One Punch Man - The Meaning Behind Saitama's Blank Expression: Face of a True Hero
Thoughts On: One Punch Man (2015)
Saitama, who destroys every enemy with one punch to his dismay, seeks direction as a hero.
One Punch Man, season 1 of the anime, is top tier. Its narrative is built from an idea that fulfilment is itself a form of emptiness. Saitama is then in many ways a satirical twist on the 'true hero' archetype that can never be defeated, granted immortality through their foundational goodness of character. Examples are: Superman, Wukong, Thor, Hercules, Goku, Hulk, etc. Existing beyond his limits (or limiter) Saitama experiences a life of dullness; to an extreme beyond that normally portrayed with overpowered characters, he lives in an unchallenging existence. There is no real chaos in One Punch Man. Saitama is essentially Goku if he lost his hair in training due to depression. His calling is to fight, but he grows so strong so exponentially that he does not get to enjoy the journey into limitless power like Goku. The genius of the drama in One Punch Man comes from its understanding of this. Instead of reacting to the limitlessness of his power as Goku does in discovering new forms, Saitama spends most of his time detached from reality as an observer. The most ludicrous portrayal of this comes in the early episodes where we have numerous distracted cut scenes, especially in sequences with much dialogue like Genos' back story. You could say there is a genuine realism embedded in the logic of the anime, and it is hinted at through the Ozu-like visual references to homely surroundings and basic life anytime Saitama is not fighting. Ozu's realism was one that portrayed characters as smart and aware of their story as they lived it. The drama was therefore mundane with characters in search of perfection in the form of peace. Where Ozu's characters sought peace, Saitama ventures for the thrill of a fight (making him ever more reminiscent of Goku). This grants us the epic visuals of the fight scenes, which are pristine and so intense in season one. However, Saitama remains smart and his world mundane; grounded by the fact that he is the true hero archetype and he is aware that he walks this story.
We come back to the idea that sits at the base of the anime. Saitama is a character who represents the idea that fulfilment, becoming the true hero, is a manifestation of emptiness. As glorious as the fight scenes are, the final fight with Boros over the last few episodes being a marvel of animation, they are each overshadowed by an inevitability that Saitama will finish all in one punch. However, with understanding of this, the meaning of each fight is redirected by the mundane drama, toward hope. Where the likes of Dragon Ball press meaning into the inevitable victory of its heroes with big speeches and powering up, One Punch Man allows more realistic and basic points of meaning to emerge from its characters counterpoint to the action. Saitama is then repeatedly seen teaching his enemies that their quest for power, especially with negative and evil intentions, is fated to come to a predictable end: if they seek power over everything, they will eventually be defeated. This is what happens to Boros. Saitama is just a hero for fun, and eventually professionally. As much as he longs for the thrill of a fight, he is empty of sensation and with a depression death wish. Saitama is seen to find balance eventually nonetheless. The scene in which he realises that Genos' fame is more of a burden than a fulfilment, therefore a reflection of his depressing attainment of power, emphasises that Saitama is more at peace than depressed as his story progresses. This moment is what motivates him to stop seeking popularity and accept being the cheating anti-hero; it is what allows him to instil meaning in fights like the one with the Sea King and go on to pursue a path toward meaningful success. It is most meaningful then that Saitama gets next to no recognition for defeating Boros, as is his general pattern of life as a hero, in the end. The fight is a realisation of the subtext underneath the early episode in which Saitama dreams of villains emerging from under the earth to take over the planet. These subterranean people, the shadow and opposite to the people of the cities - Saitama specifically for this is his dream - embody his yearning for an ultimate fight. With all his power and immortality Saitama dreams each night of his possible death. He evokes complete knowledge of yin ang yang - that fulfilment is emptiness, life is death, creation is destruction - and makes this clear to Boros who shares a similar dream of sensation with Saitama.
To put it more briefly, as Saitama would demand. Heaven is battle with the gods; to prepare for battle with the gods one has to face the mundanity of life to expand beyond their limits.
The biggest joke of One Punch man is that Saitama became the strongest being in existence by simply training; that anyone could do what he did. You'll find that most true heroes have the simplest paths to their power. This is their humanity and truth that exists in us, and secures them as projections we imitate in life. But we should not overlook that their paths are simple; they simply push beyond any limitation through a set method or way of life. Characters such as Saitama remind us that life is a constant dance and fight against our present opposite or limitation; we seek balance, but exist with sensation by submitting to the undulations of yin and yang with growing power (what I'd personally frame as te 特). The great fight is, after all, mundane itself. Saitama has a dream that pulls him beyond himself. He is established as just a depressed guy, just living. In following his path and persevering into his shadow and most unnatural state, which is in fact a hero he supresses within, he continues to seek death as he did mentally in his depressed state, but does so with a dream of feeling alive. This is the meaning behind Saitama's blank expressions; this is the face of a man with a dream. Life is a push against our shadow in many ways; in gaining power and knowledge from this, you will become expressionless with your realisation of its mundanity. One Punch Man tells us anyone could be Saitama; it extracts one of the most hopeful gems from the grand narratives of true heroes and grounds it with realism to say that the basic formula is simply to push ones limits. We are told to build a dream and chase it to make even the most spectacular of visions and experiences in reality pale in comparison; to live with Saitama's blank expression is to be succeeding in life as a true hero. The life of a true hero is one of an abundance of success, simple and plain. Success is emptiness; it is an automation and perfection of the exercises that comprise the continual cycles of life. This is why Saitama's immortality is granted by confronting a basic cycle of eating and sleeping in harsh conditions and continually exercising. This focus on confronting the mundane simple and predictable cycles and exercises in life sees him gain power and grow. In growth he finds success, but never escapes the mundanity that granted him the path to it. This makes him a hero, but is left with the task of maintaining meaning in his life. Detached from drama, Saitama evokes the dull answer to the question over the final episode: what does it mean to be the strongest hero? It means inevitable success until inevitable defeat, so bend and embrace the story with playful detachment to find balance and immortality. Such is how One Punch Man encourages us all to walk, satirical but not heartless in its projection of the true hero who has no limits.
