Comedy
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew
Disney+’s ‘Skeleton Crew’ has some problems, but overall it’s a return to form, when the galaxy far, far away was relatively safe for the family.
With little effort, Vaccine Man destroys half a city.
He’s the pinnacle of nature and the top apostle of Mother Earth. And because of humanity’s excessive pollution, he’s on a mission to exterminate the human pests.
But there’s a puny human standing in his way. What can one measly human do against someone as powerful as Vaccine Man? Who dares to challenge him?
Those are the last thoughts flying through Vaccine Man’s head as it soars, involuntarily, off his body.
The human, Saitama, cries out in frustration.
“Not again. All it took was one punch!”
How did Saitama, also known as One-Punch Man, become the world’s strongest man? Well, he’ll tell you.
Every day for three years, Saitama did 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups and 100 squats, all followed by a 10-kilometer run. He ate three meals a day. And he didn’t rely on air conditioning.
No, really. That’s all it took. And ever since then, he’s been able to defeat any villain in a single punch.
You’d think that such power would feel great. But Saitama’s grown tired of it over the years. He longs for the old days, when his heart would soar with emotion during battle. Now, his heart just feels empty.
“Having overwhelming strength is pretty boring, actually,” he says.
So, sure, Saitama will stop the giant whose footprints destroy whole city blocks. He’ll make sure that the giant mosquito lady stops sucking the blood from every citizen in town. But it’s sort of like an Olympic ping pong champion playing against a toddler: It’s not much fun for either participant.
That is, until he can find someone who can match his power.
No matter how much you train, there’s always going to be someone stronger than you. Unless you’re Saitama. And he’ll tell you that the top is a pretty boring place to be.
One-Punch Man doesn’t mean to explode his enemies. He just gets excited at the possibility that maybe this time, the monster he’s fighting can take it. And as another antagonist’s guts rain from the sky, well, turns out it couldn’t.
Violence is the primary issue in the animated series One-Punch Man. When villains die (most of whom are weird hybrid mash-ups of man and monster), they tend to explode, their insides quickly becoming outsides. And when normal people die, they bleed the same as all the others.
Animated sensuality is present, too: One female villain is a blend between a mosquito and a human, and her backside and breasts are accentuated. Likewise, another female villain’s costume is nothing more than a BDSM outfit and whip. Men likewise wear tight clothing or underwear, and on a couple occasions, Saitama’s clothes are destroyed in battle, leaving his naked rear exposed to the audience (with objects strategically covering him during any frontal shots). And a homosexual male hero appears, too.
Mild profanity is present, too.
Audiences will need to keep such things in mind if they plan to survive the punches One-Punch Man throws at them.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at [email protected], or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
Saitama searches for a villain worthy of battle. And in this debut episode, his meager origin story is revealed.
We see a villain named Vaccine Man, who looks like a naked, purple alien with no genitals. Another villain, “Crablante,” is a half-crab, half-man. His lower half is the human half, and he’s in his underwear. He’s also upset because a boy drew “nipples” on his crab chest in permanent marker. A third villain, made massive from steroids, stomps across a city in the nude—a cloud strategically hides his crotch, but his rear is seen. A fourth villain runs around unclothed, too, though his genitals are concealed by a car license plate attached there. Elsewhere, Saitama fights so hard that his shirt is destroyed.
Saitama explodes Vaccine Man into goopy entrails. When he fights Crablante, he pulls the man’s eye out of its socket, and orange blood and guts blast from the hole in his face. A man is accidentally smashed by a giant’s hand, turning him into red paste. Blood drips from Saitama’s head. He fights a bunch of mole men, killing them with punches and kicks.
A city explodes, leaving a massive crater behind (and likely thousands of people dead). Another city crumbles to pieces when a giant blows it away with wind (with thousands more probably dying). We see the bleeding bodies of people killed by Crablante.
Vaccine Man claims that Mother Earth has birthed him “in her infinite wisdom.” He describes himself as her apostle.
“D–n” and “h—” are both used a couple of times. “A–,” “b–tard” and “crap” are all used once.
Saitama learns the truth behind the top-ranked hero named King: that he’s actually a coward.
A robot and cyborg fight each other, trading explosions and lasers. A monster scratches a man’s face, causing it to bleed and leaving a scar there.
A lizard-man attempts to kidnap women to force them to “bear his brood.” They later call him a pervert. King leaves a video game store, excited to play a new game he’s purchased called Heartbeat Hottie Sisters 2.
A robot describes himself as “a machine god.” We hear a reference to a prophecy made by a seer.
A man says he needs to defecate. Saitama comments on a man who wet his pants.
“D–n” and “h—” are used four and three times, respectively. “A–,” “crap” and “p-ss” are all used once.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
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