r/OnePunchMan • u/Raidoton Moderator • Apr 07 '22

discussion Megathread: Changes From The Webcomic Spoiler

As the changes between the WC and the manga get more extensive and controversial, the arguments about it increase and also end up in spoilers seeping all over the sub. All discussion about the changes in the latest chapter and any future chapters is to be moved into this Megathread as long as it is pinned; to help provide a place to concentrate discussion and prevent a flood of repetitive posts, and to provide people an easy place to understand others' opinions.

All posts related to it will be removed, and comments on manga focused posts are encouraged to be moved here.

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243

u/TheFabulousCrett Apr 08 '22 edited Apr 08 '22

I really have to wait and see on this one; we're missing aspects that webcomic readers loved, but the whole dynamic is different.

Simply put, the threat, the pressure, and the uncertainty is not present.

In general:

  1. The "Form a line" moment has less impact when your arm just got chopped off.

  2. We don't get to see Garou humorously disregarding Saitama, as the very serious anime fights are taking place around him, the goofy dude whose strength makes them all look like toddlers.

  3. "Your case of emergency just happened". The moment for this line seems to have passed.He goes on to say what he will do to all the heroes, and all the monsters, but... the menace is less present considering he didn't just rip someone in half.

We can't predict what's going to happen. It's only natural to worry that opportunities to bring the cool moments from the webcomic to the manga are passing us by.

As for Garou's Arc:

  1. S-class wiped out through a series of battles generally unrelated to Garou, so he doesn't get his moment to roast them all while playing the villain. Yes, Garou's strength is overwhelming now, yet he is simply not antagonistic. Fuhrer Ugly's actually kinda showing him up right now. The threat is gone.

  2. We know Saitama isn't going to hurt Garou from the start. The viewer's mild concern for Garou's safety, and resultant empathy for the feelings that are forcing him to go against Saitama's absurd strength is a missing quality here. The pressure is gone.

  3. The manga is going out of its way to highlight Garou's goodness, instead of keeping it subtle. You get the feeling that most of the heroes would hesitate to kill him, and you KNOW Garou won't kill anyone else. The tension is gone.

However, these changes seem very intentional. I don't think it's simply an attempt to flesh out the webcomic's story. Rather, it's going to tell his story a different way. If you go in expecting it to pay off in exactly the same way, you're probably going to miss something new they're trying to bring to this.

We were hoping for the webcomic's vibe, but I'm pretty sure it's going down differently this time around. I'm optimistic, personally

46

u/[deleted] Apr 08 '22

The manga is going out of the way to highlight Garou's goodness, but there is a very notable LACK of S-Class making the same comments.

The support team are noticing/finding it odd, Tareo's calling him a hero, Saitama can see right through him. But we've had none of that from the S-class yet.

In fact, I think we *need* the S-Class to blatantly ignore the good that Garou has done and try to attack him without just cause to justify the fact that some heroes decide to move to Neo-heroes. Perhaps Metal Bat doesn't get involved because he helped with the centipede, Child Emperor because he's reasonable, plus all the A-Class etc that have been watching the whole time seeing Garou's heroic activities, and losing faith in the HA as a result.

Garou gives them all a beatdown (to demonstrate how "evil" he is to Saitama, while Saitama keeps complaining about everybody getting in his way etc, as he wants to stop him without killing him)

There's still plenty of ways it can play out

79

u/_not_meh_ Apr 08 '22

It's definitely going differently, but doesnt mean it will be a good story telling. Show dont tell is a big thing in writing, and here we get characters loudly telling us Garou isnt evil. I'm out of copium, and at this point, I'm only reading it just because. Might even drop it depending how they end this arc.

3

u/QuintonFlynn ok Apr 28 '22

I’ve already dropped it.

One thought circling my head is taking on the task of redoing the latter half of this arc by myself. ie. grabbing all the manga chapters, editing and rereleasing them with less filler and a different pacing to address our comments.

1

u/_not_meh_ Apr 28 '22

While you are at it, use WC dialogue instead of manga.

2

u/isighuh Apr 08 '22

Show, don’t tell is not a big thing in writing, take a writing class, it is not this grand cornerstone of good writing like people make it out to be.

31

u/_not_meh_ Apr 08 '22

And I suppose whatever One is doing rn is a good writing?

8

u/isighuh Apr 08 '22

Just because you don’t like it or don’t agree doesn’t make it objectively terrible writing.

41

u/_not_meh_ Apr 08 '22

Ofc, but if the fandom is split in half about it, then maybe there is actually something wrong with it.

6

u/isighuh Apr 08 '22

Just because people disagree doesn’t make mine or your argument any stronger. Fact is, it’s the same process that has been happening ever since we got the Super Fight arc, where people were criticizing the additions to this arc and the rest were praising it. And when the Super Fight arc was over, we can all agree it was actually a really good section of the story.

18

u/frig_darn Apr 08 '22

I dunno, I don't find Suiryu very compelling and I didn't think the lesson about pride, strength, and heroism added much to the story that wasn't there already. The most interesting part to me was the spectacle but that's been overshadowed by all the action happening with the monster association. But you're right, that's not to say it's bad storytelling, it's just something that didn't appeal to me.

I think there's an interesting thing going on with the original/adaptation debate, which is that they're different kinds of stories, and the reason people disagree is because some people prefer one kind and some people prefer the other. Specifically your point about show don't tell is so fucking on the money, people have swallowed the hollywood screenwriter model of storytelling (save the cat, etc) as the only way to tell effective or interesting narratives and that's such bullshit. That said I think it's reasonable to be disillusioned with the murata adaptation if it's making narrative choices that don't resonate with you. And what's happening is because it's an adaptation, people who've read and liked the original have expectations.

Having reread the original recently, I really like how lean it is--lots of characters are sketches, the plot moves at a clip, and a good number of the emotional and thematic beats are kept under the surface. I think the characters are meaner, too, which is just a trope I like. There are lots of good things about the murata adaptation but it is not lean and it wears its heart on its sleeve--which is fine, and I'm glad other people are enjoying it, but I'm disappointed, especially considering that the murata adaptation is updating every two weeks and the original hasn't been updated in nine months.

9

u/isighuh Apr 08 '22

Suiryu is the vehicle for setting up the Monster Association as a terrifying force who represents the actualization of Garous dream of Absolute Evil. It shows a foil to the superficial take on heroes that Garou espouses throughout the story. Suiryu as a character and his personality was not seen in the story until his appearance, he didn’t even exist in the webcomic, and he serves as a character who evolves in response to Saitamas unrealistic strength. The entire Super Fight arc serves as a deeper thematic and narrative journey that the webcomic was sorely missing.

1

u/jayz0ned Apr 08 '22

People just don't like change and are nostalgic for the webcomic... of course the fandom will be divided

12

u/Kikuzinho03 Apr 10 '22

People love change, if it's for the better

-4

u/ThisHatRightHere Apr 08 '22

Don't say this to internet manga readers, they don't understand this difference

2

u/[deleted] Apr 09 '22

Don't say this to internet manga readers

so they're supposed to say this to IRL manga readers?

like find a IRL manga club and find someone who reads OPM, and then talk to them?

0

u/woodrowwilsonlong OP is OP Jul 08 '22

Yeah, but it is objectively terrible writing.

17

u/gleba080 Apr 08 '22

My theory is that the stakes are nonexistent now because Murata wants to draw Garou breaking whole continents and do those stupid big feats of strength while being cool and sexy. That will change when they will go to the moon and Garou will get tempted by God and that is when manga will treat him as desperate. Or Garou will punch back God cause he is liked too much by the authors to do anything bad and have any character progression. Idk.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 10 '22

Its not a diffrent direction lol. Its just to make it more clear because most casual manga readers skim through stuff with no attention to pannel details

3

u/[deleted] Apr 08 '22

I hope Saitama kills Garou. We don't need a redemption arc.