The superhero genre wasn’t a major topic of discussion among the anime community back then until One Punch Man and My Hero Academia made their debuts in 2015 and 2016, respectively. Since then, these two anime immediately gained traction and turned everyone’s attention towards the superhero anime. Despite both of these anime taking off on a strong note, only one has succeeded, while the other has faltered over the years. It’s been a decade since OPM and MHA began their run, and let’s take a look at how these two most popular superhero anime turned out to be in 2025.
One Punch Man Season 3 Is a Complete Fiasco
Fans have been waiting for the third season of One Punch Man for six long years. The second season wasn’t on par with the extraordinary quality of OPM season 1. Yet it was a decent watch that made fans want more of OPM. However, even before the Season 3 premiere, the previews and lack of information regarding the staff who worked on it caused controversy, to which the new OPM director had to apologize.
After all the ruckus, OPM season 3 finally premiered, and the worst thing fans feared also happened with the new episodes. While the art was consistent for most parts, the third season notably lacked movement animations, which made the new episodes look like a slideshow. Soon, OPM Season 3 turned out to be a meme treasure for fans, and complaints regarding the subpar animation quality continued to come in with the release of new episodes every weekend. You must have already come across them all if you stay active on social media platforms.
Unfortunately, some extremists in the name of fans went on to harass the staff, which made the OPM director deactivate his X account. Some fans hoped that the studio didn’t concentrate much on the earlier episodes, as it included more conversations than action. And everyone was convinced that they were saving everything for later episodes with action.
However, we now know that isn’t the case anymore, as the anime does no justice to the exhilarating fight sequences in the manga. From now on, the majority of the One Punch Man fandom has given up hope on the upcoming episodes, and that is currently the disheartening state of the fans.
MHA’s Final Season Thriving on Success
Since its inception in 2015, the One Punch Man anime has released only two seasons, and the third season is now airing. During the same period, the My Hero Academia anime has released seven seasons, and the final season is now underway in 2025. With each season, the quality of MHA anime continued to improve further and never dipped below any time, unlike OPM. With the final season, MHA anime reaches its pinnacle, where every new episode is a sight to behold.
Fans of the My Hero Academia series wished to see Studio Bones Films bid farewell to their favorite superhero anime in the best way possible, and their dreams have come true. All the battles in the final war are surpassing everyone’s expectations and are a perfect example of how an anime adaptation should be. Undoubtedly, the final season will end up as the best season in the MHA series. Thus, fans are looking forward to the ending of MHA in high hopes, the complete opposite of what OPM fans.
You can see how both the MHA and OPM fandoms reacted to the new episodes with the ratings for each episode on the popular platform IMDb. All the MHA episodes that have been released so far have a rating of only 9 or higher. Meanwhile, OPM season 3 episodes have received lower ratings, with scores of 5-6 so far, except for the latest episode, as you can see below:
OPM Doesn’t Deserve to Be Treated This Way
It’s heartbreaking to see one of the beloved anime that most of us grew up with turning out to be a disaster over time. We didn’t deserve any of this. Let’s not forget that OPM is one of the main anime series that put the anime genre on the map and attracted millions of fans worldwide. The ongoing situation with OPM Season 3 is already out of control, and we can only wait to see if it gets any better in the upcoming episodes.
Many of them have already moved on to the manga and are calling out that even fan-made animations are better than what we are getting in the official anime. Moreover, we can’t blame the production staff, as they have already remarked that they are doing the best they can with the resources available to them.
Time after time, we have learned from many anime adaptation failures that a production team can only succeed with ample resources and time. It always has to do with the production committee first, who are in charge of allocating the budget and time to make an anime. In the case of One Punch Man, Bandai Namco owns the IP. People have already begun voicing their concerns (in a peaceful way) about the direction OPM anime is heading.
We don’t know if we will ever return to the magical OPM season 1 times, as it was a passion project involving numerous legendary veterans of the anime industry who worked on it. But, we certainly know that Yusuke Murata and ONE’s One Punch Man series doesn’t deserve the current treatment. We are in an era where many studios are doing wonders, and Bones Films’ My Hero Academia is an ideal example. Even the new-gen anime, such as JJK, CSM, Dandadan, etc., are being lauded by fans.
If given enough time, resources, and the opportunity to hire more new talent, then J.C. Staff could achieve great results. If that doesn’t work, then the only hope of reviving OPM is by switching the studios once again, which we highly doubt will ever happen in the future. All we can do is hope that the production committee listens to the pleas of millions of fans and takes action to improve the situation.
And that’s the contrasting fate of two most celebrated superhero anime airing together in 2025. As someone who is a fan of both MHA and OPM, I wish that one day OPM could also match the level of stunning animation quality that we get to see in other anime nowadays. That said, let us know your thoughts about the current state of the One Punch Man anime in the comments below.
