in proportions and are static but OPM every frame is beautifully and perfectly done. Idk much about these kind of things but this is just my opinion

[@Erik_Montesinos]

Pretty sure chainsaw man himself is full cgi

[@kon.1896]

@@Erik_Montesinos He's CGI for like 2 shots, what are you talking about?

[@lmao.....]

Was. For some reason that feels so true.

[@Triaglon]

Thank you for this wonderful video. Pray for season 3 ! The animation in season 2 was so disappointing.

[@jameslovesart3408]

this video SOO good

[@Yeppiy]

this will blow up

[@jonathan-zo9nh]

i really want all of them to animate the season 3 and 4 that would break the internet

[@GalekC]

I just remembered I need to finish Space Dandy

[@majinbuu8350]

space dandy will forever be top 10 anime for me and that s1 ep1 will forever be my fav anime ep oat