When the first few episodes of One-Punch Man season 3 debuted to heated criticism, I urged patience. Sure, it didn’t look great, but I had faith that, as the action stepped up in the show, anime studio J.C. Staff would rise up to the task and deliver a memorable season, thus atoning for the sins of season 2. Eight episodes in, not only have I completely changed my mind and joined the doom prophets, but the much-maligned second season of One-Punch Man now actually looks good compared to the disaster we are witnessing in real time with season 3.
Overuse of still frames (the infamous “slideshow style”), stiff or minimal motion, inconsistent character models, excessive use of color filters, flat fight scenes, and poor editing are just a few examples of the low-quality animation One-Punch Man season 3 features week after week. The fanbase reacted with vitriol, unfortunately venting their frustration on animation staff members via social media platforms, which prompted director Shinpei Nagai to post a heartfelt plea to leave the staff alone.
Overall, “disaster” doesn’t begin to describe the state of things. But the reason why this happened may still not be clear. One-Punch Man is a massively popular IP with a huge fanbase, licensed by Bandai Namco. There was a six-year gap between seasons 2 and 3, which should have given the production studio plenty of time to deliver a good product. However, the reality of the Japanese anime industry is far from that. Fans already suspected the anime’s issues could be blamed on the lack of time and resources given to the studio, and further proof has now emerged.
Episode 8 of One-Punch Man season 3 got a slightly better reception than the previous ones. Mind you, this is still basic animation with no flair or particular highlights, but it stands out just by being decent. However, fans have discovered an interesting detail by pausing the episode on specific frames, which show traces of editing assets the animators forgot to remove. These include the date of production, which reads 2025/11/19. That’s Nov. 19, just 11 days before the episode aired. This detail was first reported on X by @TanktopMagic44.
This is not absolute proof of anything. The editing asset may be misinterpreted. But if it means what we think it means, this confirms everyone’s suspicions about this season: The animators working for J.C. Staff are being forced to produce the anime with absurd time constraints that are preventing them from doing their job properly.
Fans have blamed Bandai Namco, but the members of the One-Punch Man production committee are not disclosed. Bandai is in charge of licensing and merchandise, which may allow the company to influence the production budget, as it has has leverage on how resources are allocated, but this is still speculation.
One thing we can reliably look at, instead, is J.C. Staff’s schedule. The studio is credited with working on 25 productions in the past two years, according to MyAnimeList. Some of these are miniseries or single-episode specials, but the result is still an impressive average of one animation product per month. Now take a look at rival studio ufotable’s page. In the past two years, ufotable worked on just one anime season and one movie, which happened to become the highest-grossing Japanese anime movie of all time.
Unfortunately, ufotable is an exception. Overworking and impossible deadlines are the norm in the Japanese anime industry (and in Japanese work culture in general). In 2023, a scandal emerged when the animators working for MAPPA at Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 broke the taboo and publicly complained about their abysmal working conditions. However, the backlash was short-lived. JJK season 2 had such impressive animation that fans quickly forgot about the exploitation behind it. The opposite is happening for One-Punch Man.
Week after week, fans are reminded that there is only so much you can do with limited time and resources. If episode 8 was really produced in 11 days, it’s a miracle that it looks as good as it does. For reference, here is a video from professional animator Dong Chang that shows just how mind-boggingly difficult it is to produce an anime.
Complaining online (without harassing the staff!) may be useful in the long term to ensure that, if a fourth season of One-Punch Man ever happens, the animators get more time and resources to do a proper job. Besides that, the best thing that you can do right now as a fan of the series is to read the manga, if you haven’t already.
The bad habits of the Japanese animation industry are not going to disappear soon, because the obstacles lie at a cultural level that goes beyond the specific industry. Hopefully, the One-Punch Man season 3 disaster will at least teach a small lesson to studios and producers alike. After all, no one wants to hold the record for the lowest-rated anime episode on IMDb.
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