One Punch Man S3: A Production Disaster
53sHigh controversy and drama around a beloved anime's declining quality, sparking strong reactions.
▶ Play Clip"The title accurately reflects the video's content, but the video includes a lengthy sponsor plug and some repetitive analysis, slightly diluting the value."
The video analyzes the animation quality of One Punch Man Season 3, highlighting the production issues and corner-cutting that have led to a visually disappointing season. The creator provides a detailed episode-by-episode breakdown, discusses the behind-the-scenes chaos, and offers a grim outlook for the rest of the season.
Despite being the successor to a well-received season, One Punch Man Season 3 appears much weaker than Season 2, with visible corner-cutting and lack of movement.
The production is incredibly messy, with less than 7 months of production time in the best-case scenario. The animation producer confirmed it was still in pre-production in March, indicating impossible deadlines.
Unlike Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2, which had a terrible schedule but a stacked talent pool, One Punch Man Season 3 lacks the same level of animators, making it impossible to compensate for the poor schedule.
Episode 1 was acceptable, with a notable cut by Kenichiro Aoki, but suffered from less movement and direction issues, including being too one-to-one with the manga and having continuity errors.
Episode 2 was filled with jank and corner-cutting, such as sliding single frames to replicate walk cycles, card sliding, and continuity errors. Drawing quality also dipped significantly.
Despite issues, Episode 2 featured an impressive Kenichi sequence with smooth effects animation and a good sense of weight, making it the most impressive scene so far.
Episode 3 had decent stills but more corner-cutting. The fight reused cuts from the PV, but some directorial choices replaced well-animated cuts with less polished ones. A second fight was rough and broken.
Episode 4 was slightly better, with a fun sequence, but the action near the end was broken with melt and questionable drawings. Continuity errors persisted.
Episode 5 was a complete disaster, with nearly every movement broken, wonky shots, and action cuts falling apart. Only a few effects animation and a sequence by Vanoba were decent.
The season is likely to continue looking rough, but there are two possibilities: it could get worse, or the team might have saved resources for a specific episode, potentially leading to better animation later.
The creator urges viewers not to harass staff members, as it does nothing and the higher-ups don't care. Fans have little power to change production decisions.
One Punch Man Season 3 is a visually disappointing season due to severe production issues, with only a slim chance of improvement if resources were saved for specific episodes. The creator advises against harassing staff and suggests fans accept the situation.
What was the production time for One Punch Man Season 3?
Less than 7 months in the best-case scenario.
01:34
Which animator was responsible for the impressive sequence in Episode 2?
Kenichiro Aoki.
05:45
What was the main issue in Episode 2 according to the creator?
The sheer number of corners cut to create basic scenes, such as sliding frames and continuity errors.
04:12
What did the creator say about the talent pool difference between One Punch Man and Jujutsu Kaisen?
Jujutsu Kaisen had an insanely stacked production line, while One Punch Man lacked that luxury.
02:40
What was the creator's advice regarding staff harassment?
Don't harass staff members; it does nothing and the higher-ups don't care.
10:44
Production Chaos
Reveals the severe time constraints and impossible deadlines that explain the poor animation quality.
01:34Talent Pool Comparison
Highlights how a good schedule isn't enough without a strong team, offering insight into anime production.
02:40Kenichi Sequence
Demonstrates that even in a troubled production, individual animators can produce standout work.
05:45Two Possibilities
Provides a nuanced outlook, suggesting the season might improve if resources were saved for key episodes.
09:24Don't Harass Staff
A responsible call to action, reminding fans that harassment is ineffective and harmful.
10:44[00:02] assessment. Despite being the show eyes on, despite being the successor to one of the best looking TV anime seasons in recent memory, and despite being more than familiar with the widespread
[00:15] rejection and backlash a show can face due to subpar quality One Punch Man season 3 looks very weak, a lot weaker than season 2 so far. Be it the lack of movement or more importantly the visible if not jarring corner cutting and last
[00:28] minute scraping, One Punch Man season 3 is genuinely upsetting to watch, the production conditions are. Everything about this project leaves a bad taste in my mouth and as such has another video about One Punch Man season
[00:41] 3 or more specifically the animation quality of it. I'll go over the reasons why the season looks so mediocre. I'll talk about the episodes in detail. And if there's any hope left for this show. I know there's a lot of extremism
[00:55] online, lots of hate campaigns, lots of badly researched, bad faith opinions, lots of bad stuff. But I hope this video ultimately ends up being educational. educational thing to do. You'll probably learn a lot about animation and the
[01:09] like. If you follow this channel, go on, do it. You can also become a member of this channel. Members get at least two exclusive videos per month, custom badges and emojis, shoutouts, and more. Just go down there and press the join
[01:21] feel like I should catch you guys up to speed with this miserable, god-forsaken production. I know I've gone over this stuff in detail before, but has an abbreviated version just so all of us are on the same page. One Punch Man
[01:34] season 3 is an incredibly messy production. It's completely and utterly behind the scenes. I believe this season had less than 7 months of production time and that's the best case scenario. That's how bad we're talking. In an
[01:47] official website, One Punch Man animation producer Atsushi Fujiro still in its pre-production stage back in the March of this year, which you do the maths. The production team in charge was assigned deadlines that can only be
[02:02] to fail. They were placed in an unwinable situation. and any other cliche that conveys that same general feeling. Bad stuff. Really, really bad stuff. Now, I know what you're thinking. It is a mess. Yes, we can see that. But
[02:15] who's to blame? Well, I'm not entirely sure. JC staff, Bandai Namco, I'm not sure which entity from the production committee has more influence over this project, but I can assure you that it's not the staff. The animators didn't go,
[02:28] "You know what, Mr. Producer, give us less time." I can assure you that wasn't the case. Anyway, point is this project is about as far removed from the word healthy or even the word reasonable as humanly possible. Now, some of you may
[02:40] Jiu-Jitsu Kaisen season 2? It had a terrible schedule as well, but it had so many highlights. Why can't One Punch Man be the same?" Well, it's because of the astronomical difference in talent pool between Jiujutsu Kaisen and One Punch
[02:53] Man. One Punch Man season 3, that is. KSKimo's production line at Mapai is insanely stacked. You could probably make 50 One Punch Mans with JJK's staff. This show simply did not have that luxury. Like I said, it's an incredibly
[03:06] messy, scuffed production. Now, with all of that out of the way, let's finally go through the episodes. Episode 1 was fine. It was all right. I've talked about it in detail before, so I won't yap on for too long. Basically, it had
[03:19] looking cut being this quick shot of Fubuki animated by Kenichiro Aoki, and the worst looking shots being these cuts of go that completely fell apart. Overall, though, it wasn't bad whatsoever. The amount of movement was a
[03:32] bit less than your typical anime, but it was more than compensated for by the non-action episode from an action anime, was, however, bothered by the direction
[03:44] episode was painfully onetoone with the manga and had a few continuity errors/ lack of bridging shots. Now, yes, these are things most casual fans won't even notice, but I am a nerd with a lot of time on my hands, so I have an awareness
[03:58] for that sort of thing. Again, it was fine. Nothing bad about it. The second Unlike the first episode, it didn't have that season premiere polish to hide behind, and as a result, it was filled with jank and corner cutting. I'm sure
[04:12] most casual fans hyperfixated on the lack of movement, but that was far from the main issue. In fact, it was barely an issue. The main problem was the sheer number of corners the staff had to cut just to create basic scenes. Be it
[04:26] sliding a single frame side to side to replicate a walk cycle. Despite the fact that walk cycles are an easy resourceful way of animating walking to begin with, be it the widely mocked card sliding. Be it these kids seemingly summoning stuff
[04:38] many stones they throw, the piles don't shrink. Lots of that stuff. Plus, we had more of those continuity errors and lack of bridging shots. Be it this fence on the shot. Be it Caro being far away from this kid in one frame and right
[04:53] next to him in the next. tissues galore basically. And if all of that wasn't bad enough, episode 2 also saw a massive dip in drawing quality, meaning the only saving grace from episode 1 was now gone. Now, here's the thing. You might
[05:05] exactly make an episode bad, and you would be correct. Most fans wouldn't even notice these things, but the fact that these issues exist gives us an idea of just how rushed things are behind the scenes. Veteran directors don't make
[05:18] mistakes like that under normal circumstances. Why is there a lack of bridging shots? probably because some of the shots weren't finished on time, lingered on the shots around them for longer than planned. Why do some of the
[05:31] didn't have the time to draw proper layouts and the animation director properly. Why is there a lack of movement? Because the animators didn't have the time to properly animate a scene. You get the idea. The episode
[05:45] wasn't all bad, though. We did get a fairly impressive Kenichi sequence near really well animated. The effects animation was smooth and the sense of weight in these two shots was conveyed really well, mainly thanks to the hair
[05:58] animation. Good stuff. This sequence is the most impressive scene from the show so far, which is a bit depressing because it's far from AI's best. Episode 3 was more of the same. A few decent looking stills, more visible corner
[06:10] cutting, a small amount of movement when needed, the whole 9 yards. The fight reused a bunch of cuts from the first pre-animated preview, but I wasn't fond of some of the directorial choices. I was baffled as to why they replaced a
[06:24] bunch of perfectly wellan animated cuts from the PV with shots that were nowhere near as polished. God knows cool hair and fabric animation, though you love to see it. The episode also featured a second fight, but this one was far more
[06:37] rough looking. I can appreciate the ambition and the modern feel it had timing wise, but it was completely broken. It had copious amounts of jank, stiff movement, and poor drawings. An absolute mess. Episode 4 was marginally
[06:50] better. I liked this sequence in particular. It was quite fun. Of course, it wasn't without its issues. The action near the end animated by Kenichiroi once again was quite broken. A fair bit of melt and questionable drawings, although
[07:03] this shot did look good. Loved the rack focus shift. This episode also had more of those continuity errors. Scaro is completely hunched over in this shot, next one without any visual indicator of him doing so. Lots of that stuff.
[07:17] Overall, not awful, but far, far from perfect. And that brings us to the big one that forced me to make this video, episode 5. What a mess. Now, contrary to
[07:29] popular belief, I actually don't like beating a dead horse and milking a topic over and over again. I didn't make videos about episodes 2 through 4 simply because there wasn't much worth talking about. Now, yes, I could have made this
[07:41] regardless, but I decided to give the show the benefit of the doubt and wait for an actionheavy episode to pop up first. I knew it wouldn't [music] look fantastic, but it would be a valuable indicator. Regardless of what it looked
[07:53] like, it would give us an idea of what the team can realistically pull off. Oh boy, this episode was a complete mess. Nearly every bit of movement was broken beyond recognition. Every shot looked wonky. Every action cut fell apart in
[08:06] glorious fashion. It was really bad. I can go over every single cut in detail, but what's the point? I'll just end up beating this show while it's down. What Some of Kazunory Zawa's effects animation looked decent, and Vanoba's
[08:20] sequence was surprisingly solid, although not without its issues. It was animation, plus the cool firstperson shot was, well, cool. Fun fact, that part was Oba's own idea. He was allowed
[08:32] to modify the storyboards a bit. We also had Oh, that's it. We had nothing else of note. That's literally it. Oh, boy. This episode was a kicker. It was rough. You know, it was really sad seeing fans online, fans who had been optimistic and
[08:46] reasonable up until now feel disheartened and start doom posting. It was sad, but it was understandable. I get it. This episode was beyond disappointing. That's a fair reaction. Is it the worst I've ever seen? No. Just
[08:58] a few months back, I saw a show use placeholder 3D backgrounds because the background art wasn't finished on time. It's the anime industry that always worse, but good god did it look rough. And that's One Punch Man season 3 so
[09:11] far. Started off not bad, but quickly devolved into well bad. I do appreciate upgrades, but there's no denying how visibly rough and last minute scratched at last second all of it looks. So, are
[09:24] we cooked? Probably. This is a messy production and it looks like it and it'll continue to look like it. It won't magically turn into jiu-jitsu kaisen. Quality doesn't just materialize out of thin air. There is however a tiny bit of
[09:38] hope. Let me rephrase that. That's a bit misleading. There are two possibilities. worse than what I had predicted and episode 5 is pretty much the best this conditions are about as bad as I had
[09:52] episode or two in the future. The first possibility is fairly self-explanatory, but let me elaborate on the second. You see, so far every single episode has Penagai. None of the main action guys
[10:06] associated with the studio besides Aoki have shown up. Ai's own contribution has been a lot less compared to season 2 and we haven't seen any of that 2D 3D interaction director Nagai talked about. What does all of that mean? That means
[10:18] distributing their animation resources somewhat evenly across the season this time around. Instead, they are focusing on a certain part. It can be a few episodes, it can be one episode, or it can be a part of an episode and
[10:31] sacrificing the rest of the season in the process. A decision they had to make because of how things are behind the scenes. If that's true, we might get some good stuff in the future. If not, well, expect more episode fives. It's a
[10:44] all the time when talking about this show. It's a shame. Of course, it goes without saying, but please don't go around harassing staff members. Not only does that make you a scumbag, it also does nothing. The higher-ups don't care.
[10:57] and they don't care about the staff being harassed. All they care about is the bottom line. And unfortunately, there's very little we can do. I can what we think about the show. They'll get their numbers regardless. There's a
[11:11] reason why so many production committees get away with kneecapping their shows, because there's absolutely nothing we fans can realistically do about it. And day. I don't plan on covering this show in the foreseeable future, although that
[11:25] can change. If an episode actually looks good or if something unpredictable happens, I'll talk about it. Till then though, that's about it. A special thanks to N03, Ahmed, and the Galas 90 for becoming tier three members. Send
[11:37] for becoming tier three members. Send until next time.
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