Murata's passion could be backfiring One Punch Man manga

Modified Feb 21, 2025 19:30 GMT

While One Punch Man fans have almost always held Yusuke Murata in high regard, the mangaka's recent actions have caused the fans to backfire on the manga series. Just as it seemed like the manga was on track to end the ongoing story arc, Yusuke Murata decided to redraw the Ninjas Arc.

Under normal circumstances, such an event would have left fans happy that the manga creator was doing all that he could to deliver the best product to its fans. However, this was not the case for One Punch Man manga as the current redraw would be the Ninjas Arc's third iteration, excluding the one in the original webcomic.

Disclaimer: This article may contain spoilers from the One Punch Man manga.

Ninjas Arc's second redraw in One Punch Man could backfire on Yusuke Murata

Blast as seen in the manga (Image via Shueisha)

As fans must remember, right after the Cruel Dragon Arc ended, the manga series switched over to the Ninjas Arc. Fans loved this as the series slowly inched closer to the current content seen in the original webcomic. Unfortunately, this progression was halted with the Ninjas Arc.

As fans may remember, when the Ninjas Arc was first released in October 2023, it published its chapters without interruptions. However, this did not go on for too long as original creator ONE and Yusuke Murata together announced in March 2024 that the Ninjas Arc was set to be redrawn.

Saitama and Genos as seen in the manga (Image via Shueisha)

While this announcement disappointed fans, they were also happy as it depicted the mangaka's passion. Despite already having drawn a good portion of the Ninjas Arc, he was willing to redraw the story arc to give fans the best content possible. Unfortunately, fans could not maintain this mentality for too long as Yusuke Murata started redrawing the Ninjas Arc for a second time in January 2025.

This decision meant that all the manga chapters released since October 2023 meant nothing. Such a decision has left fans disinterested in the manga as even those fans who praised the mangaka for his dedication have also started badmouthing him for redrawing the same story arc multiple times.

That Man as seen in the manga (Image via Shueisha)

The first redraw of the Ninjas Arc saw the manga release 17 chapters. So, considering the manga series' biweekly release schedule, the same number of chapters will likely take around eight months to be released.

With three manga chapters already released, fans may need to wait another seven months until the manga catches up to where it left off in the previous rendition. This means that, besides some changes here and there, fans will receive no new One Punch Man manga content until the manga releases chapters for over half a year.

So, unless the second redraw of Ninjas Arc is set to feature new content, revamping the entire storyline, Yusuke Murata may have shot himself in the foot with his decision to redraw the story arc again.