One Punch Man Chapter 181 review: TATSUMAKI’S SECRET FINALLY REVEALED

One Punch Man Chapter 181 review: TATSUMAKI’S SECRET FINALLY REVEALED

So, this chapter is continuing the Saitama versus Tatsumaki fight, and this is all that we’ve been really focusing on these last, like, two months. I guess not much has been happening; it’s kind of just been devolving into this war of attrition between who is going to be more stubborn than the other, I suppose.

I mean, Saitama is trying to calm Tatsumaki down in his own way while also trying to save everyone in the process because she is capable of producing a lot of collateral damage and mass casualties for sure, and so Tom is definitely aware of that despite her being, you know, the number two hero.

In the beginning of this chapter, we see them making their way into H City because in the previous chapter, they just made it that far away from the hero Association, wound up even killing a dragon monster in the process. But we see Amai Mask witnessing this; he’s in another building, and this is super important because Amai Mask is already interested in Saitama.

He is one of the few characters in the series who’s been able to see that security footage of Saitama destroying the Metal Knight robots, and he also kind of put two and two together and figured out that he’s probably the one that defeated Garo. Therefore, Amai Mask is pretty much leaning towards fully accepting Saitama as the one above all.

So, like I said, him seeing this is very important because it’s kind of just solidifying that, if anything, Amai Mask being interested in Saitama is going to be taking us into a very, very important storyline in the series.

Anyway, Saitama talking to Tatsumaki on top of a building is like, “Hey, we’ve gotten way too far from the hero Association. Let’s go back,” kind of similar to what he was telling to Garo when they were fighting on Jupiter. Then, Tatsumaki kind of just agrees and flies down to where Saitama is and stands in front of him in this awkward sequence where they’re just silently looking at each other.

I guess that this could be up for interpretation. The way that I see this is that Tatsumaki is kind of waiting for Saitama to make the first move here. I guess she just wants him to leave first, and then she follows so that she, I don’t know, can guarantee that he’s being truthful.

I also kind of get the vibes from the iconic panel or the cover page, I think, from the Dragon Ball Manga where Goku is facing off against Frieza. I mean, it’s obviously not a one-for-one, but Murata, the artist of the One Punch Man manga, is a big fan of Toriyama, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he snuck that in there.

But then, Saitama’s like, “All right, let’s go zero Association this direction,” and then Tatsumaki kind of gets annoyed and just grabs him by the back of his head, and she’s like, “It’s in the other direction.” They kind of just start flying there, and she’s like dragging him through the ground.

Then suddenly, someone is chasing them from behind, and Tots monkeys like to be able to keep up with this movement. They must be a monster or a hero, and I wouldn’t say it’s something in between, but it’s more so like an anti-hero because it’s Sonic. Yeah, he’s finally back in the story. We haven’t seen him in so long; I don’t even really remember the last time we saw Sonic, to be honest.

But he’s kind of been pushed to the side, at least with his portion of the story, because you know, we had to focus on the monster Association and all that stuff. And after Sonic’s whole scare with eating the monster cells that Hellfire Gale supplied to him, I don’t really think the story is focused on him at all.

Oh, and by the way, since he cooked those monster cells, they didn’t work, and he wound up just having like really bad diarrhea, I think, and that’s mainly what happened. So he’s not a monster or anything like that; he’s still a full-blown human. But I’ll just say that if you’re a big fan of Sonic, don’t worry because his time is coming very soon.

That’s all I’ll say, but it’s definitely not in this chapter because he realizes that Saitama is lethargically getting dragged around, as he knows. So he’s definitely aware that Saitama isn’t being challenged by Tatsumaki here. He knows that he’s kind of just playing along because if Saitama was actually endangered here, pretty sure Sonic would be acting very different.

Like if somebody was challenging him, for example, if Sonic saw Cosmic Fear Garl challenging Saitama, he would have reacted pretty much the same way that Flashy Flash was. And it was like, “Yeah, there’s nothing I could do.” Like when Flashy Flash saw Cosmic Turgar for the first time, he broke character for the first time in the series, I think, and he was like, “Yeah, running is pointless.” So I assumed that Sonic is actually happy here to see Saitama because, you know, they have this weird relationship. Sonic has more of an affinity for him than the other way around.

But it’s just nice to see that Sonic is excited to see Saitama, only for him to slip in literal feces after avoiding Tatsumaki deflecting his shurikens back at him. But at least he has the one moment here where we get to see his, uh, incredible speed and avoiding Tatsumaki’s counter-attack. Now, obviously, this isn’t like Sonic straight up defeating her, but it is, you know, a little something, but it just ultimately winds up with him slipping in the feces, which is hilarious. This is a great one sequence.

This is actually, uh, originally played on the webcomic, but they wind up making it back to the Hero Association or very close to it, and Saitama’s like, “All right, feel free to start rampaging again.” And this is, you know, further triggering Tatsumaki because, like I’ve mentioned, you know, when this fight started, this is the first time that Tatsumaki has ever really been treated or talked to like this, I suppose ever in her life, maybe, well, since she became Tatsumaki that is.

And she’s like, “Do you understand you’re the one being tested right? Like, you’ve been looking down on me this whole time. Don’t you think it’s a bit much if I went all out?” And Saitama immediately he’s like, “All right, sure, go all out. Like, I don’t care, go ahead, show me your full power. It’s like, what do you think I’ve been waiting for here?” Like Saitama just obviously doesn’t care at all.

He’s just, uh, I don’t know, maybe kind of amusing himself here at this point because, as we know, Saitama is definitely interested in seeing the potential of people who are strong because they possibly might give him a challenge. And while Saitama isn’t very vocal about “I need a challenge” or “I want to be pushed,” you know, he’s not like boisterous about it, but if you are super strong and Taitama has enough control to make sure that no one is going to be a casualty, he’ll definitely take you on and test your strength.

And that’s kind of what he’s doing here, and Tajumaki is like flustered by Saitama’s reaction here. I wouldn’t say she’s like, you know, blushing, even though it looks like she is. She’s more so just like in disbelief that this is happening more so than anything, and kind of excited that she gets to go all out because she never really has that chance because, you know, she’s so powerful that she’ll just wind up destroying a city if she does.

But we cut back to the Blizzard group back under the Hero Association, and we see that some of the members are just quitting because, you know, Fubuki told them that the group was pretty much done, and that, you know, it was time for them to move on. She said this because she’s trying to save them from Tatsumaki.

Tatsumaki made it clear that she was only nearly going to kill the Blizzard group members in order to make sure that Fubuki wouldn’t be with them anymore, because, you know, Tatsumaki has a lot of mental health issues and she’s extremely possessive of Fubuki, and just wants her to rely on Tatsumaki herself. So, like I said, Fubuki kind of forced them away, and some of the members just really don’t understand the true situation going on here, but Eyelashes is the one who does.

Because, instead of leaving and running away, he’s actually going after Fabuki which I really like. Here, he’s the voice of reason, and he’s getting the other core members together, like Mountain Ape, Lily, the Mohawk guy, and the guy with the bandana who may or may not have names.

I don’t know, but yeah, the Fabuki group isn’t really going anywhere, at least the core of it. It should only really be like four or five characters, to be honest, but I like that Eyelashes is the one who’s staying true, and he’s like, you know, anyone who wants to get stronger, come with me. I don’t want to go too deep into this, but him saying the whole “get stronger” thing has something to do with Fabuki for sure and her current state of mind.

Also, there was this bonus chapter, I think from volume 17 or something, or I don’t know, whatever volume had a bomb on the cover, but it was following Glass’s story. We actually saw him in season two. He was a part of Death Gatling’s team that went against Garou, but he was originally in the Blizzard group as well. And afterwards, he wound up meeting with Glasses. Like, this was after Glasses’ fight with Garou, and he saw that Glasses was progressing in strength, and it kind of inspired Eyelashes.

And I wonder if that’s echoing now, even though that bonus chapter came out like five years ago. I still think One is continuing the same character arc with the Eyelashes here, and yeah, I just like this character. I really like how One just treats these random characters in the series sometimes, like you know, Eyelashes or Snack or Dr. Genus.

But we come back to Saitama taking on Tatsumaki, and Fabuki is very close to the battle here, and she’s seeing that Tatsumaki is going all out. It’s just chaos out there. It looks similar to when she was fighting against Saitama, and they wind up passing by Fabuki, going all the way back to Saitama’s apartment.

And King’s actually there, but he’s getting caught in the battle as well, and he’s like, “Ah, the elevators are shut down. I can’t go back home. It’s like, I wish Saitama was here.” Like, he originally just went to Saitama’s apartment because he wanted to play this fighting game with him, and conveniently, Saitama’s right there. And he winds up jumping on the wall, but then just completely stops his inertia when he sees King, and he’s like, “Oh, hey King.”

He came here to play some games. Uh, sorry, maybe later. And then he’s like, “What are you doing?” He said, “God, this pip-squeak called Tatsumaki or something,” and she’s like, “I could hear you.” And as she comes in to kick Saitama, King witnesses what is actually going on with Tatsumaki. The question has finally been answered.

She is wearing underwear. So, yeah, here it is. And this sequence did happen in the manga, but not exactly like this. It played out a little differently timeline-wise, but it more or less kind of looked like this. Now, what do I make of this? I would say that this is not true. It’s kind of just like a funny gag for the manga, but there’s no way that she could be wearing this.

The whole time, and it only really comes to light in the ending of the chapter, but I think this is more so just to put it across, like, “Hey, if you’re wondering, yes, now stop asking” because I’m sure that that’s like one of the most asked questions that Wan Marauda get. But I’ll say realistically, there’s really no way that this would work.

She would have to have some kind of like special type of device or apparatus thing that um, I think girls wear when they’re uh wearing the workout pants, if you know what I mean. But that’s neither here nor there. That’s where the chapter ends. King uh somehow becoming the true winner of this chapter.

But let me know what you thought about this chapter in the comments, guys. What do you think is going on with Tatsumaki’s wardrobe here? What do you think’s gonna come of this fight? When is it going to end?

Let me know, and if you like the blog, please give it a like. Have a great day, and I’ll see you in the next one.

Andreea Blaga

That’s me, Andreea Blaga, author of the blog https://anime-everything.com. I work as a content creator in the US. I am also passionate about Japanese Anime.