The first half of One Punch Man’s third season aired between October and December 2025. And the reception was, to put it gently, a disaster.
Some fans dubbed it “One-Frame Man” due to the poor quality of the animation. Episode 6 became one of the lowest-rated anime episodes in IMDb history, sitting at 1.5 to 2/10. The director of season 3, Shinpei Nagai deleted his social media account after a wave of harassment, but not before acknowledging that the season “probably won’t measure up to Season 1.”
None of this is really Nagai’s fault nor is J.C. Staff entirely to blame either. What happened was set in motion years ago, by people making decisions far above the animation floor. The announcement that Part 2 won’t premiere until 2027 implies those same people still haven’t learned much.
How Did We Get to This Point?
Season 1 of One Punch Man was a cultural phenomenon right out the gate. The praise is the direct result of production by Madhouse and having Shingo Natsume direct the first season. The fights were electric, the animation was smooth and detailed. A lot of care went into making each episode and it showed.
What a lot of fans didn’t realize was that the production of season 1 was made by Natsume’s close network of freelance animators. When he moved on to other projects after Season 1 wrapped, that entire system dissolved with him.
The production committee had a choice. They could wait for Natsume and his collaborators to become available again. Or they could find another studio and move on. They chose the latter. J.C. Staff started producing the show for season 2 in 2019, and the quality drop was noticeable. Natsume himself later expressed regret, saying he wished J.C. Staff had done more with the material.
J.C. Staff carried that load into season 3, reportedly producing five shows in 2025. That meant overworked staff, tight deadlines, and cutting corners. The Monster Association arc, which should have looked impressive, turned into long stretches of still frames and dialogue. The scene where Garou slides down a hill as a stiff, unmoving image became a meme because it summed up everything that went wrong.
The Story Isn’t the Problem
It’s worth noting that the Monster Association arc, on paper, is actually a good story arc. The S-Class heroes have real personalities. Flashy Flash and Child Emperor get some standout moments. Garou’s arc carries real weight. Around episodes 8 and 9, you could actually see what this season was capable of being. Those stretches weren’t great television, but they were good enough to remind you what was being wasted everywhere else.
Some viewers also felt that Saitama himself had been slightly mishandled. He wasn’t the detached, bored one-punch machine from season 1. Instead he felt more a clueless bystander wandering through events he should dominate. Saitama’s personality is the anchor of the whole show. When that feels off, everything feels slightly adrift.
Waiting Until 2027 Is the Wrong Call
After Part 1 premiered to near-universal disappointment, it was announced that Part 2 of season 3 would be released in 2027. Allegedly, the decision gives animators time to improve the animation. But if the same expectations and conditions that hurt Part 1 are still in place, what is the extra time fixing?
TV anime episodes already tend to air just barely finished. Delaying Part 2 to 2027 likely means re‑boarding scenes, touching up key fights, and trying to repair some of the damage. Yet at the same time, the real problem is the way the show is being managed. J.C. Staff working on too many projects at once, not enough resources focused on One Punch Man. Bandai Namco treats the series more like a slot in the schedule than a priority.
At the same time, the competition keeps getting tougher. Jujutsu Kaisen and One Piece continue to dominate as the top action anime in 2025 and 2026. By 2027, Dandadan returns with its third season and Chainsaw Man will probably be back.
One Punch Man will be returning after a long, messy break into one of the busiest lineups in years. If Part 2 is only slightly better than Part 1, it won’t just let fans down. It could be forgotten.
It would be better to release Part 2 sooner rather than later. If most of the episodes are already mostly finished, putting them out would at least wrap up season 3. The team would be free to focus on doing better for season 4, ideally with new staff or a lighter production load. Delaying everything until 2027 only makes sense if the end result is significantly better than the first half of the season. Based on how things have played out, that’s a risky assumption.
What Needs to Change
One Punch Man is still one of the most beloved manga in the world. The source material is really good, even better than the anime. The fans are still here.
Bandai Namco has spent the last six years acting like the success of Season 1 could be easily repeated without putting in the effort. The animators can only take so much blame because at the end of the day, they’re overworked and just following orders.
Season 1 was a success because of a specific director and a talented team of animators getting the freedom to do their jobs well. You can’t recreate that magic with a short delay. The current approach to making the series is the problem. And that no amount of last‑minute touchups can fix a broken process.Part 2 of season 3 might be slightly better than Part 1. It might even be good. But unless the system behind it changes, every new season of One Punch Man will face the same issue. A great story held back by questionable choices that put quality on the back burner.
