One of the most highly anticipated upcoming television anime projects is none other than One Punch Man season 3. Although there is currently insufficient information as of the writing of this article, fans are confident that the series will premiere by early 2024 at the latest, given the timing of the third season’s announcement.
Despite this confidence from fans, there is little evidence to back up such a claim beyond the general anime production timelines provided at the time of the announcement. At this point, many anime-only fans are expressing an interest in the series' manga before the release of One Punch Man season 3 in order to gain a sense of the events that will be shown when the series debuts.
Thankfully, the manga is easily accessible, with all chapters fully available via Shueisha’s Shonen Jump+ app with a paid monthly subscription to the service. However, there’s still the question of where fans can pick up the manga following the second season. Interestingly, there’s an easy answer to that as well.
Fans can begin reading the manga from chapter 86 ahead of One Punch Man season 3’s premiere
Fans can start reading manga from around chapters 85-86 to get in line with the upcoming season. With the aforementioned ambiguity behind the official release date and timing for One Punch Man season 3, it’s unsurprising that many fans are interested in picking up the series’ manga. Thankfully, this transition is much easier than it can be for other series, which are known for rearranging events to better fit a television narrative.
Likewise, the adaptive practices of the series’ first two seasons were also schematic, making them very easy to explain. The series’ first season covered the first seven volumes of the printed manga series, which is the equivalent of the series’ first 37 chapters. The second season, meanwhile, covered up to chapter 85 of the manga series, which brings fans to the very beginning of the series’ 17th volume.
In other words, fans wanting to start the manga series from what One Punch Man season 3 will adapt can begin by reading chapter 86. As mentioned above, the most accessible and cost-friendly way to read the series from this point on is via the Shonen Jump+ app. This Shueisha service will give fans access to the entire series in digital form for a very low monthly price, especially relative to what a paper volume would cost.
However, some fans may instead prefer to spend the extra money on a printed compilation volume for various reasons. Some prefer to actually read physical versions, while others enjoy the collection aspect of buying a series’ manga volumes. The advent of omnibus volumes for certain series has also made starting a manga collection more cost-friendly and accessible.
For fans looking to buy printed compilation volumes for the series, major retailers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and more will all offer various volumes of the series. Fans can also likely find second-hand volumes off of auction sites such as eBay and at local garage sales, conventions, and other similar events. With the One Punch Man season 3 source material being relatively old in manga format, such purchasing options are extremely viable.
Be sure to keep up with all anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2023 progresses.