It has been more than 3 years since the second season of One Punch Man was released. Season 3 has been officially announced, but what is the release date? Which studio will animate season 3? Is the cast returning for season 3? Here is everything we know about the upcoming OPM season.
One Punch Man manga series is currently at its peak, as the series trends on social media every other day, whenever a new manga chapter comes out. We will talk about the upcoming One Punch Man season, but before that, it is better to address that what is the main problem behind the next season delay.
What Went Wrong In One Punch Man Season 2?
The first season of One Punch Man came out in 2015, and it was an instant hit. The series was produced by Studio Madhouse, and fans loved the animation and humor of One Punch Man.
The second season of the series came out in 2019, and it did not perform well at all. It was produced by J.C Staff, and the animation lacked the quality that fans had seen in the first season.
Why did the studio changed in the second season of One Punch Man? The production committee (the investors) usually hires the anime studios for one or two anime seasons. Anime Studios have a tight working schedule, so after finishing the work on one anime, they move on to the next series.
For One Punch Man, studio Madhouse was hired by the production committee to produce 1 season. After the huge success of the first season, Madhouse would have been surely contacted again, but they had moved on to another project.
Studio J.C Staff was hired to animate season 2 of One Punch Man. Usually, an anime studio takes a minimum of 2 years to produce a 12-episode anime series. J.C Staff started working on season 2 in Oct 2017 and released the One Punch Man season 2 in April 2019.
One and a half years to produce a 12-episode anime wasn’t enough. Due to the studio rushing the anime adaptation, the animation quality was nowhere close to the first season of One Punch Man.
The 2nd season wasn’t that much profitable, and that is one of the reasons why fans are still waiting for One Punch Man season 3.
About Anime
One Punch Man tells the story of Saitama, who appears to be a regular human yet possesses superhuman physical strength and amazing humor. Saitama possesses unlimited power that allows him to defeat opponents with the strength of a single punch.
One Punch Man is based on the manga, created by author “ONE” who writes the original story as a webcomic, but the manga series, based on the webcomic is drawn by Yusuke Murata.
One of the major reasons why the One Punch Man manga series is so popular is because of the amazing drawing talent of Yusuke Murata.
Will We Get One Punch Man Season 3?
The official website of the One Punch Man anime adaptation has revealed that season 3 of OPM series is in production.
Three major factors determine whether an anime series will get a new season or not. Having enough source material, popularity, and profitability.
The source material (light novel, webcomic, or manga) is a pretty important factor. After all, if there is no source material left to adapt, there is no chance of a sequel anime series.
The popularity of the show is important for the production committee. The more popular a series, the more the chances that it will sell well, and the production committee will make a profit on their investment.
The profitability of a show is determined by analyzing the Blu-ray sales, and figurine sales. Now that we know what are the major factors let’s dive deeper.
One Punch Man Season 3 Source Material
Although One Punch Man is a webcomic series written by ONE, the source material for the anime series is the manga adaptation, drawn by Yusuke Murata.
Is There Enough Source Material For Season 3? As of right now, One Punch Man manga currently has more than 160 chapters published. And the manga series is nowhere near the ending. The manga chapters have been collected into 26 volumes.
One Punch Man season 2 adapted till Volume 16 (chapter 84 of the manga), so there are enough manga chapters for season 3 and season 4. If the pacing of the anime remains the same, the 3rd season of One Punch Man will adapt till chapter 130.
One Punch Man Popularity
Despite the fact that the 2nd season was not liked by fans, the popularity of the manga series has only kept going up. One of the main reasons behind that popularity is the amazing art style of Yusuke Murata.
In 2021, One Punch Man was the Top 50 best-selling manga in Japan. The manga series has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. The recent One Punch Man Volume 26 was released in June, and it has already sold 200,000 copies.
The popularity of anime series has not decreased. According to MyAnimeList’s most popular anime list, One Punch Man season 1 is the 4th most popular anime worldwide.
A live-action One Punch Man movie is being developed by Netflix, which proves that the series is popular in the US, and Netflix is willing to invest in this franchise.
Was One Punch Man Previous Season’s Profitable?
Blu-Ray sales are also a major factor that plays a part in the series renewal. Usually, if a series sells more than 5000 copies, it is considered that the series will get a sequel anime adaptation.
The first season of One Punch Man sold more than 11,000 copies, but the 2nd season only sold 1250 copies. As you can see, there is a huge difference between the first and 2nd season Blu-ray sales.
This is a big problem for investors or the production committee as they might hesitate to invest in the production of One Punch Man season 3, following the low sales of season 2 Blu-ray copies.
When it comes to figurines and merchandise, there are more than 1,100 official products that have been released over the years, which is quite a good number. This means that the license holders are making a lot of money and that’s why they keep releasing more figurines and merchandise regularly.
Despite season 2 having low Blu-ray sales, the official merch is selling well, which makes the previous seasons profitable.
One Punch Man Season 3 Confirmed?
Update August 18: One Punch Man season 3 has been officially announced by the anime adaptation website. The production committee was waiting for Garou Arc to be over, so that they could start working on OPM season 3.
One Punch Man season 3 rumors were also circulating on the internet, courtesy of @Jameshanson on Twitter, who said that One Punch Man season 3 had been confirmed on his end. However, he clarified that it doesn’t necessarily mean that season 3 is in production. It could be in the planning stage or finding staff, anything is a possibility.
Update August 13: Another anime leaker @spanku_u had sparked a rumor on One Punch Man season 3. Although, they have not mentioned whether One Punch Man season 3 is in production or not, as the tweet only has an animation of Saitama’s serious punch.
According to another source, the next most likely announcement date for season 3 is August 17, when the last chapter of the Monster Association arc will be released.
Update August 17: One Punch Man manga artist, Yusuke Murata has stated on his Twitter account that One Punch Man will have a big announcement on August 18 at 12 PM (JST).
This is the only rumor or leak we have from a trusted source. We will keep adding on more leaks/rumors in this section if it comes from a reliable person.
One Punch Man Season 3 Release Date
One Punch Man season 3 will be released in early or mid-2024. There has been no official announcement about the release date yet.
When can we expect an official release date announcement? One Punch Man creator’s other manga series, Mob Psycho announced season 3 in May 2022, and it is scheduled to release in Oct 2022, just 5 months after the announcement.
Before Mob Psycho Season 3 official announcement, there were no leaks or rumours about a sequel because the production committee decided to keep it a secret. This might be the case for One Punch Man as well.
Studio Madhouse might already be working on One Punch Man season 3, and we may get an official release date announcement of One Punch Man release date sometime this year.
How Many Episodes Will One Punch Man Season 3 Have?
One Punch Man season 3 is expected to have a total of 24 episodes. One Piece manga series has more than 170 chapters published. The previous 2 anime seasons of OPM were adapted till chapter 84 of the manga, so we can say that there is enough source material for a 24-episode anime season.
Again, there have been no official details released yet. The official Twitter account has stated that they will soon release more information on the production.
Is There A Trailer For One Punch Man Season 3?
At the time of writing, there is no trailer released for One Punch Man season 3. The only thing closer to an official trailer we got was an original animation of 2-minutes, animated by Yusuke Murata. You can watch a 2-minute clip here.
For now, you can check out the official trailer for One Punch Man season 2 on Viz Media official YouTube channel:
Is The Studio And Staff Available?
J.C Staff who produced the 2nd season, is currently working on two anime projects, “The Duke of Death and His Maid 2nd Season“, and “In Another World With My Smartphone 2“.
I am sure if the producers asked J.C Staff to animate season 3, they won’t say no. But given that the fans did not like the animation of J.C Staff, it is a good chance that One Punch Man season 3 will get a new studio.
Studio Madhouse, which animated the first season of One Punch Man, is currently working on “Kin no Kuni Mizu no Kuni”, and “Princess of the Bibliophile”. Madhouse is a big studio, it won’t be a surprise if they are already working on season 3 of Saitama’s adventures.
As much as the availability of an animation studio is important, the series director is probably the most important person. The production committee tries to hire the same director who made the previous seasons because the director takes all the important decisions about the animation.
The second season director, Chikara Sakurai has recently worked on two anime projects (Shenmue the Animation, and Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Doukoukai 2), and he is currently not working on any anime project, except maybe on One Punch Man season 3 but officially he isn’t directing any anime series.
Staff is available, but the production committee might be working out a deal with Studio Madhouse or finding a new studio. According to a leak, One Punch Man will get a new studio for season 3.
Season 3 Story
Season 2 concluded when Saitama defeated the dragon-level threat, Elder Centipede. One Punch Man season 3 will follow “Monster Association Arc”, where viewers will learn more about Gorou and the Monster Association Alliance.
There will be some crazy fights as the story builds into an all-out war between the Monster Association and Hero Association. Heroes like Atomic Samurai, Metal Knight, and Child Emperor will be seen in action.
The series will also introduce some new villains to the story, including Fuhrer Ugly, and Royal Ripper.
Final Thoughts On Season 3
TL;DR: One Punch Man season 3 is officially in production, but the information about the studio, cast, and release date is yet to be announced.
