One Punch Man – Hero for Fun

Do you know One Punch Man?

Today, we'll go through a famous line from ワンパンマン. One Punch Man is so named because he is so strong he can take down any bad guy with a single punch.

In Japanese, he isn't ワンパンチマン but ワンパンマン (without the チ).

The name came from a play on the children's superhero series アンパンマン. One of アンパンマン's famous lines or abilities is his アンパンチ! This together with the アンパンマン name, inspired ワンパンマン.

Every superhero has a cool sounding line. Today, we'll look at ワンパンマン's:

趣味(しゅみ)でヒーローをやっている者(もの)だ

Which means "I am a person who does hero work as a hobby."

Or a more natural English translation could be: "I'm just a guy who's a hero for fun."

Let’s look a little closer:

趣味(しゅみ)でヒーローをやっている者(もの)だ

Hobby | as | hero | (d.o.) | doing | person | am

I am a person who does hero work as a hobby.

Or… "I'm just a guy who's a hero for fun."

Let’s break this down into two main sections for a clearer understanding. 

Let’s look at the Section 1 first.

SECTION 1

趣味(しゅみ)でヒーローをやっている  

Means and Method で + Continuous ている Form

趣味(しゅみ)で | ヒーローを | やっている

(as a hobby) (hero) (am doing)

Means and Method で

The で shows the means or method which, in this case, is “hobby.” Let’s look at a few other examples that follow this pattern.

仕事(しごと)でプログラムを書(か)く。　

To write programs as a job.

• 仕事(しごと)で: as a job [仕事(しごと) (job) + で (particle indicating means)]
• プログラムを書(か)く: to write programs

ボランティアで子供(こども)たちを教(おし)える。　

To teach children as a volunteer.

• ボランティアで: as a volunteer [ボランティア (volunteer) + で (particle indicating means)]
• 子供(こども)たちを教(おし)える: to teach children

The -ing Continuous ている Form

The ている form indicates an ongoing action or state. Here are a few examples:

日本(にほん)で英語(えいご)を教(おし)えている。

I am teaching English in Japan.

• 日本(にほん)で: in Japan
• 英語(えいご)を: English (direct object)
• 教(おし)えている: teaching [教(おし)える (to teach) in the continuous form

彼女(かのじょ)は本(ほん)を読(よ)んでいる。

She is reading a book.

• 彼女は: she (topic marker)
• 本を: book (direct object)
• 読んでいる: reading [読む (to read) in the continuous form; note the sound changes to で]

So, 趣味(しゅみ)で explains why he’s doing the following action ヒーローをやっている (doing hero work) and all this describes the next part: the person 者(もの)だ.

SECTION 2

者(もの)だ

Noun Modified by a Clause

While 者(もの) means “person” this format (〜者(もの)です) is used with humble language. He’s humbling himself even though his one punch is about to destroy the monster he’s talking to. However, he ends with だ rather than です. This would normally be used with peers or when talking to those with a lower social status.

So, there is a fun discord in his language. After all, being a hero isn’t exacly a typical hobby. A hero is selfless and powerful and helpful. But Saitama is just doing it for fun.

Nouns Modified by Clauses

This noun (者(もの)) is modified by the previous clause. All that came before tells us what kind of 者(もの) (person) Saitama is.

Here are a few examples of a noun modified by a clause.

彼(かれ)が書(か)いた本(ほん)は面白(おもしろ)い。

The book he wrote is interesting.

• 彼(かれ)が書(か)いた本(ほん) the book he wrote
• は (topic marker)
• 面白(おもしろ)い interesting

Wrapping Things Up

趣味(しゅみ)で | ヒーローを | やっている | 者(もの)だ

(as a hobby) (hero) (am doing) (person who is)

• 趣味(しゅみ)で as a hobby
• ヒーローを hero (as a direct object of the “doing” verb)
• やっている doing [this could also be する]
• 者(もの)だ am a person (who)

趣味(しゅみ)で explains why he’s doing the following action ヒーローをやっている (doing hero work) and all this describes the person 者(もの)だ. So, the clause 趣味(しゅみ)でヒーローをやっている modifies the noun 者(もの), providing a description of what kind of person he is.

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