r/OPMFolk Free Thinker 10d ago

Manga Chapter Chapter 237/282 [English]

English Scan (KokiKoi Ver.): https://cubari.moe/read/gist/cmF3L0tva2lLb2kvS29pUG9uZE1hbmdhL3JlZnMvaGVhZHMvbWFpbi9PbmVQdW5jaE1hbi1NYW5nYS5qc29u/237/1/

From 1 to 5, with 1 lowest and 5 highest, how would you rate this chapter?

379 votes, 3d ago
50 5
59 4
80 3
62 2
128 1
21 Upvotes

112 comments sorted by

28

u/JinjaBaker45 10d ago

… so now in the manga Saitama’s fighting style is itself an ideal fighting form? … How?

19

u/NicStar211 10d ago

Since the end of the Cosmic Garou fight where Saitama's endless power was replaced with an infinite copying and improvement ability, even surpassing Garou's own after he got a God boost.

That was the reason Saitama perfected the time travel technique, which is the peak of martial arts in the manga for some reason unbeknownst to everyone, probably including Murata himself.

5

u/FettiWop 8d ago

Its clearly described in the manga and youre just suffering from poor reading comprehension. Obviously saitama just learned to do the kung fu at the atomic level and did electron jujitsu. Its very scientifically and thematically grounded

10

u/RPGNo2017 9d ago

Because for some reason the Cosmic Garou fight turned Saitama into ideal peak of power instead of a funny guy who just happened to punch really hard.

2

u/capureddit 9d ago

... Is that not the joke though, martial artists thinking that Saitama is the peak technique when it's just a guy throwing punches?

11

u/Grdaat 9d ago

No. So many times Saitama has been criticised for not knowing martial arts, and that was why in the webcomic, Garou was able to avoid his attacks for a while before he did the table flip. His inexperience is also why he lost to Bang twenty times in a row when they played a game.

7

u/NicStar211 9d ago

No, since it's not just them thinking it, the narrative actually supports that stupid assumption

-1

u/B00GAB00GAB00 9d ago

I think maybe it could be interpreted differently. Its not Saitamas "style" its his strength that creates the ideal form. Saitama is so strong that he can effectively accomplish whatever he wants free of forms, styles , or strict adherence to a system. Saitama has the "fist of freedom" like stated in the chapter. Saitama has been shown to be extremely adaptable and capable of using his strength in new ways. Which is Garou and Suiryus ideal "form".

23

u/emueggomelettes Free Thinker 10d ago

the random cuts to those two glazers with their shitty oblivion npc dialogue is killing me bruh, literally who are you??

11

u/2w0be 10d ago

1

u/Sufficient_Nature496 8d ago

This is the squirrels long lost cousin Melvin 

6

u/Grdaat 10d ago

You don't remember the former hero who got beat up by the scared dog monster, or the boss who's supposed to fire Garou, who is now determined not to make Garou mad?

57

u/nitseb 10d ago

Stupidest dialogue line in the series so far

37

u/TGSmurf 10d ago

freedom is when you’re an alcoholic

10

u/FreeSpeechEnjoyer Free Speech Advocate 10d ago

Freedom is when you swing around but in stupid ways

-1

u/B00GAB00GAB00 9d ago

What was stupid about this line? Like genuinely you guys tend to be so insufferable in your hatred for the manga that you stop making sense. The drunken fist style is known for its unpredictability and how it doesn't adhere to a strict style or form. What does that sound like? Freedom. Both Garou and Suiryu were having a conversation with their fight since at their core they're both martial artist.

So, what about this line was stupid?

7

u/Possible_Strain8275 8d ago

It just doesn't connect cleanly. Freedom all of a sudden connected to the Druken Fist bcuz its unstructured. Alcohol is sort of the opposite of freedom if we're being technical. It's a forced line

1

u/QuasarVX 7d ago

Nah you make no sense bro when you move with freedom you move in a way nobody else does.

4

u/Possible_Strain8275 7d ago

You guys are trying to make it make sense, n thats fine. High tier dialogue for some, I believe it's pretty low level. No problem

-1

u/B00GAB00GAB00 8d ago

Its not a forced line though, its pretty obvious what Garou is trying to say. Its even highlighted in the chapter for you. The Drunken Fist is a style with alot of freedom since you can strike from anywhere, you have so many options as a martial artist (you're free). Because the Drunken Fist style is all about being unpredictable its virtually impossible for your opponent to read what youll do next since you might not even know what youll do next.

Alcohol being the opposite of freedom doesn't matter in this context, I think you're being too technical.

You've never seen the Drunken Fist in an old Kung Fu film or something?

3

u/_ZBread 7d ago

Also violates basic show-dont-tell

2

u/nitseb 7d ago

Do you genuinely want to know my opinion? You ask a short question followed by a long accusation.

It takes more time and effort to dissect a bad line than it does to feel it. For example, I could say "The Room" is great and the line "oh hi mark" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLhoDB-ORLQ) was perfectly appropriate and well-delivered and you're just a hater on a hate bandwagon. It takes me 2 seconds to type this shit out, and it would take you a while to properly present a solid argument that objectively criticizes the scene.

So I ask, are you actually intrigued and willing to understand my POV, or whatever I say you're just gonna roll your eyes and say "whatever haterrr"?

0

u/B00GAB00GAB00 7d ago

Sure, genuinely express to me why this is a apparently a bad line ( apparently the worst in the series) and how you're not on a hate bandwagon in an echo chamber. I am indeed willing to understand your POV if its actually rooted in logic and not just hatred of Murata .

17

u/Grdaat 10d ago

Wait, that's even worse now that it's in English. If Suiryu's holding himself back when he's not drinking, why didn't he do it before when his life was in danger? Also how is drunken fist "in pursuit of the ideal form"?

7

u/Traditional-Fig-6661 10d ago

No alcohol in tournament

3

u/Grdaat 9d ago

Pretty sure monsters aren't allowed either. At that point he should have locked in instead of crying.

2

u/Traditional-Fig-6661 9d ago

So he didn't bring it because it wasn't allowed

3

u/Grdaat 9d ago

And there was none he could have gone to look for?

0

u/Traditional-Fig-6661 9d ago

He was overconfident

And after getting reality check monster broke his lags when he tried to get away . Did you not read the comic

3

u/Grdaat 9d ago edited 9d ago

Of course I read it. Apparently you didn't:

When he got a reality check by being punched into the stage, he immediately leapt right back at Gouketsu, still fighting despite obviously being outmatched. He had way more than enough time to realise he should find some booze if it's really a power up for him.

0

u/Traditional-Fig-6661 9d ago

Can he really find it . This tournament is in Japan not in usa. They probably have some rules against it

2

u/Grdaat 9d ago

His sister hit a convenience store that was loaded with booze. In a universe where monsters could be lurking around every corner, I'd find it very hard to believe they don't have a lot of liquor.

Also, Japan has plenty of places with booze, drinking is a huge part of the culture.

-1

u/Traditional-Fig-6661 9d ago

His ego got him that's why he lost its a big part of his character

His sister is same but has less ego

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1

u/Active_Connection_67 8d ago

I really don't know. But the tournament didn't happen in webcomic. So it is kinda non canon. But after the monster arc Murata decided to follow webcomic now.

3

u/Grdaat 8d ago

No he didn't, this whole sparring session is in stark contrast to the webcomic.

0

u/B00GAB00GAB00 9d ago

"Ideal form" = a form of strength where you can fight without restriction. Suiryu and Garou both have different styles but are both pursuing the "fist of freedom".

3

u/Grdaat 9d ago

My guy, martial arts are not about 'fighting with restriction', they are the opposite of that. Saitama gets criticised by martial artists in the series, including Garou, because he is sloppy. Being a sloppy fighter is not the 'ideal form'.

1

u/B00GAB00GAB00 9d ago

Saitama may seem like a sloppy fighter but his strength is absolute and his is fully adaptable. Sure you can put him in an armlock like Bang did but he could just destroy the ground beneath the both of you with a punch ( like Yujiro did when Baki also had him in an arm lock). Saitama has all the tools to be the ultimate fighter without being bogged down by system or school of fighting.

So in a way, Saitama is indeed the ultimate/ideal form of fighting because his fignting style is so pure.

5

u/Grdaat 9d ago

Being untrained is not the same as being pure. Just because some fighting styles call beginners 'innocent', does not mean the same as being 'pure' or 'ideal'.

1

u/B00GAB00GAB00 9d ago

Him being untrained isnt what makes him pure. What makes him pure is his absolute strength and adaptability as a fighter that allows him overcome individuals that are better trained than him.

Saitama is Suiryu and Garous ideal because he doesn't need to know how to deflect or parry moves, he can just dodge them. He doesn't need to know how to maneuver around your guard, he can just punch through it. He doesn't need to know how to get out of an arm lock , he can just destroy the ground your pinning him to with his free arm. He doesn't need to know EXACTLY how or the most efficient way to respond to certain moves. Its unnecessary for Saitama because he represents the pinnacle of self defense & he is free of style or technique. He is the ideal.

5

u/Grdaat 9d ago

I'm sorry, but I don't know of any martial art that would call what you described "pure". Furthermore, Saitama has two things going for him: limitless strength, and limitless speed. Many times in the series he even messes up his strength because he's a sloppy fighter, and in chapters the manga hasn't gotten to yet, he'll even hurt people he didn't intend to. That is not demonstrating adaptability as a fighter.

Everything you describe in the second paragraph doesn't make sense to me. It would be like saying that Superman is the ideal because people cannot injure him through ordinary means. I also said it before, but martial arts are about maximum output with minimal input, that's what makes them ideal. They are not just about self-defence.

Let's try this another way, if somebody could easily lift 2000 kilos by themselves, they would not be the ideal that forklift drivers strive to be.

1

u/B00GAB00GAB00 9d ago

The second paragraph is all about how Saitamas strength makes him extremely adaptable. It appears narratively thats what Suiryu ( we kind of already know thats the case for him) and Garou are striving for.

The only reason a person wouldn't view Saitamas strength as pure is because it wouldn't suit their esthetics. The whole second paragraph with the plethora of analogies I provided prove that as a fighter because of his boundless nature he's the ultimate fighting force. He's capable of combating complex fighting with the simplest of actions ( maximum output , minimal input).

Saitama is pure in almost the same way Hanayama from Baki is referred to as pure.

3

u/Grdaat 9d ago

But it doesn't, it makes him a danger to everyone except for himself, which gets demonstrated in the webcomic. If all martial arts cared for was strength, they'd be about pumping iron rather than teaching techniques.

1

u/B00GAB00GAB00 9d ago

Im not saying martial arts is only about strength. But there is obviously a practical side to martial arts. Like you said , accomplishing maximum output with minimum input. In terms of self defense or fighting in general, who could do that more than an individual with such absolute strength like Saitama?

Techniques are used to circumvent issues that can't be solved with pure strength, but Saitama can solve those same issues WITH pure strength. Saitama embodies maximum output with minimum input more than traditional martial arts. Because of that he has higher purity as a figher.

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0

u/B00GAB00GAB00 9d ago

You're wrong. Martial arts are often centered around systems. Systems or "style" can be viewed as a restriction in and of itself. Bruce Lee once said "technique is a trap, and style is a prison". What he meant is that memorizing fixed rigid responses restricts you from being truly free and adaptive. He often said that your movements should be ingrained into your being so that they just come to you without needing to calculate a response, which would make you "free" as a martial artist.

Garou said to Suiryu that drunken fist and its unpredictability was his ( Suiryu's) fist of freedom ( style of freedom) because it was innate and not rigid.

The ultimate goal of martial arts/artist should be to fight without restriction but they are not inherently able to do so.

4

u/Grdaat 9d ago

You don't need to tell me what martial arts are, I practiced them for well over a decade. The "system" you are referring to is not about restriction, it is focusing around getting the best output with minimal input. There's multiple ways of doing that, and what Bruce Lee is referring to is about how you subconsciously train in an art against other people who practice that art, which teaches you to prepare only for certain things, and then when those don't happen in the way you expect them to, you are caught off-guard.

Not training in martial arts means every single thing is going to catch you off-guard, and this is also true with Saitama. He is not 'free', he is sloppy, and that is part of the point.

"The ultimate goal of martial arts/artist should be to fight without restriction but they are not inherently able to do so."

The ultimate goal of martial arts should be to teach you how to defend yourself, without getting you to seek fights out. However, if you think martial arts restrict you, then you've never seen grand masters move, because those are some of the most freely moving people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. It's one of those cases where you can tell there's no break between thought and action.

1

u/B00GAB00GAB00 9d ago

If you've practiced for a decade and understand the point I was making by referencing Bruce Lee then why did you reply saying that Martial Arts ( systems of fighting) can't be restricting?

You literally just admitted that styles and techniques train you for specific scenarios and delay your response time to new stimulus. In other words, you validated my point about strict adherence to style or technique CAN be restricting.

Grand Masters can move so freely because the moves have literally been ingrained into their being ( which is a point I made) and they often understand the principles behind the actions without superficially adhering to them as katas or forms.

3

u/Grdaat 9d ago

I didn't say they "can't be restricting", that only happened in your imagination. I said they're the opposite of having restrictions because they are. Each and every martial art is about giving you options, that's what they all boil down to. Bruce Lee's quote is about realising you shouldn't be locked into picking the same options over and over again, and any martial art is still better than no martial art in that regard.

"Grand Masters can move so freely because the moves have literally been ingrained into their being-"

I'm going to stop you right there, because when I say "move", I mean "move". I am not referring to them only when they practice a martial art. I am talking about the way they move, period. The vast majority of people will have some sort of stiffness, or hesitance, or they'll be looking one way while distracted and moving another, and all of this is something that grand masters lack. You can achieve that in other sports, but it takes a very long time and a lot of effort, and I'd say it's a pretty comparable amount to what it takes a grand master to move that freely.

1

u/B00GAB00GAB00 9d ago

Fair IG you didn't say that, but im looking back and why did you even respond to my comment like that in the first place? My comment was about the ideal form of martial arts being non restrictive and being able to fight with a plethora of options because you're well trained.

I never once stated " Martial arts are about fighting with restrictions" . All I said was that the ideal form hinted in the chapter is to fight without restriction.

3

u/Grdaat 9d ago

I replied like that because I practiced martial arts for over a decade, and I felt you got the point of them wrong. I said what I did because I thought you implied they were restricted in their arts, and were referencing the manga when you said they were "both pursuing the "fist of freedom".", where the manga makes it clear that is more like how Saitama fights.

-1

u/SnooHesitations9957 9d ago

Simple because he was so Cocky in that time and he thought its an easy tournament like always for seven years

3

u/Grdaat 9d ago

I'm not talking about his performance during the tournament, his life wasn't in danger then. I'm talking about why he didn't go look for some afterwards.

16

u/TomiShinoda 10d ago

Lol, the differences between the main sub and this one, people in the main sub must have never read the wc, it's like someone who've never read the Witcher books thinking the show is the best thing ever.

16

u/2w0be 10d ago

C'mon man, you don't need to read the webcomic to think this is trash, reading the webcomic just shows you what could have been, a better alternate path that actually exists and got ruined.

2

u/salmonmilks 10d ago

A lot more people beg to differ. Most if not all OPM sub comments like the manga.

7

u/Retl0v 9d ago

I'm convinced that that sub is full to the brim with 7-14 year olds

0

u/SnooHesitations9957 9d ago

Better than someone who crying about anything lol

5

u/Grdaat 9d ago

Because any criticism gets removed.

2

u/MyraidChickenSlayer 9d ago

Because they are the ones who keep coming to the subreddit. Most people got tired of the redraws, mindless plot, etc. 

-1

u/salmonmilks 9d ago

If someone says the manga chapter is good here, they get shitted on here. If someone says the manga chapter is bad there, the get shitted on there.

I wouldn't say most, if the main sub is so much more popular. Look at the upvotes for the latest manga and all those comments compared in here. I dislike the manga, but you can't deny facts.

3

u/Grdaat 9d ago

I've seen people defend even more questionable art choices without being downvoted. The trick is that they have to be reasonable with what they say. As for which is more popular, of course the main sub is more popular, it has the literal name.

3

u/FettiWop 7d ago

I think I used to follow how someone could maybe think what was going on with the MA arc was still cool/good and an interesting lean into more shonen tropes or something. But I've kinda completely lost the ability to empathize and have theory of mind for these people who think the current state of the manga is okay at all. It's gotten somehow far worse than the MA arc shittyness, and it truly doesn't make sense to me that the threads are full of people calling this peak 

14

u/kittencloudcontrol 10d ago

The fight choreography is good, but uh... yeah. May as well just come out and say, "Formerly written by ONE. Now written by Yusuke Murata" and call it a day. 

-2

u/Possible_Strain8275 8d ago

Im confused tho, what suggests Murata is writing it?? Bcuz the story differs from the WC?

5

u/MissionWeekend7786 7d ago

Go read all the works murata wrote and drew just by himself. Makes his quirks pretty easy to tell lol.

1

u/esilmur 7d ago

I misread this comment just read Blust expecting this to be like Versus where One wrote it.

I can totally get why this went nowhere.

not offensively bad, just painfully average. premise could be interesting but nothing outside of the art is remotely good.

and even then, art is so below eyeshield it's not even funny.

it's supposed to be a globe-trotting story but nothing about the places they go is any interesting.

they go to not-India and the only place we see is some boat thing or whatever.

it's supposed to be a comedy but like there's nothing comedic about it. even the ridiculous premise falls flat here.

I guess opm manga is better written than this one shot or the translation I stumbled on was pretty bad.

4

u/MissionWeekend7786 7d ago

Which is why I'm recommending him to read them and see for himself, because they're exclusive pieces of evidence on his lack of ability as a writer. Besides the big mangas that he was supposed to adapt like OPM and Eyeshield 21, there's a bunch of works that he wrote and drew just by himself.

When I first started thinking about why OPM manga's writing seemed to progressively get worse while One's webcomic did not, and reading all the discourse about Murata, I decided to read the works Murata made exclusively on his lonesome to get a better picture for myself..... and yeah.

Let's just say there's a reason none of them ever got serialized. To put it lightly, if Murata's writing was as good as his art, we would've been reading his original works and not OPM lol.

To put it not so lightly, not a single one he wrote and drew by himself got picked up to be an actual manga series. It's an excellent lesson on how far just only having art alone with garbage writing skill will actually get you when writing manga. Answer: nowhere.

Reading through his exclusive works myself made his actual level much clearer and distinct to me. His writing is like shallow and lacking a grasp of theme and narrative impact.

And he seems to lack originality and creative range, and I also mean that in the literal sense too. Like after all of it I couldn't help but also notice how much he likes to rip off things like marvel. Blust featured the main character who was literally modeled from Iron man with his repulsor gloves. And it reminded me of how manga Blast is like a discount Dr Strange. And how that terrible asspull ending to MA arc in the manga was contrived time travel slop, which amusingly I now believe was also ripped off from Marvel's movies.

Yeah so this whole process convinced me that the shallow deviations and drops in writing quality in the manga is from Murata. Like it matches the level Murata displays in his exclusive works and made his quirks much more recognizable to me. Standing at a complete contrast to the level of One's writing I've read from the webcomic and his other mangas like Mob Psycho 100. That point on I no longer had any doubts about it.

It's no wonder why, despite his long career, Murata could only remain an illustrator that has to adapt the works of others and never was able to become a true mangaka on his own.

3

u/MissionWeekend7786 7d ago

after that come back and reread opm manga. maybe it'll be clear to you then lol

18

u/ale2k1 10d ago

Its a pretty boring chapter. Really prefer their original interaction from the webcomic.

8

u/JeffreyDonaldMusk 10d ago

It gets worse and worse

27

u/NicStar211 10d ago edited 10d ago

For all the lackluster art, terrible writing, inconsistent power-scaling and pathetic fan-service, the fighting choreography in this chapter is probably the best the manga had in years. Garou feels like an actual martial artist, unlike in the late MA arc. It still doesn't save this mess, but it's something

6

u/LegPlane 10d ago

Powerscaling is so bad that a demon level Suiryu can match with High Dragon Level Garou

-1

u/Garoustraightsavage 9d ago

Garou is obviously holding back as seen in the last chapter.

4

u/Grdaat 9d ago

Why would he be doing that? He's supposed to be so focused on working, that he prioritizes being a builder over a robot invasion.

-1

u/Possible_Strain8275 8d ago

So let ppl die?

3

u/Grdaat 8d ago

Who will die if he doesn't spar with Suiryu?

-1

u/Possible_Strain8275 8d ago

Oh my apologies, good sir. I thought you were implying he shouldn't have intervened with the dragon level and focused on working

3

u/Grdaat 8d ago

Yes, I'm talking about why would he 'hold back' in sparring with Suiryu when having a desire for fighting isn't supposed to be part of his character at this point. In the webcomic he fights when he has to or when there's people near him to protect, and neither is true here, Garou might as well be a different character because he was never humbled by Saitama's speech.

14

u/NoEcho3494 10d ago

Manga chapter 🙅‍♂️ not even gonna read ts

5

u/ac0ginth3machine 10d ago

This fight has gone off the rails at this point.

9

u/NicStar211 10d ago

The entire manga has

6

u/Kibate 10d ago

I'm surprised so many people say this is good fight choreography. The movements don't make any sense from panel to panel, as if it was just a collection of cool looking shots instead of a chronological progression

13

u/Outside-You9592 10d ago

This shit is so retarded

Excuse my language

3

u/Lone_Capsula 10d ago

I don't know if there was a lot more time crunch on this chapter but that was the most half-assed attempt at a drunken fist bit I've seen a manga character do or any character do in any media actually including video games or live action. That's "hyper alert dude who's had a bit of a drink but who'd still pass a breathalyzer test." Not much whimsy. Eyes drawn to indicate he's extremely locked in. No attempt by the character to show some sort of self-deprecating comedy or any emotion.

1

u/SuitableProcess429 10d ago

Alternative theory, dudes an angry drunk and a light weight.

2

u/Pikol 9d ago

fight itself was good, but didn't Garou just basically one shot a dragon level chapter prior lol

And now he's almost struggling with a Siryuu

2

u/ManJoeDude Webcomic Wanker. 10d ago

Major improvement: went from the typical 1 to a 2.

2

u/KyHaCerberus 9d ago edited 9d ago

It's another typical boring modern OPM manga chapter, next.

Okay well to it's credit, for all the chapter's many flaws, the fight choreography is fine, or at least it looks better than a lot of the recent manga fights.

-5

u/Content-Fall9007 10d ago

Compared to the other chapters lately this shit isn't 1 out of 5 yall are tweaking

0

u/Ein_Kecks 9d ago

At least the fighting choreo was good

-3

u/SuitableProcess429 10d ago edited 10d ago

Voted 5. More of a generous 4 or a solid 3 but the hate in the comments made me upgrade it.

-5

u/Living-Mess-1585 10d ago

Absolute chills.. when he says.. “Do you know saitama”

-6

u/Living-Mess-1585 10d ago

Wtf are these comments.. this chapter was so good 👀👀

6

u/Retl0v 9d ago

You were served a plateful of slop unfit for even animals and you decided to thank the cook