Who is animating One-Punch Man season 3, and why did Madhouse drop the anime? We take a look at the situation surrounding this hit series

After a phenomenal season 1, One-Punch Man saw a significant drop in quality in season 2. What happened that caused the anime to suddenly deteriorate after such a good start and promising signs that it could become another hit?

Madhouse was responsible for season 1 of OPM. The director was the highly regarded Shingo Natsume, who was joined by other talented artists from the industry, who together created a brilliant production. Unfortunately, when it came time to start work on season 2, Natsume was unable to take on the project. Neither could Madhouse. The official reason was never given, but when Natsume himself was asked about it, he explained that “he couldn't do everything he wanted to do.”

The anime One-Punch Man was handed over by the production committee to J.C.Staff without any public explanation. Natsume, who is a freelance artist and expressed regret that he was unable to continue working on OPM, may have suggested in his statement that J.C.Staff wasn’t interested in his services, which may have been because the studio preferred to hire its own employee for such an important project. And so, a new director, Chikara Sakurai, took the helm. Unfortunately, the end result of their work on season 2 wasn’t well received. The anime suffered a drop in quality, which was criticized by fans.

Despite the fact that season 2 of OPM wasn’t received as good as season 1, J.C.Staff was given another chance – they started working on season 3 of the anime. However, although the studio remained the same, a new director stepped in. This time it was Shinpei Nagai, and the results of his and his team's work can already be seen, as his season of One-Punch Man debuted in the fall 2025 anime season.

What other anime has J.C.Staff produced?

J.C. Staff isn’t a new studio. The team has also worked on projects other than One-Punch Man, with some of their most popular titles including Toradora!, Nodame Cantabile, Kaichou wa Maid-sama!, Bakuman, Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, and Edens Zero.

More about anime:

• When will Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle come out on Crunchyroll? Release date of the hit anime on streaming
• Vampire Knight “new seasons coming soon” to Netflix. The iconic anime returns
• Will there be Solo Leveling season 3? Future of the hit anime explained

• anime