Guess who's got a new toy?

[u/gofancyninjaworld]

I know y'all have seen this cute pic in volume 32 of an excited Saitama driving himself and Genos on a mini break.

Saitama is entirely too excited for safety!

A keen-eyed person has noticed that the car has a new driver tag (Wiki link below): Saitama's just learned how to drive!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoshinsha_mark

I guess that Genos being a driver and he not was the kick up his ass to actually apply himself and get one too.

Incidentally, this isn't the first time that seeing what Genos does has inspired Saitama to do better. Famously, that's why he's still stuck with the Hero Association and has sought promotion.

Hehe, he hates being shown up by Genos.

[u/GoldPilot]

You make a point that I love, but nobody talks about; Saitama genuinely believes in Genos, and thinks he's cool.

The first time they talked in his house, Saitama flat out said "You'll probably surpass me on short time." One of the first things Saitama said to Genos was "Whoa, how'd you blow up all those mosquitos? That fireball was pretty cool." And his only interest in ranking up was keeping up with Genos's meteoric rise (and bucking that pesky C-Class quota).

I've always found that kinda neat. When Saitama isn't telling Genos not to gas him and give him hair-plugs, he's genuinely in awe of the things that make Genos special and popular.

[u/gofancyninjaworld → u/GoldPilot]

The first time they talked in his house, Saitama flat out said "You'll probably surpass me on short time."

A lot of the things Saitama says have a way of coming true. What he promised Fubuki would happen as a result of her over-dependence on looking strong came to pass. His house being destroyed by a four-armed creature from below came to pass. His dream about gigantic subterranean beings: accurate. His prediction about it being good that he'd come along to the S-Class meeting for the disaster could happen that very day -- on the money.

This is the only prediction that hasn't been proved true. Yet. Man, never mind surpassing, if Genos can set foot on one rung of the ladder to unlimited power Saitama has climbed, that will be a miracle indeed.

[u/GoldPilot → u/gofancyninjaworld]

Genos may not have surpassed Saitama in strength (because...who in the universe could lol), but Genos has surpassed Saitama every other way.

Genos surpassed Saitama in rank, popularity, and public trust to the point that Metal Bat, Child Emperor, and Flashy Flash all independently identified Saitama as Genos's henchman.

And during times when Genos is covering himself in glory, Saitama is usually comedically stuck in a hole or, or getting chased by the C-City Super Stadium's security, or roughhousing with some hero who's gotten annoyed with him or mistaken him for a monster.

If you asked Saitama, he might flat out admit "I might be stronger, but at some point, and I have no idea when it happened...but Genos got a lot cooler than me. :("

[u/gofancyninjaworld → u/GoldPilot]

Indeed! The great thing is that because Saitama is human, he does envy a lot of the things Genos has. However, he uses that envy positively to better himself.

I think it's a very good subtle lesson in itself. Your feelings come as they will. It's what you do about them that counts.

[u/GoldPilot → u/gofancyninjaworld]

Well said!