Interviews

This page will show the translations of interviews from ONE and Murata.

Weekly Shonen Jump Interview
Weekly Shonen Jump (WSJ): Since One-Punch Man was already a successful Webcomic, how did the collaboration with Murata Sensei come about? And was it strange seeing your work drawn by someone else?

ONE: Murata Sensei just happened to find my website and became interested in One-Punch Man. I had always been a fan of his, so I jumped at the opportunity to work with him. I get really excited seeing my work transformed into something with so much passion and amazing art.

WSJ: What inspired you to draw a bald average looking superhero like Saitama?

ONE: The world is full of cool looking heroes, so I didn't think that was something I wanted to write about. Plus, I believe that heroes coolness comes from their spirit and not their looks. I don't think how a hero looks is that important.

WSJ: Which would you rather be doing: saving a cleft chinned brat from a rampaging crab monster or getting great bargains?

ONE: If it's possible to save the kid, I'd rather do that.

WSJ:In the U.S., webcomics are already quite popular. How are webcomics received in Japan?

ONE: It used to be a small thing that was enjoyed by amateur creators and fans and was seen as just a hobby. But now even casual fans are starting to read webcomics. I think it's thanks to Murata Sensei.

WSJ: What are the advantages and disadvantages of drawing webcomics as opposed to traditional print manga?

One: I think a major advantage is that you can quickly upload fixes if needed. Being able to do this as often as necessary even after something has made it to the public isn't possible with a print version. I can't think of any disadvantages. Lately, I'm not even feeling that there are fewer readers than Print.

WSJ: How do you think the success of One-Punch Man will set a precedent for other Webcomics?

ONE: There are more and more examples of popular webcomics, so I think that trend will continue.

WSJ: In addition to One-Punch Man you also have to other web comics, Makai no Ossan (Old Man of the Demon World) at Tonari No Young Jump and Mob Psycho 100 at UraSunday. Can you briefly talk about these works and also let us know if you have any other projects going on?

ONE: One-Punch Man is something I originally started just to entertain myself. So, I just do whatever the heck I want with the characters. With Makai no Ossan, I create it while thinking about how the daily readers are reacting to the story. I put in tons of characters so that fans would have more to look forward to. In contrast to One-Punch Man, the main guy in Mob Psycho 100 is emotionally weak and delicate. So the side characters act as a support for him. The series are kind of opposite, but they are both extremes, making them easier to create. Regarding my schedule, I've been given some amount of flexibility, so it isn't that difficult.

WSJ: What advice would you give webcomic artists?

ONE: I'm in no position to advise other people, I would recommend creating a website that is easy to navigate.

WSJ: Any last messages for your international fans?

ONE: I'm so happy that an international audience is reading ONe Punch Man! I get really excited when I receive comments from fans in foreign languages. The series is just going to get more exciting, so please, stick with it until the end. Thank you so much!

Niconico Interview
ONE: Sonic with weapon would've defeated Sea King pre-rain form.

ONE: Sonic's last appearance was just a joke on the popularity poll (means he'll show up again)

ONE: Genos's and Sonic's fight would end in a tie.

ONE: While the most popular one in their world is Sweet Mask, King is rather high up as well.

ONE: Pri Pri Prisoner could've defeated the Giant Bird that crashed into King's home.

ONE: The origin of Boros's name is from a game ONE played.

ONE: Genos is rather powerful even among the s-class heroes.

ONE: The situation against the monster association would've changed, if Metal Bat was around.

ONE: Metal bat wasn't joking when he said "He could take care of a dragon level threat".

ONE: King's height is 187cm

ONE: Tatsumaki in her best shape could've defeated Golden Sperm

ONE: Golden Sperm is equally strong as ossan (main protagonist from makai no ossan)

ONE: Tatsumaki > Normal Mob, if he gets serious, there's no answer.

ONE: Zombieman needs 15min to recover a cut off arm.

ONE: He'll die if you reduce him to mince meat

ONE: There's the rumor that he's the weakest amongst s-class heroes, but it hasn't been confirmed

ONE: It would be difficult for him to defeat sea king

Anime Behind The Scenes Interview
WSJ: What is appealing in One-Punch Man?

Shingo: It's a hero manga about Saitama who has extraordinary strength... and can bring down a villain in one punch. It's a wild premise for a story. But aside from the setting, which is interesting in itself, the characters that appear are fun like the S-Class heroes, Genos, and Speed-o'-Sound Sonic. The world view widens as the different characters appear and makes each episode more interesting. Our goal with the television anime is to stay true to the original manga and make it even more interesting. I hope that's the appeal of One-Punch Man.

WSJ: Special attention to the action

Shingo: This time, we've gone digital it not drawn on paper, but on computer we're coordinating the drawing with the camera work. We'll be able to reproduce the actions with more accuracy and speed. This is the one thing we're targeting for this series.

WSJ: What to watch for in Episode 1

Shingo: I think it would be Saitama. We go in depth with his character in the anime. What drives him to use his power. What kind of hero he aspires to be. we've created his character with great detail so I'd like the audience to watch.

WSJ: About the opening

Shingo: JAM project's theme is full rock. So we want to match the visuals to rock just as much and we've put a lot of energy into it. And we also incorporated BLS shading where shadow areas are filled in with black ink. That kind of gives an American comic look. So hopefully, it's received as a cool, superhero opening.

WSJ: About the staff

Shingo: Tomohiro Suzuki is doing the script and the series composition. The author of the original manga, ONE, as well as Murata-Sensei sat in our production meetings. They shared their views from a manga standpoint and we shared ours and reworked the series composition as well as what volumes featured. They gave us a lot of input and their participation was very helpful. Chikashi Kubota is doing the character designs. He's done a great job of reproducing Murata-sensei's drawings down to his little idiosyncracies. He has stayed true to the characters in the manga and painstakingly transformed them for anime. He's a top class animator and designer. So we've got someone very sensitive to art working on the character designs for the series. I feel very blessed that we have such a great staff. We were able to get top people in every department. As a director, you can't ask for anything more. It makes my job easy to rely on them. I mean, people like Satoshi Hashimoto, our color designer. His color choices and distribution are so pleasing to the eyes. We have a lot of evening scenes in the series he paid so much attention to the color subtleties. That made it visually comfortable. It's attention to detail... the smallest detail. It's great to have staff that care about these things. And the last step is photography. Putting everything together with the composites. We have Akane Fushuhira on top of that and she has such a great feeling for this work. She's very young but very talented. Anime can become very routine. Mostly, it's diffusion, and there are those who think that alone will suffice. Not with her. She'll look at the raws and bring out the best of them. She finds the challenge in that process. So from that standpoint, I think we have an interesting great series. And for the music, we have Makoto Miyazaki. We were luck to get him. There are many places where the music enhances the scene.

WSJ: Director's message

Shingo: The television anime, One Punch Man will be premiering in Japan and it will be simulcast around the world. I'm hoping we can all view it together. The staff and I are doing our best to create a great anime. I believe it doesn't betray the original manga. So please watch and enjoy the series.