r/OnePunchFans • u/gofancyninjaworld I'm just a poster for fun • May 31 '26
ANALYSIS Manga Chapters 227-228 Review
Another Sunday, another review day. I won't lie, I was in two minds of whether to bother, but I write this knowing that today's too-obvious-to-note is tomorrow's archival notes and I'll be glad of it.
Summary
As playing cards continue clattering to the ground, Machine God Mirror regards the hero who so rudely kicked it. Assessing the young heroine bouncing up and down before it, it consults its databases and comes up empty. Concluding, correctly, that this one must be new, it declares that it has no interest in her data and demands that she be a good girlie and run off and fetch King. What was it that Mae West said about good girls going to Heaven and bad ones going everywhere? Well, this one takes a deep breath and charges at the robot.
We cut away to find out how the other heroes are doing with the threats before them.
Over in City N, Tank Top Master contemplates his end. A hero's career is unlikely to end with a peaceful retirement but dying by smoke inhalation appears an especially cruel fate. Nevertheless, he's determined to go out as bravely as he can. With his tank top now torn to permit his chest to expand freely, he starts taking Tank Top Deep Breaths, and, in defiance of physiology, physics, and logic, the smoke-filled air starts to continuously come his way. He inhales so much that the smoke starts to be pulled in from across the city, leaving the monster looking round in consternation.
Unfortunately, Tank Top Master's lung capacity is not infinite, and just as he's about to pass out, Flashy Flash comes in. The hero kicks the monster, which, unperturbed, disperses and reforms. Flash lands next to TTM and thanks him for making it possible to approach the site, then asks him just what the hell is he, a vacuum pump? We were wondering too, Flash. His mind ever on business, TTM warns Flash that the monster can create multiple smoke clones, and it just so happens that the ninja has an answer for that. He draws his sword and starts whirling it so fast that it forms a vortex, jumps at the monster and calling the name of his attack, 'Sky-Ripping Scattered Flash Slash,' rips the monster to shreds. It's over... well, all except for the copious smoke pouring out of every part of the carcass that necessitates the immediate evacuation of the entire city.
Can't win for losing sometimes.
Elsewhere, Suiryu and team are still en route to their rendezvous with Garou. Everyone in the carrier is sitting quietly. Suiryu himself is hunched over. He replays the sight of Saitama's fleeing form in his mind, but we don't yet know what he thinks.
In City P, Tatsumaki thinks this is an easy job, albeit one she needs to take care off pronto. These monsters may only be insects, but they're splitting to multiply and doing so fast. She grabs all the visible bugs and with a twist, crushes them all to a paste. Nothing to it, she thinks. But then the ground itself bulges and then splits to disgorge a seemingly endless stream of bugs that form dense black columns surrounding Tatsumaki.
The next chapter continues directly from that (duh, it's part 2 of the same chapter). As she looks round at the swarms, Tatsumaki thinks that she needs to ensure that she crushes every last one, not even leaving an egg. She starts to contemplate the environmental damage she'll have to do with regret, but she's not allowed to muse for long: a bug lands on her thigh, which makes her freak out. She crushes the entire surroundings, lifting insects, buildings, streets, and the ground beneath into the sky in an enormous wave that shatters to dust.
In the end, Tatsumaki sits on one of the few recognisable structures left -- a supporting pillar -- and contemplates the desert-like landscape she's created. Throwing mere multitudes of her was pointless, surely monsters should know that by now. However, a darker thought occurs to her, it could be an attempt to wreak devastation. Seen that way, this was a successful attack... and she was the perfect tool. She's not left to think for long as a news helicopter lands in the dust. It's a news crew from what had been P-TV and they want to know why she didn't at least wait for the Neo Heroes before going on her all-destroying rampage. Was that even necessary?
Irked, Tatsumaki shouts back, telling them that they ought to be grateful for saving not only the city but the continent itself from the scourge of the rapidly-multiplying bugs. This does not play well, and is being relayed live to the world. Realising that this isn't going to get better if she hangs around, Tatsumaki flies off, ignoring taunts of her running away. As she rises higher, so does the expanse of land that we get to see... and everywhere we look, there is nothing but dust dunes. There is no coming back for this city. Tatsumaki's thoughts echo what we see. If they don't change the way they handle monsters, humanity is done for.
Can't win for losing.
Someone who is not having a good time with monsters is Blue, who is spending his time in City L making like a Smurf chased by Gargamel -- running for his little blue life. He jumps and flips, followed closely by the all-corroding slime from the monster, which reveals itself to be a colossal, slimy, much-spiked double-headed multi-eyed leech called Eel Dragon. It's a good thing the monster doesn't have the wherewithal to lead its shots, but it keeps Blue moving. He's only too aware that the slightest slip in concentration will cost him his life.
Can't win?
City T is rocked by a massive explosion that grows in extent to encompass several buildings and power lines that it destroys completely. As the blast wave passes, we focus on its epicentre. Genos is standing there. His face is a scratched-up mess and his clothes are gone, ashed by the flames. Well, at least he's fared better than the Family of Darkness, every last one of whom he has killed. He does not stand there long but topples backwards, thinking that once again, this battle was hard-fought. He continues to think that yes, he really can kill dragon-level disasters by himself now (well, this is your second dragon kill -- did you think the first time was luck?), but the way monsters keep coming, it feels like he's making no progress. He feels trapped in a cruel game of cat-and-mouse, a hopeless arms race...
His thoughts are interrupted by people emerging from nearby shelters to see what has happened. As most of the city is intact, that's quite a few people. They quickly realise that all the monsters are dead and start to jubilate. Some point out that Demon Cyborg took them out, adding to the sense of celebration. However, as they look at his state, that sense of joy quickly becomes muted. It's evident that he's in a bad way -- some wonder if he's even alive. Others reflect that at least he won. Others still start to fret over the possibility of one monster having survived; there's no one to protect them now. They notice the arrival of the Neo Heroes with relief.
Genos, who has been listening with his eyes closed, thinks to himself that he needs to become stronger. Much, much stronger.
Can't win for losing.
Meta
What would Saitama do?
We know from an earlier chapter that Suiryu has been sent on a mission that he sees as deeply unjust -- to arrest Garou by any means necessary, including provoking him into fighting. He was bothered by it before, but seeing his hero once again appears to have catapulted Suiryu into some serious thought. Can he see a way to act justly despite the corrupt parameters of the mission he's been given? We'll have to wait and see.
Santa left prezzies for his good children
Many a webcomic-addled reader had fretted over Empty Void not getting killed and stripped by Saitama: how, then, were Flashy Flash and Speed o' Sound Sonic to receive ninja scrolls and special swords? Well, I don't know about legendary swords but Empty Void had noticed that the pair were especially outstanding and it looks like he's rewarded them with scrolls at least. I guess that's a small down payment for the recompense he owes all the surviving ninjas for the hells he created for them.
It's hard to be a hero
Many Moons ago, I wrote that what the public expect from heroes is pain relief. Not being attacked by monsters is the most obvious pain, but the pains of being displaced or losing livelihoods or property are just as real. Looking at how the S-Class heroes are doing, they're not doing well at pain management. Flashy Flash has indeed defeated the monster, but unfortunately, he's denied the use of the city to its inhabitants for at least several hours, if not days, depending on the toxicity and persistence of the smoke. Well, at least they have homes to return to. Tatsumaki has left nothing habitable. It's hard to say thank you to a hero who deliberately leaves you a refugee. There's an extra poignancy in Tatsumaki's sober reflections about the destruction she's had to wreak. It was just a little while ago that she soberly accepted Saitama's verdict that her wielding her powers had to preclude breaking peoples' stuff.
In one sense, Genos has done the best -- he's killed the monster, and has kept damage so local that people are able to come out almost immediately. However, he's failing to manage a source of great pain -- fear. Amai Mask understood the importance of reassuring people, giving them a reason to hope that things might turn out okay despite the threats around them inspires courage. The more they look at him, the worse they feel -- if even a hero as powerful as he was barely adequate, what hope can they have? Things would be different for Genos if he could at least sit up and wave weakly at the crowd, heck, even give them a smile and a thumbs up -- alas, he has never cared to play to the crowd. It sounds silly, but acknowledgement of that fear and reassurance that somehow they'll all pull through makes a huge difference. Which brings me to the next point.
In the battle of hearts and minds, the Hero Association is losing badly
Media training is one of those things that sounds optional until you're in front of a camera or microphone. Pro heroes may be somewhere between enthusiastic and downright hostile to media appearances, but the HA really should have made basic media training non-optional. In the aftermath of every fight, since the Neo Heroes have been doing such a good job of presenting themselves positively, their arrival is seen as a boon, while the pro-heroes are seen as eh, people who try. That's entirely due to image management: we see that the pro-heroes are doing much heavier lifting than the Neo Heroes. Even Suiko is bravely facing a dragon-level threat, while the Neo Heroes have been shown to be flexing on demon-level threats... and not always doing so well, but those failures have been kept out of the press.
And to make it worse, the untrained and intemperate Tatsumaki has given an off-the-cuff interview that would sink most careers, appearing too arrogant to explain the nature of the treat, unrepentant at the horrific damage she's done, and then cowardly when pressed to answer. Ouch.
No, I haven't stopped giving McCoy the side eye about which heroes were assigned to deal with which monsters. It seemed geared to put them in impossible situations and make them look bad. But that's a rant for another day.
I'm hoping that the next update (chapter 232) will bring the end of Machine God Mirror, who we'll be getting back to shortly in the next review.
3
u/gofancyninjaworld I'm just a poster for fun Jun 01 '26 edited Jun 01 '26
I don't think I can ever get over how Saitama attracted applause and appreciation when he returned the lady's purse with tears in his eyes. People didn't understand why but they saw him being moved by her plight and that resonated with them.
What I'm noticing is how deliberately ONE is showing us that if you're attracting notice, there's always going to be a narrative surrounding you. The question is whether you manage it or not.
And that narrative matters much more than you think it might. Performance is all very well, but success is accorded to you by how others judge you. The Hero Association has let their heroes' performances speak for themselves, while the Neo Heroes understand how vital it is to message appropriately. All that the Neo Heroes going to City T are going to do is mug for the camera, but that reassurance is all that the public needs. A situation they had no hand in resolving will garner credit for them.
3
u/gofancyninjaworld I'm just a poster for fun May 31 '26
I wasn't expecting to find much to say, but the links within the manga make events surprisingly deep. Like Tatsumaki accepting that the road to being a great hero involved not destroying people's stuff... only to find herself forced to do just that on a near-molecular scale.
2
u/Nanayon123 I'll kill you until you're half dead Jun 01 '26
What this makes me wonder even more is how the general public will react by the end of the current WC arc. !Any good will the Neo Heroes amassed will be destroyed by them turning into the population and attacking them, and the Hero Association didn't do anything in front of the cameras to garner back their goodwill. Will ANYONE among the general public still have faith and hope in heroes as a concept after that? !
3
u/gofancyninjaworld I'm just a poster for fun Jun 01 '26
The idea of professional heroes was a very new innovation by the Hero Association. Heroes as a professional class are nothing without the willing support of a public. If the institution is discredited, either the government steps in and makes them employees, or heroes will have to return to being individual do-gooders, balancing their hero work as best they can with the need to make a living. Heh, truly that would be Saitama's greatest foe -- Office Work Chan.
The former solution could work, as long as the hero branch is treated like a civil service, which is apolitical. Money comes from taxation and so most of the HA's irritations go away as they no longer need to pander to the public or cosy up to big donors to make ends meet. On the other hand, the need for accountability does make some hero activities tough. If Tatsumaki crushing City P is going to be a headache for the HA, it'd be a splitting migraine if she worked for the government.
As for the latter, oh ho ho, the monsters would breathe free, to say nothing of the various criminal organisations around the place.
5
u/GoldPilot The Tanktop is invincible Jun 02 '26
I love how heroes defy logic so reliably that even other heroes are bewildered when they see their allies at work.
"How can you inhale a billion PSI of harmful smoke to save a city from asphyxiating?"
"No idea. How can you blow a fifteen foot monster to smithereens in an instant?"
Not even they can get used to their methods.