Versus

Versus is the long-awaited return of ONE, the creator of One Punch Man, after 12 years—and true to form, he delivers another brilliantly unique concept. At its core, Versus tells the story of humanity’s desperate attempt to survive by making their enemies fight each other. Let me give you a brief overview: Just like snakes are natural enemies of frogs, and birds prey on insects, humans have always been powerless against their natural predators—the demons. After centuries of suffering, humanity attempts to summon help from parallel worlds. But the summoned humans are also being hunted by their own enemies in their respective worlds. Then comes a wild idea: “Why not make the strongest enemies fight each other?” How’s that for a twist? You’ve probably never heard of a manga or anime with a setup like this! ONE’s imagination truly never fails to impress. The battles between overwhelmingly powerful enemies are incredibly intense and visually spectacular. That said, Versus starts off a bit text-heavy—it can feel a little slow and hard to follow at first. But once you hit the latter half of volume one, the story really picks up and becomes hard to put down. One concern with Versus is the power scaling. By volume three, aliens—who are even stronger than the demons—enter the scene and dominate the battlefield. But soon after, even stronger monsters appear and start crushing the aliens. We’ve seen this kind of escalation in One Punch Man, but that worked because Saitama remained the absolute strongest, grounding the story. Without a central “anchor” character like Saitama, there’s a risk that Versus could become repetitive or lose tension if the power levels keep escalating endlessly. That said, it’s also part of what makes Versus so thrilling—you never know where it’s going next. Given the success of One Punch Man, I wouldn’t be surprised if Versus gets an anime adaptation in the near future. Either way, it’s a manga that’s worth keeping an eye on!

July 30, 2025