Cosmic Garou is actually more than just hype and here I try to rant why

For starters this is rather a big rant rather than an analysis and an essay, so I will be a bit informal when it comes to expressing myself and my thoughts about cosmic garou and the monster form garou took by his own hands and effort along with his suffering and aguish, some kind of comparison and thread between events from the past and how they affected his present during that time influenced (because he was) and his future, gotta mention that this is my way of why people should take cosmic garou as part of his character instead of just a mistake that happened and a moment to hype one punch man because it is not, he is actually a very nice transition for garou you little assholes I’m going after y’all. Also, note, don’t expect it to have good grammar, English is not my first language, and I don’t know how to use points ok? Ok.

I’m going to start with his design (and a bit of his technique names) and why I think it was very mindful from the very beginning. Today (02/08/2025), we got a few changes in garou’s cosmic design, not a full make over but I will take it as a new version and compare them both, the changes may look like they are a lot but in general the idea of a faceless creature that intimidates the one upon him is present in both versions, this makes me think of how thoughtful Murata was when it comes to create him, we know how much effort and planning Murata takes for his characters, specially Garou (Even before spiral garou was a thing, around 2018 he was already doing sketches on how spiral garou was supposed to look like, giving a huge peek of it by showing the first design that was not far from how he actually looked like in the final product, also the working area he had for Garou’s final monster form that wasn’t limited in just the clay figure for reference but also we can see small sketches pasted in his walls in the background of the picture he provided) who was called his destiny by himself (it felt like destiny to work with him), so with this in mind my interpretation of what it actually reflects may not be too crazy or a proof of my constant overthinking of small things of his character. The main similarity between both versions is the fact that they lack a face and the presence they both have, carrying some mystery and presence with them, also how in both versions the places that shine the most are his face and his chest, perhaps his heart and mind. Garou in my opinion is a constant fight between what his heart is and feels and what it wants and craves along with his rational mind, between his actions he acknowledges when he commits mistakes, when he is not right or is about to lose, yet is his heart and will what pushes him further to accomplish what he craves and yearns for, his goal, so the fact that both versions maintain the same intensity in both of the spots seems to be a mindful move from Murata and yes, don’t worry I know is also for aesthetic reasons like keeping mystery and aura (in the first version), but this was changed when in the final versions he provided a cool an electric, nearly divine aura to him by adding more noticeable stars and stripes around his body that go from insides of his face and chest to the rest of his body.

Cosmic Garou being a faceless being is very dear and important to me as a detail due to how it shows us the story and conflict inside of him through his fight with Saitama and after it, we see him for the first time without a single star in his body, almost like an empty mind that slowly built stars and galaxies around his body the most “aware” he became, yet his face never came with him until he measured the consequences of his actions after seeing Tareo and receive Saitama’s punch. He acts differently, sounds different and seems to change the focus of his main goal to just defeat Saitama by provoking the final fight, is a constant fight inside of garou that goes from wanting to feel feared and recognized by the ones that mocked him and never believed in his qualities (heroes), to give them a taste of what he felt as a kid and finally with it be heard and respected and the uncontrollable need to beat Saitama, risking not just the ones he once cared for (bang and Tareo) but also himself by killing Genos while him previously refused to kill a hero because it was not the full fear he looked for, Genos became a small fry he could crush to provoke the Baldy he thought was meant to be defeated which reflect once more God’s influence in his body and goal, shifting slowly to just win his fight (when he first didn’t mind losing them at all, it upset him but he accepted his loses to continue his growth), cosmic garou being faceless is a huge reflect to the fact there’s no true Garou behind those actions, since even in his monster form Murata made sure his face could be seen. Theres also an important matter that links his faceless form with the identity and his final technique got affected, a bit of how lost he already was the lack of care of his identity as a whole and in his technique, he is someone thoughtful, full of knowledge that IMPLEMENTS to his fist and names it after his own because he doesn’t fully copy them, he adapts them to himself and uses them in one single fist, unlike before he doesn’t even have a personal name for the techniques he gets, he just names them after copying them and uses them until he surpasses them, taking someone else face in the process, neglecting his own, neglecting his main purpose, which changes just as his technique, both reflected in the name of his techniques and his blank being filled with the stars that are not fully his but the reflect of somebody bigger through him, he goes from god slayer fist to ‘god fist’, submitting part of what he truly is. Garou is only able to get his face back the moment he is defeated by Saitama , he is able to get himself back after measuring the consequences of his actions, with it realizing how far gone he was from his main purpose and crying desperately as the hit of reality crashes onto his soul and helps him to finally get what he truly is again, showing us the refreshing and warm sight of his face.

One last thing is how much I loved the new illustration, specifically the light and the plantes orbiting his fingers givinf a terrifying yet somehow gentle impression if you think about it. garou was supposed to be a symbol of destruction when he first became cosmic Garou, being close to him meant to be dead, despair, fear, yet at the same time the knowledge he had meant the small hope humanity should feel in situations where it seems hopeless, he turns into a protector from the danger he on his own created and the solution of it, the only one who can save them along with Saitama, a guardian of the immense knowledge of the universe.