Reddit user u/farmerrr_ recently shared a fantastic fan animation to the League of Legends subreddit that perfectly merges the worlds of League and popular anime One Punch Man. The animation itself is not a far cry from the content of League itself; after all, many of the champions possess abilities that would not be out of place in a shonen anime. In fact, champions like Yasuo–who is himself reminiscent of a shonen protagonist–sport abilities that allow them to almost instantly teleport to enemies’ locations. Unfortunately, in League, it’s almost always personal.
In the case of One Punch Man, the show attempts to deliberately sidestep some of these shonen tropes and in many cases winds up parodying them. This is often exemplified by the show’s protagonist, Saitama, who has grown so strong that he can defeat any enemy he comes across with one punch. This ability flies in the face of the majority of shonen animes, which even the most casual of fans know usually involve flashy, drawn-out fights that become increasingly absurd as the story reaches its conclusion. In One Punch Man, however, even confrontations that have been built up to for multiple episodes are almost always resolved in seconds.
The Reddit post, which u/farmerrr_ cites as being created by YouTuber “Violent Poro,” recreates a sparring match between Saitama and his protégée, Genos. In the original clip, Genos wishes to test himself against Saitama’s strength only to find himself hopelessly outclassed. At the fight’s conclusion, Saitama feigns a punch at Genos only to stop at the last moment, with the wind from his fist obliterating a mountain in the background. In the fan animation, the fight is recreated with Yasuo as Genos and one of League’s newer champions, Sett, as Saitama. The fight plays out much the same way, with Baron Nashor taking the place of the mountain at the end of the animation.
This animation hits the mark on several levels. As mentioned earlier, Yasuo is essentially the character that Genos would be in a traditional shonen anime. Secondly, Sett is unlike many other League champions in that he uses his fists instead of an actual weapon. Third, many League players have stated that they consider Sett to be overpowered, which makes his comparison to Saitama all the better. Finally, in the animation, Yasuo uses much of the same dialogue as Genos; particularly, in that he is willing to do whatever it takes to be the best, but that he cannot see himself ever besting Sett. This works because Sett, while not being a hard counter to Yasuo, is an incredibly useful pick against him due to his ability to dish out damage based on how much he takes. Yasuo specializes in dealing damage while mitigating it for himself; Sett absorbs that damage and returns it.
Of course, the comparison is not 1 to 1. In fact, hardcore fans of League and One Punch Man alike will immediately point out that for Sett to be most effective, he needs to take damage. This would never work for the real Saitama, as he has never taken visible damage in the anime and has only done so once in the manga. Additionally, a character with Saitama’s power would break any competitive game he was in, which is why he is a joke pick in One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows. However, the animation clearly isn’t meant to be thought of this deeply; it is ultimately a hilarious and short video that fans of either League of Legends or One Punch Man owe it to themselves to check out.
Source: farmerrr_, Violent Poro