Yusuke Murata’s Brush With Death Sparked One Punch Man
A severe illness pushed Yusuke Murata to defy his Shonen Jump contract and join forces with ONE—an all-or-nothing leap that helped spark the One Punch Man anime. In a candid Sugoi Japan interview, the duo retraces the high-stakes origins behind the hit.
One Punch Man has one of those origin stories that sounds fake until you see the receipts. The anime is finally back this fall, but the reason it exists the way it does goes straight through a hospital room and a 'do it now or never' decision from artist Yusuke Murata.
The hospital wake-up call that changed everything
When the One Punch Man anime was first announced, Sugoi Japan sat down with creator ONE and illustrator Yusuke Murata. In that interview, Murata said he jumped on One Punch Man despite being under contract with Shonen Jump because he was, in his words, extremely sick and genuinely thought he might not make it.
'I was in the hospital thinking, Ah, I guess people die just like that. If I am going to die, I want to do something I truly love. I want to draw manga with Mr. ONE.'
Murata was already a big fan of ONE's original webcomic. While he was in the hospital, he saw ONE say he was retiring. That was it. Murata contacted him immediately. They had touched base before as fan and creator, but this time he pushed to actually team up, no regrets. Inside baseball note: choosing to do that while tied to a Shonen Jump deal is not nothing.
How it came together
Murata's condition was bad: hives, internal infection, swelling that made it hard to breathe. Thinking he might not have long, he went after the one project he cared about most. The two ultimately landed a publisher and launched a digital remake of One Punch Man on Shueisha's Tonari no Young Jump site in 2012. Murata handled the art, adapting ONE's story beat for beat.
From near-collapse to a phenomenon
Following through on One Punch Man coincided with Murata recovering and then, you know, helping make one of the most talked-about manga/anime of the last decade. The numbers back it up: by 2025, the series had over 34 million copies in circulation. It also fired up a lot of other creators in the process. There are only a handful of series that have ever hit that level of hype, and OPM is still on that short list.
The anime lost steam... but Season 3 is finally here
Real talk: the anime cooled off. Season 2 dropped more than six years ago. It was a big deal at the time, but the buzz faded as other tentpole shows took over the timeline. That might change soon.
- Release date: October 5, 2025
- Schedule: Weekly episodes every Sunday
- Arc: Continuing the Monster Association storyline
- Focus: The all-out clash between the Hero Association and the Monster Association, with Garou and Saitama squarely in the middle
- Milestone: The franchise just marked its 10-year anniversary with fresh promo drops and event details
- Where to watch: Crunchyroll
Will Season 3 reignite the hype?
The Monster Association arc is the series at its most chaotic and ambitious, so if anything can put One Punch Man back on the pedestal, it's this run. I am cautiously optimistic. Are you? Tell me if you think Season 3 brings OPM back to its peak.