One-Punch Man vol. 27 vs. Gundam Thunderbolt vol. 21

I certainly didn’t plan to review these two volumes together.  Aside from sharing the same publisher, they’re almost completely different in tone, style and execution.  One (no, not ONE *rimshot*) is translating the “Gundam” aesthetic into manga form via the mangaka’s own sensibilities in a way that at least nods to grounded sci-fi.  The other is the superhero manga to end all superhero comics, determined to go bigger and bolder with each battle, barely nodding at any notion of realism outside of convincingly addressing its characters’ emotions and mindsets.  So how did these volumes wind up in the same review?  When I realized that they were basically telling the same kind of story, and one was clearly doing it better than the other.

For over ten volumes now, “One-Punch Man” has been embroiled in a single storyline:  The Hero Association versus the Monster Association.  Seeing superpowered folks beat the crap out of each other for that length of time should’ve left the series feeling like an interminable slog by now, but writer ONE and artist Yusuke Murata have managed to consistently avoid that feeling.  That has been down to the sheer variety in the fights being offered, as well as the stakes and various storylines being intertwined through them.  All of which combine to ensure that you’re getting something different every time the fists start flying.

“Thunderbolt’s” current storyline hasn’t been going on for nearly as long and it does offer something different in its conflicts with each volume.  The problem is that it has been see-sawing back and forth between who has the upper hand each time.  In one volume it’s the Nanyang Alliance, and in the next it might be the Federation.  You might be feeling whiplash from that if it wasn’t for the feeling that mangaka Yasuo Ohtagaki wasn’t stacking the deck in the Alliance’s favor more often than not.  That may be a necessary action in order to put them on even footing with their opponents, but it comes off as aggravating due to its predictability.

That brings us to the current volume of each series as each of them finds its cast even more entrenched in their current conflicts with a noticeable raising of the stakes on each side.  In “One-Punch Man,” that’s manifested through Terrible Tornado’s fight against Psychos, who merges with the defeated essence of Orochi to become something that even she has trouble fighting back against.  Meanwhile, over in “Thunderbolt.” The Alliance has met the Federation in open combat over the Solar Ray and Io and Darryl are getting ready to settle things for what feels like the last time.

So you’ve got two series furthering their entrenched storylines as each feels like they’re building to a climax.  That I’ve encountered both titles doing the same thing around the same time is a bit of synchronicity more than anything else.  Yet the way “One-Punch Man” and “Thunderbolt” are executing these storylines shows that there’s a right way to keep the audience interested as you build towards a payoff.  And it’s “One-Punch Man” that’s doing it right.

Simply from the point of spectacle, the Tornado vs. Psychos/Orochi stuff is as impressive as anything the series has thrown at us and Murata deserves lots of credit for pulling that off.  Yet it’s not the only thing going on in this volume.  From the comic relief of Saitama, Flashy Flash, and Oculett’s efforts to escape from being buried alive, to the inspirational silliness of seeing all of the hero sidekicks in the hospital rush out to help save the day, to the vignettes of those “saved” by Tornado’s telekinetic bubbles, there’s a lot of individual storytelling going on in this volume as well.  It’s also all easy to grasp thanks to the clear storytelling and distinctive character designs on display.  Nothing’s actually resolved here, but it feels like there’s some kind of meaningful advancement in all the stories on display.

“Thunderbolt,” on the other hand, feels a lot more chaotic and a lot harder to get involved in what’s going on in this particular volume.  Not helping matters much is that the only individual conflict on display in this volume, Io vs. Darryl, is the only one that we’ve been trained to have any real investment in.  It also boils down to the two duking it out in mechs across the battlefield of space without any real nods to their personal vendettas.  Bizarrely, Ohtagaki decides that this conflict is the perfect time to bring up the mystery of adding another Newtype to the conflict.  Is it the ghost echo of Lily’s dead sister Yith?  Is Amuro Rei about to make a surprise appearance?  Is it someone completely different?  There’s no way to tell right now.

Aside from Io and Darryl mixing it up, the rest of the volume is a blur of various supporting members from both sides of the conflict fighting it out to make sure their side wins.  While I can appreciate Ohtagaki finding places for the many characters he’s introduced over the course of “Thunderbolt’s” run here, none of them have really been given any distinctive visual or personality traits to make me really care about them when they’re not in the vicinity of the main characters.  The one exception here is Bianca, and it’s probably not a coincidence that she’s given the one significant development here that may actually have an impact on the battle at hand.

As for everything else that’s going on here, it all goes back to the chaos I mentioned earlier.  If nothing else, I have to give Ohtagaki credit for making both sides feel like they’re struggling this time around.  Even with the advantages that the Nanyang have had over the previous volumes, they’re not able to steamroll the Federation, leading to lots of death on both sides.  Not a lot of memorable individual storytelling moments, though.

Still, at least he doesn’t step on a potential landmine in the culture wars the way that ONE and Murata inadvertently do in their series.  I speak of the origin they provide for Superalloy Blackluster who has been visually coded to be Black ever since his first appearance.  We find out that’s not the case here as he was originally just a pale, weak Japanese kid before he started lifting and got swole in the pursuit of victory in battle.  

While I can’t say that “One-Punch Man” has been an exemplar of representation during its run, having its one Black character turn out to be Japanese-But-Like-Insanely-Tan isn’t a good look for the series by any stretch of the imagination.  Mind you, I don’t think that ONE and Murata were intentionally trying to retcon Black representation out of this series, as Superalloy Blackluster was likely always purely Japanese in their minds at the start.  Still, that’s not likely going to stop someone from getting angry about it happening.

That doesn’t change the fact that “One-Punch Man’s” storytelling has been better than you’d expect for a while now as it continues its current storyline.  Comparing it to this particular volume of “Thunderbolt” puts that into stark relief as well.  While my patience isn’t inexhaustible, ONE and Murata have earned the benefit of the doubt with how they’re handling their title right now.

I’m far more concerned about how long Ohtagaki is going to have “Thunderbolt” run for.  Currently the series is up to vol. 23 in Japan, and he’s been continuing to put out new volumes at a rate of two per year.  Mind you this is after his experience with Tenosynovitis led to a loss of his ability to manage fine details.  While the mangaka has managed his visual storytelling quite well in light of this issue, he also mentioned in an October 2022 celebration of the manga’s 10th anniversary that he plans to continue it for another five-to-six-years.

So, assuming that he’s able to continue producing manga at his current rate, that means we’ve got around ten more volumes of “Thunderbolt” to look forward to after this one.  Which honestly feels insane given how things feel like they’re building towards a climax here.  It’s possible that Ohtagaki has a plan that will upend our expectations and make the rest of the story something to look forward to.  As of right now, though, ten more volumes of that series feels more like a threat than a promise.