One-Punch Man very quickly became one of the most noteworthy manga of the decade. The story about a man who can beat any enemy in one punch was immediately entertaining, drawing tons of fans. However, few people know about its writer, ONE, an enigmatic figure in the manga industry, who also proved to be one of the biggest new names in the anime industry. He's released not one, but two of the biggest manga of the year. In addition to One-Punch Man, he simultaneously started up Mob Psycho 100, a similarly satirical manga that, upon release, became a smash hit.
But what do we know about ONE? There is little written about the creator, despite his work receiving international acclaim. After doing our homework, however, CBR has learned that ONE is almost as intriguing as his many creations.
One-Punch Man
ONE's real name remains unknown. We know he was born on October 29, 1986 in Niigata, Japan. He was raised in Konsou, in the Saitama prefecture. As fans will realize, the titular hero of One-Punch Man is named Saitama, after ONE's home town. He seemed geared to become a manga-ka from a young age. In his early years, he wrote two manga, Sun Man and Tennis Player Ryu,which were never officially serialized.
His first breakthrough came with the web-comic One-Punch Man, started in 2009. The self-published project was defined by its amateurish art style and humorous approach to story telling. As of April 2019, 117 chapters of the comic have been released.
After the webcomic received 7.9 million hits by June 2012, artist Yusuke Murata (most famous for creating the football-manga Eyeshield 21 for Weekly Shonen Jump), offered to redraw the manga for mainstream publication. Shueisha, the parent company of Viz Media and publisher of the various Jump magazines, published the remade manga that same year, along with a second ONE-Murata collaboration: Angry Warriors.
One-Punch Man would later be adapted into an ongoing anime.
ONE and Murata's professional relationship would continue with other short works, including Cockroaches Buster (2015) and Bullet Angel Fan Club (2017). Murata would also collaborate with ONE and Ninu Nishimura (an artist famous for her work designing the characters for Darkstalkers, Street Fighters II-IV and the Capcom vs. series) on the self-published doujinshi Monsters of the Earth.
Mob Psycho 100
The same year Murata reached out to ONE, ONE would redefine his work, this time with Mob Psycho 100. Mob Psycho 100 started publication in Ura Sunday on April 2012 and ended on December 2017. It would later receive the spin-off REIGEN, serialized between March 2018 and February 2019.
Mob Psycho 100, much like One-Punch Man, offered a unique and satirical look at shonen manga. This time it featured a child with absurd levels of power who just wants to live a normal life.
Like One-Punch Man, Mob Psycho 100 would be later adapted into an anime. And on top of that, it was also adapted into a live-action series.
Accolades
ONE's work, however, wasn't merely financially successful and popular with audiences. It also received a great deal of critical acclaim, both in the East and West. ONE was nominated for Manga Taisho, Eisner and Harvey Awards. In 2016, he won the Sugoi Japan Award for Best Manga (One-Punch Man), and in the following year, he won the Shogakukan Manga Award for best Shonen manga (Mob Psycho 100).
In 2019, both Polygon and Crunchyroll ranked One Punch-Man and Mob Psycho 100 among the greatest anime of the decade, with Crunchyroll ranking Mob Psycho 100 in particular among the Top 25, alongside Attack on Titan, My Hero Academia, and Yuri on Ice!!!
ONE's success from humble beginnings should serve as an inspiration to all content creators. Regardless of where you start out, if you have a good enough idea, you too can transcend all expectations to become one of the biggest names in media.