The legendary artist of the One-Punch Man manga, Yusuke Murata, released an animated adaptation of his own on Twitter, and fans are praising the quality as being far greater than that seen in season 2 of the anime.
One-Punch Man's anime adaptation has been in a strange place since it began. The first season was animated by Madhouse, a very popular and well-respected studio in the world of anime, responsible for hit series like Death Note and Hunter x Hunter. The incredible quality of animation was a big part of what helped the series catch on in the US, eventually leading viewers to check out its manga or webcomic incarnations as well. For the second season, however, Madhouse was too busy with other projects, and thus the production was changed to J.C. Staff, with a new series director. One-Punch Man's season 2, which aired back in 2019, was controversial, with many fans criticizing the quality of animation under the new studio, particularly in contrast with the above-average quality of the first season. Still, the series' writing and humor levels remained high, and in spite of it all, a third season is highly requested.
On September 23, Murata posted a tweet announcing a delay with the next chapter of the manga, and included with it a 2-minute animation called Go! Saitama, which he created in his free time. While the delay wasn't much of a surprise, as One-Punch Man often goes on long hiatuses while Murata fixes mistakes and prepares previous chapters to be printed in collected volumes, the animation certainly was. In the animation, Saitama finds a flier for a deal at the supermarket--something he's always keen on--and tries to make a run for the store, hitting various obstacles along the way. A few other characters make an appearance aside from Saitama, such as Genos and Puri Puri Prisoner.
For an animation assembled in free time from a team that usually does sequential art rather than animation, the quality is quite impressive, particularly when it comes to the backgrounds (something of a specialty of Murata's). The animation movement is smooth, and it really emphasizes Saitama's power and speed. Overall the art is a bit rougher in places than most are used to in professional anime, but the feel is more that of a demonstrative animatic rather than a fully finished "episode." While the video does not currently have any audio, Murata expressed a desire to add sound effects, music, and voiceover in subsequent tweets. A small part of this animation was first shared in May, so he and his assistants have been working on this 2-minute animation for at least 4 months, and quite possibly more.
Anime production is often a difficult balance between tight schedules, quality art, and reasonable budgets, and this animation certainly shows how much extra time can impact the quality. It also goes to show what an artist who's passionate about the story they're working on can really put out when giving it their all. With no word on a season 3 of One-Punch Man's anime or a release date for the next manga chapter, at least fans of One-Punch Man have this beautiful labor of love to tide them over.