One-Punch Man vol. 19

Welcome to another exciting volume of “Garo:  Hero Hunter!”  After our protagonist was left for dead at the hands of the Monster Association, he goes to hunt them on their own turf.  Not just for payback!  But to rescue the one kid who believes in him with all his heart.  That Garo rescues the kid shouldn’t surprise anyone.  Nor should the fact that the Monster Association’s heaviest hitters are lurking around down underground.  Including the demonic, plasma-spewing guard dog known as… POCHI!  If Garo can survive a few rounds with this puppy, then maybe he’ll be able to get some answers from Gyoro-Gyoro about how he’s been able to survive for this long and what the Association’s real plans for him are.  With any luck, they won’t involve him going toe-to-toe with their leader, the Demon King Orochi — a dire fate that no one should wish upon their enemies!

In case you didn’t guess from the summary, Saitama doesn’t really have that big of a role in this volume either.  That still registers as a disappointment, as it has for the past few volumes.  It does help that Garo’s journey is actually getting more interesting now.  He’s so determined to carve his own way and fight against those who would look down on anyone that he has now turned on the organization made up of those he empathized with and took him in.  Garo’s story is now starting to read like a tragedy, even as he gives it his all, and especially after Gyoro-Gyoro tells him the score.  Alongside all of this is the typically spectacular art from Yusuke Murata, who even manages to make a volume made up of fights in darkened underground corridors and arenas look pretty impressive.  I’m sure he’ll make Saitama’s eventual return to the limelight look good too — if that is what the last page in the final chapter is really foreshadowing.