There's a YouTuber I will not name who wails and weeps over nearly every change they see the manga make to the webcomic. And one of the things they've been flipping their pancake over is the fact that Suiryu stopped wearing a bodysuit -- where was the loss of control and all that'd follow from it? Well, if there's a change it's usually because they've come up with something else.

The truth of the body suits is far more brutal than something that merely enhances your movements or even takes over them at times. Oh no, this is much more 'Reality Ensues' and is why powered body armour is still more in the realm of sci-fi than reality: it will maim or kill you.

I would never presume to diagnose a seizure type from a manga panel but that really isn't good. And this is from an incremental software upgrade.

It is frighteningly easy for machine power to outstrip the ability of a person to respond to its cues, much less control it. On the face of it, 'that man's' gloat about continual improvement would seem to have very little runway before it hits the buffers of human limitations.

With what people, one wants to ask.

So, how is that man going to fix his recruits? Are they all going to get some kind of evil nootropic cocktail that makes them 'smarter and faster-thinking' at a terrible price? Or maybe brain cybernetics to go with the suits that only need to work for long enough, will they or nil they, at least until he's gotten what he wants out of them?

This is going to get wicked, don't you think? What new (and old) evils do you think we have to look forward to?

These updates are likely to form a single chapter. Chapter 241 may well be its conclusion but I have enough to say that I may as well get on with it.

Summary: Aftermath

This summary is brought to you by the word 'segue'.

After weeks of saturation advertising, the Neo Heroes introduced themselves to the world yesterday, and the pro-heroes helped their debut by having a torrid time of things between being attacked by monsters just before neo-heroes swooped in to help and having a tough time dealing with four of the five dragon-level monsters that rampaged, one being so disrespectful as to attack the Hero Association headquarters. It hasn't gone all the Neo Heroes' way, mind: two of their leaders have been mortally wounded and one has absconded in response to being asked to carry out orders he found unjust.

It's today and it's time to take stock. Over at the Hero Association, we find Tatsumaki being told that Otento -- the leader of an organisation systematically abducting and drugging babies to make artificial psychics -- is out for her blood. Since she has a score to settle with them, she hardly needs prompting to go off on a mission of revenge um, do-gooding.

She's on it.

Elsewhere in the same building, Flashy Flash is being asked to take care of a group of ninjas known as the Dark Ones who've left a bloodstained challenge letter on one of the executive's desk. He assures them that it'll take him no time to finish these population-culling fiends off, and tells the officials that if they've time to worry about useless things, they'd best use it to worry about improving themselves. The HA's problems lay with its executives, not its heroes. Neo Heroes did a fine job organising people, providing low-grade heroes with crude battlesuits that enabled them to defeat low-level monsters while staying out of the way of S-Class heroes like himself.

How soon will he come to eat his words? With what sauce will they be served?

We segue to an office in the Neo Hero HQ, where a shadowed man is seated behind a desk. Erimin and Destro are standing behind him. They've been listening to a report from a much-bandaged and heavily-sweating McCoy, who is telling them of HA activities over a hologram. As he finishes recounting Flashy Flash's words, Erimin suggests releasing some information about Flash's assassin activities to stir up a scandal, but the seated man demurs, noting that everything is going smoothly so far.

Never interrupt your enemy when they're making a mistake. Even if you're having to listen to them boast and are itching to take them down a few pegs.

Turning back to McCoy, the man asks for an update on the other S-Class heroes. Well, says McCoy, some have withdrawn to train: Pig God is bulking up in the basement of the HA and Atomic Samurai has taken his disciples off on a multi-week training journey.

Some are incommunicado: Metal Knight appears to be sulking, possibly over control of his guard robots. King has ignored all calls, probably because he's off fighting some dread monster (actually, he's trying to exercise at last). Zombieman has dropped off the face of the earth, which is unusual for him -- maybe he's in trouble and would reward rescue with defection to the Neo Heroes (actually, he too is training. And yes, it looks like he's in trouble).

Some heroes are indeed working: Drive Knight is doing his solo monster exterminations at his own pace and Watchdogman is only concerned with City Q that he does his usual impeccable job of protecting. Puri Puri Prisoner is cooperating with the HA in training up hand-picked prisoners to work as heroes. We get to see that that's not going very well.

And some are recovering: Tank Top Master is hospitalised due to smoke inhalation, and Genos has gone for repair. On this last one, we see that Saitama came out to see Genos in the field and asks him to tell Dr Kuseno to come by for hotpot again, as long as he brought meat.

The four states of Class S: retraining, recovering, ignoring the HA (for reasons), and doing their usual duty.

Now that McCoy has finished his report, the man is silent. The silence stretches out awkwardly, prompting McCoy to go, 'Sir?', but the man only smiles to himself.

While we wait for his answer, let's cut to a training room at the Neo Heroes. Darkshine is trying to motivate his guys with a sparring session, urging them to come at him. If Puri Puri considered his lot half-hearted, he'd revise his assessment positively on seeing how utterly uninterested this lot was. Little wonder when it's the body armour that does all the heavy lifting. Just then, there's a ping to their wristwatches, informing them that an upgrade has been completed. A couple of them wonder what it means before dismissing it as likely of little consequence. Well, the guy who'd been doing most of the talking goes, it's time for him to try something. He rushes at Coach Darkshine intending to try hitting him, but as he swings, the armour activates with such power that it causes him to somersault and slam headfirst into the ground some distance away. The other recruits are confused and horrified. Darkshine picks up the stricken man; he is unconscious and appears to be having a seizure. Not good.

Any way you look at it, this man needs urgent medical attention. God help him.

Anyway, back in his office, the man is ready to give his verdict. And it is a self-congratulatory one: while the S-Class heroes' struggles caused mass consternation (said over panels depicting the ruins of City P and the ongoing decontamination efforts in City N [1]), their strategy of data collection and analysis and continual upgrades meant that they continuously improved without need to rest, reset, or retrain. In time, they'd surely rival the gods. Their greatest asset was time, which the S-Class heroes, looking down on them as they did, were generously allowing them to have. McCoy agrees with that assessment. As he looks at a news story on Blue that breathlessly praises the latter's defeat of a dragon-level monster, he thinks to himself that he has made the right choice in joining Neo Heroes.

Manpower is weak. To progress, you need horsepower (and AI).

We segue to Sekingar giving a run down of the Neo Hero strategy to Badd and Isamu. Badd is understandably disgusted at the idea that instead of looking first to defeat a monster, they're only pretending to fight and gather data. He goes on to say that if their antics endanger Zenko there'll be hell to pay, and asks what they're supposed to tell all the people whose homes have been flattened or have been forced out by poison?

Badd's straightforward morality that cuts through all sophistry...

Sekingar is silent for a moment and then says that as he's a cyborg from a rival organisation, he's not yet been granted access to core databases, nevertheless, he's been able to trace financial irregularities to discover which other HA officials are on the take from Neo Heroes. It's not everything but it's a start.

...Sekingar's forensic analysis that follows oddities to their centre...

Isamu pipes up with his findings. He's been inspecting the carcass of Eel Dragon and has just found something interesting in its head -- a microchip. He reports that he thinks that this might have been a manufactured crisis. As the other two try to digest the implications of this, someone calls out to Isamu. 'What are you doing, Diabolical Emperor?' the voice asks. It belongs to Webigyaza, who approaches surrounded by a menacing aura. Isamu cuts the feed.

...and Isamu's technical wizardry make for a formidable team.

We cut to Infelsinave and Zaedats, who are once again up on their feet despite the crushing (literally in Zaedats's case) defeats they suffered the day before. Their followers and syncophants praise them for their resilience and fighting prowess. Metal Bat stands back a bit from the fawning crowd. Sekingar signs off, telling him to be careful. A approaches Metal Bat and comments that it's a good thing those two are alive. As Badd says nothing, he continues, saying that those two were valuable as sources of manpower and funds. It'd be a shame if they died so he's glad their surgeries went so well. As he looks at the lifeless expressions on both mens' faces, Badd thinks to himself that this place is truly rotten.

You don't need an IQ of 240 to see that something's deeply wrong here.

That's where we are! We find out soon enough if we'll continue or move on. But for now, let us META!

Meta: The plots, how they do thicken!

A mountain is worn down one drop at a time

Little by little, Saitama is changing. In an earlier chapter, I loved seeing that Saitama had finally taken someone's advice and had gone out of his way to buy proper food for Overgrown Rover and Monkey when he returned after Machine God Mirror had caused a ruckus. I'm super glad to see that we find out where he went -- to City T, to make sure that Genos was okay. He may not remember the Ominous Future but he's no longer the guy who waves off his concern about Genos. As ever, he respects Genos enough not to interfere with his recovery procedures [2]. I love noting that unlike Cities N and P, City T is just fine; Genos may feel inadequate but he did good. This is one city whose citizens won't need an explanation. I still trust Saitama's judgement of people and the fact that he's keen to see Dr. Kuseno again is an endorsement in my mind. Unfortunately for Saitama, Dr. Kuseno won't be taking up the offer -- coming to the monster-infested City Z is one thing -- but stepping into a rival mad engineer's territory is a risk too far.

Saitama looking forward to seeing someone again is all but unheard of. Only King has gotten such treatment. I hope it means he sees something others don't. Also, the new body recovery drone isn't as whimsical as the first one we saw but it is sleek, and I'm sure it's just as heavily armed.

Keen spots

- I wish I could take credit for this one, but u/Ferdz0 spotted that the HA officials on Neo's payroll were the same that briefed Tatsumaki and Flashy Flash on their wild goose chases. I would love to say that that's too on-the-nose and a clever bribed guy would pick a fall guy to do the briefing but alas, it's a bit too close to real life.

- Speaking of journeys, I'm mildly hopeful that we'll get some chapters on Atomic Samurai and disciples. Unlike the webcomic, they have a thing to find -- the Moon Blade -- and the reappearance of the sunken continent gives them something to check out. Not expecting anything soon, though. No prizes for guessing that Tsukoyomi is the name of Otento's organisation. With Apollo having declared war on Tatsumaki, I'm also reasonably sure we'll get something in the manga on their conflict. Again, I'm not holding my breath.

Side quest accepted in Atomic's case and a personal score to settle in Tsukoyomi's -- I look forward to seeing updates on these! Also, Apollo, try to stop sounding like a member of Team Rocket.

- No prizes for noticing discrepancies in Webigyaza's collar. Murata draws pages out of sequence and these sorts of things sneak in. When he used to stream, streamers would often catch these and let him know. As it is, he'll probably fix it next update. Or come volume compilation time. Or never.

Depilated

I knew the S-Class was badly hit but today, only Puri Puri Prisoner is available to answer any calls for an S-Class hero. The other heroes around, Drive Knight and Watchdogman, move to their own beat. Genos will be back in a day or two and Tank Top Master probably within the week but this is bad. Garou can't sign on soon enough! It's little wonder the public is concerned. Like a peacock deprived of its train, the 'Shield of Man' [3] is looking a little tattered. Aside from the lack of powerful heroes, the failure of the HA to work out a way to use their heroes better is leaving serious gaps open for other actors. Speaking of which...

I love self-efficacy

Much to some readers' dismay, ONE and Murata don't let things that used to be revelations sta them but bring them in earlier so as to move the story on [4]. The question is not: are the Neo Heroes good or bad? Like many real-world evil organisations, you don't have to be a genius to be concerned about their activities, but they stay just about legal (at least for now), leverage valid public concerns, and are well-resourced enough to get a simple yet compelling message out that beguiles the public and leaves authorities reluctant to act against them. The question is: what are you going to do about it?

Quite a bit. Garou, in setting out his stand on why he'd be the Human Monster, noted that heroes only react to incidents instead of being proactive. From the first manga-only chapter (chapter 20), it's been clear that the HA hasn't only been sitting around waiting for something to happen. Seeing how Sekingar, Badd, and Isamu are using their respective skills to investigate the Neo Heroes does my soul good. Sekingar is using his corporate savvy and analytical mind to relate the Neo Hero on-the-ground tactics to their overarching strategic goals. Metal Bat is using his keen moral compass and outstanding perceptiveness to suss out who the movers of this operation are. And Wild Emperor is using his technical know-how to dig to the smoking gun. Furthermore, they're actively pooling intelligence and watching each others' backs, thus making excellent progress.

The second of the chapters sees us watching them each begin to appreciate just how rotten, and how well prepared, the Neo Heroes really are. What will they do next? Do they act on what they know now or do they gather more information? How are they going to get this back to Sicchi and what, if any, actions will the HA be able to take?

I love how it comes full circle: finally, Sekingar is in a position to do something pro-active, which the HA has been trying and failing to do for ages.

I love too that the Neo Heroes are no fools. They've been cautious in what they're allowing Sekingar to access. It's clear that the Neo Leaders have varying levels of access to the truth of Neo Heroes -- someone like Darkshine is completely oblivious, A is 100% on board and the others are somewhere in between. When we see A talk to Metal Bat about Infelsinave and Zaedats he's as much sounding him out to gauge how receptive he is to the Neo Hero predatory ways as he is conveying information. Webigyaza has made it clear that she knows what Isamu is up to. If she's inclined to be hostile, she could blow their little operation clean out of the water. We have to wait and see what her true intentions are.

What's behind that lopsided smile?

Something fell into place for me and it's ugly

Once upon a time, a few weeks ago in their universe, a few years ago in ours, Flashy Flash mocked Gale Wind and Hellfire Flame for wasting their times on getting faster without improving their minds. This chapter viciously returns to that question, showing us that regular people can't keep up with the increases in speed and power of even minor improvements of the body armour performance, with life-threatening impacts. This would seem to be a real problem for the Neo Hero leader's plans for incremental improvement but I'm sure he has some nefarious plan to deal with that impediment.

Like a ship without a pilot (cybernetes in Greek), power is wasted on the slow.

However, it's answered a question I've long had: why is Genos as clever as he is? Yes, he can be foolish, and as someone who doesn't develop his own gear and who believes just as passionately as any bruiser in giving violence a chance, there's no call in a character like him to be as incisive or as capable of rapidly analysing huge amounts of information to come up with deductions and hypotheses as he is. Now, I realise that I've been looking at it wrong. Put bluntly, there's no point in trying to fit out a person as a combat cyborg with someone who isn't extremely quick on the uptake -- they'll just die. Much less to put them through an intensive upgrading program that requires them to learn brand-new capabilities in a matter of minutes [5]. The person who became Genos isn't interchangeable with just anyone -- he gets to be the Cyborg for Justice because of his brains -- Dr. Kuseno needed an exceptional mind to drive that body. And that's really ugly any way you look at it [6].

Bleh, that got dark. I'm sure this arc will get much darker but before then, a palate cleanser. Have a free Rover!

https://preview.redd.it/ople1d15k8th1.png?width=427&format=png&auto=webp&s=17d7831d5e50a21675dfa448d6957e88a0086d53

Asides

[1] I love the world-building shown in the decontamination efforts in City N.

[2] The essential difference between fanwork and original work. ONE is constrained by needing to tell a coherent story: it would say something about Saitama if he just went ahead and laid hands on Genos without the latter's explicit permission to do so, something he'd have to take account of and work into the story. Fan works have no such restrictions! Please be sure to exploit it and enjoy! :D

[3] That's how Sekingar referred to the support team back in chapter 93 (95 in Viz).

[4] 'It's been revealed too soon!/No subtlety!' and complaints of that ilk are things you hear often but ONE has been letting cats out of the bag early since 2012 and he uses 'early' (and just who are you to judge what's early?) reveals as springboards for developing the story. No apologies.

[5] There's the hellish three-day period between Chapters 75 and 93 where every day he'd been beaten down, hauled back to the lab, knocked out and woken up in a new, more powerful body he had to quickly make his own, only to return to battle even crazier foes. I guess I should cut Genos some slack for dreading yet another cycle.

[6] Well, well, well. From 10 years ago, one of my earliest (and least popular) Reddit posts asking whether Dr Kuseno was a good person: https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePunchMan/comments/5z192i/is_dr_kuseno_a_good_person/ He has a lot to answer for, even if he's ultimately exonerated of wrong doing.

Sources

Fan translation for 239 and 240: https://weebcentral.com/chapters/01M3DMAMVEFTQ7309CVAHN8YP8

Fan translation for earlier chapters: https://cubari.moe/read/gist/cmF3L2Vub3RoaW5nODM2LWNlbGwvT25lLXB1bmNoLW1hbi1jaGFwdGVyLXRyYW5zbGF0ZWQvbWFpbi9PbmUlMjBwdW5jaCUyMG1hbi5qc29u/

Viz: https://www.viz.com/shonenjump/one-punch-man-chapter-238/chapter/51615?action=read (use VPN to access if outside North America, UK/IE, or Australia)

When you see this old post and remember that you were there when the original was posted:

https://preview.redd.it/mkgojrdh1yqh1.png?width=834&format=png&auto=webp&s=72c95f5ec6235530737c125ae0055c0a29fda979

I've been in this fandom ten years now. And I remember how exciting it was when the instalments went from 15-20 pages to 30, then 40, and then additionally started to arrive fortnightly instead of three-ish to fiveish weeks apart.

Ah well, I have little use for nostalgia. I could do with longer updates arriving once again. However, I'd rather Murata draws at a pace he can manage. Seems like there's a lot going on that we don't know about. What I'd rather see is that the editors let him off the strict deliver-something-every-other week thing so he gets some of that old flexibility back.

Posted with the kind permission of @/x1lema (remove the slash to check them out on Tumblr).

To be sure, this is a message she's still resisting.

THAT. IS. IT. The opposite of the nonsense of self-reliance-at-all-costs is not total haplessness: it's recognising that others are willing to help you and being willing to embrace it. And offering to help others in turn.

Source: https://www.tumblr.com/x1lema/827655511627464704/saitama-61

I am mildly interested in seeing how he negotiates the problem that completing the OPM webcomic is likely to take a big bite out of the OPM manga audience, especially the part that's willing to pay for the story.

Not everyone who reads the manga does the webcomic, but almost every webcomic reader does read the manga and goodness knows they love to spoil the story.

I wonder how he plans to mitigate this problem.

I am so looking forward to what's coming next in the manga. I don't know what exactly what that is, but one of them is going to be the development of Metal Bat (aka Badd) from an angry man with a bat to something more.

1. We have Badd's friendly enemy relationship with Garou, which straight out doesn't exist in the webcomic. Yes, I'm positive that they'll end up allies eventually but right now they'd rather butt heads (and beat up anyone who tries to get between them). Additionally, given that Garou is going to be a Class S hero, being high up in rival organisations is going to make things super interesting!
2. We have Badd's growing relationship with his unofficial mentor/missing father figure/boss Sekingar, which again doesn't exist in the webcomic. How is a straight-talking, nearly transparent guy like Badd going to do his job as Sekingar's bodyguard while they spy on the Neo Heroes? How is that relationship going to evolve, especially once Badd realises that Sekingar is only human too?
3. We actually see how Badd and his sister relate and Zenko is a character in her own right. How is that going to develop?
4. Ryumon is definitely villainous and he and Badd are totally going to butt heads. When and what are they going to fight about? How? How is that going to change them both?
5. When and how are Pineapple and Mohican going to seek Badd out? How is that changing all three?
6. Oh yes, and Badd has seen something fishy about those body guards. How's that cookie going to crumble? >!Erimin and Destro aren't going to be able to just disappear Badd without Isamu and Sekingar noticing, the way they were able to in the webcomic. These guys are here as a unit.!<

There's a lot more delicious story to come and I really do want to see Badd become a well-rounded character who changes and and is changed by those around him. He's a decent sort of guy and I'm glad to see the development opportunities being put in place.

Of course, ONE gives nothing for free. Expect some pain.

Fight me or add your own, I don't care.

I think ONE and Murata missed a trick in not making Tatsumaki an achondroplastic dwarf, i.e., her chibi self would be her real form.

https://preview.redd.it/hry9m01h3knh1.png?width=198&format=png&auto=webp&s=5dc4e9b39e458fb5271b0a812dea5185c5d09274

Relatively large head, slightly short torso, short limbs, that's the look right there. A lot of things would work well too: her preference for floating whenever possible -- achondroplastic limbs are very prone to arthritis. Not to mention, she already has an axe to grind with people who look down on her (literally and metaphorically), and she already has a berserk button if you call her midget. So literally, nothing needs to change!

But what about her goddess form? No problem! When she's serious, that'll be how her enemies see her, just as the way people see Saitama changes drastically when he's serious.

King. I think there's a missed opportunity in that he should have a corneal scar from being slashed across the face by that monster. Not enough to erase all vision in that eye, and certainly not enough to make him a worse video game player, but enough to change how the eye looks slightly and mean that he has slightly blurry vision in that eye. It'll all add to his 'King' mystique: after all, people talk about his 'King' eye that sees all. I'd also add that his ophthalmologist is after him to come for a corneal graft but so far, he keeps chickening out.

I'm sure you can see the vision too!

Some of Flashy Flash's scars should come from his cutting himself in secret. Those ones he doesn't talk about.

Over to you!

SUMMARY: The Spar

Well, what do you want me to call it? A fight? That's an insult to the term. The pair, Garou and Suiryu, are not exactly shrieking for joy like boys unexpectedly let out of class for an early recess but that they're enjoying testing each other out is evident in every punch and leg sweep they hurl at each other. I am going to leave a blow-by-blow description for those who enjoy describing bouts. I think Shinya's envious thoughts as he watches them suffices: being strong looks like fun and it seems as if they're having a conversation via their fists.

Finally, they try to take each other out with a massive right straight that in each case blows anything loose up. Just sidestepping each others' blow, Suiryu ends things by asking Garou if he knew Saitama.

https://preview.redd.it/qk3ilb0wn4nh1.png?width=489&format=png&auto=webp&s=4aa33f151287ba0d04490779121fe092cd1a8dca

Next chapter (installment) carries on exactly where we leave off. They part and Garou asks Suiryu what the hell he meant. Did he mean that he, Garou, was copying Saitama? Suiryu triumphantly remarks that yup, he knew that Garou had to have known who Saitama was after all. That makes Garou think a moment: actually, what he'd been trying to do was to replicate the crazy punch that had laid him flat and had knocked out all the knowledge he'd acquired. Reminiscing a bit more, he finally understands who the shadowy figure that punched him must have been: Saitama. Naked but still unmistakable. Oh... he smiles but he's not about to give Suiryu the satisfaction of being right.

It all makes sense now: of course the weird baldy would be behind it all.

In typical Garou fashion, he starts telling Suiryu that expecting him to copy Saitama was stupid when behind him, a rapidly-healing Hellmon starts to pounce. It doesn't get very far as Bang chops it in half. Garou is less than impressed to find that the old man has followed him and tries to shoo him away on the pretext that he's still on the clock while the other spectators gawk at him.

https://preview.redd.it/9qpv1fx6o4nh1.png?width=420&format=png&auto=webp&s=79468da3c75077ec26b6fcd1c35d969846dbb538

Bang, unperturbed, declares his joy at seeing how strong the young up-and-coming people are and tells Suiryu that he must be a credit to his departed grandfather (pouring hot coals on someone's head much, Bang?). With that, he can retire happily. Suiryu may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer but he picks up on the subtext of Bang's words and asks if that means Garou is going to become a hero. Indeed, the old man says, beaming with pride. The official announcement of the second Silver Fang will come soon. Suiryu and Shinya are most impressed while the team leader asks if that means Garou is quitting.

https://preview.redd.it/x9pjadknn4nh1.png?width=991&format=png&auto=webp&s=e140730c019f540161634aed9228a32589425de3

Garou is still openly ambivalent about it: on the one hand, the way he stands proudly when introduced as a future S-Class hero speaks to its desireability, on the other hand, 'Silver Fang the Second' doesn't sit right with him. He thinks that everyone's hero-obsessed and really a bit crazy, but once again, he doesn't get to finish digging his grave with his mouth as the tail of the monster sprouts legs and a big eye and scuttles off.

Bang, Suiryu, and Garou watch it go before deciding that it's too potentially dangerous to leave to heal and give chase. Shinya enviously watches them go, when Garou turns back to ask him, Mad Devil Yankee, to come give them a hand. After a moment's hesitation, he asks his boss for permission and promises to make it up to him later before legging it. The poor man is left to yell after them that there's no way that he can finish deliveries by himself.

You just can't get the help nowadays.

Some time later, presumably the next day, an unidentified man who looks a lot like the one who gave Suiryu his marching orders knocks on the door to a now-uninhabited dwelling. He finds a letter. It's from Suiryu, who is declaring that he's quitting the Neo Heroes and will work elsewhere to repay his debts.

Yay!

That's the end of that. Shall we do some meta? Grab some tea, this is going to be long.

META: Changing of the Guard

Part 1 -- Small bits

Took the moron long enough I'm glad that Suiryu has finally put on his thinking cap and realised that while the Neo Heroes might be able to demand that he pay for the battle suit he broke, they can't oblige him to work for them. As I thought, indentured servitude is not a thing here. If Suiryu were a little smarter, he'd spend a little of his winnings on a lawyer to sharpen the Neo Heroes' mind on exactly how much he owes and what terms he needs to repay on. I suspect that they'd be happy to settle for much less than the headline figure rather than have to defend the valuation in court, along with all of their other business they don't want to see light of day.

I suppose when all you can think of is fighting things or running away with them, taking legal counsel just doesn't occur to one.

HERO NAME It means so much that Garou called out to Shinya by his hero name. It's the way heroes refer to each other and refusing to use it with another hero is a serious faux pas, as Metal Knight tells Genos. In this, Garou is saying that both of them should consider each other heroes, even if reality doesn't reflect it yet.

We'll get there, that's a promise.

Kill it when you get the chance When it comes to monsters, today's tiddler you spare is tomorrow's nightmare. Monsters do have a terrible habit of being able to adapt and grow, even explosively, to severe life-threatening stress. Ridiculous as Hellmon looked scuttling away as a one-eyed leggy tail, not ensuring it was all the way dead would have been a terrible mistake. When you see the terrible, often-over-the-top violence heroes visit on monsters, this is why.

This was once a wolf-level monster that had no animus towards people.

Part 2 -- The big bit

Let's start with this: if you have been cursed by the webcomic, sucks to be you. The manga may be closely related but it's a sister, not a twin, and it goes its own way. It's fine if you haven't space for both sisters, but pick one instead on harping on what the other isn't.

Anyway.

It's not that we weren't warned. Way back in chapter 170, the epilogue of the Monster Association arc, when Bang handed in his resignation, he had a plan to introduce Garou as his successor, a plan Sicchi was 100% on board with. I'm not sure how much time has passed since then but it's been at least a few weeks. So, it's coming. The day when the rebel at the gates is ushered into the palace, the day the anarchist dons a police officer's uniform, it's coming with all the troubles and outrages it will cause.

Games Management Play If you think about it a moment, it's a bit surprising that there's no Hero Union. Despite all the HA's money and recruitment efforts, it's not been able to maintain a roster of over 600 heroes, which means that every hero, even the lowliest C-Class hero, is an exceptional and hard-to-replace individual. If they worked together, they'd have a lot of leverage to get better pay and conditions. It's obscene that the executives have extensive liquor cabinets the prioritise over human safety while even B-Class heroes are glad for sales on vegetables.

The have-more-than-enoughs and the barely-haves.

It takes more than one read through to get it, but the executives are very good at keeping heroes looking at each other as competitors rather than collaborators. The very points-based ranking system they have set up (see a (write up) [https://www.tumblr.com/gofancyninjaworld/633522017196539904/underappreciated-themes-in-opm-1-the-curse-of] on it I did earlier) does a lot of the work. However, we also watch executives intervene in ways that sow discord and yet are plausibly deniable, like Jinzuren telling Snek that he'd soon be calling Saitama 'sir', knowing how insecure the man was. We also see another one mention that the truth of the cheating rumours surrounding Saitama would soon be tested by being in Class B. All his colleagues know that he's referring to the Fubuki group but she is never mentioned by name (and at the time, she means nothing to the new reader or viewer).

Keeping heroes at each others' throats isn't a natural outcome: it's engineered.

However, this isn't a standard rant about inequality or skulduggery: there is a genuine need for the HA executives to consider the wider strategic goals of the Hero Association that may not necessarily be in the best interests of individual heroes. The Hero Association's mission is 'Anti Disaster Measures'. They do a lot more than dispatch heroes to fight monsters. Rescuing people from natural disasters and working to rebuild towns and cities affected by disasters natural or otherwise is part of it. Trying to understand why people have started turning into monsters and what can be done about it is another. Working out what to do about the 'God' being that apparently has it in for humanity is still another. And it's all got to happen off voluntary (read: fickle and emotion-led) donations. So there's always going to be a tension between what the HA does and what the heroes might want. Sicchi is fully aware that appointing Garou a Class S hero will provoke a severe backlash from the many heroes who suffered at his hands. And yet, whatever pain the injustice of this causes it's worth it to him to acquire a powerful talent such as Garou.

Can't make an omelette without breaking a few crates of eggs.

That said...

There's a saying in politics that a week is a long time. Back when the plan was hatched, the Hero Association was the only game in town, and any offended heroes were going to have to make their peace with Garou if they wanted to stay heroes. Such a pity that since then another organisation has opened up and is offering better pay and conditions as well as genuine cooperation. The loss of heroes could be far more severe than the HA has budgeted.

Yes, I've noticed the irony of one of the chief shit-stirrers being the one to talk about the superior organisation and coherence of the Neo Heroes.

Joy is Part of Us I know it grinds the gears of many readers that Garou can appear so happy and hopeful. I think, why should he not be happy? If being accepted and supported by a loved mentor after being rejected by even your parents, and being given a legal path to make good and become a citizen in good standing is not a reason for Celebrating in the Now, what is? The idea that a character shouldn't express joy until their problems are all solved is a notion that can miss me. We laugh, even when we're homeless and in the throes of drug addiction. We cry, even with a million dollars in the bank. Our emotions aren't strictly tied to our circumstances and it's more realistic that we do find joy in hard times too.

Dude, it's going to be a long time before you grow to fill those shoes. Or make your own shoes.

I'm so glad that Garou can show joy now. Because when times get tough again, which they will, he has a reference to work back to. He can remember that he felt happy when he felt that he was contributing positively and work towards that. He's going to remember his parents and how they still want nothing to do with him. He's going to be told that he's gotten away with murder. He's going to be told that he is just benefiting from nepotism. He's going to have to confront his own values and resolve the hypocrisy of accepting what he'd once stood against. He's going to find out first hand just how difficult hero work is. With this and more, having a reference of joy is going to help him.

I'm going to enjoy Garou being forced to decide which words to eat.

How Soon? I don't think that the announcement is going to be made next chapter: after all, it's a big story and ONE likes to flit from place to place before winding back. But it will come with all the drama and ugliness involved. If other character arcs are anything to go by, we'll be another 100 chapters in to see real change.

Boy howdy is this shit going to get ugly.

Addendum: The Slapped Chronicles

Over on Tumblr, I got a very thought-provoking series of asks from someone outraged about Garou's impending appointment an it's implications. I won't reproduce them here, but I'll link them for interest.

Part 1 https://www.tumblr.com/gofancyninjaworld/826218576336896000/what-a-slap-in-the-face-to-every-hard-working

Part 2 https://www.tumblr.com/gofancyninjaworld/826291487319998465/slap-in-the-face-anon-here-are-we-actually

Part 3 https://www.tumblr.com/gofancyninjaworld/826449750303932416/slap-again-im-adopting-the-nickname-i

and Part 4 (final). https://www.tumblr.com/gofancyninjaworld/826649233046306816/slap-one-last-time-re-reading-your-breakdown-i

Hi lurkers!

The hell is this splinter place? Well, I used to be pretty active on r/onepunchman but I quit it after getting upset about the number of posts that got capriciously deleted and the unchecked homophobia there.

I'm very happy that the number of posts deleted is still in the single digits after three years.

You can reply to any post that's not locked. If you want to make your own post, just drop some modmail. One of us will get back to you sooner rather than later. Actually if you introduce yourself in this thread, I'll add you as an approved poster. Can't say fairer than that.

There are three important things to note

A: This place is unashamedly queer friendly. If that bothers you, look away.

B: No reposting others' artworks without their permission.

C: We're fond of variety (see below)

There are some things I'm not a fan of seeing here, but it's not because they're bad. They are good. It's because they tend to drown out everything else and I like there being space for other things:

1. Sai-Maki and Sai-Buki

2. Horny art of Tatsumaki or Fubuki (Psybuki more than welcome)

3. Go easy on the powerscaling. I fucking love fights but I'm less fond of the way the 'top trumps' way of looking at them tends to take over all else.

So, if you like what you see, say hi and have fun!

A talk off! Your favourite topic

Maximum enthusiasm, no time limit

And yes, props are permitted.

Winner decided by popular vote (or exhaustion of favourite topic).

This post is rated, 'How can one person contain so many bug facts?'/10

Introduction: The Bildungsroman vs. the Salaryman

>"When Urasunday offered him [ONE] a chance to publish a new series, he decided to draw a manga about the two subjects he had been turning over in his mind, “psychic powers” and “adolescence”. He settled on having the protagonist be a character who was the opposite of Saitama: a child who falters and gets confused."

>-- Excerpt from Yamada Reiji’s Young Sunday ep.30, translated and summarised by u/Kawausokappa (https://www.reddit.com/r/Mobpsycho100/comments/8dbvyr/one_interview_summary/)

Sometimes, you can't help but change.

When we read the webcomic, there's a key expectation we have. Someone has (or is) a problem, they run into Saitama, and come to realise something about themselves. Whether it's delusions stripped, pride cast down, or discouragement uplifted, they see the truth, often with the aid of Saitama's fist. Whenever we next see them, which may be many chapters later, their outlooks and actions are different.

Garou realises that he's full of shit, and when next we see him, he's keeping his head down and trying to stay out of trouble despite the tribulations that come his way. Even sees the value of building up rather than tearing down. Amai Mask realises he can still be a hero despite his outward appearances, and the next time we see him,he's using his shapeshifting powers for good, and has even learned some humility.>!Genos has realised that the true secret to Saitama's strength is the human sense of wonder and it's changing him right now -- we hope this epiphany hasn't come too little too late.!<

Stimulus: Saitama. Response: Change. Saitama. Change. Stimulus. Response. And it works. You tell me that the webcomic is not fun and fulfilling to read, I'll fight you.

Ancient Greek playwrights codified (but did not invent) these devices as anagnoresis and peripeteia, literally the removal of ignorance and the change of circumstance. It may be older than the Bible, but it works like new money, especially in the hands of a writer as good as ONE.

Obviously, you have to want to change to change. However...

...there is just one problem: we don't change that way. It'd be lovely to imagine that realisation and the desire for change would lead to change. If that were true, lifestyle diseases would be mere medical curiosities, gym memberships would cost hundreds (as nearly everyone would attend), and addiction clinics would be bankrupt. More fundamentally, as adults, our personalities, self-views, and outlooks are pretty set, to say nothing of our habits, obligations, and distractions.

Mob Psycho 100 is a bildungsroman, a coming-of-age story. The joy of Mob Psycho 100 is that it's set in adolescence, precisely when people are making the transition from childhood to adulthood and are therefore questioning what they've been told and trying to decide who they want to become.

ONE sets out his thesis pretty early on: the first page of chapter 2.

(Edited to add stuff that should have been here, only I started falling asleep)

Even in this most permissive of situations, where the main character is naturally psychologically primed to change, personally wants to change, and understands that he has to change to have the life he wants, it legitimately takes Shigeo the whole length of the series, through precious experiences both good and bad, to develop to the extent that he can change in the way that he wants to. Not a single step could have been skipped.

They say a journey of a thousand miles starts with one step. They should also add that you can't skip any of those steps.

However, how do you change an adult? Someone who is, as ONE puts it, the opposite of an uncertain teenager? Saitama is the archetype: so set in his ways that he appears unchanging, but the other characters around him aren't that much more flexible. Saitama's case is probably most ironic, given that he's the guy who proclaims that people are strong because they can change themselves.

The guy most resistant to change ever. At least currently.

The webcomic's format doesn't lend itself to looking at the how characters change, but the manga does, and ONE has been happily digging in deeper.

I'm conscious of my tendency to run long, so I'm going to break this up into three parts. This is naturally, the first. The second will look at characters who appear to have changed in the manga (mostly, if not completely), and the last at some characters who are very much still works-in-progress.

SUMMARY

The story continues directly where 235 leaves off -- Garou is cutting the monster to bits as Bang, the movers, and Suiryu stare on astonished.

Good question, team leader. You'll find out soon enough!

The dying monster rallies and shoots a last blast at Garou, who dodges. Unfortunately, his moving crew aren't so lucky, and there's a crater where the truck and people were. A shaken Garou lands next to the hole, yelling for Shinya and the Team Leader in vain. He's on the verge of collapse, when a 'phew' said somewhere above him catches his attention. Incredibly, Suiryu had picked up truck and crew, kit and kaboodle, and transported them to the roof of the nearest building. He brings them back down safely, and asks Garou to agree that it'd been a good thing that he'd been there.

But you need to survive first.

Shinya and the crew boss ask Suiryu if he's a hero, which Suiryu says that he is but more of a hero in progress (oh, and if you could let any ladies know about him, that'd be nice). As he takes a selfie with Shinya, Garou asks why he's here. To spar, Suiryiu says, adding that he wants to understand the Hero Hunter's strength. This is news to the other movers who had had no idea why Garou was on probation. And what if I refused, Garou asks, to which Suiryu replies that the guy owes him for saving his crew. At this, Garou starts to crack his fingers, telling Suiryu not to complain because he sucks at holding back.

Crick-crack go the long hero-stabbing fingers.

Watching the two combatants limber up, Bang thinks that this will be a great opportunity to assess Suiryu's strength. On the ground, a hyped-up Shinya refuses to move away, intent on not missing a blow. The chapter ends as the two meet.

And they're off!

META

Little Things

I love seeing Shinya ask Suiryu for permission before taking a picture of his face. It's respectful and a good swipe at the current misbehaviour of so many who think they're entitled to film and photograph without permission.

Now why can't everyone do this?

Given that the monster has torn up the area, just who are they proposing to deliver boxes to? Wonder what happens when the homeowner can't take delivery of their possessions owing to losing their home? I'm sure that this is a known risk, does anyone know?

Learning to be a Hero is an Unforgiving Learning Curve

Never mind Suiryu fake modestly talking about still learning to be a hero (hey, then go back and check that your team is okay instead of indulging yourself), the speed with which the monster situation changed from one of easy triumph to tragedy was shocking and also par for the course in OPM. Things truly aren't over until they are: no matter how much in control of a situation you imagine you might be, some unexpected occurrence can turn everything upside down. Where a person's heroism comes into play is what your actions are then. Do you prioritise your well being or do you think first about who else might be affected and act to mitigate any effect the new developments might have on them?

They...they... were just there a moment ago...how did it come to this?

That's the thing Garou is having to learn pretty damn fast. Dodging out of the way of the monster's blast was totally second nature to him and something that's entirely understandable to do. The consequence of doing so without thinking... oof, if Suiryu hadn't been on hand, Garou would be broken with grief and self-recrimination. I'm very keen to see how this experience causes him to develop further. He might yet become a hero.

Messy in Heaven

Now, this is interesting -- Bang realises that Garou doesn't fully trust him and has been hiding his practice from him. But, but weren't they chatting happily just a few chapters ago? Yes, they were and what of it? Something a lot of readers are struggling with is the idea that when you see characters having a good time, being happy, or having breakthroughs that *doesn't mean that things are perfect for them.* It's just common sense, that's how we are: even when we're down and out, we will still find time and places to laugh, but I know that a lot of stories are written by people who don't get that and that people are reacting to those tropes.

Trust is earned and broken trust is even harder-earned.

Bang broke Garou's trust in a major way and yes, it's going to take a long time for that trust to be fully rebuilt. Come to that, things are going to be very awkward if Bang's sighted now. Stay hidden, old man!

Blown Cover

Pop quiz: What crime has Garou been convicted of committing? Dine-and-dashing. That's it. Don't believe me? Let's have a look at chapter 170. First, he was kept in custody at the Hero Association while they interrogated him. Then they decided not to press charges for whatever he did to the pro-heroes, so Bang went with him to the Police station to answer for his outstanding crimes. Which were dine-and-dashing. That's what he's doing rehabilitation work for. He's also had the sense not to blab about being the Hero Hunter from the looks of it.

Someone needs to tell Garou never to volunteer information. Especially not to the Police.

From the beginning, the Hero Association has wanted to keep this Hero Hunter thing under wraps. As Genos tells Charanko, they were concerned that it'd lead to unrest.

Something that will forever annoy me about Genos is that he's intelligent and good at ferreting out information but will do nothing with it unless it threatens to interfere with his discipleship. Or is about the Mad Cyborg. So narrow-minded!

Indeed, so under wraps have they kept it, that many of the various pro-heroes had no idea who Garou was until he was swinging a fist as their face. I can't resist posting the picture of Fubuki not recognising Garou as he walks past her, even though she'd just promised Saitama points for helping him nab him. As we say in the UK, she's such a blagger!

Back cover of volume 18. Fubuki selling hot air.

By not pressing charges against Garou, they've effectively kept the Hero Hunter incident under wraps and safe from public scrutiny and criticism. It also makes Garou's rehab a lot easier. Well, with Suiryu opening his big mouth, it's not so secret any more, and stories like this have a way of travelling. Shit could get complicated.

Gee, just announce it to the whole world, okay?

Traps for the Unwary

There's a lot that's going on here but YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO READ AND RETAIN INFORMATION to do that. Sorry for shouting, but I've heard enough puzzlement and nonsensical takes to last me a good while. Assuming you know what's going to come seems to actively cripple many people's capacity to follow the story written. That's not Murata's fault nor anyone else's but your own self. Please read what's in front of you.

Trap Number 1: Why is Suiryu not wearing body armour? He isn't because when he joined the Neo Heroes in the hopes of seducing Webigaza, he broke the body suit he was fitted with. As those cost five million Yen a piece, he's stuck in debt bondage to the Neo Heroes until he can pay it off. In the webcomic, he joined the Neo Heroes as a way to earn money easily and had no reason not to wear a body suit.

Suiryu in the webcomic joined the Neo Heroes for an easy life.

Suiryu in the manga is in debt bondage because he broke a suit.

Trap Number 2: But how is Mumen going to save Suiryu? Normally, I am dead against webcomic spoilers in manga work, but I am going to make an exception this time because of how egregious it is, and how loudly and widely webcomic-crippled readers have spread this. Okay, so you know the Superfight? Forget about it -- it never happened in the webcomic. Suiryu was never threatened by monsters, and no heroes needed to step forward to save him, so his attitude throughout the webcomic story was unmodified. Hero stuff was just an easy way to make money. At this point in the webcomic story, Suiryu doesn't even know who Saitama is. What changes is that the suit he is wearing starts controlling him and makes him attack Fubuki and Mumen Rider steps up to protect her and save Suiryu from the clutches of his suit, which he does at great cost to himself. Upon seeing that, Suiryu immediately repents and commits to being a true hero. That's why they're fretting about his needing to wear a suit, ignoring completely that he has already seen the light and is just struggling to walk towards it. Might he put a suit on later? Who knows, but see Trap Number 1: he has a very good reason in the manga not to.

Trap Number 3: Why are Suiryu and Garou fighting here? They're not: they're sparring. Why? Because Suiryu here knows that Garou is no criminal and disagrees with the order to bring him in. However, he's also a prideful martial artist keen to measure his skills against someone who gave the S-Class heroes a tough time, hence the clash. It's pure self-indulgence on Suiryu's part, that's all.

He just wants to be indulged here. He knows he's got no business hassling Garou.

Don't want to read the manga? Prefer to read the webcomic and assume you know what happens? Okay, but then don't come whine that your inability to follow a simple and clearly laid out story is someone's fault. Learn to read with comprehension!

Sources

Chapter 236: https://weebcentral.com/chapters/01KYR025VSQKMKRY1E4Q7AQG8Z

Viz Chapter 234 (same chapter, different numbering) : https://www.viz.com/shonenjump/one-punch-man-chapter-234/chapter/50927?action=read

While I'm going to be discussing Bang in the webcomic, most of what I'm going to say involves material already covered by the manga. I'll put spoilers in as appropriate.

Introduction

When it was all over but for the shouting, a defeated Garou faced a group of angry heroes, some intent on killing him. Like any reasonable person in a volatile and unsafe situation, he ran for it. What a reasonable person also does, once things cool off a bit, is to hand themselves into proper authority, like the the police. Sometimes though, we need a bit of persuasion that this is the better option than remaining at large and thus unable to defend ourselves against any charges. The story takes a major split between the manga and webcomic in that Bang helps Garou turn himself in in the manga but not in the webcomic.

I'm not here to talk about Garou today: right now, I'm here to examine the different ways in which Bang's character and choices have been developed between the two stories and consider whether there's room for Bang to act differently in the webcomic. It's mostly going to be done via pictures -- there's only so much typing I'm willing to do!

Hunting for the Hero Hunter: Pre-Monster Association Raid

Once Garou reappeared after having been expelled from the dojo six months earlier and caused a ruckus at the Hero Association, Bang took on the task of dealing with him, recruiting his brother Bomb in that mission. So far, so congruent.

Ch 46 (manga), Ch 51 (webcomic): Bang recruits Bomb to hunt down Garou.

In both versions, they keep missing Garou. The manga adds something to it: we get some conversations between Bomb and Bang in which the way Bang thinks of his disciple get more thoroughly explained. The concern that Bang has that Garou could become a monster for real drives a real sense of urgency to his search.

manga only: it would kill him if he had to put a monsterised Garou down.

Catching up with Garou

Eventually, they do meet the errant Garou. In both cases, he's facing off against Genos. Garou's pretty sure he has the upper hand in the webcomic, but Bang has to intervene sharpish in the manga to stop his disciple from being fried to a crisp.

Found you. Chapter 83 (manga), Chapter 53 (webcomic).

Either way, the old man wastes no time in beating the ever-living crap out of Garou. And in both stories, Phoenixman grabs Garou away just as the latter is making a desperate last stand with the help of a centipede to help him get away.

The next point of difference comes when the banged-up heroes make it back to Saitama's apartment. The early afternoon is pretty similar (yes, they're injured differently, and Fubuki has no actual reason to come over in the webcomic but those aren't major changes), but the events of the evening are really interesting.

manga only (chapter 90). Gold or gore... Armed both with high-value gifts and high explosives, the doctor does house calls and is prepared to fight for his boy if need be.

Yes, 'all' that happens (in the manga) is that Kuseno comes over to check on Genos and thank Saitama for taking good care of him, but to a dojo master, their import is non-trivial. Bang has known Genos since the guy's very first mission and the growth a few weeks has made to his competence and capabilities is huge. This boy has grown quick, all while under the tutelage of a guy who has only taught him how to scab free food, as far as Bang has seen.

Seeing Kuseno show up both with weapons and gifts, there are some questions that must occur to Bang. 1. Who cares to meet Garou where he is? You can be sure that Garou's parents have never set foot in Bang's dojo. 2. Who fights Garou's corner? and 3. What is Saitama doing differently to achieve the results he has?

This is the first time we see Bang humble himself and ask, sincerely, just what it is that he's been doing wrong when it comes to raising disciples. I have to admit, allowing stronger disciples to run roughshod over weaker ones sounds pretty rotten to me, but I digress.

manga only (chapter 91). Bang accepts that he needs to rethink how to approach disciples.

Saitama's answer does appear non-committal to the point of dismissive, but it's actually a wise one: tailor your actions to the person. We'll come back to that later.

The next place is also manga-only. Seeing the brainwashed 'monsters' that Do-S had controlled revert to their human selves once the monster is knocked out, the hope that swells in Bang's heart that there may be a way to reach Garou's heart is echoed by Fubuki.

manga only (chapter 117) No matter how a person looks, if they're still human inside, they're saveable. This might not be futile.

And... in the manga, Bang gets his dearest wish: to come face-to-face with Garou. It's quite the clash, but as the fight progresses, it becomes increasingly evident to Bomb, who is watching, that Bang's goal is not merely to beat Garou down but to reach him, reprising what Bomb did for him all those years ago. It goes further in this case. We see Bang acknowledge that he failed as a master. He neglected his students by going off and being a hero. He sees that his other disciples leaving after Garou beat them up was a consequence of his neglect, not Garou's waywardness. And he begs Garou to give him a chance to start afresh.

manga only (chapter 155) Committing to starting afresh. Which means an ongoing relationship.

Nothing like this happens in the webcomic: Bang spends most of the time pinned under a rock.

It's interesting to note that in both stories, Bomb has an ulterior motive for accompanying Bang. In the webcomic, he's so worried about Bang's bad temper that he's afraid that without being on hand, his brother might kill Garou. In the manga, he's worried that Bang is so enmeshed with Garou that he might get killed. In both stories, Bomb needn't have worried. As we see above, Bang had no intention of throwing his life away -- hard to teach from beyond the grave, after all. And in the webcomic... well, we'll come to that next.

In the webcomic, once Saitama defeats Garou, Bang regains consciousness and asks King to get him out from under it (Fubuki actually does it). He intervenes, stopping the bloodthirsty Amai Mask from 'executing justice' and asks to be the one to deal with Garou, whereupon he starts beating down on the boy, more in sorrow than in anger... until he stops, overcome with grief and self-pity.

webcomic-only (chapter 94). They finally meet again and Bang has plenty to say. This is the last time to date that they encounter each other.

There's no need for fists in the manga. Bang, instead, tells Garou not to despair and ask to die, but instead stand up and make good on his actions by helping people instead. He's already spoken with his fists, and there's no need to berate Garou further.

manga only (Chapter 167). Bang outlining what Garou should do differently.

The long tail of the future

Garou flees. Webcomic Bang has not sought him out -- if he has reasons for it, we're yet to hear them.

In the manga, as has been established, from the beginning, Bang wanted to save Garou from the fate of becoming a monster. He has reflected on what he did wrong, rather than solely blaming Garou for what happened, and seen that minimally, he failed to be present for his students. And he has seen how else he could deal with Garou in the examples of Saitama and Dr. Kuseno.

So, he seeks out Garou. Given how easy Garou was to find, he reflects that Garou may have been hoping that someone recognised that he needed help.

manga only (chapter 168). If that wasn't a cry for help, I don't know what was.

And after Garou is interrogated by the Hero Association, surprise, surprise, his parents don't want to know. Who fights Garou's corner? Bang steps up and assumes guardianship. Since the Hero Association decides that Garou doesn't pose an ongoing threat, they release him and decline to press assault charges (for reasons we won't get into here), meaning that all Garou has to answer for are dine-and-dashing charges. Bang goes with him to the Police Station to deal with that. He stands surety for ensuring that Garou follow through on his court-ordered rehabilitative work and restitution.

manga only (chapter 189). Redemption through sweat, that's the philosophy of the day.

I like that Bang has insisted that even though he's not being persecuted for assault, that Garou go and apologise in person to every hero he hunted. Given how many heroes that it, I guess Garou is going to be at it for a while. I hope we see some of it -- there's something about looking someone you wronged in the eye and acknowledging the harm you caused them that has an effect on you, even if you started out not meaning it.

Webcomic Bang also achieved his aim. It was: stop Garou's rampage. Saitama was the one to achieve it yes, but it ultimately happened.

In both stories, Bang has quit being a hero. As he said in the manga, he realised that he can't ride two horses at once (1), and he's chosen to dedicate himself to being a teacher. It's interesting to see that he has reached out to many of his former disciples, and if Sourface is anything to judge by, at least some have come back, trusting that he has changed.

Bang says something very similar in the webcomic (Chapter 111) but I want you to notice who he has behind him. It's hard to regain lost trust but it's not just Garou he's reaching out to.

In the webcomic, Atomic Samurai questions Bang on his decision to quit being a hero, asking if that was truly a good way to take responsibility. Bang says that he felt that it was his becoming a hero that provoked Garou into becoming as big a nuisance as he became, and feels that working with Bomb to train up youngsters is the way to do it.

webcomic only (chapter 107)

The more I look, the more it feels like Garou's absence has left a hole in Bang's life. Nowhere in the webcomic to date (chapter 160) do we see Bang consider that there might have been something wrong with the way he has handled his disciples in general and Garou specifically. Something else that I note is that he appears to be angry with the HA, telling Charanko to turn King away even though the HA has not done him wrong as far as we have seen. It's as if he's blaming them in part of his choices. In the manga, he's left the HA on much better terms.

webcomic only (chapter 110). Bang wants nothing to do with the HA any longer.

I feel that reuniting and reconciling with Garou would do him much good to heal him. He'd have to acknowledge that he does have shortcomings, and the task of providing some guidance to a very lost young man would give him a much-needed purpose in life. There's still space for Bang to reform.

C'mon ONE, let those two meet again!

Aside

(1) You can, if you're in a circus and doing so very briefly with two well-trained beasts that are in perfect sync with each other. Alas, life is not a circus.