Warning: Spoilers for One-Punch Man Chapter #211 (JP release)
One-Punch Man’s manga latest chapter follows up the exciting twists on the Ninja Arc’s redraws, proving how the story hasevolved from ONE’s original webcomicto focus on the imminent threat from God. Empty Void revealed that he had regained himself after absorbing Garou’s powers and that Blast knew about his wife’s true identity, butOPM’s chapter 211 also gave a shocking revelation that not only opened the door to expanding the series’ world-building and finally enlightens the mystery of God, but also made evident howOne-Punch Mantakes inspiration from other classic animes.
Even though God’s motivations were unknown, his underlings' appearances suggested he wanted to eliminate humanity. But the vision that Void saw in the cube before taking God’s power 15 years ago shed light on the ominous being and revealed a big reference that confirms thatOne-Punch Man’s antagonist is inspired by two of the best villains in anime history.
God’s True Plan Is Similar toNeon Genesis Evangelion’s Instrumentality Project
God Isn’t Seeking To Eradicate Humanity
InOne Punch Man’s chapter 211, the flashback where God manipulates Void into accepting his powers not only highlights that his speech changes depending on the interests of the person he tries to convince, but also hints at his ultimate goal. Luna’s words in the new chapter subtly reveal thatGod’s goal is to merge the consciences of all human beings into one, which is deeper than only wanting to kill society and also quite similar to Gendo Ikari’s plan inEvangelion, the Human Instrumentality Project.
In Void’s vision, Luna said that the world would share a single consciousness to eliminate division and distrust, focusing on ceasing conflicts to appeal to Void’s nature as a ninja, and the Instrumentality inEvangelionwas considered the ultimate evolution for humanity, eliminating singularities and containing the collective knowledge and skills of society. But in reality, Gendo Ikari also had his own secret goals. However, this confirms how ONE could have been inspired byEvangelionwhen crafting God’s character, asGendo Ikari is considered one of the most manipulative and inhuman villains in anime.
One-Punch Man Just Delivered Its Best Flashback Story Ever, and It Explains Some Huge Mysteries
OPM chapter #210 shows Blast and Empty Void’s relationship in a new light that surpasses readers’ expectations and raises more questions.
Additionally, althoughit was previously believed that God’s objective was to eradicate all of humanity due to characters like Homeless Emperor and Vaccine Man, planning to create a single consciousness is tied to what Psychos says inOPMchapter #132. When she was questioned by Tatsumaki, Psychos claimed that she had achieved enlightenment after meeting the source of her power and that she would unify human minds, and everyone would form a single body of thought.
God Could Aim to Create a Collective Consciousness, Like the Anti-Spiral fromGurren Lagann
One-Punch ManIs Building Up God as a Fearsome Antagonist
The fact that God’s avatars can absorb power showsGod’s goal could be focused on absorbing strong heroes to unify his followersand creating a powerful single mass of collective consciousness, which could be the perfect vessel for him to resurrect on Earth like it was shown in the Mysterious Shrine in OPM chapter #115. This also hints at another ultimate antagonist fromGurren Lagann, the Anti-Spiral, a multiversal threat entity with a hive mind capable of even merging galaxies and who extinguished countless civilizations.
This way, by steadily disclosing the intentions of God,One-Punch Manis building up intrigue and scaling the conflicts beforehis final confrontation with Saitama. Also, these similarities show that OPM’s current events are taking inspiration fromEvangelionandGurren Lagann, which could be considered an homage to these classic series. Nevertheless, how everything is coming together inOne-Punch Man’s manga shows how is more than just a gag series, which creates anticipation for the upcoming chapters.
