‘One Punch Man’ Season 3 release date: Why director Shingo Natsume should spearhead the third installment

The anime community is waiting eagerly for “One Punch Man” Season 3 to be announced. While it remains unconfirmed for now, there’s a high chance that the third entry will be greenlighted on account of its sheer popularity alone.

The series’ Twitter account also said that the second installment will not be the last for Cape Baldy and promises an even more gripping and hilarious storyline for “One Punch Man” Season 3. The problem is when it’s going to be released.

The first entry of the anime made its debut in October 2015, while the second entry was released on April 9, 2019. The large gap between both installments is causing a lot of speculations that “One Punch Man” Season 3 could be treated similarly.

One Punch Man Season 3 needs the guidance of Shingo Natsume

This is especially true if the show hops back to the hands of Madhouse Studio. There is a general agreement among fans that the first season is far better than the second in terms of animation as J.C. Staff wasn’t able to produce the same level of quality that Madhouse did. There’s also the petition launched by fans to bring animation director Shingo Natsume for “One Punch Man” Season 3.

Natsume is thought to be an integral piece for the first entry’s success, particularly on how it was animated, due to his popularity attracting multiple talented animators that resulted in eye-popping visuals. Indeed, the fight between Saitama and Genos alone is enough to trounce the entire animation quality of the second installment. Thus, it appears that “One Punch Man” Season 3 needs two things done.

Fans petition for director Shingo Natsume’s return in One Punch Man Season 3

First, it needs to transfer back to Madhouse for it to return to its previous form. And second, “One Punch Man” Season 3 needs the talent and guidance of Natsume. While both factors are important, it’s obvious the second one holds more weight than the first due to Natsume’s vision when it comes to the end product.

But both these desires remain a pipe dream for now since it’s not even clear when “One Punch Man” Season 3 will return. If the series follows its previous pattern, then it will not be until 2022 that we’ll see the third installment. But if everything goes smoothly, especially for Natsume’s schedule, then we might be seeing the series’ return sooner than expected. As for those who want to join in on the petition, click here to make your voices heard.