A new month means a new illustration for One-Punch Man Season 3. The anime's Hero Visual Project continued this week with J.C. Staff sharing an illustration of Atomic Samurai.
A swordmaster and a member of the Council of Swordmasters, Atomic Samurai (also known as Kamikaze) is a member of the Hero Association and is recognized as one of its most powerful heroes. Considered Earth's strongest swordsman, Atomic Samurai has immense speed and reflexes, powerful strength, and enhanced durability.
The illustration was done by Season 3 character designer Ryosuke Shirokawa (SPY x FAMILY key animator) and shared on the series' official X/Twitter account. Check it out below!
Atomic Samurai is the seventh illustration to be released as part of the Hero Visual Project. Prior to the Rank 3 S-Rank hero, J.C. Staff revealed an illustration for Tatsumaki, also known as Terrible Tornado, by Shinjiro Kuroda. Other artwork has been released for Silver Fang (aka Bang), Fubuki (Hellish Blizzard), Genos, and King.
Sadly, we still don't have a premiere date for One-Punch Man Season 3. Many were hoping the anime series would return this year, but with many shows already announcing their October premiere date and nothing with One-Punch Man yet, it seems that we may have to wait until 2025 for Season 3.
One-Punch Man Season 3 is in production at J.C. Staff, the same studio that produced the second season of the anime series. J.C. Staff took over for studio Madhouse following the first season. The latest season was announced in August 2022, meaning J.C. Staff has been working on it for about two years now. A teaser trailer for Season 3 was shared six months ago.
An adaptation of the popular manga written by ONE and illustrated by Yusuke Murata, which itself is based on the original webcomic by ONE, the One-Punch Man anime series first debuted in Japan in 2015. A second season followed in 2019, and it's been five years since.
The series tells the story of Saitama, a superhero who can defeat any opponent with a single punch — an ability so powerful he grows bored from the lack of challenge. For those interested in reading the manga, it's licensed by Viz Media in the United States. The synopsis reads:
Saitama looks like an average guy, but his problem is anything but average. After training hard enough for all his hair to fall out, he's become so overwhelmingly powerful that no villain can stop him. The thing is, Saitama just does the hero thing for fun. When every enemy goes down with a single punch, it turns out that overwhelming power can be kind of... boring.
We've still got our fingers crossed for a 2024 premiere for One-Punch Man Season 3, but 2025 is looking more and more likely at the moment.