The latest episode of One Punch Man Season 3 shifts the story into high gear, moving from dialogue to intense action deep within the Monster Association’s hideout. The fifth episode, which aired on November 9, 2025, focuses almost entirely on Garou’s brutal battles underground, culminating in a one-sided fight against the terrifying Monster King Orochi. Meanwhile, on the surface, Saitama remains hilariously unaware of the chaos unfolding beneath his feet.
Garou’s Relentless Fighting Gauntlet
After recovering from severe injuries inflicted by Royal Ripper, Garou returns to the Monster Association base with increased power, single-handedly defeating the monster enforcers who had previously overwhelmed him. His primary goal is to rescue the boy, Tareo, and find an escape route. Their journey through the green, oppressive hallways of the monster lair brings them face to face with increasingly dangerous foes.
Garou first encounters Overgrown Rover, a giant dog monster classified as a Dragon-level threat. Recognizing the immediate danger, Garou initially avoids a direct fight, but is forced to confront the beast after a skirmish with other monsters draws its attention. He orders Tareo to run to safety before engaging the powerful creature. Overgrown Rover’s heat beam attacks subject Garou to a near-death experience, with the blasts strong enough to create tremors felt on the surface. Despite surviving, Garou is severely injured and blasted down to the lowest levels of the base.
The Mastermind and the Monster King
In the depths of the lair, Garou meets Gyoro Gyoro, the mysterious mastermind behind the Monster Association. Using powerful telekinetic abilities, Gyoro Gyoro immobilizes Garou and reveals a keen interest in his rapid growth. The episode explains that both Orochi and Garou are undergoing a similar transformation process, where repeated near-death experiences force the body to break its natural limits and become stronger.
Gyoro Gyoro tries to recruit Garou, believing he has the potential to surpass even Orochi. The character’s development is compared to the origin of DC’s Doomsday, who was made unkillable through repeated resurrections. Garou, however, is too arrogant to be bossed around and breaks free from the psychic hold, declaring his intention to take down the Monster Association himself. In response, Gyoro Gyoro summons the Monster King to deal with the rebellious hero hunter.
Orochi’s Overwhelming Power
The reveal of Monster King Orochi is a major moment in the episode. The leader of the Monster Association is a colossal, serpentine being with a body that unravels into a mass of writhing dragons and multiple mouths. The animation uses a black-and-white color scheme to emphasize the shocking reveal of his true form. Orochi is not a mindless beast; he is a fighting genius who instantly analyzes and understands his opponents’ techniques.
The fight between Garou and Orochi is completely one-sided. Orochi easily handles Garou’s attacks, stabbing him with his horns and unleashing devastating fire blasts. In a final attempt to win, Garou assumes his Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist stance, confident that his technique can overcome raw power.
To Garou’s utter shock, Orochi perfectly mimics his fighting stance after just one glance. Gyoro Gyoro reveals that Orochi is a combat prodigy who learned the technique simply by observing it.
Orochi then uses Garou’s own martial arts against him, overwhelming the Hero Hunter and sending him crashing into a wall. The battle ends with Garou defeated and knocked unconscious. Gyoro Gyoro has him transported deeper underground and chained up, believing the crushing defeat is just another necessary step in Garou’s monstrous evolution.
Saitama’s Surface-Level Investigation
While Garou suffers underground, the episode cuts to Saitama on the surface, providing the series’ classic humor. He is shown reading manga in his hero costume, completely unbothered and clueless about the massive battle happening below. He feels the tremors from Orochi and Rover’s attacks but dismisses them. In a meta moment, Saitama complains that, unlike the fictional stories he enjoys, his real world lacks an overpowered final boss, as every opponent is defeated with a single punch.
The episode ends with Saitama’s curiosity finally getting the better of him. After experiencing another rumble, he decides to investigate, opening a manhole cover and descending to find the source of the disturbances. This sets the stage for his eventual encounter with the Monster Association.
Animation and Fan Response
The animation in Episode 5, produced by J.C.Staff, has been a point of discussion among viewers. While many note that it still does not reach the benchmark quality set by Madhouse in the first season, there is acknowledgment that the team is trying to compensate with more creative visual choices. The use of silhouettes for Garou and Tareo in the hallways and the black-and-white reveal of Orochi’s true form were highlighted as effective and economical techniques that made the episode more visually interesting than previous installments.
The community score for the episode is reported to be 3.0 out of 5. Some fans expressed disappointment that the English localization used the name “Overgrown Pochi” for the dog monster, as the fan-translated name “Overgrown Rover” is more familiar and rolls off the tongue more easily for English-speaking audiences.
The fifth episode acts as a turning point for the season, setting up the long-awaited large-scale battle between the Hero Association’s S-Class heroes and the Monster Association’s top executives.
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Credits: Anime News Network
