Heartwarming / One-Punch Man

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No matter if the public hates you, there will always be one person who appreciates your work.

One-Punch Man has many awesome moments, including these that will bring a smile to your face. It's a story about heroes, after all.

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Introduction Saga

Saitama Introduction Arc

• The very first geniuine act of heroism we see from Saitama is saving a little girl from being crushed by Vaccine Man. Despite Saitama being a Nominal Hero at first who just wants a good fight, he still saved an innocent person from death, which wasn't his real first or last time.
• Saitama saving the butt-chinned boy 3 years prior to the beginning of the series. He had no reason to do so, even thinking "What the hell am I doing?!", but that still was his first true heroic act, that later helped to create the Hero Assocation.
• Despite being All Just a Dream a dream sequence with massive Mood Whiplash, it's really nice to see Saitama being so ecstatic over a fight in a long time.

House of Evolution Arc

• During the 2nd half of "House of Evolution" arc, Saitama remains his eternally bored self up until a genetically altered rhinoceros beetle turns his new pretty-boy cyborg friend into wall art. He immediately gets pissed. And it's just a start of his bond with the cyborg and him caring for his well-being.

Paradise Group Arc

• Mumen Rider fetching a balloon for a little boy from a tree. Sounds like a mundane act of heroism, but it's a lot more than that. Several things to be noted: this is during Paradise Group's havoc throughout the city, and as the scene shows, other people are busy running away to safety, so it's justified if they ignored something as small as a balloon to avoid danger. Not for Licenseless Rider; this is truly an Establishing Character Moment for him, showing that he'll do heroic things, no matter how small it is.
  • Also, remember the little kid and see Sea Monster Arc below.

Hero Association Saga

Giant Meteor Arc

• Episode 7 of the anime has an extra scene that did not happen in the manga, where Genos reads negative comments about Saitama online and runs to the scene where he is being publicly humiliated by Tank Top Tiger and Black Hole and Genos asks him to just head home. The very last of the episode has Genos confessing to Saitama that he will always be on his side regardless of what people say about him. Saitama responds that Genos doesn't need to butter things up to make him feel better, but when he turns around to continue walking, there's a small smile on his face.
• Before that scene, after Genos describes the Threat Level system, he remarks that Saitama probably doesn't care about threat levels anyway, to which Saitama replies "Of course not. If heroes run and hide, who will stand and fight?" Genos had meant the remark to mean that Saitama would willingly meet any challenge without fear; Saitama misses this context and instead responds in only a few words his perspective of what a hero's role actually means, and what should be expected of them, and says it matter-of-factly like it was something all heroes should know to begin with. Genos' immediate reaction is akin to someone who has experienced an incredible revelation, and he begins writing down Saitama's words at high-speed, much to Saitama's confusion and embarrassment. It seems humorous at the time, but not long after we see a badly-damaged Genos watch Saitama sacrifice his reputation and chance to be recognized, just so that actual, lower-ranking heroes would be regarded with respect. It's then that Genos swears that he'll stand by Saitama even when others try to tear him down. It's pretty clear that Saitama's short remark struck an important note with Genos — now he's not just a disciple trying to gain more power, but a friend admiring Saitama for his heroic worldview, willing to stand beside Saitama even if he simply can't compare to his strength.

Sea Monster Arc

• Genos took a direct hit from Sea King of flesh-and-bone-melting acid to save a little girl, who Sea King tried to kill because she cheered Genos on, because that's what a hero does.
• Licenseless Rider standing and fighting against an opponent that can kill him in an eyeblink is a Moment of Awesome. The crowd of civilians watching cheering him on, even though they know that there is no way he can win? Heartwarming. Doubles as a Tear Jerker.
  Licenseless Rider: "I know no one expects much from me. And I know better than anyone... how useless a C-Class hero is! I know I'm too weak even for Class B! I know more than anyone else... that I'll never beat you! But I must fight you anyway. I'm the only one left! It's not about winning or losing! I just have to stand here and face you!"
  • And the first person to cheer for him was the little boy for whom Rider fetched a balloon out of a tree.
    "You can do it Mumen Rider! You're the Cyclist for Justice! Beat the weird monster! Beat him!"
  • Even Saitama is impressed by his Heroic Resolve.
    Saitama: "You did well. Nice fight." ^{In the dub} "Nice fight, man. You should be proud of yourself."
• As soon as he lays Licenseless Rider down, Saitama sees Genos horribly damaged and immediately calls out to him in concern, asking if he's still alive. As soon as he sees Genos is not yet dead, he breathes out a visible sigh of relief. He may not have initially wanted Genos as a disciple or his roommate — but it's clear he cares about Genos and considers him a friend.
• Genos' smile, but proud smile when Saitama defeats the Sea King. Later he renews his vow to always follow Saitama after he sacrifices his own reputation for the sake of the other heroes
• Saitama making himself out to be a jerk in front of the civilians that watched him defeat Sea King... so that the heroes who had risked their lives and nearly died would get the recognition for having "weakened" the opponent beforehand. Bear in mind, Saitama became a member of the Hero Association for the primary purpose of getting the recognition he deserved for repeatedly going out and defeating the Monster of the Week... so him giving up that chance for the sake of others getting the recognition they also deserve is truly heroic.
• When Saitama opens another hate-mail, Genos sneaks into the screen with his blaster ready to fire. It's as if he is threatening that if it's another hate mail, bashing his master, he will burn it to ashes and even before that he instantly wants to hunt down the person who sent Saitama hate mail. Meanwhile, Saitama is just a bit surprised someone got so much free time to write that.
• When Saitama opens a final letter, it actually is a one who sends his thanks towards bald hero. Later, Saitama goes to the oden stand, meeting Mumen Rider who thanks for saving hima and finding out that he was the one who send the mail. The two share a smile, and Mumen orders the food for both of them. For how much Saitama is Herowith Bad Publicity and how he received a bad press recently, there will always be few of people who are Fanofthe Underdog like Mumen Rider.
  • Considering how budget-conscious and food-focused Saitama was at this stage (and also how lonely he's implied to be this entire time), this very modest, very human gesture of gratitude probably meant more to him than any amount of praise.

Alien Conquerors Arc

• During the final stage of the battle between Saitama and Boros, in the anime, we are presented to a brief scene where we see Boros' eye changing colour and can hear his heartbeat. This is a Call-Back to Saitama's dream from the first episode, and implies that, for the first time in perhaps his whole life, Boros is truly feeling alive and enjoying himself fighting Saitama.
  • Saitama could have killed Boros right off the bat if he wanted to, but he didn't. Given the parallels between them, this can easily be read as Saitama wanting to give someone like him the thrilling fight they've been looking for.
• After the battle between Saitama and Boros, there's a brief moment of pure, mutual respect between the two after it's revealed Boros is not only still alive a bit longer, but conscious after taking the Serious Strike. Saitama actually tries to comfort his dying foe in agreeing that the battle was hard-fought, though Boros now knows full well he never stood a chance. Even after Boros is long gone and Saitama is meeting back up with Genos, he still asserts that Boros was truly powerful, and the strongest opponent he's ever known. It's a kind of understanding only two who know the loneliness of being the strongest in the world can have.
• Genos' description of Sweet Mask is that Genos would have been like that, had Saitama not been in his life. His Sensei may not have taught him special abilities, but he did teach him the most important power.
• Going on from his previous reactions to Genos' injuries, Saitama's response to Tatsumaki throwing him into a large rock may be his most concerned response to date. In the anime he's even shown trying to help him out afterwards, although he accidentally tears his arm off as a result.
• Episode 12 has a scene where Genos rescues a child from a Dragon-level monster and proudly introduces himself and Saitama through a Borrowed Catchphrase from his Sensei before Saitama destroys the monster. What really sells it is the kind smile he gives to the boy as he introduces himself.
  Pluton: Who do we have here?
  Genos: A great man who is a hero for fun and profit... and his disciple

King Arc

• The scene where King realizes it was Saitama who saved him all those years ago and is the one whose accomplishments King has been getting credit for. His reaction is not fear that Saitama will hurt him in retribution but guilt that someone who put so much effort into becoming a hero isn't getting the credit that they deserve. He's so overwhelmed by emotions that he starts to sob and Saitama has to calm him down.
  • The flashback scene is really pretty sweet too. Saitama calming down King and telling to open his scared eye, after getting hit by the monster. King notices hero's injuries which Saitama doesn't mind calling them "scratches", saying how today is a big sale in the manga. In redrawn manga version and anime it's changed to "Today was a great fight", which is also sweet, seeing how Saitama still enjoyed fighting before loosing his hair. And then there's the transition from Saitama with hair to now hairless one, doubles as a Funny Moment.
• After King reveals the truth about himself to Saitama, Saitama doesn't hold a grudge against him for unintentionally taking all the credit for the monsters he destroyed for the past three years. Saitama was even nice enough to keep his lie a secret and encourage him to continue being a hero despite being a fraud. He even decides to start playing video games with him. It's a start of a bit odd, but very genuine friendship.

Human Monster Saga

The Blizzard Group Arc

• Fubuki's first encounter with Saitama really causes her to get inside of her own head with her defeatist mindset and philosophy.
  • First she (the number 1 B-class) can't do anything to harm Saitama (currently ranked as "Number 7 B-class") in their brief skirmish, then Genos comes along (currently Number 14 S-class) with the revelation that he is Saitama's disciple, making her utterly stunned over the idea that B-class and an S-class hero can casually associate without any considerations for the power gap whatsoever. After that, she watches Sonic (an estimated S-class threat) and Genos fight, only to have Saitama casually stomp Sonic like nothing, curbstomping her philosophy further.
  • After that, she tells Saitama and Genos of the foundation for her philosophy - her depressing relationship to her older sister, Tatsumaki - and rebuffs Saitama's idea of climbing the A-class rank ladder herself, believing she'd never get past the holders of its top four-spots. Then to finally cap it all off as she begins to reassure herself with her fractured philosophy, she claims that King (the Number 7 S-class), Tatsumaki (the Number 2 S-class) and Blast (the Number 1 S-class) are so utterly ridiculous obstacles to reaching the top that not even Saitama could hope to surpass them... only to get interrupted once King himself shows up at Saitama's door, not as the S-class hero, but as a friendly acquaintance. The sight of Saitama being so casual with someone she believed to be beyond human reach, treating each other as equals, is the final nail to her philosophy. She came to Saitama looking to have him join her by force, but instead became the one wanting to join him and his circle of equals, thanks to Saitama's attitude of utter dismissal for the Hero System's hierarchy.

Monster Raid Arc/Super Fight Arc

• Saitama visiting Licenseless Rider in the hospital and offering him, Tanktop Master and Charanko bananas.
• Garou's relationship with a small, homely boy who's a fan of heroes.
• Just as Metal Bat is about to hit Garou, he stops when his sister Zenko shows up. Before they can clash again, Zenko stands between them to protect her brother and tells Garou that Metal Bat promised never to use violence in front of her, breaking up the fight. Garou respects this and leaves to go find Watchdog Man instead.
• An otherwise unseen moment, but Sour Face and Jakumen's match ended in the two praising each other's efforts, and the audience applauding their sportsmanship.
• When Snek and Lightning Max return to protect the other fighters and to stop the monsters from turning the rest of the martial artists into monsters, Suiryu questions why they returned when they could have gotten away safely. After looking at each other for a second, they both respond with an earnest look on their faces:
  Snek and Max: To save you.
• All three fighters are down. All seems lost. Suiryu, in the climax of his humiliation at the hands of Gouketsu and Bakuzan, cries out for a hero to save them. Bakuzan seemingly crushes Suiryu under his foot to demonstrate despair... Then Saitama saves Suiryu.
  Saitama: I heard your cry for help. I came for you, Suiryu! You did well resisting alone until now!
  ''[Saitama strides past Suiryu towards Bakuzan, who looks shocked and bewildered]
  Saitama: Leave the rest to me.
• Unlike many others Saitama's saved, Suiryu genuinely thanks Saitama for saving his life.
• Suiryu begging Saitama not to fight Gouketsu because he finally met a true hero and doesn't want him to throw his life away fighting an unstoppable monster. And when Saitama comes back after defeating Gouketsu, Suiryu is so inspired by Saitama that he now wants to be a hero and asks if he can be Saitama's disciple (which Saitama flat-out refuses).
• When Saitama is feeling down and lost, lacking in purpose as a hero, King shows up and gives him a pep talk. He mentions other hobbies Saitama could take if he wants a challenge, and then gives a lecture on what it means to be a true hero. Saitama may be the best fighter but he is nowhere close to be the best hero, and that can be a goal for him to stride towards. Saitama seriously considers this.

Hero Hunt Arc/Hero Counterattack Arc

• Despite Bang giving a ruthless beating to his only student Charanko and later expelling him, it was all merely a warning so his student won't get caught in Hero Hunt by Garou. Later, Charanko meets Garou anyway and tries to avenge his master, only to loose badly. Bang is very much saddened over this, showcasing that deep down he cares for Charanko.
  • Later in MA Arc, during Bang and Bomb's fight with Garou, Bang broughts Charanko's name saying that he won't forgive Garou for what happened to him.
• After Saitama defeated Centichoro, Genos asked him what he was missing. Saitama said "power, I guess". Sounds like a lame cop-out answer, right? But... there's another way to look at it — that Saitama was impressed by Genos' heroic nature, his philosophy and his willingness to do the right thing even if it endangers himself. All he lacks is the power to stand up to the threats currently facing the world.

Monster Association Arc

For the grimmest arc in the series so far, it is still jam-packed with humanizing moments in between.

• Child Emperor's and Zombieman's relationship in the manga:
  • As Child Emperor tries to take charge the turbulent S-class, Zombieman is the only person there who respects his prowess and defends it against the other more skeptical members, notoriously like Sweet Mask.
  • Child Emperor struggles psychologically against Phoenix Man as the latter points out the former's insecurities — namely believing the adults he desperately wants to trust and rely on to appreciate him as a hero, all may end up going to waste as HA is corrupt and he doesn't know, gets the niggling feeling everyone else looks down on him as he is a child, and he gets little to no acknowledgement on how hard he works to keep everything together. Thankfully, thankfully Saitama interferes just in time and long enough that Zombieman contacts Child Emperor to apologize that the grown men has to rely on such a young kid and genuinely thanks him. No doubt the words that saved Child Emperor, something he truly needed to hear for a long time that he quickly and quietly sent to tears.
    Zombieman: I'm sorry, we're grown men but we rely on you. I want to thank you behalf of everyone. Thanks, a lot - I'm glad you're here.
    Child Emperor: [silently wells up with tears]
    Zombieman: Let's have milkshakes when we both get back safely. My treat. How's the course of events there?
    Child Emperor: [Regains his composure as he wipes his tears] No... No problem at all, of course. Please be careful yourself, Zombieman.
    Zombieman: Yeah!
    Child Emperor: It's alright now.
    ** Nearby, Saitama gives an impressed and glad smile at Child Emperors's new resolve.
  • Child Emperor rejects Phoenixman's coerced feeding of monster cells, telling him that a hero is beyond more than what he wears; he follows the hero he wants to be. The hero he was talking about? Zombieman.
  • No doubt if the older man hears about how much esteem Child Emperor holds for him, he'd no doubt be deeply touched, especially when his heroism and humanity is constantly questioned left and right, but there is one kid who thinks he's the best hero of them all.
  • Reeling from his mistake on distrusting Genos and Bang, the first person Child Emperor thinks that could be a better leader than he is Zombieman. It faces rejection from Amai Mask, but Zombieman rolls the insult off and reinforces his faith in Child Emperor, encouraging him to learn from his mistakes - after all, they're all human.
  • Zombieman pushes Child Emperor out of the way when they're attacked by Homeless Emperor, and later we can see Child Emperor tenaciously drags Zombieman's regenerating body to safety.
  • In his message for help to Bofoy, if he himself cannot be saved, he implores the doctor to at least save Zombieman.
  • Later on, when Pig God regurgitates the heroes he saved, Child Emperor gets mad when he thought he partway digested Zombieman.
• During the raid, when the choice comes between "keeping the loot" (which he stole from a Monster Mine) and saving a life from falling into a bottomless hole, Saitama drops the loot without a second's hesitation to get his hands free for the save (even as he instantly regretted dropping the loot afterwards, much to his lament.) The life he saved in question? A Monster's!
  • Saitama and the Monster (named Manako) interactions, with Saitama pretty much treating her the same as any human, including casually conversing with her and accepting the fact that she's a girl immediately after finding out.
• When Child Emperor is trapped in a small chamber of rocks and slowly suffocating, Puri Puri Prisoner just happens to find him, and his first instinct is to give the poor frightened boy a (completely platonic) hug... of course, this is PPP we're talking about, and he is still naked, but... it's the thought that counts, right?
• Tatsumaki gets multiple heartwarming moments throughout her climactic showdown with Psykorochi.
  • When the battle against Psykorochi begins, Tatsumaki is being forced into a tough spot but is holding back from going all out because she knows that there is still a single kid stuck somewhere in the Monster Association. When she finally gets the signal from King that the kid is being led to safety, you can see the relief on her face. She then praises King and says that she expected nothing less from him.
  • She goes into full "protective sister rage mode" when Psykorochi threatens the life of Fubuki. She soon proceeds to start tearing and twisting them apart.
  • Tatsumaki swears to Genos that, no matter her injuries, she has to keep fighting until Psykorochi is destroyed because King entrusted her with the task while he takes Tareo to safety and she refuses to let him down. Awwwwwww.
  • She also ensures that she is able to rescue as many heroes as possible from the collapsing base before returning her attention to the monster Fusion Dance.
  • She has several moments where she gives genuine praise to Genos as he provides her with crucial assistance in the battle against Psykorochi, thanks to his 10-second Super Mode. Gone are the days of her throwing him into a wall. She even protects him from further harm by holding him aloft using her psychic abilities to keep him from falling while she takes over the fight once again, making it seem as though they are developing a Vitriolic Best Buds sort of relationship.
    • This continues during the fight with the Monster Association executives, where Tatsumaki is barely conscious and Genos does whatever it takes to protect her. He carries her bridal-style and even uses his back to take Black Sperm's kicks for her, and in response she musters a little more psychokinesis to hold the Black Sperms in place to let them get away.
• Special mention goes to Mumen Rider and Tanktop Master — the former getting the latter's respect for responding and going beyond one's duty even while injured, even telling Mumen the hero classes doesn't matter — what matters is that Mumen is a virtuous hero at heart. TTM is easily one of the most humble and heroic S class heroes there is.
  • It's the fact that they're journeying forth together to save lives while using Mumen Rider's bike is what started the tide of heroes to join in on the effort to begin with:
    • The Tanktopper Army gets inspired by their master and follows soon after them,
    • Which then gets witnessed by the hospitalized Blizzard Bunch that even they suit up to help with the relief efforts,
    • Which then prompts A classes Snek, Lightning Max, and Heavy Kong to action as well — and soon the rest of the pro Heroes, injured or no, to quickly go over to Z city despite the overwhelming threat in order to prpvide rescue and support. The heroes are not without their flaws - yes, some of them are bullies, some of them are clingy and too preoccupied with ranks, but if it worse comes to worst? They're actual heroes.
• The remaining martial artists suit up and weaponize, wanting to support the heroes but loses their nerve at the thought of encountering a monster like Gouketsu again, and Suiryu tells them it's not their time just yet, believing heroism is a state of mind and spirit. He then looks out of the window in admiration. The heroes he was looking at in particular? Snek and Lightning Max, the heroes who saved him.
• When Child Emperor is having a Heroic BSoD from how badly he misjudged Genos and Bang, he asks Zombieman to takeover as leader. Zombieman instead reassures him that realizing he made a mistake is the first step to fixing it and that they're all only human.
• Once Genos's Deadly Upgrade reaches it's limit and he's about to go critical, he begs everyone to flee so they won't be caught in the blast. Instead, Fubuki steps up and nearly uses her psychic powers to stop his overheating, declaring that she's the leader of the Blizzard Group and she won't leave her "subordinates" behind.
• When Tatsumaki is obviously on her last legs, Fubuki attempts to psychically hold her in place so she won't keep fighting and get herself killed. Fubuki then gives a short speech about how she's come to understand her older sister and promises to save her, because she's a hero. While Tatsumaki instantly dispels Fubuki's psychic hold, she compliments her younger sister's growth and insists that "she has to be a good example" for her younger sister.
• Tatsumaki is thrown into a Boulder by Fuhrer Ugly and eventually loses consciousness. Genos responds by picking her up and carrying her to safety while Bang handles Fuhrer Ugly and Gums. Yet the heroine isn’t willing to stay down and out that easily, and within mere minutes (before Genos can even lay her down somewhere) she’s awake and fighting alongside him and Bang once again.
• Genos saves Tatsumaki from a now-giant Black Sperm by blasting his arm off. For his efforts, he gets embedded in the ground by the Executive and Tatsumaki cries out his name in alarm, showing visible concern for him. Note — she called him by his real name rather than his hero name “Demon Cyborg.” Her concern quickly changes to stunned amazement when he just pops right back out, explaining his burial escape functionality he obtained from the data of her chucking him into a wall. She casually chuckles and says that he’s lucky to have gotten stronger thanks to her. The two then go full-on Back-to-Back Badasses mode as Genos asks Tatsumaki if she can still fight and the latter asks him (with a smile) who he thinks he’s talking to.
• After Cosmic Fear Mode Garou kills Genos, Saitama very carefully cradles the cyborg's core to his chest, making absolutely certain it doesn't get damaged, even as he delivers a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on his killer.
• Saitama views Garou's and Tareo's relationship as something similar to his and Genos — in the Viz translation, Saitama believes Genos saved him; a weird teenager who gave up his human body saved the world's strongest man from himself.
  • If we recall the process of monsterization, it doesn't necessarily have to be eating a monster cell or having intense negative emotions and obsessions — we've had dime a dozen of characters of the latter and never turn into a monster. The true tipping point is done through fully abandoning your humanity or having an extreme detachment from humans. And when we see at the start of the series, we can see Saitama is already in the process of being so detached from humanity that he's seeing them as insects and a complete and utter disregard to the lives affected by his fights — and it was in that same chapter he met a lone cyborg. Genos wasn't the only soul saved that day.
• Upon realizing he killed Tareo, Garou sacrifices himself to teach Saitama how to utilize God's power and go back in time to stop him.
  • This also the first time we actually see Garou showing other emotion to Tareo than anger or irration, his grieving shows that deep down he cares for his young friend.
• Saitama has stopped Garou after going back in time, and thus saving everyone — including Genos! It's especially heartwarming that Genos was so carried away seeing Saitama that he blasted his way over and rammed him in the stomach, catching the usually quick reacting Saitama off guard.
  • Just, the idea of these two reuniting especially after such a harrowing chapter.
• The relationship between King and Tatsumaki is also really cute. While Tatsumaki is unconscious, King protects her modesty and keeps her warm by placing his coat on her. He carries her everywhere. And in the Bad Future, he dies in the radioactive rain by covering Fubiki with his shirt (exposing his skin to rain) and his body while Fubiki covers Tatsumaki with King's coat and her body. Unfortunately, they all die anyways from the radiation, but then Saitama goes back in time and saves them all. With that being said, the pragmatic Metal Knight shows up and makes sure everyone's radiation sickness is treated and the radiation dealt with.
• In the manga, vision of "terrible future" of Garou appears before he fades away and tells Tareo to wake up. He's seen actually seen smiling to him, finally showing a positive attitude to Tareo. In his vestiges of his presence to see it for himself that Tareo is alive and well before he ceases to exist.
• After being rescued from the Monsters Association, the kid pays Garou back by standing up to Sweet Mask when he tries to execute the supposed "Hero Killer".
• This reinvigorates Garou's will to live, and he leaps away too fast for any hero to track... except for Saitama, who chose not to reveal his escape path.
• We get graced with a coloured cover once again, and this time it's a massive change from the last page of the webcomic's version MA arc's end:
  • In the webcomic, Saitama stands alone in the rubble, facing the dawn as he realizes he no longer has his home. It's especially more somber as it's colored in black and whites. It's one of the sadder and more bitter moments of the usually lighthearted hero.
  • In the manga however, the dawn is colored in hopeful colors — a sign of God's influencing ending for now after a long and dangerous conflict. And Saitama doesn't stand alone in the rubble — Genos is with him. He may have lost his apartment, but he didn't lose his home.
  • Also, he doesn't refer to it as "my apatment", but "our apartment".
• Chapter 170 of the manga serves as the epilogue of the Human Monster Saga, easily one of the most if not the most wholesome chapter, and how does it end?
  • Bang and Garou actually reconciling. It was implied Garou wanted Bang to find him, and it appears he has taken up on Bang's offer for another chance to be master and disciple once more, and despite Garou's insistence otherwise, it's likely because he does miss Bang. Awww.
  • The fact that Garou gets to walk a free man. He's gotten his head straight enough to willingly atone for his crimes and rehabilitate himself. The fact his better nature has been witnessed by other heroes and was likely vouched for, even Tareo. Even if his parents didn't come during his detention, he's not to spend his journey and apologize to the heroes he hurt alone — he's got Bang.
  • It's a sad event that Bang is leaving the Hero world, but in a hopeful note unlike in the webcomic, it seems like Garou is slated to be his eventual succesor! Garou finally gets a chance to be recognized as a hero.
  • Tareo was so inspired by Garou, that he is now willing to play the monster role when the other kids are playing but refuses to stay down. He even boats a serious, yet happy smile on his face, showing how he got much bigger confidence in himself.
  • Waganma showing his Character Development by getting nicer to Tareo and inviting him to his house.
  • Garou smiling and wishing his young friend his best in his mind.
  • Garou starts off during chapter 46 walking off alone. Now, he's walking on the main street with Bang, happily talking to one another.

Neo Heroes Saga

Psychic Sisters Arc

• In Chapter 104 of the ONE-drawn manga, Metal Bat is called upon by the Hero Association to defeat a Dragon-class hedgehog monster. He's rather upset by this, because his cat's about to give birth and he's worried about her. After Saitama and Tatsumaki kill it by accident during their fight, Metal Bat decides to just calm down and get home to take care of his cat.
• Saitama following Tatsumaki after she flew away, just to make sure she was alright because of how much her wounds were bleeding.
• Another instance is Fubuki in the later parts of the webcomic. She cared for her old friend Psykos to the point that she would fight Tatsumaki in order to protect her. And not just Psykos but also her subordinates. One could say that spending time with Saitama gave her the courage to do that.
• Speaking of Tatsumaki, her Big Sister Instinct for Fubuki should count for a lot. Her Berserk Button is absolutely mashed when Garou says that he's killed her (not that it helped beat him at all) and in a flashback it's shown that she used her powers against the kids that bullied Fubuki for hers.
  • The heartwarming has started to fade a little now that it's becoming clear that Tatsumaki is actually OVERprotective, and is planning to force Blizzard to stop being a hero and basically keep her locked up to keep her safe after Blizzard's showing during the Prison battle disappointed her. And that Tatsumaki has basically been ruining her life through her overprotective tendencies since they were kids.
    • And now getting into Tornado's past has made it even worse with Tornado having been isolated from her family when she was a child and forced into experimentation. While she does genuinely love Blizzard, her actions are completely out of hand and clearly a result of her being bitter at the world.
  • For what it's worth, it did go back to being moderately heartwarming seeing Tatsumaki acknowledge Fubuki's strength, express joy at the sight of her progress and change her mind about forcing her to stop being a hero. If only she hadn't immediately decided to force the rest of the Fubuki Group to quit being heroes instead.

Neo Heroes Introduction Arc

• King's downcast dejection of having all of his attempts to get stronger for real shot down by his reputation. Saitama's advice to him?
  Saitama: "Work on your muscles."

Supreme Hero Arc

• Amai Mask deciding to reveal his monster form to prevent potential civilian casualties and when the monster is dead, the first thing he does is ask them if they are hurt despite how terrified they are of him.
• When one civilian, who Amai Mask just saved, throws a rock at him, Saitama immediately catches it and looks at Amai Mask with no fear and instead looks rather impressed and proud at him for showing his true self. Amai Mask tries to get Saitama to kill him so that he can become an Ideal Hero to the public, but Saitama refuses and instead helps him escape so that he can become his own ideal hero.
• Forte, Chain'n'Toad, and Butterfly DX were all scouted by the Neo Heroes association and given better offers than what the Hero Association was giving them. They decide to stay with the Hero Association anyways to take care of Rover (especially after seeing how bad Saitama was at it), although even that's implied to be an excuse, since their true reason would be they're staying out of respect for Saitama himself. After witnessing his strength, they consider the enhancements and equipment they could get from Neo Heroes to be just an empty power to rely upon and instead want to improve themselves as heroes in their own way. So essentially Saitama inspired them the advice he tried to give to Genos and Dr. Genus during the "House of Evolution" arc.
  Saitama: Human beings are strong because we have the ability to change ourselves.
• Although the reasons behind it are rather hilarious, it is rather refreshing to see Saitama genuinely motivated and active for once as The Leader of the Hero Name Victims Association. In return, the other members show genuine respect towards their leader with several giving him a high five after he one-shots a Dragon-level threat.
• Amai Mask's triumphant return amid the robot invasion with him continuing to be a hero by saving a boy, while disguising himself as the boy's action figure. Amai Mask then inspires the boy to become a hero himself one day.

Others

Bonus Chapters

• In a bonus chapter that takes place before Saitama lost his Shonen Hair, he follows a group of heroes thinking that they would lead him to the Monster of the Week that's been attacking lately. When he finds out that they lead him to a citizen defense shelter instead, he makes the effort to leave. The surrounding citizens think that he's having a panic attack and trying to commit suicide. So they all band together to hold him back, just so they can save him from what they think is certain death. All the while stating that he's young and that he has so much to live for.
• In another bonus chapter, a nameless B-Rank hero is disheartened by the hero system and believes that normal people like him will never make it big. In comes Saitama who ends up beating a monster that not even Tornado could defeat completely using only his normal strength. He tells the hero that the only person keeping him back is himself and that he can truly be strong if he only works hard for it. The man doesn't believe that Saitama's telling the truth until Saitama goes off to buy vegetables at a special sale: the EXACT SAME dilemma the man was facing during the chapter.
  • Becomes much better later when it's revealed that, after leaving the Blizzard Group, he had started rising the rankings thanks to the hard work Saitama inspired him into doing. He's even seen in the group Death Gatling brings to ambush an injured Garou, giving him trouble when the Hero Hunter thinks "the support guy" will be easy prey, and summoning Genos when Garou starts gaining the upper hand.
• Another awesome and heartwarming one comes in Chapter 33.5, entitled 'Salmon', which refers to Saitama's lunch, which is salmon. He's eating on the roof of a building when a man comes along to jump off to commit suicide. He's not listening to any half-hearted lines from a hero clearly trying to show off on camera at the ground. Then Saitama's salmon accidentally drops and he easily rushes down to catch it then brings it back up to the roof where, having seen this superhuman feat, the man is shocked and accidentally falls off the roof. Saitama, who's just arrived, quickly catches him using the chopsticks (while losing the salmon). He tells the man that it's ultimately his decision what to do, but asks him to come to the building Saitama's having lunch on should he ever decide to jump again. This is enough to convince the man not to jump and goes to show how natural it is for Saitama to be a hero, registered or not. The best part? No one but the man knows about what Saitama did, which kinda gives the feeling that one of these days Saitama's gonna be backed into the corner, and it's these people that he saves or inspires that will save him in turn.
• In one of the bonus chapters, Saitama gets picked up by the police for generally being suspicious and looking like the sketch of a criminal that was attacking cops. During his interrogation, the real criminal, a Demon-level monster, strolls into the station and lays waste to the officers there. The chief swallows his pride and asks the Hero Association, which the police regularly butts heads with, for help. The man in charge there rubs it in and makes the chief beg for it. Saitama smashes the phone before he can.
  Saitama: Heroes and Police don't do their jobs because someone says 'please.'
  • A large number of Heroes sent by the Hero Association show up at the station with a camera crew to kill the monster and humiliate the police. Then a bald police officer comes out the door dragging a dead monster...
    • Why Saitama did it: the police chief had quickly realized that Saitama was innocent and they started talking, and he mentioned that nowadays nobody respected the police anymore because the Hero Association publicizes what they do and the police simply does their job without shouting it to the whole world — and Saitama happened to agree.
  • The police chief's reaction to what Saitama had done: in public he follows Saitama's wish and keeps the secret on who killed the monster, but when the news are away he admits Saitama is a hero.
• Another instance is when a kid offers Saitama his allowance money for saving him. Saitama accepts, and returns it telling the kid it's alright.
  • Reminder that this happened when Saitama was so broke he couldn't even afford a canned drink from a vending machine. The chapter ends with an equally heartwarming moment of Genos telling Saitama that he bought a boxful of the drink because he noticed that Saitama's been eyeing it.
    • Hilarity Ensues when it turns out the drinks taste terrible.
  • Also in the omake page after this, Saitama greets Licenceless Rider while he's on patrol. Saitama asks him if he's thirsty and he gives him all of the canned drinks to him.
• The omake after Chapter 36 adds a moment where just before Metal Bat and Handsomely Masked Sweet Mask can fight, Metal Bat gets a phone call from his little sister, telling him how her piano recital went. He goes from cocky Jerkass to Jerk with a Heart of Gold in an instant, even asking Sweet Mask for an autograph to make it up to her for having missed it.
  • Heck he doesn't even seem to hate Sweet Mask anymore, either!
• In a special chapter, after challenging and failing to defeat Saitama and his group in a competition, Fubuki is getting really down on herself. This is not helped by Child Emperor using his new scouter to measure her physical power, which comes up as barely over the average human (Fubuki is a psychic so her power is in her brain not her body). She's about to go into full-blown Troubled Fetal Position when Saitama pulls her out of her funk with this gem:
  "Maybe you just haven't tried hard enough. If you really want to become strong, stop caring about what the world thinks about you! Living your life has nothing to do with what others think!"
  • After his speech, Fubuki snaps out of her depression and psychically crushes the spider parasites that were swarming around the heroes. She yells back at Saitama that she already realized what he just told her and that she was just surprised about losing the contest. However she also uses her powers to telekinetically remove the webs Saitama was covered in when he killed the big spider the little spiders came from. She can act like a real Iron Lady but it's clear that she appreciated what he just said and has started to slowly become a better person being around Saitama.
• Another bonus chapter shows Metal Bat going to see one of Zenko's piano recitals like he was unable to do during the Alien Conquerers arc. He also shows up with a bouquet of flowers bigger than his body and struggles not to cry the entire time she's playing. For a Hot-Blooded delinquent, Bat can be a real softy when his sister's involved.

OVA

• An OVA that works as part of Saitama's Super Hero Origin has Saitama, who still has hair and training to be a hero, trying to stop a shop from closing because the tailor is the only person who patches up his track suit every time it gets broken. The shop is closing because the tailor is being blackmailed by criminals to make a payment. Though Saitama succeeds in recovering the deed, the tailor closes the shop anyway since he was too old. However, he is not sad about retiring, as he wanted an excuse to do so and got it when Saitama inspired him with his determination to save his shop to make his last piece of work: Saitama's hero suit. The look on his face sells it as it is the happiest he's ever been throughout the episode.
  • The ending of the episode is not only a Whole Episode Flashback between Saitama and Genos, but also a show of Saitama's Hidden Depths in the last minutes of the episode. A Running Gag of the series is that Saitama always worries about his suit getting dirty. Here it shows that he cares about his suit getting clean because it is a gift from the only person that ever believed in him becoming a hero.
  • Despite finding his suit ridiculous during his first time using it, even using his tracksuit on top of his suit because he was embarrassed by his appearance, Saitama got used to his attire due to the emotional value he held for it in spite of it not fitting his tastes. He even gets annoyed when Genos proposes to buy him a new suit.
• OVA 3: Sonic saves a boar piglet from a giant snake, naming the little guy Ino, and befriends an older man named Frank, who he gives advice to to help Frank defeat his arch-enemy. Ino spends most of the episode accompanying Sonic's training, and is absolutely adorable.
• OVA 5: Despite being upstaged by her sister yet again, Fubuki ended up inspiring a C-Class heroine, Swim, to continue in the hero business after she'd been contemplating quitting. She even requests that she be allowed to join the Fubuki group when she makes it to B Class.

Unsorted

• You're bald! Just like me!◊
• The true hero...is you!
• In the Drama CD "Festival with Saitama", Saitama invited Genos to come with him to a festival. Why? Because he noticed that Genos is basically stressing himself out so he wanted him to have fun for a change.
• King has a reputation of being the strongest hero on Earth by the populace at large. That said, it's a credit to how much Genos respects Saitama that, when he was facing someone who was hunting King, all he could basically say was "I know someone stronger."

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