Check Out This Shockingly Well Done Live-Action Fan Film of One-Punch Man

The folks over at YouTube channel RE:Anime take their live-action renditions pretty damn seriously, and people all over are taking notice. A few months ago, the channel created by producer/cinematographer/director Nik Shaw put out a live-action version of the final fight between Zuko and Azula on Avatar: The Last Airbender that has generated almost 3 million views to date, and they’ve only been setting their sights higher since. Yesterday, the channel dropped a new video, this one based around our beloved One-Punch Man. And if we do say so ourselves, these guys have really outdone themselves, almost flawlessly translating the anime to the screen. That, perhaps not surprisingly, is more or less the channel’s mission statement:

RE:Anime™ was born of an infectious passion for the culture and characters of Anime as well as out of frustration with the way major studios have misrepresented essential Anime values and characters in live-action productions. Nik believes staying true to the authenticity and the core roots is the best path to success.

This particular video translates the first true fight between the ultra-powerful Saitama and his “protege” Genos into a live-action battle, being an almost shot-for-shot remake with all the original dialog intact. It does an excellent job of conveying the physical presence of each character, from the bored-with-it-all carelessness of Saitama to the humorously overdeveloped sense of honor possessed by Genos.

The FX, though, are the real raison d’etre—RE:Anime has done a remarkable job here of putting together visuals that are true to the original anime, communicating its hyperkinetic sense of movement and satire of overpowered anime characters. Check out the full video below, and marvel at what an independent YouTube studio is able to do on a shoestring budget. You can also compare it with the original anime fight below.