Warning: SPOILERS for chapter #178 of One-Punch Man.The much-anticipated battle between Saitama and Tatsumaki has finally begun in One-Punch Man, but it’s not going the way that fans expected. After withstanding Tatsumaki’s fierce telekinetic assault with ease, Saitama unexpectedly hugs her, which brings out long-forgotten feelings for the hero known as the Tornado of Terror.
Tatsumaki has actually a lot more in common with Saitama than it appears. Both heroes are not only incredibly powerful but also emotionally detached from everything that goes on around them. Saitama’s ridiculous and unsurpassed strength has led him to apathy due to a lack of challenges. For Tatsumaki, instead, her power is the result of a cold, relentless attitude that made her discard personal relations to become as strong as possible on her own. However, Tatsumaki’s hard-as-steel shell has just been broken by the most unexpected of Saitama’s attacks: a hug.
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Saitama And Tatsumaki’s Hug Is Already The Most Discussed OPM’s Panel
In chapter #178 of One-Punch Man, one of the most anticipated fights of the whole series finally begins. After stopping the dangerous psychics of the Tsukuyomi organization from kidnapping her former enemy, Psykos, Tatsumaki gets angry at her sister Fubuki for letting a member of the villainous group infiltrate her Fubuki Group and put her life in danger. Tatsumaki wants to hurt and punish Fubuki’s associates, when Saitama steps in, grabbing her. Tatsumaki tries to repel him using her unparalleled telekinetic powers, but with no effect. Seeing that the building is about to collapse under the strain of Tatsumaki’s powers, Saitama hugs her and jumps out, bringing the fight outside.
The panel with Tatsumaki’s face reacting after being hugged is already making the rounds among fans. With a mere facial expression, One-Punch Man‘s artist Yusuke Murata was able to convey the shock of a woman that has never let anyone touch her, let alone hug her. However, Tatsumaki is clearly not repulsed by the contact with Saitama, but rather flustered and embarrassed. This could hint that, after their fight, Tatsumaki will start developing feelings for the bald hero. This would set up an interesting “triangle” dynamic, considering that Fubuki is also clearly developing feelings for Saitama, despite being brutally described as a mere “acquaintance” in this chapter.
Saitama Is The Only One Who Can Break Through Tatsumaki’s Shell
Tatsumaki’s lack of contact (physical and emotional) with others derives from the words that the hero Blast said after saving her from Tsukuyomi’s laboratory when she was a child: “When the time comes, don’t go expecting someone to come save you.” This is why Tatsumaki hates Fubuki’s reliance on other people for strength, while she is actually trying to protect her in a twisted way, but if there is someone who can make her change her attitude it’s Saitama. As the only man stronger than Tatsumaki, Saitama could make her feel protected, or at least make her realize that there is nothing wrong in relying on others sometimes. Whatever happens between Saitama and Tatsumaki in the upcoming chapters of One-Punch Man, fans were surely not expecting their much-awaited fight to be so romantic.
More: A One-Punch Man Hero Is More Twisted Than A MonsterThe latest chapter of One-Punch Man is available from Viz Media.
