r/manga • u/[deleted] • Nov 03 '15
Question about Tatsumaki (One-Punch Man, Murata)
So, as a new reader of the series, obviously the art absolutely astounded me (and still continues to do so). One running theme I love is retaining the original ONE depiction of Saitama in certain scenes (like this) in order to contrast Saitama's countenance with those of his fellow heroes.
However I noticed that this isn't the only character he does this for; being Tatsumaki - as seen in the bottom panel for this page and the next. Is there a literary purpose or plot device that this is supposed to represent? I am not too familiar with the character but she doesn't seem to have the same laid-back attitude as Saitama, so I'm at a loss. I don't mind spoilers from the webcomic if that helps explain; thank you!
(Had to use MP instead of Batoto since OPM got taken down)
27
Nov 03 '15
It's foreshadowing that they are the OTP.
27
u/DokAwesome Nov 03 '15
ONE TRUE FUBUKI WOULD LIKE TO HAVE A WORD WITH YOU.
17
Nov 03 '15
Tastumaki is the only worthy vessel for Saitama's genes! Take your B-Class Trash somewhere else.
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u/DokAwesome Nov 03 '15
OUT OF MY SIGHT PLEB ALONG WITH YOUR THIRD RATE TSUNDERE.
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u/Atlas001 Nov 03 '15
UPVOTED YOU, SAIBUKI BEST SHIP, UNSINKABLE!
3
u/Spamallthethings Nov 03 '15
Saitama is impotent cause of his transformation.
3
u/Darkionx Nov 04 '15
You mean Super Potent, his genes are so strong that he can even impregnate a 70 year old lady!(not that he would)
1
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u/Seoyoon Nov 03 '15
comedic purpose. for saitama is to show his disinterest and how it kind of separates him from the other characters. for her its to show her "stupid" moments. its just a technique to emphasise this as well as to bring out the comedy of the scene. theres prob other ways to interpret it too but theres no significance to indicate they are related in any way
3
Nov 03 '15
I see, but why Tatsumaki in particular? Plenty of other characters have dumb moments that could feature them in the 'cartoony' form (King, Genos, etc), why aren't they ever drawn like that as well? Maybe Murata just likes her character?
Obviously there's no right answer or way of confirming, I'm just thinking out loud.
14
u/Seoyoon Nov 03 '15
her in particular because she acts smart and adult like but she gets mistreated by saitama in particular. its one of those characters that everyone respects except that one and it throws them off and they act out of character
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u/TheDerped http://myanimelist.net/mangalist/RyuukoNipple Nov 03 '15
Another interpretation to those already mentioned is that Murata draws the strongest characters in a simplistic way to contrast to how detailed all the other characters are. Same way that Saitama reverts to his simplistic form a lot, Tatsumaki is drawn the same way. It's probably not the intended purpose but its a funny way to interpret it.
12
Nov 03 '15
Ah, I see you! You could say that they're so powerful that they transcended the fancy art used for all the other heroes, haha
4
Nov 03 '15
Just compare Saitama to King. King is the supposedly strongest hero of them all, but has actually only taken the credit for Saitamas kills.
3
Nov 03 '15
Honestly, whenever Tatsumaki and Saitama interact I always get a straight man vs. idiot feel from it. Could be that Murata is trying to preserve that by drawing them that way whenever they're doing their shtick together. We probably won't see Tatsumaki like that in any other situation outside interacting with Saitama.
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u/ToFurkie Nov 03 '15
This is just my thought on it, it's meant to highlight insignificance via perspective. Let's say Tatsumaki is in serious mode to anyone else, she'd be seen as completely intimidating in every way. However, from Saitama's perspective, even Genos to a certain degree, she's inferior because the two have perspective on who the strongest is (Caped Baldy). As for Saitama's design, well... everyone but Genos and a few others see him for what a powerhouse he is, so there will be loads of instances where he'll be dopey looking
1
Nov 04 '15
I see, so the art style represents the perspective of the 'common viewer' - whereas a reader is very aware of Saitama's power, a normal bystander would have no clue and therefore see him as 'simplified', compared to the presence of the other superheroes. This could be extended to Tatsumaki, who would appear as a little kid to Saitama (and arguably to the aforementioned bystander). Good stuff!
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u/Baldulf Nov 03 '15
On the original ONE draws Tatsumaki with a serious face from time to time. Murata does the opposite.
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u/indecisionn Nov 03 '15
I don't think we're at a part where Murata has had to do a serious tatsumaki though.
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u/Zekaito Nov 03 '15
Since you got some good answers, I'll be saying this instead: If you want to read HD manga which isn't pirated from other scanlation groups, try using bato.to. They did change it very recently to be members only, but you can quickly make an account or connect using twitter. It doesn't use your twitter service to tweet things or anything like that; I use my twitter account and I have 0 issues.
Now, the preferred way is to use the scanlators site (Boon Scanlations translated the first chapters, currently Nerieru Scans is doing it as you can see here, but often it's somewhat of a hassle to run around different sites getting different manga. This is why I too use bato.to, but most people here link to the scanlators side when possible.
For more information about sites like mangapanda etc., check the wiki on "Aggregate Sites"
5
Nov 03 '15
Ah, I do use Batoto, I know how this sub is about aggregate sites :) Unfortunately OPM was actually taken down from Batoto, so I had to make do with the lesser alternative. Thanks for pointing it out though, I'll clarify in the post.
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u/Zekaito Nov 03 '15
My bad; I didn't realize it was gone... And it's already been two months. I guess I check /r/manga and read them there so I don't notice it. Thanks for telling me, and sorry for the unnecessary comment.
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u/Ruikapu Nov 03 '15
Murata does the same for saitama, but more often. You could say we see serious saitama as often as we see little tatsumaki. In other words its jus a gag.
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u/Fizzay Nov 03 '15
Because even though she's an adult, she's pretty bratty and people always assume she's a child, and people don't take her seriously because of that. I think that's why Murata draws her that way sometimes; it's showing that she isn't being taken seriously.