The premiere of the One Punch Man anime season 3, in October 2025, was met with strong rejection. After six years of waiting, many fans classified the animation as a disaster, pointing to stiff movements and a lack of visual impact. The pressure on JC Staff was enormous; after all, the first season in 2015 had become an absolute benchmark in the industry.
However, analyzing One Punch Man 3 in isolation distorts reality. When we observe the current anime landscape in 2025, the criticism seems disproportionate. While Saitama and company suffer constant attacks, The Beginning After The End has established itself as the true technical collapse of the year. Compared to the adaptation of TBATE, often called an "animated PowerPoint," One Punch Man delivers far more competent direction, pacing, and action.
Reviews of The Beginning After The End
Reviews on specialized websites don't tell the whole story either. On MyAnimeList, TBATE maintains a higher rating, driven by fans' attachment to the original webtoon, who often ignore the poor visual quality. On the other hand, One Punch Man 3 suffered review bombing . Episode 6 of OPM reached one of the worst ratings in IMDb history, a direct reflection of the comparison with the inaugural season and not just its actual flaws.
Furthermore, the complexity of the original material must be considered. Yusuke Murata's art style is extremely detailed and virtually impossible to adapt to 24 frames per second without visual loss. Therefore, part of the frustration stems from unrealistic expectations. Even with a limited budget and tight schedule, JC Staff still managed to deliver action scenes with impactful frames , dynamic framing, and moments of narrative weight.
TBATE, on the other hand, fails in basic fundamentals. Characters barely display microexpressions, the models are recycled, and the fights lack choreography. There are no visual peaks or memorable scenes, just static images sliding across the screen. Therefore, when we put the two anime side by side, it becomes clear that One Punch Man 3 , despite its unevenness, remains a solid product.
Ultimately, the "disaster" label applied to One Punch Man stems more from wounded expectations than from a real technical collapse. Compared to TBATE, Saitama returns as a work far from perfect, but still far above the worst that 2025 had to offer.
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