One Punch Man season 3 character visual shows Genos in full glory

Modified May 03, 2024 17:01 GMT

One Punch Man season 3 character visual shows Genos in full glory (Image via Madhouse)

Friday, May 3, 2024 saw the official website for the One Punch Man season 3 television anime series release a new “Hero Visual” of fan-favorite series character, Genos. His entry is the latest in the line of Hero Visuals, of which a new entry will be revealed every month and illustrated by season 3 character designer Shinjiro Kuroda.

As of this article’s writing, two other “Hero Visuals” in the promotional material lineup for One Punch Man season 3 have been released, with each of these focusing on protagonist Saitama and supporting character King. The former is seen in his trademark yellow-and-red hero outfit, whereas the latter is seen in his street clothes (as is typical of the character’s appearance).

It’s unclear as of this article’s writing exactly when One Punch Man season 3 will be released, but it’s likely several months away at a minimum considering the “monthly” pacing of the Hero Visuals. This is also supported by how many hero characters are central to the series’ story, with at minimum Bang, Fubuki, Tatsumaki, Metal Bat, and Mumen Rider likely to be given one considering their previous roles in the story.

One Punch Man season 3’s Hero Visual release process suggests series to be a long ways away

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That being said, it has shockingly already been more than 2 months since the One Punch Man season 3 announcement trailer officially began streaming online. While the trailer itself offered nothing in the way of release information, it nevertheless broke the internet due to how highly anticipated the series’ return is. The trailer featuring fan-favorite character Garo almost exclusively further helped it achieve such status.

The trailer did announce some key parts of the staff at the time of release, however, with the most notable confirmation being the return of animation studio J.C. Staff in series production. Fans were initially displeased regarding this since J.C. Staff also animated the second season, which was considered a below-average production by fans, but have since come around on the idea of the studio’s return.

While a director for the series at J.C. Staff has yet to be confirmed, several other key areas staff members have been revealed. Tomohiro Suzuki returns in a series composition role for the third time, while Makoto Miyazaki is a newcomer in the series’ music department. Chikashi Kubota, Ryosuke Shirakawa, and the aforementioned Shinjiro Kuroda are all confirmed to be working in character design as well.

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Season 3 serves as the continuation of the television anime adaptation of author ONE and illustrator Yusuke Murata’s original manga series of the same name. The manga is actually based on ONE’s original self-published webcomic, which began in 2009 and is still ongoing today.

The anime’s first television season premiered in October 2015 in Japan, and ran for 12 episodes until December of that year. This was followed up by a second season which premiered in April 2019 in Japan, also running for 12 episodes until July of that year. The 5-plus year wait since for season 3 has been the longest gap in seasons for the series thus far.