One-Punch Man manga, created by Tomohiro Suzuki aka ONE, is one of the most hyped mangas of all time. First released back in 2009, the action saga revolving around superhero Saitama, who gets bored of defeating his opponents with one single punch, has been getting more and more interesting as well as popular with each new release.
However, there was a time when manga creator ONE stopped updating the manga series for quite some time. While his reason was pretty genuine, this event put Saitama’s saga in immense danger of having nearly met the same fate as Yoshihiro Togashi’s super popular and widely loved manga, Hunter x Hunter.
One-Punch Man Manga Almost Faced The Same Fate As Hunter x Hunter During Its Early Years
While One-Punch Man is one of the most successful mangas in today’s day and age, it might not have reached this level of success and would’ve ended up facing the same fate as Yoshihiro Togashi‘s Hunter x Hunter (which has gone on a hiatus since 2022 with no hope of return due to author’s health issues) right in its early years had ONE not returned to draw it back.
In an interview with Tokyo Reimei Note (translated via City-Z), ONE revealed how Saitama’s saga’s success was on the brink of dissolving because he stopped updating the series.
“I had stopped updating One-Punch Man in February of 2010 due to getting a job, but then in [the] spring [of] 2011 I announced on Twitter that I had quit my job, and from there I was contacted by various people, which is what led to where I am now. Thanks to all of One-Punch Man’s readers, this webcomic enabled me to go pro.”
Sharing the details of why he got the job, he said:
“Due to family matters, I decided to get a job for a year. But my plan was to not goof around and just save up as much money as I possibly could, then quit. That way, the year after that I wouldn’t have to bother with even a part-time job and could focus on drawing manga full-time. I intended to spend 365 days doing nothing but manga, and if that didn’t lead anywhere, I’d give it up.”
But that did work, and in the most spectacular of ways, for not only One-Punch Man but ONE’s other manga projects too are regarded as one of the most hyped-up mangas in today’s world of manga.
Also Read: Upsetting News For American Anime Fans as Reports on One Punch Man Season 3 Comes Out
ONE Originally Updated One-Punch Man Manga Online Just To Familiarize Himself With A Software
Continuing in the interview with Tokyo Reimei Note (translated via City-Z), ONE revealed why he initially created One-Punch Man as a webcomic.
“The truth is that One-Punch Man was originally simply a way for me to practice using a manga-creating software called ‘Comics Studio,’ and I uploaded it intending for it to be only a single chapter long. But I was happy to see it get a bigger response than I had anticipated, so I quickly drew up Chapter 2.”
However, it didn’t end with just chapter 2 either, thanks to the immense response that he received from manga fans who were simply enthralled by his work.
“And then lots of comments came in saying ‘Put up the next chapter soon!’ So I figured I would draw this thing properly, and came up with the plot all the way up to the final chapter, which I’m still following even now. Though I hadn’t expected that initial response, afterward I’d draw certain parts specifically to get a reaction from readers, and it felt great to get lots of ‘LOL’-type comments.”
One thing led to another, and before he knew it, ONE was too deep into the world of manga with no way nor intention to return.
“Once lots of people were reading it, I’d get offers to have it showcased in a Recruit webcomic anthology and things like that, and I even learned that manga professionals were aware of it; I could really feel the series expanding.”
Just like that, One-Punch Man ended up becoming a widely loved manga series with even an illustrated remake into the Weekly Young Jump online version by Yusuke Murata along with a superhit anime series, not to mention ONE’s other manga series raging havoc in the manga industry as well.
Source: Tokyo Reimei Note | City-Z
