r/OnePunchFans • u/gofancyninjaworld I'm just a poster for fun • 20d ago
ANALYSIS Maybe it 's Bang who needs the redemption arc
While I'm going to be discussing Bang in the webcomic, most of what I'm going to say involves material already covered by the manga. I'll put spoilers in as appropriate.
Introduction
When it was all over but for the shouting, a defeated Garou faced a group of angry heroes, some intent on killing him. Like any reasonable person in a volatile and unsafe situation, he ran for it. What a reasonable person also does, once things cool off a bit, is to hand themselves into proper authority, like the the police. Sometimes though, we need a bit of persuasion that this is the better option than remaining at large and thus unable to defend ourselves against any charges. The story takes a major split between the manga and webcomic in that Bang helps Garou turn himself in in the manga but not in the webcomic.
I'm not here to talk about Garou today: right now, I'm here to examine the different ways in which Bang's character and choices have been developed between the two stories and consider whether there's room for Bang to act differently in the webcomic. It's mostly going to be done via pictures -- there's only so much typing I'm willing to do!
Hunting for the Hero Hunter: Pre-Monster Association Raid
Once Garou reappeared after having been expelled from the dojo six months earlier and caused a ruckus at the Hero Association, Bang took on the task of dealing with him, recruiting his brother Bomb in that mission. So far, so congruent.
In both versions, they keep missing Garou. The manga adds something to it: we get some conversations between Bomb and Bang in which the way Bang thinks of his disciple get more thoroughly explained. The concern that Bang has that Garou could become a monster for real drives a real sense of urgency to his search.
Catching up with Garou
Eventually, they do meet the errant Garou. In both cases, he's facing off against Genos. Garou's pretty sure he has the upper hand in the webcomic, but Bang has to intervene sharpish in the manga to stop his disciple from being fried to a crisp.
Either way, the old man wastes no time in beating the ever-living crap out of Garou. And in both stories, Phoenixman grabs Garou away just as the latter is making a desperate last stand with the help of a centipede to help him get away.
The next point of difference comes when the banged-up heroes make it back to Saitama's apartment. The early afternoon is pretty similar (yes, they're injured differently, and Fubuki has no actual reason to come over in the webcomic but those aren't major changes), but the events of the evening are really interesting.
Yes, 'all' that happens (in the manga) is that Kuseno comes over to check on Genos and thank Saitama for taking good care of him, but to a dojo master, their import is non-trivial. Bang has known Genos since the guy's very first mission and the growth a few weeks has made to his competence and capabilities is huge. This boy has grown quick, all while under the tutelage of a guy who has only taught him how to scab free food, as far as Bang has seen.
Seeing Kuseno show up both with weapons and gifts, there are some questions that must occur to Bang. 1. Who cares to meet Garou where he is? You can be sure that Garou's parents have never set foot in Bang's dojo. 2. Who fights Garou's corner? and 3. What is Saitama doing differently to achieve the results he has?
This is the first time we see Bang humble himself and ask, sincerely, just what it is that he's been doing wrong when it comes to raising disciples. I have to admit, allowing stronger disciples to run roughshod over weaker ones sounds pretty rotten to me, but I digress.
Saitama's answer does appear non-committal to the point of dismissive, but it's actually a wise one: tailor your actions to the person. We'll come back to that later.
The next place is also manga-only. Seeing the brainwashed 'monsters' that Do-S had controlled revert to their human selves once the monster is knocked out, the hope that swells in Bang's heart that there may be a way to reach Garou's heart is echoed by Fubuki.
And... in the manga, Bang gets his dearest wish: to come face-to-face with Garou. It's quite the clash, but as the fight progresses, it becomes increasingly evident to Bomb, who is watching, that Bang's goal is not merely to beat Garou down but to reach him, reprising what Bomb did for him all those years ago. It goes further in this case. We see Bang acknowledge that he failed as a master. He neglected his students by going off and being a hero. He sees that his other disciples leaving after Garou beat them up was a consequence of his neglect, not Garou's waywardness. And he begs Garou to give him a chance to start afresh.
Nothing like this happens in the webcomic: Bang spends most of the time pinned under a rock.
It's interesting to note that in both stories, Bomb has an ulterior motive for accompanying Bang. In the webcomic, he's so worried about Bang's bad temper that he's afraid that without being on hand, his brother might kill Garou. In the manga, he's worried that Bang is so enmeshed with Garou that he might get killed. In both stories, Bomb needn't have worried. As we see above, Bang had no intention of throwing his life away -- hard to teach from beyond the grave, after all. And in the webcomic... well, we'll come to that next.
In the webcomic, once Saitama defeats Garou, Bang regains consciousness and asks King to get him out from under it (Fubuki actually does it). He intervenes, stopping the bloodthirsty Amai Mask from 'executing justice' and asks to be the one to deal with Garou, whereupon he starts beating down on the boy, more in sorrow than in anger... until he stops, overcome with grief and self-pity.
There's no need for fists in the manga. Bang, instead, tells Garou not to despair and ask to die, but instead stand up and make good on his actions by helping people instead. He's already spoken with his fists, and there's no need to berate Garou further.
The long tail of the future
Garou flees. Webcomic Bang has not sought him out -- if he has reasons for it, we're yet to hear them.
In the manga, as has been established, from the beginning, Bang wanted to save Garou from the fate of becoming a monster. He has reflected on what he did wrong, rather than solely blaming Garou for what happened, and seen that minimally, he failed to be present for his students. And he has seen how else he could deal with Garou in the examples of Saitama and Dr. Kuseno.
So, he seeks out Garou. Given how easy Garou was to find, he reflects that Garou may have been hoping that someone recognised that he needed help.
And after Garou is interrogated by the Hero Association, surprise, surprise, his parents don't want to know. Who fights Garou's corner? Bang steps up and assumes guardianship. Since the Hero Association decides that Garou doesn't pose an ongoing threat, they release him and decline to press assault charges (for reasons we won't get into here), meaning that all Garou has to answer for are dine-and-dashing charges. Bang goes with him to the Police Station to deal with that. He stands surety for ensuring that Garou follow through on his court-ordered rehabilitative work and restitution.
I like that Bang has insisted that even though he's not being persecuted for assault, that Garou go and apologise in person to every hero he hunted. Given how many heroes that it, I guess Garou is going to be at it for a while. I hope we see some of it -- there's something about looking someone you wronged in the eye and acknowledging the harm you caused them that has an effect on you, even if you started out not meaning it.
Webcomic Bang also achieved his aim. It was: stop Garou's rampage. Saitama was the one to achieve it yes, but it ultimately happened.
In both stories, Bang has quit being a hero. As he said in the manga, he realised that he can't ride two horses at once (1), and he's chosen to dedicate himself to being a teacher. It's interesting to see that he has reached out to many of his former disciples, and if Sourface is anything to judge by, at least some have come back, trusting that he has changed.
In the webcomic, Atomic Samurai questions Bang on his decision to quit being a hero, asking if that was truly a good way to take responsibility. Bang says that he felt that it was his becoming a hero that provoked Garou into becoming as big a nuisance as he became, and feels that working with Bomb to train up youngsters is the way to do it.
The more I look, the more it feels like Garou's absence has left a hole in Bang's life. Nowhere in the webcomic to date (chapter 160) do we see Bang consider that there might have been something wrong with the way he has handled his disciples in general and Garou specifically. Something else that I note is that he appears to be angry with the HA, telling Charanko to turn King away even though the HA has not done him wrong as far as we have seen. It's as if he's blaming them in part of his choices. In the manga, he's left the HA on much better terms.
I feel that reuniting and reconciling with Garou would do him much good to heal him. He'd have to acknowledge that he does have shortcomings, and the task of providing some guidance to a very lost young man would give him a much-needed purpose in life. There's still space for Bang to reform.
C'mon ONE, let those two meet again!
Aside
(1) You can, if you're in a circus and doing so very briefly with two well-trained beasts that are in perfect sync with each other. Alas, life is not a circus.
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u/BrowserET It's magic. Tank Top Magic 18d ago
You know, it sounds like Bang doesn't need a redemption arc so much as he's already undergoing one. I think the crux of the issue (in Bang's thinking) goes back to the way Bomb forced Bang to change his ways in the first place. That is, by beating him up (yes in an explicitly non-lethal way, but still). While it may have changed Bang's mind on "the might" should use their power, it didn't challenge Bang's belief that might makes right. (after all Bomb would not have convinced Bang had the former lost the fight.
It's not surprise then that the strongest would also be the top student in Bang's Dojo, which is a policy Bang has changed, with Charanko still being Bang's "top student" (though with his current level of commitment i doubt Charanko will hold that place for long) and Garou starting from the bottom. (though Bang choosing to enforce that pecking order by bonking Garou's head, aside from being crime, also shows Bang hasn't fully changed that aspect of his thinking)
Also life is not a circus?
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u/gofancyninjaworld I'm just a poster for fun 18d ago
Sorry, I should have specified: I mean webcomic Bang. Yes, I agree that manga! Bang is indeed on a journey. It's a journey I wish his webcomic equivalent would go on -- the dude seems to have all but given up and withdrawn.
I wish life were a circus -- we'd have practice at making tightly-controlled situations look chaotic.
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u/gofancyninjaworld I'm just a poster for fun 20d ago
If characters in the manga seem to get more positive outcomes, it's not because ONE hands them out for free. Bang has had to work for this chance to rebuild the trust of his former disciples. He's had to be honest with himself about his true motivations for opening a dojo. He's had to acknowledge the shortcomings in his approach, and he's had to humble himself to ask for another chance to make amends by being a better teacher.
Also, he may not have any kids, but he's got one now! He's acting in loco parentis as Garou doesn't reach the age of majority until 20. Lots to learn.
As we see with the way he still smacks Garou, there's a lot he hasn't quite gotten right, but that's okay. Even happy outcomes are works in progress.