One Punch Man, the smash-hit superhero manga that took the internet by storm, will be going on hiatus. This news comes from co-creators ONE and Yusuke Murata, who announced the pause to deal with internal matters to better plan the story’s trajectory.
While this news will disappoint eager fans, those familiar with the manga industry will be acutely familiar with why this is necessary to preserve the quality of work for the series. Here is a rundown of the biggest news surrounding the hiatus.
The Latest Hiatus
According to Anime News Network, One Punch Man creators “ONE” and Yusuke Murata announced a two-month hiatus for the series. The news came from a blog post on Tonari no Young Jump, where the manga is regularly published. According to the duo, the manga is going on hiatus to better plan out the future of the series. As such, the manga will make its proper return this August.
This announcement comes months after the first trailer dropped for the anime’s third season, marking its return after nearly five years. There were brief hiatuses from other mangakas in the past few weeks, such as Gege Akutami of Jujutsu Kaisen fame. This is a net positive for the industry, as allowing mangakas to work at a logistically possible pace is necessary to maintain a stable workflow. As other long-runners have shown, proper planning is needed to stop a story from collapsing under its weight or going off the rails.
What is One Punch Man?
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One Punch Man is one of the most iconic superhero mangas in circulation, alongside Kohei Horikoshi’s My Hero Academia. The series originally began as a webcomic published on Shueisha’s Tonari no Young Jump in 2012. The series follows hero Saitama, a man bored with his power as he can defeat any villain with the eponymous “one punch.”
Originally, ONE worked on the web manga independently before remaking it into today’s series alongside Murata. Since then, the series has become popular enough to warrant physical publication in tankobon volumes. Currently, thirty volumes of the series have been published.
The series is so successful that it has a live-action film in the works from Hollywood itself. The film was in production as of April and will have Justin Lin directing and Rick and Morty writer Dan Harmon. Whether or not the film will avert the anime adaptation curse, this news is a sign of the series’ popularity.
The Necessity of the Hiatus
While many fans will be disappointed with this news, there is no doubt that it is for the best. As many mangakas have shown, the industry is physically and mentally taxing, and the two creators are only humans. An infamous example would be legendary Hunter x Hunter mangaka Yoshihiro Togashi, who dealt with several understandable hiatuses due to health concerns. In recent years, burnout has become a huge concern among content creators of all statuses.
Time and time again, art has proven that it will always worsen when rushed. Conversely, fans can be assured that this is not “development hell.” Development hell is a worse beast, as the lack of a planned schedule and mounting delays mean the project’s original vision gets clouded as more and more creatives dilute it. Overall, this hiatus is a small but needed sacrifice to ensure One Punch Man maintains its iconic status.
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