Title: Meh, I can take them all!
Author: wkz
Rating: M
Genre: Parody/Adventure
Status: Work In Progress
Fandom: Worm, One Punch Man
Pairings: None
Summary: Worm is a story containing Superheroes! Angst! It gets worse! Villains! Grief! It gets worse! Warlords! Bullies! Monsters! It gets even worse! Politics! Evil Conspiracies! Face-heel turns! The End of the World! And Doing the Wrong Things for Right Reasons! ... Gah, that sucks. Let's rewind to the start, add a little something more. Stir thoroughly, bake, and serve. Mmm... cake...
Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10254848/1/Meh-I-can-take-them-all

A simple and entertaining crossover between the series, with Saitama (here Simon Tama) as an immigrant into Brockton Bay, where he gains (trains) his powers amidst the Worm storyline. Set from his perspective, this takes place at the beginning of Worm, and pre-story One Punch Man. (Though he seems to be a permanent resident of BB as opposed to ending up in Z-City.)

The author says no knowledge of either series is needed, though Worm knowledge is a plus. Only Saitama seems to be making an appearance here from OPM.

Consistently got laughs out of me, and stayed faithful to both series. 4.5/5.

 

So, a couple questions before I dive into this. You mention that the author says no Worm knowledge is necessary. Presumably you've read this. How true do you think that is? Because I have zero knowledge of worm.

Also, you mention that it's pre-OPM. If so ... how close is Saitama to OPM!Saitama? In powers and in character? Because origin Saitama was vastly different.

 

I can't comment on the worm-knowledge thing as it's been way too long since I last read this, but as for this question, well, he's pretty different from both, to be honest.

The author wrote him just as oblivious as OPM Saitama, but the way it's written, it's more natural stupidity than apathy driving it. Honestly, a lot of the deeper nuance and subtler character pieces are completely missing. It's as if the author read the manga and decided that all the superficial trappings were what made it good and transplanted those into Worm. Which is why I stopped reading maybe a after 15-20 updates.

That said, it's not a bad story. The technical writing needs a good bit of work, but it's not obnoxious, and the characters are decently interesting, if a bit one-note at times. Overall, I'd give it 2.5/5, 3 if I'm in a good mood.

 

I'd say you'd have a much easier time reading certain parts it if you did know the story. A quick rundown: Set in an alternate timeline where large numbers of the populace gain superpowers through trigger events (extremely traumatic experiences, like torture or watching your family die) and either become capes (heroes) or villains (or rogues, which are neither). PRT/Protectorate is like the Justice League, Brockton Bay is a fictional town in New England, Endbringers are this universe's Godzilla. If you want to know which character is which, a light spoiler cast can be found here.

I guess Agayek has a point with mentality. Honestly it didn't seem to matter much to me, it amounts to the same thing. As for powers, he has the same set (and potentially same power level), but as he is currently still figuring out his powers we're not going to see the exact same ability level as in the show.

EDIT: Power Level is about the point Saitama mentioned that he first realized he had become strong; Show is set 1.5 years after that.

 

While this is decent-ish, the writing is too disjointed to enjoy. Gave me a headache just from reading it.

3/5

 

The basic premise of the story is that Simon Tama (Saitama) is placed in Brockton Bay instead of Z-city. If you have read the One Punch Man manga or watched the anime, it is very similar to the series, just with a different setting and side characters. For those unfamiliar, One Punch Man is a satire of the shounen genre where the main character, Saitama, can end any fight in one punch. This makes him really bored of the superhero life and will tell people he’s a superhero because it’s his hobby. The other superheroes are generally what you would expect from a typical shounen genre by their serious natures and drives to gain more power. They are similar to the superheroes in Worm which makes them a great foil to Saitama’s nonchalant character.


Conceptually, the story is very solid as both One Punch Man and Worm dissect the motivations of being a superhero such as fame, altruism, and money. In that sense, this crossover works well since the both sets of superheroes have many dimensions and are faced with impossible odds. However, Saitama in this universe is ignorant of his own superpowers while in the original manga, he already knew the extent of his powers. This defeats the whole purpose of Saitama’s character as his own knowledge of his power makes him nonchalant about the superhero life. The hilarious moments where Saitama’s powers leads to a sudden anticlimactic ending to a villain are weakened by this. Even though Simon Tama can still defeat the villains quickly, part of the humor and social commentary is lost when Simon Tama is ignorant of his own powers, rather than apathetic. In that sense, having prior knowledge of One Punch Man makes reading this series lackluster.


This is a decent time waster, but for someone who has read One Punch Man, this crossover might seem grating to you.
3/5.