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‘One Punch Man’ Toonami Ratings, Season 2 Rumors Continue

By Robert Bellach
Published on: 09:52 PST, Sep 15, 2016

One Punch Man, the action/comedy anime, is entering its last run of new episodes for Season 1 on Adult Swim’s Saturday night Toonami block of programming. The show has been airing in English-dubbed form since July of this year. The show has been performing in the ratings, for the most part, surprisingly well.

Warning: Possible spoilers ahead!

For a relative newcomer, One Punch Man has gained quite a cult following. From its early days as a webcomic in 2009 to its current airing on Adult Swim’s Toonami, fans have grown with the series and followed its adaptations. There is even word of collectible figurines in development.

Here is a select list showcasing some of the recent performances of One Punch Man Toonami airings in the ratings of cable television. This is based off of information from Zap2It‘s television ratings blog, TV By The Numbers.

Date – Place in Ratings – Number of Viewers

  • July 23 – 5th place overall that week – 1,443,000 viewers
  • July 30 – 4th place overall that week – 1,366,000 viewers
  • August 20 – 14th place overall that week – 1,077,000 viewers
  • August 27 – 9th place overall that week – 1,149,000 viewers
  • September 3 (this night featured a One Punch Man marathon of all the episodes aired thus far) – The top three highest-rated episodes that week were 10th place (highest ranked), 17th place, and 23rd place – Over 3,435,000 viewers total for all three of these episodes
  • September 10 – 13th place overall that week – 1,153,000 viewers

Overall, One Punch Man‘s Saturday night airings on Adult Swim’s Toonami have generally managed to be within the top 20 shows aired Saturday nights on cable TV, holding down over 1 million viewers every week. TV By The Numbers tracks ratings for the top 100 shows, so this is a fairly impressive accomplishment.

If the current schedule holds, One Punch Man will be ending its Season 1 English dub on Toonami around early to mid October. Rumors from earlier this summer have said the Japanese version of Season 2 may get underway that same month. It would make for a smooth overlap, with the English dub ending and the new Japanese season beginning. Although no major announcement has been made yet, it is likely Season 2 of One Punch Man would also receive an English dub and be aired on Adult Swim’s Toonami, especially given Season 1’s relatively successful ratings.

However, more recent word, according to Gamenguide, appears to be that the second season of One Punch Man may be delayed. Gamenguide‘s Laine Lucas writes about how “speculation is rife that the new season will air sometime after One Punch Man Season 1 English version completes its run.” Since then things may have changed.

“…it has been rumored that the second season of the popular animated series will air sometime in November, with more details expected to be dropped within this month. Whether or not new episodes of One Punch Man Season 2 will be released before December is still uncertain. Fans will just have to wait for updates…”

Old Heroes and Villains Return, New Villains To Appear

Season 2 of One Punch Man will once again focus on Saitama, a man who by training to be a “hero for fun” inadvertently became the strongest being on the planet, possibly the strongest being anywhere. He can defeat anyone he fights with only a single punch.

The first season followed Saitama and his friend, the cyborg Genos, as they entered One Punch Man‘s silly, satirical world of the Hero Registry, a pseudo-governmental organization that tracks the world’s heroes and ranks them according to their perceived abilities and merits. The joke of Season 1 was that despite his apparently limitless strength, Saitama was unable to negotiate the social politics of the Hero Registry and rise above the mediocre ranking he received.

Following earlier rumors about what to expect in One Punch Man Season 2, it is likely fans will once again encounter Lord Boros, the most powerful villain of Season 1, who will return to make another attempt to prove himself the strongest warrior, after being defeated by Saitama last season.

A brand-new villain to appear, according to Gamenguide, will be Garou. This character has not yet appeared in the One Punch Man anime, but he has in the webcomic and manga. In the comic he is portrayed as a martial artist who considers himself a “Hero Hunter.” He is a rogue disciple of Bang, an elderly sensei who appeared in some Season 1 episodes.

Amai Mask, a character who was an ally in Season 1, was always somewhat distant, vain, and aloof. According to rumors reported in Gamenguide, he may make a dramatic turn to reveal himself as an enemy. Amai, a top-ranked member of the Hero Registry, may perceive the city-wide damage created by Saitama’s battle with Lord Boros as a threat to his public image. This may prompt him to attack Saitama, and possibly by surprise — Gamenguide reports rumors that Saitama may lose to Amai Mask.

What would you want to see in Season 2 of One Punch Man? Have you been watching the English-dubbed episodes on Adult Swim’s Toonami? Leave a comment below.

[Featured Image by Adult Swim/Viz Media]

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