While this chapter seemingly brought the Monster association saga to a fitting end, it was also an all round encapsulation of just how great of a writer and artist Murata really is. This chapter had everything good. Intrigue, captivation, eye catching battle, excitement, and above all else, the best arc ending i’ve seen in a long time. I rate this chapter a perfect 10/10. Now, come along as we summarize and review this awesome chapter together sixteen pages at a time.
1. The first thing that might’ve triggered your curiosity while reading this chapter is the cover picture. WHY DOES IT SAY 166 INSTEAD OF 168? You might ask.. This chapter is numbered as 166 simply because the events of the previous chapters ‘166 & 167’ were completely re-written here. Please read on patiently. I’ll be coming back to this.
2. What we witnessed in the first sixteen panels of this chapter was Saitama getting stronger at a pace Garou’s mimicking abilities couldn’t keep up with. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? DIDN’T SAITAMA COMPLETELY REMOVE HIS LIMITER ALREADY? Yes. Saitama did indeed remove his limiter completely. However, the removal of one’s LIMITER isn’t a LIMITATION to physical growth and improvement.
Although Saitama removed his limiter completely, his physical capabilities are yet to reach infinity. And so, after he met someone (Garou) who for the first time, was able to withstand his serious attacks and pressure him in battle, he subconsciously began to grow exponentially far above the level he was previously. In other words, Saitama’s removal of his limiter gives him the potential to grow towards INFINITY. Saitama even began to copy and use techniques previously used on him by Garou with devastating attack potency. On the other hand, Garou couldn’t keep up because he is yet to remove his limiter completely and so, there was always going to be a limit to how much of Saitama’s abilities he could copy even with the possession of god’s divine power.
3. The next sixteen panels shows us just how much power Saitama gained in a short space of time. The first was with the Serious Sneeze which was powerful enough to not only obliterate I.O, but completely bore a gigantic whole in Jupiter, destroying it’s core in the process. Now since the release of this chapter, critics and naysayers have done their best to downplay and trivialize this feat, citing that unlike the EARTH, JUPITER is a GAS GAINT(composed mainly of Hydrogen & Helium). And so Saitama’s serious sneeze isn’t anything impressive since it’s just GAS pushing against gas. This is in fact far from the truth. Let’s look at why that is.
Jupiter is the biggest planet in the solar system. And although it lacks a well-defined solid surface unlike other planets, it is a miniature STAR and is also the heaviest planet with a mass of 1.8982 Octillion kilograms. That’s two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar system combined. It’s also far denser than all the planets in the solar system put together.
Not only was Saitama able to bypass Jupiters density with just a SNEEZE, he was able to destroy the planet’s core as well which i’d add, is composed of many heavy elements greater than that of the earth and other planets combined. So this was no ordinary feat. It was a respiratory feat of the highest order. An unhindered sneeze of a normal human moves at 100 miles per hour. But Saitama’s serious sneeze unleashed a pressure so powerful that it deformed Jupiter. Now imagine what would happen if he were to use his fists instead?
Under normal circumstances, the destruction of a planet’s core brings about the total collapse of the planet itself. But in the case of a gaseous planet like Jupiter, it’d be left with no definite shape and form. So it’s safe to surmise that Jupiter is DEFORMED permanently.
3. Since a Sneeze is a convulsive expulsion of AIR from the LUNGS through the nose and mouth, many have questioned Saitama’s ability to Sneeze in space. Where in the world did the air in his lungs come from exactly? The answer is quite simple really.. Saitama’s complete removal of his limiter meant that all limitations to his body systems were removed as well. This includes his RESPIRATORY system.
As we breathe in and out, some amount of air (oxygen) is usually kept back in the lungs as a fail safe just in case we need it in an environment without oxygen. Sea Divers sometimes inhale a huge amount of oxygen for temporary sustainance inside rivers or oceans. The same was true with Saitama in this chapter. The only difference however, was the sheer capacity of air already present in his lungs at the time of Blast whisking both he and Garou away to space to save the Earth from the clash of two serious punches in chapter 167. Marvelously, the amount of air retained in Saitama’s lungs were so great that he could use the serious sneeze in space with even more oxygen to spare. To put it simply, Saitama’s lungs have LIMITLESS CAPACITY. Simply Amazing!
4. Like the Serious Sneeze, Saitama pulled off yet another incredibly hilarious feat. In a desperate attempt to catch up to Garou who was trying to abandon him and get back to Earth via teleportation, Saitama used his Flatus (fart) as a propellant to move at incredible speeds. In simple words, Saitama temporarily became a space Rocket. Let’s analyse the physics of this..
A Rocket accelerates by burning the fuel it carries and ejecting the burned exhaust gases. As the Rocket engines operates, they’re continuously ejecting burned fuel gases, which have both mass and velocity, and therefore some momentum. If the burn rate of the fuel is constant, and the velocity at which the exhaust is ejected is also constant, then the change of velocity and acceleration of the Rocket will drastically increase.
In the context of this chapter, the ‘Rocket’ is Saitama himself. The ‘engine’ are his bowels/intestines, the ‘fuel’ is his intestinal gas and the ‘burned exhaust gases’ are his farts. As with his Respiratory system, all limitations to Saitama’s Digestive system were also removed after his 3yrs grueling training. And so, the volume of intestinal gas his bowels are able to generate is limitlessly greater than that of an ordinary human. When this overwhelming volume of intestinal gas is forcefully ejected through the anus, they become like burned exhaust gases that propels Saitama forward, giving him both incredible acceleration and velocity through the air.
5. This chapter made us to understand that there’s no such thing as ‘FULL POWER’ with Saitama. This is because his power continues to grow towards infinity. Whenever he meets an incredibly powerful opponent strong enough to pressure him in battle, he simply gets stronger and overwhelms them. This is made possible because there are no longer limitations to his physical capabilities. Proof of this was seen when he said he spared Garou all thanks to Tareo’s heart felt plea in chapter 162. This means Saitama was once again not using his full powers. In fact, he defeated Cosmic Garou while still holding on to Genos’ core.
6. Saitama’s overwhelming power grants him the ability to learn and copy techniques just like Garou but with even more accuracy and potency. Such was the case with Garou’s ultimate technique, which apparently allowed Saitama to travel back in time and erase the events of chapters 166 & 167, as well as the beginning of this chapter. Garou’s intention and motive for teaching Saitama this technique was so that he could defeat god, who posed an ominous threat in the future. Let’s look at how this was done. But before that, god recalled back the power he gave to Garou as the cosmic energy shroud began to disappear.
The first thing both Garou and Saitama did was to imagine their INNER UNIVERSES. Our inner universes are an encapsulation of our thoughts, ideas, skills, emotions, knowledge, understanding etc. Our inner universes are the very core of our being. And so when Garou and Saitama gained access into their inner universes, changes began to occur.
In Garou, particles and antiparticles brought about by his intense cosmic radiation began to react. This reaction in turn caused subatomic particles(positive & negative) to begin move and rotate in opposite directions. The same thing occured in Saitama as Garou quickly passed on his ultimate technique to Saitama. Luckily the transfer was completed and the technique was activated before god took back his power, turning Garou to stone in process. It’s important to note that these particles are chiefly responsible for traveling back in time.
As Saitama began to travel back in time, past events were displayed before him as he looked in awe of such an ability. Soon afterwards, a scene from the events that occurred previously in chapter 166 appeared as he saw Garou taunting the heroes. He immediately chose to enter that timeline. Upon entrance, he defeated Comic Garou with a single punch, thereby saving the heroes while at the same time creating a new timeline.
There are laws governing time travel and one of those laws is NEVER INTERFERE IN THE PAST! This is because once you change your past, your future ceases to exist. This is exactly what happened in this chapter. Once Saitama went back in time and stopped Garou from killing Genos and poisoning the heroes, he changed the timeline and inevitably altered his own memory of what actually happened after he merged with his past self. Herein lies the reason why he was clueless about his position and why he had Garou’s core in his hand.
7. Time travel mumbojumbo aside, it was great to see Genos and the heroes alive and well again. It was also satisfying and heart warming so see just how emotional Genos was when he saw Saitama. It’d be interesting to see how the series progresses from this point onward. Most especially with regards to Garou, Blast and God.
Thanks for reading this article. Please do leave a reaction and a comment in the box below if you have any questions.
