Anime, action, superhero, and comedy fans alike are excited for the coming 2nd season of One Punch Man. What is in store for Saitama? Will he ever find an enemy (or friend) that can take more than one punch from him?

By the end of season 1, a lot of other interesting characters had become known as well. Fans are definitely excited to see and learn more about Genos, Sonic, Puripuri Prisoner, Metal Knight, Silver Fang, Atomic Samurai, and Tatsumaki. If you are a fan of the manga, then you could even be excited to meet some characters that have not appeared in the anime yet.

So here is what we know so far about this coming new season.

7 7. Release Date

The best place to start on this list is where and when to watch the new season. Only a few months ago, it was announced that the season will premiere on Hulu on April 9th. We know also that the anime will be subbed when it drops and it’s expected the dub will come out later.

If you are not a Hulu subscriber, the good news is that the price for the subscription has dropped in late February. Hopefully, the second season of One Punch Man will eventually get on Netflix just like the first season as well. Until then, at least it's on Netflix for fans to review the story so far.

6 6. Will Start In Manga's Human Monster Saga

Where the story may go has been concluded based on a new poster teasing the new season release in Japan. You can see the familiar faces but there are some new ones as well, like Garou and Suiryu from the manga.

While there is no guarantee how much the anime will follow the manga’s footsteps, most fans have predicted that we will see content from the manga’s 'Human Monster Saga' due to the characters we see in the poster teaser. What does that mean? Well, there are a lot of arcs within the 'Human Monster Saga'. Arcs include Garou's introduction, The Blizzard Group arc, the Hero Hunt arc, Monster Raid arc, Super Fight arc, and the Monster Association Arc. Since the Human Monster Saga still has not ended, it's doubtful that the anime will cover all these arcs if they want a season 3.

5 5. Has New Director

This is a fact that has some One Punch Man fans nervous. Director Shingo Natsume made season one but has not been involved in the new season.

The director who worked on the second One Punch Man season is Chikara Sakurai. So some differences may be noticeable. However, knowing how much of a success the 1st season was, it’s likely that Sakurai will try to follow with what already works. Sakurai's most known past work includes some of the Naruto Shippuuden movies, so One Punch Man should still be in good hands.

4 4. Garou Will Be Introduced

As mentioned before, Garou from the manga was shown in the new teaser poster.

What can be said about this character is he was once Bang’s disciple but got kicked from that position due to misbehavior. He is known as the “Human Monster” and “Hero Hunter.” As those nicknames suggest, he hates heroes and loves monsters. In the manga, he is actually in the transition of turning into a monster.

What makes him a good villain is that like Saitama, Garou was an outsider. However, that turned him into a monster instead of a hero. Due to being an outcast, he hates what is considered popular. He's definitely a character to be excited about, as season one's villains rarely lasted for more than a single episode.

3 3. Suiryu Will Be Introduced

Another new character who will be appearing in the second season, Suiryu is someone fans are definitely going to be excited about. From the manga, Suiryu is a martial artist playboy. He is easygoing but also eager to fight strong opponents. Like Garou, he is not a villainous character. He admires Saitama since Saitama fights not for fame, but for the thrill of it all. However, after seeing what Saitama is capable of in the manga, he is also afraid of him.

Like Saitama, Suiryu is often bored due to how strong he is and how difficult it is for him to find stronger opponents.

2 2. New Animation Studio

Madhouse, known for anime shows and movies like Deathnote, Paprika, Perfect Blue and Wolf Children, animated One Punch Man’s first season. However, this second season is going to be animated by J.C. Staff, which is known for Toradora, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Honey and Clover, and Food Wars.

Both Madhouse and J.C. Staff have a lot of good titles under their belt. How much the animation style will stay the same or change is yet to be seen. Some fans have noticed subtle differences in adding pink shades to characters' skin. For example, they noticed Saitama's bald head had gotten pinker in the trailer.

1 1. More Solid Story

This fact branches off that season 2 will (presumably) start in the 'Human Monster Saga' of the manga. In season one, the story was random and disjointed with an unclear sense of plot, and was very much an episode-by-episode style of storytelling. Each episode was Saitama wandering around and getting caught up in different shenanigans. It was more about his everyday life as a self-made hero, which was a good way to introduce his character and the world of the story.

Season two seems like it will have a more concrete plot and also focus more on the other characters since Saitama is already the strongest. After all, we’re going to get a solid villain like Garou. This also suggests that there will be longer story arcs and villains who last for more than an episode at a time, which is going to be absolutely fantastic.

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