#Is Bofoi even alive?

[gofancyninjaworld]

OPM Webcomic Chapter 145 Review

Another Sunday, another review. At this rate, I may just about catch up on my OPM reviews by September! Anyway, it's been a while, so the summary is going to be a bit detailed.

Summary

Cast your mind back a little bit (if you're a lucky lately-come reader reading the story in one session) or a lot bit (if you've been following it chapter-by-chapter). Back then, the three Machine Gods sent to assassinate Dr Kuseno told Genos that the Plan would be happening at the breaking of dawn. Why do I bring your attention to this? Because as this chapter shows, not long has passed since.

We open to a page on which the headquarters of the Hero Association and the Neo Heroes are juxtaposed. While the Hero Association has no idea of what is happening in all the cities under attack owing to the communications going down -- and something else has come to their attentions that looks even more dire -- over at Neo Hero HQ, all is in hand. The first attack has been 'allowed', the Neo Hero teams have been deployed, and it's just a matter of time before the source of the robots is found.

McCoy is shaking with horror. He's all for stunts, but faced with such widespread catastrophe, can't the pro-heroes be given battle suits so they too can fight effectively, instead of being targets?

The answer he receives is even more chilling, as the team overseeing efforts shuts him down in no uncertain terms, asking him to focus and not feel nostalgia for the HA. They also refuse to deploy the S-Class heroes in the Neo Heroes, with Metal Bat still in custody, Super Alloy Darkshine clueless, and Child Emperor deemed too hard to control.

Speaking of Child Emperor, shall we check in on our boy hero? We find him giving a resume of what's happened to date. He's reprising his role in the MA arc, only with a key difference: his chilling notes on what is happening are addressed to himself as an aide to his understanding. He no longer looks to Bofoi, nor indeed to any adult, for help. From him, we understand that the attack started at 05:41 and that the robots would systematically eliminate any sources of local resistance before moving to destroy the cities they were deployed to. He continues his narration as he finally manages to gain access to the data table of one of the captured robots and care it to the database of industrial robots he'd built earlier.

Then he goes white as he bites through his lollipop in horror. Almost at the same time, one of the Neo Hero functionaries comes to summon him, which seems to engender further horror. However, when he swivels around to face the visitor, he is the picture of calm. He shoulders his backpack, sans body armour and declares himself ready to act.

Elsewhere, Suiryu's team is making short work of the robots. Suiryu pays scant attention to them as he thinks of his sister with concern. It looks like he may be paying the Hero Association another visit. This time to tell the heroes there not to come.

Speaking of the Hero Association, we see that Suiko is indeed living up to her brother's prediction and oversleeping. She barely stirs when her 7 am alarm goes off and is only roused by the All Hands emergency summons. She gets ready and dashes to where the rest of the heroes are gathered. She asks where to deploy, only to learn that things are well beyond deploying. With only about 40 heroes on site, none of them Class S, they're all that's left to hold out against the r4 million-- and counting -- robots battering at the gates. Metal Knight's defence robots do their best, but it's not long before they're brought down. The mood is bleak indeed.

In the midst of the gloom, Forte walks off. To feed the dog. He pours the usual ration of food for Rover and Black Sperm and bids them eat slowly. He hopes that Saitama will somehow link up with Blue and come through.

As he eats, Black Sperm reflects on what's going on. He can afford to be analytical: as little monsters, he and Rover are very likely to survive. This is a deliberate push to eliminate the poorly-performing heroes and leave only a predictable group. A group Black Sperm doesn't fear. With Saitama away, the Hero Association is finally out of luck, brought down by an enemy who has prepared very carefully. Works for him.

Speaking of devastation, Blue is coming to a realisation similar to that of Webigaza's last chapter: that 'winning' is hollow indeed in the face of the destruction wrought by the robots. Despite having expended a lot of energy, he calls HQ, asking them to hurry up and locate the source of the robots. He can't save people, restore lives, or repair livelihoods. But he can at least fight.

And finally, speaking of sources of evil, we close the chapter with Genos having arrived at the first of the installations that Bofoi has. As he walks forward, alarms go off an an armed defence boots up. The chapter ends with Genos walking into the howling dark.

Meta: True Enemies

Nothing is as scary as a human being

I'm going to ask you to look at the expressions on McCoy's and Child Emperor's faces. McCoy is looking at the executives of the Neo Heroes as if he's truly seeing them for the first time, while Child Emperor is frozen as if the person who has appeared behind him is an enemy. They've just put it together -- the true enemy is paying their wages.

Not all cyborgs advertise their non-human side. I may not be a betting person, but the entirety of Neo Hero brass is almost certainly cyborgs. There's a reason Erimin and Destro had to take out Koko stat before he rumbled them. Nothing can be allowed to get in the way of The Plan.

That said, it's not the mechanical side of cyborgs that came up with The Plan. It's the greedy, cruel, and entirely human side that came up with an ambition to control the world and worked out how to make it happen. Their being cyborgs is an identity that separates them from the rest of humanity, affording them a vantage point from which they look down on people, and also, as we've learned, you cannot become a cyborg without an extraordinary amount of willpower and self-discipline. This is a plan not only dreamed up by cruel, greedy people (who are common) but by people possessed of extraordinary self-discipline and determination... and money. It's not cheap to be a cyborg. What a terrible combination that is!

Remember way back when Genos was talking about a rampaging cyborg and how hard it had proved to find in the four years since? It starts to make perfect sense now.

Measure Twice, Destroy Once

In earlier chapters, I had thought that the goal of today's attack was to discredit the Hero Association once and for all and establish the Neo Heroes as the true heroes. I thought way too small. Never mind discredit the Hero Association: The Organization is out to erase them completely. Just as they sent 10 powerful robots, at least three of them highly intelligent dragon-level threats, to ensure that one little scientist got killed without fail, they're sending millions of robots to ensure that the HA is made a bad memory.  It's clear that Bofoi isn't responsible for this: with the HA slated for elimination, the best thing for him to do as a collaborator would have been to stand down his robots and open the gates wide. It's not like there are going to be any witnesses to care about whether or not Bofoi betrayed them.

At some point, the attack will end, and at that point, only the Neo Heroes will be left to provide security. Society will be broken, and survivors will have to be grateful for whatever protection they can get.

Bofoi is probably the only source of widespread opposition they could face (where is his robot army?) but it looks like they've got a plan for that too. Unless Metal Knight is a very good talker and Genos is in a listening mood, a gross miscarriage of justice looks set to occur.

There is, of course, a wild card The Organization has kept missing, Saitama. But where is he? What is he doing? And will it be enough to make a difference to people? Who can tell? ONE, where is the next instalment?!

[handlewcaare]

Trust me

All this talk about which S-Class hero I’d choose to be my bodyguard and whatnot has got me thinking about how well I’d get along with those hooligans. So, I made a handy dandy chart.

Here’s the blank version incase y’all wanna make your own!

[onepunchmiss]

Lemme ramble about the last two chapters for a sec

SO NYAN ISN'T DEAD?? I THOUGHT HE WAS BUT THEN HE ISNT?? Not gonna lie I was a bit bummed Nyan died, and was kinda hoping he would go back to being a regular cat again, similar to Rover? Seeing how much he hated his former owner I thought it would be a funny punishment. But hes NOT dead, just at the mercy of Drive Knight, which is honestly even worse than being dead??? I almost feel sorry for him, but at the same time he got a whole lot less likable after slaughtering everyone so.... mixed feelings??

I'm glad it was confirmed that the other heroes are alive. I mean, I didn't see opm taking such a randomly brutal turn and killing all or any of them, but still it's a relief? And while we're at it, Food Battler Futoshi must be protected at all costs. I already loved all of the lower ranking heroes after seeing them do their things initially, but I LOVE how they all took a level in badassery when shit hit the fan, even the seemingly joke ones. Every one of them is precious I love 😭

ALSO I adore Drive Knight more and more with each appearance?? Im also more inclined to believe he is a robot rather than a cyborg at this point. A very pretty robot. Anyway I'm so glad he is safe and well oh my goodness here I thought were weren't going to see him again until some unknown time if ever?? That said, im still weary as to where his loyalty resides. Half way through the second to last chapter I couldn't decide if Drive Knight being G5 was a red herring or not. Then of course one and Murata read my mind, so G5 actually showed up and yet Im STILL NOT CONVINCED Drive Knight isnt hiding something. Also interesting that Sekingar seems to believe everything Drive Knight is telling him, despite the HA arguably knowing even less about Drive Knight than Bofoi. I have so many questions but Ill talk more about this in a separate post. Regardless, I'm still absolutely thrilled we finally got an answer as to why Drive Knight told Genos not to trust Bofoi wayyyy back in the alien invasion arc.

Speaking of Genos. HE BACC AND HE ATTACC and I love him so much 😭😭😭😭😭 and then he PROTECC oh my god I'm dead. He even hekkin offered to carry Drive Knight, IM DYING I need robobromance?? Bls? And then the attitude he gave Sitch was very unnecessary but still so Genos, I just love him. Actually, Genos flat out telling HA he had no intention of following whatever their orders were got me thinking AGAIN about all the little things along the way pointing to the inevitable fall of the HA. Which, jeez I need to make a post on that, too.

Honestly these past two chapters were a giant surprise plot dump. Of everything that just happened, none of it was in the webcomic. Actually drive night is still MIA in the webcomic so??? JEEZ I'm so curious as to accurate all of Drive Knight's claims will prove to be but oh my HEK IS IT THE NEXT UPDATE YET

[the-nysh]

Opm loose ends and unknown plot threads

Notes I’ve collected from multiple rereads of the webcomic, on plenty of things that have yet to be addressed or concluded in the story. -MANY SPOILERS AHEAD-

The Organization’s true identity and motives. Responsible for the battle suits worn by Hammerhead (retrieved by two of their robot agents) and the robot sent to fight King (which Genos defeated and used to acquire new parts). Both instances were for collecting battle data. Supposedly they’re an independent group, but mysteriously have no other leads.

Whereabouts of the Mad Cyborg. Who it is, who made it, and whether or not it’s even still alive. Concluding Genos’ revenge arc and paving the way for how he decides to live afterwards. As of ch108, Genos’ hatred and determination to defeat it have not wavered, but by now, simply facing it and enacting revenge are not his only priorities anymore.

Saitama’s visit to Dr. Kuseno’s lab. Kuseno is VERY interested in meeting Saitama after everything he’s heard from Genos about him. Allowing Genos to bring Saitama with him ‘next time.’ Still has yet to happen!

The truth of Lady Shibabawa’s ‘the earth is in trouble’ prophecy, coupled with Psykos’ Third Eye glimpse into the future, the events of which drove her to madness and fueled her hatred of humans (inciting the formation of the M.A.). She has yet to reveal to Fubuki exactly what she witnessed. Unknown if the two prophecies are related, but some calamity is going to happen (it wasn’t Boros or Garou), and the recent increase in monster occurrences only fuel that ominous premonition.

The being called ‘God’: giver and (forceful) taker of Homeless Emperor’s light energy powers. The exchange which cost him his life via absolute primal fear to spontaneous combustion in one of the webcomic’s creepiest wtf moments. (Seriously, wtf happened – he appeared on another plane of existence and burned Homeless Emperor’s mind alive!) Unknown if this being is legit or not, but he appears at whim and seems to bear hostility towards humans. Only Zombieman knows of his existence now, wary that such a being may be the one pulling the strings. The term ‘God’ HAS been mentioned in the story before, particularly by Dr. Genus as the being who bestows upon everyone their given Limiter.

Garou’s whereabouts and next steps in life after his thorough defeat (physically and verbally) by Saitama. He regained his will to live and escaped execution after the child he saved vouched for his heroism. Whatever path he decides to pursue now will be interesting to see.  

When Blast will return. Revealed 18 years ago as Tatsumaki’s inspiration to become a hero. His costume and mannerisms bear considerable likeness to Saitama’s. He works another job and similarly only does heroism as a hobby, staying aloof and preferring to do things his way. H.A. representatives believe he will return only when the world is in grave danger. (hmm? Perhaps when the prophesized calamity finally happens?)

Both Sweet Mask and Bofoi (Metal Knight) have their eyes on Saitama. In Sweet Mask’s case, he’s become obsessed with the ‘beauty of overwhelming power�� witnessed during the Garou battle. (Sweet Mask’s monstrous powers are creepy enough, seriously what IS he!?) While Bofoi’s stable H.A. position has been further compromised by Saitama’s inadvertent interference (destroying his defense bots). He’s interested in challenging Saitama for his own gain (and keeping tabs on him), but he may have an added grudge against him now too! Genos will NOT like either of these creepy dudes targeting Saitama, that’s for sure.

Speaking of which, follow up on how Metal Knight is Genos’ enemy. (wtf and we haven’t even heard from Drive Knight since Boros! Except thanks to Murata adding him into the latest manga chs) Bofoi may have ties to the Mad Cyborg, perhaps even past history with Kuseno. Him targeting Saitama will likely give Genos added reason to hate him as well.  

How Lightspeed Flash and Sonic are related. Both of them have similar stances and techniques; they could be brothers or rivals from the same school. Both acknowledge Saitama’s strength in different ways too. In Flash’s case, he wishes to polish Saitama’s potential by training him.

Black Sperm and Rover, currently depowered and following Saitama for cover. Rover seems to have become an obedient demon pet, but Black Sperm is scheming to gain his powers back. Unknown if he has plans to turn hostile again or if he’ll stay in Saitama’s party as the ‘Dimple’ of opm.

Fate of the H.A and Neo Heroes. It’s uncertain how much longer the H.A will survive following the Garou aftermath. Their continued losses, scandals, and dwindling public support have left them scrambling to save face and recruit replacement personnel who have either resigned (like Bang) or transferred to the new upcoming hero group: the Neo Heroes, led by Accel. However, their promises to reform the H.A.’s base policies and better serve the people are dubious at best. Whether the H.A. runs bankrupt or salvages their current situation to compete against the Neo Heroes remains to be seen.

What’s inside Dr. Genus’ basement, supposedly concerning his research/evidence on Limiters. Zombieman requested the Dr. to try and remove his, but the process cannot be that simple. It’s unknown whether ANYONE other than Saitama has, or will be able to successfully break theirs (Garou failed). So far Saitama remains the sole exception, surpassing his body’s average physical limitations through the strength of his own willpower.  

How Genos will obtain the level of strength he seeks, unbound by the limitations imposed on him by his mechanical body. Coupled with a goal he can fully commit himself to in the long run, even beyond that of the Mad Cyborg. So far, his firm determination to stay by Saitama’s side remains unbreakable.  

How all these things will affect and/or involve Saitama. In the short term, whether his current H.A. residence will only be a temporary accommodation (if the H.A. falls), and in the long run, whether he will ever find the challenge he seeks OR realize there are other things in life that can bring him fulfillment. Acknowledging who his real friend(s) are will be a start…    

[gofancyninjaworld]

"It struggles but it still obeys" -- OPM webcomic chapter 150 review

Summary

The trap we've been waiting to see sprung has finally started to close. Everywhere we look, the triumphant Neo Heroes are stopping, stuttering, and freezing, their pupils fixed and dialated like a corpse's. Then, they move, reanimated to a new existence, one they have no control over. Only lucky individuals who've modified their suits in some way -- or had them broken -- have escaped. And as Accel, Puri Puri, and Amai Mask will testify, the new Neo Heroes attack former allies savagely on sight.

Elsewhere, we see Genos encounter 'Boros's' brain-dead corpse. It has been kept functional on life support in the second of Metal Knight's labs. Noting that the creature is an incredibly powerful one that can't be allowed to rampage. Genos nevertheless feels for it: it's being kept alive to fight. Like him. While Google Translate isn't the best, the translation it comes up with, of Genos saying that at least one of them should have an easy escape when he moves to kill 'Boros', really hits hard.

We see how clearly Genos sees the situation he's in. The rampaging cyborg screwed him out of his past and any social context. Dr Kuseno screwed him out of a future. And now Saitama, the lackadaisical, uncaring Saitama, has been screwing him out of any chance to salvage anything of value out of his situation. Damn straight he's angry.* And in a hurry. There better be a kindly deity willing to pour cooling water on Dr Bofoi's soul, for unless there's a miracle of understanding to stay Genos's hand, that soul is about to be parted from its body with flames so hot it'll arrive in the afterlife still on fire.

Speaking of the lackadaisical Saitama, he's been doing a good job of eliminating the robots wherever he's encountered them. Blue follows the trail of the storm of robot parts he's been flinging hither and thither and accidentally gets steam-rollered by Saitama. That's where the chapter ends.

When we'll continue, your guess is as good as mine.

Meta

Insects. That's all that people are worth to The Organization. It's been nearly three years since I first pointed out the difference between the cyborgs we'd been seeing to date to what the Neo Heroes were doing. I brought up this harrowing reality of using insects as cyborgs and forcing them to move according to an operator's instructions:

"It struggles but it still obeys," is what the lead scientist says. In the story, we see human beings living this reality. Raiden must have incredible willpower: despite everything, he's able to stutter a few words to Puri Puri, begging the latter to save him from his torment even as he rains blows down on the hero.

Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePunchMan/comments/1agdu1y/translation_of_raidens_muttering_webcomic_spoiler/

For luckless souls who fall into the tender mercies of Erimin and Destro and their 'recovery' capsules, there's an even crueler fate waiting. I'll save that for another day. We'll find our way back to what's happening at Neo Hero HQ in time.

Yes, we the readers have been sitting on high being fed the answers to the evil behind the Neo Hero facade. We may not know who is ultimately responsible, and we may not yet know why, but we know a lot and a lot looks 'obvious' to us. However, the characters in the story can only discover the reality based on the evidence they actually have access to and what they already know/think. ONE is very strict on rules of evidence. If it's taken various individuals until now to start to know, it's not because they're stupid. Never think that, oh person given the answers from the back of the book.

The question is what are the individuals who have begun to understand what's happening going to do? They're all scattered in a deeply hostile and dangerous world -- and there isn't much time to do something before civilization is too broken and cowed to function.

That is, of course, the most urgent problem. Speaking of saving civilization, is the Hero Association going to be saved? But there are other urgent problems. Like, one cannot help but worry that Dr. Bofoi is the wrong target to eliminate. He surely deserves some karma but it may well be a gross miscarriage of justice. What's going to happen there? What's going to happen with 'Boros' (I'm not going to take away the quotations until the critter has a mind of his own again)? And really, who truly is behind all this and what do they want?

Tune in sometime in the future to find out.

Aside

*Yes, I have a lot more to say about this, but I need first to set the context to what I'm going to say. So look for additional meta. Nag me if I'm tardy!

[gofancyninjaworld]

Six degrees of Stench

I joke/not joke that One-Punch Man canonicity consists of canon and not canon (yet) link. Wild shit just happens because it can and somehow it works.

So, for shits and giggles, a handful of headcanons that I’m fairly sure *won’t* be becoming canon.

First degree: cute

When Genos wants to wheedle a new toy (like a kit car) out of Kuseno, he makes the old man his favourite treat: home-made doughnuts, a chocolate dipping sauce, and freshly-ground coffee made over the stove. Kuseno claims every time that it won’t work. It's never failed.

Kuseno is strict about his bedtime: from the time he retires at 11 pm to when he appears at 6 am, Genos better have a damn good reason for disturbing him. A leg dropping off does not qualify. Most afternoons, Kuseno also has a nap behind his desk. He has always claimed to be just mediating when Genos has asked.

Second degree: unexpected

Although neither man knows it, Kuseno is the reason King quit competitive gaming: there was this one mysterious guy he just couldn't beat. It still haunts King.

Kuseno himself no longer does competitive gaming: between Genos keeping him busy and missing his once-faithful rival, it's lost its appeal.

Third degree: connections

Bofoi was his old student.  They each changed their names for... reasons.

Fourth degree: Chekov's gunman... or there's no badass like an old badass

Manga-only.  Kuseno finally shows up to give his boy a hand. As Genos tells Kuseno to fall back already, the old man levels one of the suit's shoulder-mounted guns and... there's a void where there was once a dragon-level monster, not even a curl of smoke remaining.  Kuseno: yeah, I came up with this last week but I've not yet figured out how to make it small enough to install on you.

Fifth degree: Old man, you scary

Webcomic-only.  The climax of the battle sees Genos and Saitama get to the heart of the Organization and just as things are getting super tense, a third person joins the fray.  It's Kuseno, heavily armed and very much alive. That bring-back-a-dead-person-so-long-as-their-brain-is-intact technology we saw elsewhere?  He was the original inventor.  Genos: but you told me to run away!  Kuseno: And yet, here you are. Be so kind as to shelter behind Saitama-kun, will you? Kuseno (to the enemy): I don't mind if Genos gets beat up, that's how my boy learns. But you bastards made him cry...unleashes hell

Sixth degree: Cruel, cruel world

Like something out of a cruel soap opera, the reason Genos and Child Empror look a bit like each other is that they're siblings but each was so convinced the other was dead that they'd never thought to look into it. In Isamu's case, his foster parents had been very good at gaslighting him so he doubted his very memories.  As they compare notes, suddenly the random attack makes sense... it'd been intended to grab Isamu in the first place. Something else makes sense too: why Kuseno had arrived so fortuitously. Genos: Oh, I was the consolation prize.

And so...

Webcomic edition: Genos finds his inconsolable grief over losing the old man suddenly become consolable, although it's down to Saitama to accidentally on purpose to say something that puts it in perspective, e.g., by pointing out that there was nothing false about the affection he had had for him.  

Manga edition: Since the old man is alive,  Genos confronts him.  He doesn't deny it but says that he'd intended to kidnap Child Emperor alone to forestall the massacre that happened.  And yes, while to begin with, he'd thought of Genos as a consolation, he's long since changed his mind. Yes, it's true that Genos doesn't have the mind of the century, but he's got the sort of intellect one meets only a few times a decade.  His courage though?  That's the sort people write legends about. Now let’s talk about you trying harder to stay alive long enough to become one.

[gofancyninjaworld]

speculative new rankings

Lots we don’t know still about how the S-Class heroes are going to be ranked post the MA raid, but I thought I’d give it a stab anyway.  I’ve put the manga thoughts in italics as so much is in the air there I don’t dare speculate as to where it ends up.

1. Blast:  Not going anywhere.  Why?  We have no idea.  Manga variation: in the light of the build up, which gave opportunity to call Blast and the scale of the subsequent disaster, it’s going to be even harder for us to understand.

2.  Tornado of Terror, Tatsumaki:  Not going anywhere either.  They may have serious concerns about the amount of damage she caused, but without her contribution, they’d be sunk.  Somehow, they’ve got to talk to her about her temper tantrums.  Manga variation: the main change is that she’s using her mind a lot more and is actually thinking of the welfare of her fellow heroes rather than just grabbing all the monsters for herself.  But no change in ranking is likely to be forthcoming.

3. Silverfang, Bang:  Retired. 

4. Atomic Samurai, Kamikaze:  It would be easiest to give him Bang’s old place by default, but it’s unlikely.  He didn’t achieve very much and the manner in which he was reduced to pleading once he lost his sword was sad. He’s probably going to be left where he is. Manga variation: he’s definitely put more into his sword art, and has hung onto his swords so far.  But is he going to be able to achieve more?

5. Child Emperor: Defected

6. Metal Knight, Bofoi:  The HA has a beef with him. He refused to come support the operation, and he’s not been the most communicative since, but hey ho, he’s at least able to guard their premises in their hour of need.  He’ll keep his present position at Rank 6... at least until Saitama slaps his robots.  Manga variation: Intransigent with a side order of ‘I told you so’ . He’s going to be no one’s favourite, but with the size of the impending wipe out, he’s set to make bank setting his robot army to patrol for monsters while the other heroes recuperate.  He’s probably going to get a promotion to Rank 5.

7. King:  The super-star!  Held off multiple cadre without breaking a sweat!  He’s sure to get to Rank 3.  Atomic won’t like that, bonus.  Manga variation: no idea what’s going to be happening with the cadre, but his super-stardom is already guaranteed.  He’s credited with killing Elder Centipede along with Bang, saving Tareo, and I’m sure that the story will find some way to give him credit for saving Tatsumaki from a pinch.

8. Zombieman: Is he still working for the Hero Association?  If he is, then his elimination of Homeless Emperor and tenacious opposition of Awakened Garou may put him at Rank 5.  Manga variation: depending on what happens with Metal Knight, he may keep his position instead and go to Rank 6.

9. Drive Knight: Hoo hoo, now this is interesting!  We’ve not seen nor heard from him since the alien invasion -- he may be dropped altogether from the Hero Association.  At the very least, his continued absence from both the emergency summons and since then make his position open to other takers.   Manga variation: now this is even more interesting!  So much depends on whether or not Sekingar and Waganma get back alive.  If they do, then Drive Knight may be in trouble -- given time to sit and reflect, the hero’s conduct in continuing to interrogate Sekingar for sensitive information, as well as his hanging onto time-sensitive information until it was obsolete are going to reflect very badly on him.  If Sekingar doesn’t get back, then Food Battler Futoshi can at least vouch for Drive Knight taking on Nyan, in which case, he’s going to get a good promotion and outrank Zombieman.

10. Pig God:  Minimally, he’s going to go to Rank 7.  Competent, saving heroes when they were trapped, coming back again afterwards to kill off a cadre, what’s not to like?  Manga variation:  who knows?

11. SuperAlloy Darkshine: Retired

12. Watchdogman:  Nothing to consider here.  Only guarding City Q and caring about nothing else means that the HA will happily promote other heroes over him.  It’s not like he cares.  Probably end up with Rank 12. 

13. Flashy Flash: If he doesn’t get Rank 8, he’s going to be so cross. What with tackling Garou and all.   Manga variation: he’s going to be a very unhappy bunny when the monster ninjas he killed turn out to have been apprehended by Child Emperor and handed over to be imprisoned.

14. Demon Cyborg, Genos:  Another interesting case. Technically, he should go to Rank 11 by default, but his calling the Hero Association independently and going in is going to serve him well, particularly if Bang vouches for him that but for his insisting on forging ahead, Tatsumaki would be dead.  He might end up with Rank 10, 9 if they’re feeling vindictive towards Drive Knight.  Manga variation:  even more space for thrills and spills.  A lot will depend on what Bang has to say at his exit interview.  If he sets the record straight, Genos would be vindicated for his handling of Garou and get appropriate credit for Elder Centipede. Regardless of that, he’s been recognised for pulling the support team and Waganma out of the Monster Association.  If they make it back safely, it’ll be to his credit. No idea what’s going to happen between him and Tatsumaki as yet, but I have a bad feeling that any good he does will be credited to King instead.  He could end up with being left at Rank 11 or go much higher -- hard to say.

15. Metal Bat, Bad: Defected

16. Tanktop Master:  Necessarily absent during the raid,  he’ll keep his default position of Rank 12.   Manga variation:  He might do better than this, if his actions to save people attract commendation.  May end up with Rank 11 instead.

17. Puri Puri Prisoner:  Bottom of the barrel.  Always and forever. 

Quite complicated.  Let’s summarize.  I’m predicting that the most probable rankings look like this

 Blast

Tornado

King

Atomic Samurai

Zombieman

Metal Knight

Pig God

Flashy Flash

Demon Cyborg

Drive Knight

Tank Top Master

Watchdogman

Puri Puri Prisoner

Now I wonder how much controversy I’ve attracted.  Thoughts?

[gofancyninjaworld]

OPM in 2019, part 2

Yup, this was all too long, so I now have to attend to the manga.  This year, Murata kept his promise from 2018 to deliver regular chapters.  Even the passing of his father only made him take a few weeks off.   

By the numbers.  This year, Murata delivered 24 updates consisting of 624 pages.  It may not be the banner year of 2017 2018, but it still averages out at more than 50 pages a month.  He also drew 113 pages for volume releases in extra chapters, volume-only content and chapter redraws.  We thank you for your hard work, Mr. Murata!  

As to the words and pictures, much more below the cut!

beautiful and poignant -- probably the best cover this year. 

Be warned: this contains major plot spoilers

Broad Strokes

Last year focussed on the Hero Association response to the Monster Association, gathering up heroes, sorting out battle plans and sending them into the field. In the course of the war effort, the characters whom we’ve been following most consistently all got parked in one place or another.  We turned decisively away from Saitama, Genos, Garou, Fubuki, Bang, and King to focus on what the other heroes were doing, getting to know many more of them.   

This year, we’ve seen the first triumphant contact the heroes made gradually be eroded away as the monsters launch their counter-attack and one by one the parked characters have been brought back into the story to varying effect.  

2020 is promising to be the showdown year that will give us the final denouement, but I can’t promise that.  What I can promise is a closer look at the major themes of 2019.

Orochi

From half-assed plot to bad-ass plan

The first big thing is just how important Monster King Orochi has been to the story. More specifically, it's crazy how vital a linchpin he has been to Psykos’s humanity extermination plan.  The webcomic that doesn’t have Orochi makes her plan a sick joke. Like, seriously, how was Psykos planning to take over the world? In the webcomic, if things had gone to plan and she'd gotten rid of the heroes sent to the Monster Association, what then?  Not enough monsters to kill billions of people and no way to get the monsters that she does have there.  Monsters are also terribly uncooperative and undisciplined. The long-term cooperation to kill billions of people just isn’t going to happen -- without the clear, limited goal that killing Class S heroes was, they’ll just split up.  Society wasn't about to fall into a weeping puddle: we’ve seen both in the manga and the webcomic that there are loads of strong people, and that people are resilient and adaptable. It's like, that was a total idiot plot from the outset.  It’d end in failure as society adapted faster than the bickering monsters (those that didn’t leave) appreciated. 

yeah, you and what army?

On the other hand, Monster King Orochi makes Pyskos's dream a credible reality.  First, thanks to him, she got the cooperation of monsters like Elder Centipede, who was particularly important in the lead up to the Monster Association’s declaration of war.  It dug enough tunnels that monsters could appear simultaneously in multiple cities throughout the world.  Second, thanks to Orochi, she got millions of monster cells which meant that huge chunks of the population could be simultaneously monsterised in multiple locations, each able to help kill off the rest of humanity.  Their dry run two days previous to the current manga events confirmed that humanity simply couldn't cope with monsters showing up in so many places at once and yes, now they had a shot.  They could kill off the powerful organised heroes and then quickly make civilised life impossible before any credible fight back could be organised. 

This plan works.

when you realise that it’d only take a couple of hours to replenish the Monster Association’s forces

If that's all Orochi could do, it'd be plenty.  It made a bad, half-assed idiot plot into a real threat. But that's not all.  He's a crazy powerful monster, one Psykos was counting on to deal the death blow to the most powerful heroes, especially Tatsumaki.

Unfortunately for Psykos,  Saitama seems to have given Orochi a bad case of the deads.  And Amai Mask seems to have destroyed her precious store of monster cells.   Unless she have a back up depot of monster cells, her humanity extermination plan has hit a real snag. Many fans do hold out hope that Orochi isn't dead-dead and may Awaken to be real trouble.  But we'll see.

Acceptance

Speaking of Saitama and Orochi, something very important happened to Saitama’s character development that simply hasn’t happened yet in the webcomic.  Saitama accepted that yes, he’s just the strongest being alive.

We’ve seen Saitama struggle with not finding a worthy challenge.  He has bargained with it, dreaming of being weak enough to find the Subterraneans a threat.  He has been angry about it, shouting his outrage when Vaccineman died after one hit.  He has been depressed about it; we saw his whole collapse in the wake of the Superfight which led him to opening up to King.  And now, when he heard Orochi trying to introduce himself, he realised that this was just another useless blowhard like the jerk who’d kicked him to the moon and cut it short.  ‘What makes you so special?’ ‘Come at me then, but I’m expecting nothing.’

all according to expectation

It’s so rare to see Saitama show any character development, so this moment, small as it is, is really a profound step forward for the character.  We will see what happens as a result in chapters to come. 

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity

Good luck that is.  And that’s been shining on Psykos despite the setback of losing Orochi.  All the work we’ve seen her put in since chapter 57, observing heroes, sending out monsters to attack them and then seeing how they respond, has finally paid off.  

Between chapters 94 and 112, the manga really showed us precisely why the Class S heroes were so respected as the ultimate answer to the worst of the worst monsters. 

And now, by carefully siccing the right super-powerful monster on hero, Psykos has achieved what looked impossible: defeat Class S heroes en masse.

and bad luck is what happens when lack of preparation meets a challenge

It’s perfect, save monsters have a long-documented love of savouring their prey and aren’t killing the heroes as fast as they should.  Silly things: they leave the window open to rescue.

Machinations

A cyborg makes wild accusations...

Holy moly, has any hero’s stock risen and sunk as fast as Drive Knight’s has? In the space of a month, two updates, this enigmatic hero went from the new darling of the fandom to at best, a very self-interested ‘hero’ and at worst, the very traitor Metal Knight warned Child Emperor about.

We’ve known nothing about Drive Knight, what he did and just why he had a top ten ranking.  Well, we got a great masterclass in why when with a fantastic combination of power and guile, he defeated the cadre Nyan, making him the first hero other than Saitama to do so.  In fact Drive Knight is so polished in both the type of technology he has and the fluency with which he wields it that he makes Genos look like a glorified garage project. Oh wait... that’s accurate, isn’t it?

looking like Boros’s long-lost cousin, Drive Knight’s gold splendour

It’s what Drive Knight did next that set audiences against him. First, we learned that he watched the support heroes get cut down while he formulated the perfect plan. Okay, maybe he’s just a cold operator.   Second, the terrifying efficiency with which he pumped Sekingar for information on the vulnerability of the Hero Association, then failed to protect him when G-5 showed up to stop Sekingar from reporting back to the Hero Association.  Third, while we’ve known that Drive Knight is no fan of Metal Knight, accusing the latter of deliberately supplying the Monster Association is another story.  It has left us wondering whether Drive Knight is simply paranoid -- or is looking to deflect suspicion from himself.  What is not in question is that there really is a visitor from The Organisation harvesting the very data Drive Knight is worried about for the very purposes he outlines.  

Drive Knight did not look best pleased when Genos intervened in affairs and destroyed G-5, but handed over (or cut his losses?) peaceably enough.  For some reason, Drive Knight still seems to think that Genos is on his side, still going ‘we’ and making a distinction between them and the rest of humanity when explaining his desire to leave with Nyan. Why?

We have no idea when Drive Knight will reappear or quite what side he’s on, but one thing is for sure: he’s a powerful mover in this world and is bound to pose some dread challenge when he does. 

...but a greedy old man looks set to pay dearly

Top shadenfreude for me: if G5 didn't successfully remotely transmit everything it'd learned about the Metal Knight back, then Bofoi will be in the painful position of having to acknowledge that Genos got his wrinkly little nuts out of the fire. Yup, that guy Bofoi refused to help and left to die the first time he met.  That guy he started a whispering campaign against at the Hero Association.  That one. 

By the time Sekingar gets back and gives his story, Dr Bofoi will have most of the story. Once Child Emperor reports in,  Bofoi will have put all the bits together.  He’ll understand that he dodged a very large bullet as The Organisation had successfully hacked into his robot. And he was lucky their emissary didn't live to report its findings.   

How did Bofoi get in this shitty position?  By getting greedy.  He was so desperate to get a sample of Elder Centipede’s armour that he had his robot cling on and get carried into the Monster Association base.  And then let it sit and listen in. He didn’t budget on Orochi being able to disable the robot before he could trigger its self-destruct sequence. 

unfortunately for Bofoi, the Monster Association isn’t quite as selfish as he is and had no problem letting The Organisation harvest what it could of the machine they couldn’t themselves use.

It’s super unlikely that the Hero Association will take Drive Knight’s words uncritically, but they’re not stupid people -- they’ll understand that a major security breach has occurred. Suffer a little, Dr. Bofoi.

Old Players, New Roles

This year we have had no new characters introduced.  But we have had cause to re-evaluate several that we thought we knew. 

Sekingar was totally the breakout star here, surprising himself probably more than anyone else in finding that he truly did have what it took to be a hero.  I won’t go into it, full breakdown here.   What I will say is that unlike someone like Suiryu, who is just an ordinary person, Sekingar is very highly  placed within the Hero Association and looks set to be promoted further.  What he has to say and enact about the way heroes operate WILL have a disproportionate effect on the Hero Association, its future and maybe humanity’s safety. 

heroism is what you find when there are no good options but you do the right thing anyway

Genos continued to develop this year.  Last fight, he’d been devastated at not having been able to save any heroes.  This time out, saving people and showing a real resolve to take the fight to the monsters is front and centre of his actions, finally ending the hostage rescue part of the Hero Association plans.

it’s one thing to see a hero standing on top of a dead monster, but seeing this tiny guy on an armoured carrier and knowing that he could kill everybody in the convoy effortlessly did more to sell the insanity of Class S to me than many monster fights could. No wonder ordinary men call them monsters.

Two big changes from the webcomic to the manga have been first, splitting Genos off from the rest so he has to act out of his own heart rather than being carried along/supported by others. And second, giving him information about the monsters so he can descend to Hell with open eyes.  If any webcomic readers thought that Genos was being impulsive and naive when he took on the cadres rather than brave, the manga decisively lays that to rest.  This boy is truly courageous. 

Finally, the hero most known for scheming to lord it over others (in order to feel better about herself), Fubuki, closed out the year by showing an amazing side to her. 

She’s long hated dealing with strong monsters and Overgrown Pochi is her worst nightmare -- a true terror of a monster. She feels it all: inadequate, scared, frustrated, vulnerable.  Accepts that she’s almost certainly going to die.  And then uses her delusion of leading Bang and Bomb as a source of strength to bolster their bodies and protect them from harm for long enough for them to counter attack.

The bloodshot eye, the veins standing proud out of the sheer effort wrung out of her, the blood running down her face as she faces the monster.  No fucks given about decorum or looks: she’s going down swinging.  Bravo! 

Oh yeah, and Garou woke up.  He seems a bit mad. 

the second-best cover of 2019

[gofancyninjaworld]

OPM manga chapter 119 Review: A Conspiracy?

Buckle up, this review gets long.  I was away on family business for a few days so I missed this one’s drop.  It’s meant though that I’ve had longer to ponder my thoughts. 

Core take away for me is that like Hellfire Flame and Gale Wind trying to recruit Sonic set us up to better understand the Ninja arc when it showed up in the webcomic, this ‘glimpse behind the scenes’ at the conspiracies brewing sight unseen is foundation for what will burst into the open later, apparently from nowhere. 

Anyway, onto the review.  Much more under the cut.  First though, One-Shotter is still alive!  Looks like his mechanised parts are much more extensive than initially appeared. 

I tell you, it doesn’t pay to be a cyborg hero in OPM. It’s just inviting gratuitous cruelty into your life.

Soon Gets Sooner

This chapter, I honestly expected Drive Knight to just leave with Nyan and stay the international Cyborg of Mystery he'd been to date.  But he stuck around to talk to Sekingar and what we got was a glimpse indeed to the mystery plot that has been brewing from the very start.

We find out just why Drive Knight has a 100% win record: he never, ever fights unless he has carefully studied and formulated an excellent battle plan. Even if it means sacrificing his fellow heroes like pawns.  

And then things get weird. After offering data on the strong monsters in the MA, Drive Knight changes the subject to asking Sekingar about the state of the Hero Association, being very interested in just which capable heroes were left available to respond and whether or not Blast was likely to attend if the Hero Association were attacked.  And then Drive Knight went into full tin-foil hat conspiracy mode, painting the loss of the Metal Knight as a deliberate action by Dr Bofoi to gift the Monster Association with the way to take out the Hero Association.

When Sekingar spoke of not expecting the support heroes to carry out their mission without injury, I’m sure he couldn’t have imagined ending up a casualty.  When he tries to call the Hero Association to check, none other than G5 shows up to shoot his hand off.  As G5 approaches, Drive Knight makes no move to either attack G5, claiming lack of power, nor to protect Sekingar.  Even in extremis though,  Sekingar is still thinking about the support team, the hostage, and what action he could yet take.  Truly, a hero is being forged before our eyes.  He just has to survive the experience.

‘Why not me?’ That’s the central question heroes ask themselves.

Fee, Fi, Do, Fum, Cinderella's At The Ball

We'd seen Garou, who I'd dubbed Sleeping Beauty awaken from his unconsciousness. With a roar, he pummelled PPP into the ground.

Cyborg Cinderella, whom we'd left vacuuming and washing dishes while the others went ahead, may be attending the ball late, but his entrance was no less spectacular. With timing worthy of Saitama himself, just in time, one mighty kick all but split G5 in half, arriving so fast the robot barely had time to register his presence.  It's interesting what summoned him; Saitama's punch may have gotten his attention, but it was G5's energy signature that really got him on scene.

Insane kicks, flips -- and upgrades

Kuseno magic extends to clothes: the last time he used Jet Drive Arrow, he ended up naked. Now Genos isn't just very fashionably dressed, but his raiments are fire-resistant and wonderfully form-hugging.  Until the clock strikes twelve (or ten in his case), he is here to cut some terrifying shapes.

And now all the pieces are in play.

The chapter ends suddenly and ominously.  On one side, we have Genos asking, looking about as cunning as a newborn lamb, what’s going on: 

On the other, if it’s possible for an expressionless face to look unamused, then the very cunning Drive Knight looks most unamused:

Meta: “The enemy of my enemy is my enemy's enemy. No more. No less.”  

 -- from the webcomic ‘Schlock Mercenary’ (more here)

I’d wondered why ONE had split Genos off from the rest, in difference to the was he’d gone together with the rest in the webcomic.  It was definite that ONE intended to test Genos in a situation where he had no support, bu the potential for him to discover something new and relevant to his quest is the last thing I expected. 

A peek behind the scenes indeed!  Where from and why Genos came to fetch up at Saitama’s door in chapter 7, telling a tale of evil cyborgs and total extermination, we know not.  It’s seemed increasingly far-fetched as nearly nothing happened with that storyline and the monsters we meet have nothing to do with the sort of intelligences behind any such cyborg.  It’s led to some, too many, fans claiming that in that absence the ‘mad’ cyborg must be Genos himself  -- in a twist of logic too stupid for real life  [Then again, the typical SF story seems to be written by an individual who never met an actual human being...].  I don’t know about the veracity of 90% of what Drive Knight said, but there is a conspiracy indeed. 

So, now we get to understand a bit more about Drive Knight. It’s something I’ve long wondered about:

The thing about Drive Knight is that he hasn't told us who he is yet. At present, he's a blank slate for whom many alignments are possible without betraying who he is. He could be entirely a hero, just acting in ways that are more independent than most would appreciate. He could be a member of The Organization, acting as a mole in the Hero Association. He could be an entirely amoral person, aligning himself to one group or another as suits his goals and all would be consistent with what we don't know about him. Once he declares who he is, we'll be down to many fewer possibilities.  -- myself, Reddit post   

“Everything that can be used must be used.”  With that, Drive Knight has finally told us who he is.   He is highly calculating and will use anything he can to achieve his ends.  At the expense of anyone and anything. 

What to make of all of this? One thing we can be certain of. Drive Knight really hates Bofoi, considers him a threat and reads the worst possible motives into his actions. He wastes no time in trying to sew suspicion about Bofoi whenever possible.   Why?  We don’t know. 

At its most benign, Drive Knight may be like Zombieman and the House of Evolution, seeing evil in Metal Knight and a grand conspiracy where none actually exists.   A less benign possibility is that Drive Knight may be projecting his ambitions onto Metal Knight and describing what he fears Metal Knight has in possession in order to thwart them (whoever ‘them’ is). 

Since we as readers have a quasi-omniscient view of the story, we know that quite a lot of what Drive Knight said about Metal Knight is factually wrong.  We know that he is wrong bout the circumstances under which Bofoi lost the Metal Knight.  We know that he is wrong about its fate.  We know most of all that he is absolutely wrong about Bofoi wanting the capable heroes scattered or defeated.  Dr. Bofoi has been furious with the Hero Association executives for risking the lives of any heroes raiding the Monster Association precisely because he feared what might happen if the ranks of the heroes were thinned. 

Interesting that G5 is definitely its own entity!  Once I realised that the tactical transformations formed around Drive Knight, I’d started to entertain the possibility that the two of them were the same.  That said...

I could well understand Drive Knight having done his own work to understand the nature of the strong monsters actually in the Monster Association base.  However, there is one piece of information G5 has that it could not have reasonably obtained without Drive Knight sharing it. 

When they ran off a second time, they ran off separately.   More pertinently, there’s no reason for G5 to show Sekingar this information: it puts psychological pressure on him, but if G5 just wants to kill him, there’s no point to it.  Instead, Drive Knight drawing attention to the support team and G5 drawing attention to the hostage act as a double-team interrogation to see if Sekingar has some way yet of reaching Blast in time of most extreme need. 

We’ve also learned that Blast is all but retired. It falls into line with what we've gleaned from the webcomic and suggests that he's quite old.

He's just a poor boy from a poor family: spare him his life!  (and limbs)

Dr Kuseno's occasionally prodding Genos to not forget his primary task of finding the 'mad' cyborg, as well as his warning not to fight it alone both make great sense.   In OPM, you get good at what you actually  practice.  Fighting monsters as a hero has been very useful for Genos developing raw fighting prowess. It has done nothing to prepare him to face the cruel, conniving, and creative people that the not-quite-mad cyborg and those behind him are.  Watching Genos ask straightforwardly what the situation and contrasting it to Drive Knight's complicated narrative was to realise how painfully naive Genos is. 

It's all very well to counsel non-engagement, but you deal with the monster before you: situations aren't neat and don't wait until you feel prepared. I'd hoped for another conversation between Genos and Drive Knight but this looks far more dangerous.  I've no doubt that Genos won't die, but his participation in this battle could be VERY short.

So many ways this story could wend.  A few that come to mind:

The most tragic:Drive Knight convinces Genos of his predicament, perhaps offering data on the cadres as a sweetener and Genos escorts him and the fallen heroes out of the war zone.  As soon as Drive Knight is sure Genos is safely underground, he'll kill Sekingar... and probably the support heroes into the bargain. If he burns them, the only fire-wielder known is Genos.  If he's really clever, catching up with Waganma and Food Battler, dragging them back and burning them too creates a compelling narrative of Genos (already suspected of colluding with the monsters) waylaying the support heroes as they tried to retreat and killing them all.  Drive Knight can show up at the Hero Association and continue his activities. No witnesses, a convenient scapegoat, and near total freedom to carry on his agenda.

Mortal combat. No matter what changes to the webcomic ONE has planned, Genos isn't about to get killed, so Drive Knight is either going to have to run for it or else get killed. Knowing who Drive Knight is, there is no possibility that he would defeat Genos and leave the latter alive -- even if he were that careless, Genos announcing that any enemy that gives him trouble will find that he comes back very quickly and very much stronger would put paid to that. (yes, he’s so naive!)    Either way, Drive Knight won't be working as a hero any longer.   For Genos, victory is likely to be expensive -- he runs the risk of sustaining critical damage, which will force him to retreat, or of wasting precious, precious energy that he could really use later.   Very interesting repercussions will definitely follow.

Hit him in the heroism. Drive Knight could use the heroes and Sekingar as hostages and get Genos to allow him to leave unmolested. He won't be coming back to the HA but it looks like he knows all he needs to. Genos won't like it, but as a person who has long established his willingness to take incredible punishment to protect others from harm, he won't have any other course of action.  I suspect that this is the most likely outcome.

Whatever actually happens! Only ONE (and Murata) know.  I know I need the next instalment!

Bonus question. Where is the cat?  Drive Knight dropped it when G5 showed up and it hasn't been in evidence since.