Time slipped into June, and the temperature steadily climbed.
Thanks to Rei's deliberate pruning of redundant plot points from the original manga, the third season of one-punch man moved at a brisk pace. The S-Class Heroes of the Hero Association plunged straight into battle, clashing one after another with Dragon-Level Monsters deep beneath the city.
Naturally, the Japanese version of one-punch man that Rei created would never fully follow Murata's redraw.
As the main illustrator, Murata's flashes of inspiration were undeniably brilliant. But once he began freely expanding the plot for more than ten chapters at a time, the story started to feel unfocused, almost distorted, as if something had gone subtly wrong.
The clearest example was Garou.
In the original version, when Saitama faced a fully evolved Garou, the fight was no more strenuous than drinking a glass of water. Effortless, but not trivialized.
In Murata's redraw, however, Garou and Saitama became evenly matched. Saitama was pushed to his "limits." Garou ascended into a so-called God-Level Mysterious Being, capable of destroying the planet with a single punch. Their battle escalated all the way to Jupiter, and Saitama ultimately had to rely on convoluted concepts like time travel to win.
At that point, Saitama's character collapsed.
The core concept of one-punch man is simple and absolute:
Even if you are a god, if you have a health bar, you die in one punch.
No exceptions.
That is why, in the Monster Association arc, Rei resolutely followed ONE's original framework for the final confrontation between Saitama and Garou.
That said, Murata's designs for Garou's second and third forms were simply too spectacular to discard. Rei adopted them wholesale, integrating their visual impact without inheriting the narrative bloat.
As a result, the anime version avoided the sluggishness Rei remembered from his past life. Instead, fans now suffered from the opposite problem: It felt too fast.
Too clean. Too efficient. And painfully incomplete.
Every week, viewers were left wanting more.
"Why does this anime update so slowly? I need to see what happens after Tatsumaki, Psykos, and Orochi merge!"
"Honestly, I'd rather watch Atomic Samurai get absolutely crushed by Black Sperm. This episode was perfection. I've never liked Atomic Samurai, trying to look cool in front of Lord Black Sperm? He deserves what's coming."
"I've cracked the code: the simpler a character's design, the more terrifying they are. I thought Black Sperm was a joke, just a panda-headed gag character. Who knew he'd be this absurdly strong?"
"And his personality is amazing! He's a villain, but I can't help loving him!"
"I actually prefer the fight between Psykos and Tatsumaki. It's just a shame, June's almost over, and Season Three only has two episodes left. There's no way this arc finishes without a Fourth Season."
"Saitama's still lost after killing Orochi, the S-Class Heroes are barely holding on. This arc definitely isn't ending this season."
"There are so many characters, yet every single one of them is charismatic!"
"That's just how one-punch man works. It's a group-portrait story. With over a dozen S-Class Heroes and nearly ten Dragon-Level Monsters, it's impossible to deeply explore everyone. If they tried, this arc would take three seasons to finish."
"Only two episodes left, I really don't want it to end."
"Why be sad? Season Three ends mid-to-late June. Two weeks later, Season Four starts in the July summer slot. We'll binge it then."
"I just hope Garou gets a little stronger. Don't let him get one-punched again. At least let Saitama use a Serious Series move."
"Yeah, I just want something like the Boros fight. Boros really suffered from appearing too early."
"If Boros fought the Monster Association, what do you think the odds would be?"
"20–80?"
"That's insulting Boros. More like wiping them out eight times in two minutes."
"Alright, I'm sleeping. Tomorrow morning the official Illumination Animation and Capital TV Station sites open pre-orders for Season Three figures and merchandise. I need to wake up early to secure a slot. Good night."
"Damn it, you rich people, can someone show a little mercy? I'm a student, I can't afford the merchandise. Is there anyone kind enough to send me a set?"
"Go check Shirogane's account! There's a random giveaway tonight, ONE hundred people will get free spots!"
The next day, the viewership rating for Episode Ten of One-Punch Man Season Three stabilized at 6.88%.
Although the anime had already become a phenomenon, even a phenomenon has its limits. Within Japan itself, the ratings for One-Punch Man were unlikely to rise much further.
But overseas;
Because of factors such as censorship delays and slower import schedules, many national television stations abroad had only recently begun airing the third season. As a result, One-Punch Man's popularity outside Japan surged at an astonishing rate.
The number of overseas orders received by the merchandise companies cooperating with Rei grew exponentially.
"This really is…" Himari muttered, staring at the sales report in her hands at Illumination Production Company, then looking up at Rei with envy.
"Earning millions every single day."
The One-Punch Man merchandise ecosystem involved countless distributors and agents, large and small, all sharing a portion of the profits. After all, if the IP was to expand globally, the participation of these partners was indispensable.
Even so, the revenue that ultimately flowed back to Rei, from merchandise sales and licensing alone, was still staggering.
During the peak broadcast period of Season Three, Rei's monthly income from the anime exceeded tens of millions.
And even when the anime stopped airing, the income wouldn't disappear. It would merely dip, remaining at a high level for at least one or two years. Whenever a new season aired, the revenue would surge right back to its peak.
This was precisely why so many animation studios dreamed of producing original anime.
How much money could you make just by producing anime?
The profit from one massively successful title easily surpassed the production fees from fifty ordinary projects combined.
"It'sacceptable," Rei said with a smile.
Having seen far more outrageous IPs in his previous life, he felt calm about One-Punch Man's current profitability.
Compared to franchises like Demon Slayer, which had generated tens of billions globally through merchandise alone, One-Punch Man's current earnings were still just the beginning.
"You call this acceptable?" Himari stared at him, her expression unreadable.
"That's because it hasn't been adapted into a game yet," Rei replied after a brief pause.
"There's still a huge revenue channel missing."
"The way you're saying that," Himari said slowly, "are you planning to make a game?"
They had worked together long enough that she didn't hesitate to ask such a sensitive question.
"No," Rei shook his head.
"My focus has always been on the work itself. Games are an important monetization path, but I don't have the energy to run a game company."
He paused, then added calmly,
"But I do plan to collaborate with established game developers in Japan. I'll provide the IP, they'll handle the technology and development. Once the game is complete, we share the profits."
...
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