One-Punch Man vol. 26
Have you ever wondered just how the superhero class system employed by the Hero Society came into being for this series? Vol. 26 has you covered in that regard as we learn that there were originally only Class C, B, and A-level heroes at the start of the Society’s founding. S-rank was established after it was seen that there were heroes who were capable of taking on threats well above their class level in spite of how they were classified. Of course, this is all used to show just how dire the threat posed by the Monster Society is at this current stage of the storyline as we see multiple Class A and S-level heroes being taken down by Demon-level monsters. Saitama is still out there, though, teamed up with S-ranker Flashy Flash and a quasi-willing demon guide through the underground. Will he finally get the S-rank he so deserves after this storyline? We shall see.
That’s arguably the most meaningful part of this volume as vol. 26 is another volume that delivers more quality superhero fights than anything else. Again. Child Emperor may be in trouble against his opponent, same as Superalloy Blackluster is as he takes on a Garo who is Shedding His Limitations. The only hero who doesn’t look to be having a hard time of things is Terrible Tornado as she manages to track down the monster who has been pulling Gyoro-Gyoro’s strings after all this time. Seeing her instill a lot of fear in this new character was a lot of fun, as were the story beats involving Saitama in this volume too. Everything else in this volume was perfectly fine, even though it’s brought down by the need to (once again) sell the dire threat of the Monster Society.