One-Punch Man season 3 part 2 is set for January after part 1 hit IMDb's lowest anime score
J.C. Staff returns for the second cour in January 2027. The first gave the franchise the worst-rated anime episode in IMDb's history.
One-Punch Man season 3 has a date for its second half. The new cour premieres in January 2027, with a new visual, a trailer and a new opening by JAM Project, "Never Done -SUPREME POWER VS ULTIMATE FEAR-". J.C. Staff continues to animate.
Anime Corner's report on the announcement covers the music, the studio and the date. It does not mention what happened to the first half, which was widely criticized.
What the first half left behind
Part 1 aired from October 12 to December 29, 2025, on TV Tokyo, after a recap special on October 5. According to Wikipedia:
- The premiere received largely negative reviews from critics, who described it as a dialogue-heavy recap.
- Later episodes drew heavy backlash over animation quality, especially an abundance of panning static shots. One widely shared moment became known as the "Garou Slide", and fans mocked the season as "One-Frame Man" and "One-PNG Man".
- The director, Shinpei Nagai, deactivated his social media accounts after online harassment.
- Episode 6, "Motley Heroes", received the worst user score for any anime in IMDb's history: 1.6, from more than 24,000 users, as of June 2026.
Part 2 was announced immediately after Part 1 ended, and had until now been confirmed only for 2027. Now it has a month, and the announcement says nothing about any change in how it is being made.
When season 3 was announced
Anime Corner's article says the third season "was announced in August last year". Written in October 2026, that would mean August 2025, two months before it aired. The actual announcement came in August 2022, according to Wikipedia, with Anime News Network reporting it on August 17, 2022.
The difference matters for anyone judging the production. Season 3 was not rushed out two months after being announced. It had more than three years between announcement and broadcast, and the result was still the season fans called a slideshow.
Three seasons, three directors
- Season 1 (October to December 2015): Madhouse, directed by Shingo Natsume. The breakout season.
- Season 2 (April to July 2019): J.C. Staff, with Chikara Sakurai replacing Natsume.
- Season 3 (from October 2025): J.C. Staff again, with Shinpei Nagai replacing Sakurai, Sakura Murakami as art director and Yuki Hirose as director of photography.
Most of the main cast and staff from the second season returned. The director's chair changed hands at every season.
The music and where to watch
- Part 1 opening: "Get No Satisfied!" by JAM Project featuring Babymetal.
- Part 1 ending: "Soko ni Aru Akari" by Makoto Furukawa.
- Part 2 opening: "Never Done -SUPREME POWER VS ULTIMATE FEAR-" by JAM Project.
- Streaming: Hulu in the US, Disney+ in Canada, Crunchyroll in Europe and the Middle East.
Delayed by table tennis
Part 1 had scheduling trouble on top of everything else. Episode 33 aired 30 minutes late because TV Tokyo extended its coverage of the 2025 ITTF Mixed Team World Cup; episodes 35 and 36 were pushed back 40 minutes and 1 hour 15 minutes by special programming, the last one to 1:00 a.m.
A franchise that sells extras
One-Punch Man has long released bonus material with its home video. The first season's OVAs began on December 24, 2015. The second season came with five OVAs, bundled with home media volumes from October 2019 to February 2020. The second season was also simulcast on Hulu in the US, Tubi in Canada, AnimeLab in Australia and New Zealand and Crunchyroll in Europe, and aired on Toonami from October 12, 2019, to January 12, 2020.
Why fans will still watch
The source material is not the problem. ONE created One-Punch Man as a webcomic in 2009; Yusuke Murata's remake began in June 2012 on Shueisha's Tonari no Young Jump, and by July 2026 it had more than 38 million copies in circulation. The story follows Saitama, a hero for fun who became so strong through a simple daily routine of 100 push-ups, 100 squats, 100 sit-ups and a 10 km run that he wins every fight with one punch. Season 3 focuses on the "Hero Hunter" Garou.
2025 marked the anime's 10th anniversary. The season released in that anniversary year is the one that set IMDb's record low.
What is still unknown
- The exact premiere date in January.
- Whether production changes were made after the criticism. The announcement does not say.
- How many episodes the second cour will run.
The third season was announced in 2022 and aired in 2025 to the worst episode score of any anime on IMDb. The second half arrives in January, from the same studio, with a song called "Never Done".