One Punch Man Chapter 173: Saitama finally gets the recognition he deserves

One Punch Man Chapter 173 finally did justice to the extreme power of our beloved protagonist as his "apprentice," Genos aka Demon Cyborg, delivered an impassioned speech to the members of the Hero Association, detailing all of Saitama's exploits.

The chapter spoke about Blast's two-year-long battle against a mysterious entity known as "God". The name of the entity was previously mentioned to Zombieman during his fight with the Monster Association cadre Homeless Emperor. The aforementioned "God" had bestowed powers on him, transforming him into a monster.

Confused Saitama (Image via Madhouse Animation)

Flashy Flash threw in his two cents by claiming that the entity could communicate telepathically. He discovered this while exploring the Monster Association's lair with Saitama.

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One Punch Man Chapter 173: Genos talks up his sensei

The highlight of One Punch Man chapter 173 was Genos chiming in on the coversation. After all the heroes had said what they needed to say and Blast's two-year fight against "God" was revealed, Genos just said that the threat could have been dealt with sooner. Who do you think did it? Saitama, exactly.

Demon Cyborg then told them a plan that would make the situation easy to fix. He told everyone about Saitama's fight with Garou. He said that the two of them went cosmic and that their fight was on an unimaginable scale. Genos then explained the "Zero Punch" and how Saitama went back in time to stop it.

Saitma during the fight against Garou (Image via Madhouse Animation)

Needless to say, the members in the room were stunned. They were taken aback to the point where they doubted Saitama's apprentice. Nonetheless, Zombie Man attempted to make sense of it while the rest of the group tried to digest the information.

One Punch Man Chapter 173 finally recognized the Caped Baldy. To begin with, he was promoted to a higher Hero Rank, becoming an A-Class Hero. Intially, he took the Hero test. He did great on the physical test, but failed the written test. As a result, he was ranked C-Class 342. However, after a series of heroic feats, he rose through the ranks.

Second, prior to this, Saitama had defeated powerful monsters, but those exploits were never revealed. Because of the presence of other heroes or his absence afterward, everyone assumed it wasn't him.

For instance, the fight against Elder Centipede.

The monster had appeared after a long time and was out for vengeance. Blast had done significant damage to the monster, and it wanted to repay the favor. King, who all the while there, tried to taunt it to divert its attention away from the other heroes. Elder Centipede, enraged, charged at King. But, at the last second, Saitama snuck in and finished it with a single punch.

However, the victory was given to King, and the other heroes were credited for their contributions to the fight. Saitama, on the other hand, received no such recognition. His exploits went unnoticed by everyone except Genos and, to a lesser extent, King.

"Being a Hero for the Hobby" was the motto Saitama lived by (Image via Madhouse Animation)

Besides, One Punch Man's Saitama never made any conscious attempts to claim credit for his accomplishments, thus staying true to his motto of being a "hero for hobby".

Meanwhile, some of the other Pro Heroes were more concerned with their status than with anything else. The Caped Baldy, on the other hand, had a genuine desire to help others that he concealed behind his careless and lazy exterior.

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Final Thoughts

Even though this trait is an important part of One Punch Man, it was still great to see Saitama finally get some respect from the Hero community.

Getting to A-Class will also put our protagonist on the radar of Heroes such as Metal Knight and Sweet Mask (as seen at the end of One Punch Man chapter 173). More about "God" and how the Hero Association chooses to approach Saitama will be revealed in later chapters.

In any case, the Caped Baldy's advancement in the hero community has fans excited and happy for him.