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Chapter 167 of the One Punch Man manga has been released today, and it is another great chapter with quite a few things I’d like to share with our community. Saitama and Garou will continue their fighting and we do get a little more information on Blast allies. I’ll be discussing some of the major points from the chapter so there will be spoilers in my Chapter 167 review, so please go read the chapter here, and come back to review my thoughts.
What Is One Punch Man: Chapter 167?
Chapter 167 picks up immediately after Chapter 166. At the end of the previous chapter, Blast looks onward as the Serious Punches of Saitama and Garou collide. At the start, we see Blast and his “super friends”, as they come to help Blast contain the massive energy of the two punches.
Blast and his team were able to prevent the Earth from being destroyed, but this reaction sent Garou and Saitama flying. The two land on IO, which is one of Jupiter’s moons. As the dust settles Garou acknowledges where the two have landed and wants to work with Saitama on a way to get home. Saitama, who’s still dealing with the possible death of Genos, only wants to pummel Garou. The two proceed to fight or should I say, Saitama proceeds to wipe the floor with Garou.
Saitama Is Serious
Saitama acknowledges that Garou is strong enough for him to go all out against him here, but he isn’t excited about it. Which is totally understandable given the circumstances. Genos May just have died and If so, it is entirely Saitama’s fault for not taking Garou seriously from the start.
We then see Saitama have a small intimate moment with Geno’s core, which I think will have greater significance after this fight is over. I love this character development of Saitama here, and this is the first time we will get to see him fight with actual emotion.
Saitama Versus Garou (The Fight)
Saitama immediately takes the initiative in this fight. Garou tries to throw a portal at Saitama which he immediately kicks away. This fight shows the difference between borrowed power and earned power as Saitama immediately appears in front of Garou and punches him in the face before he can react.
This punch sends Garou flying, but he soon will try to counter with attacks of his own that appear to do nothing to Saitama’s body, however, his clothes are torn completely due to this barrage of attacks. Saitama mentions that Garou’s attacks really aren’t anything special and something he can easily replicate which brings us to the Serious Table Flip.
Serious Table Flip
This super move destroys the entire moon, and Saitama immediately follows this up by punching Garou with another Serious Punch. I’m excited we finally get to see the manga’s version of this attack, but I’m very surprised Garou is able to even get up after all of these attacks. So far, it doesn’t appear that Garou has taken much damage.
Saitama reached his hand into the ground and proceeds to lift up the entire crust of the moon they are on. To keep this in perspective, the moon they are on, IO is actually slightly larger than our planet’s moon.
The Ending
The chapter ends with Garou recognizing Saitama’s power and stating he’ll continue to copy him until he wins. Personally, I think Garou is delusional here. Saitama clearly is applying more effort and taking Garou seriously, but Garou can’t damage Saitama at all so how does he think he’s going to win? In regards to Garou’s ability to copy his opponents, I wonder if it has its limitations. He mentioned he is able to recognize the flow of energy, but does this apply to physical attacks? Saitama’s power isn’t from some specific energy, it’s a result of the physical training he endured to become a hero. Garou may be able to copy someone’s techniques, but there has to be a limit otherwise this fight will never end.
Neither opponent has really taken any significant damage in the fight, but it does appear that Saitama has the edge in the strength department so I truly doubt Garou is able to copy his strength, which was my point made in the previous paragraph. I’m really unsure of how this battle will end and how they will manage to get home unless Blast is able to teleport them back to Earth.
Final Thoughts
This was a great chapter, and one I think needed to happen. I’m enjoying this story, but frankly, I am over Garou and ready for his arc to be over. The God merger was cool, but I’m ready for Saitama to end this so the story and world can progress further. I’d like to know what exactly is happening on Earth, and if the S-class heroes are recovering now that Garou has been taken off-world. I’m sure will find out their status in upcoming chapters.
Now I’d like to hear from you. Are you enjoying this current One Punch Man Arc, and what do you think will happen in the next chapter? I’d also like to know what you think about Garou’s copying ability? Do you think it’s simply broken, and he can copy anything, or do you think there are limitations that will be revealed later? Let me know by commenting below.
