When it comes to the most powerful anime characters, two names come up often. Goku, from the classic shonen manga Dragon Ball, is the first. The second character is Saitama from the popular One-Punch Man series. Both of them are especially strong in their own respective worlds and both are considered overpowered by most fans because both protagonists are famed for their incredible strength and for conquering the most powerful enemies in their respective universes.
But the question remains who of them is actually stronger? to know the answer to this we will be considering different scenarios that happened in their personal series and then comparing them to each other.
Their Difference in Body Composition:
Saitama is a B-class hero and a regular person. He goes through everything that a normal human goes through and ages as a result. He also lacks specific skills such as regenerative or magical abilities. Goku, on the other hand, is a member of an alien warrior race endowed with superhuman abilities; he can fly, use ki blasts, and increase his strength through his Super Saiyan forms. Also, Goku ages slow compared to humans and that gives him a huge advantage in this round. However, despite the significant difference in composition, Saitama has the same strength as a standard Saiyan and does it without exerting any effort. When he uses even a little more than his normal power, it's clear that his strength is comparable to that of a Super Saiyan. Nonetheless, I must award Goku a point for being a superior species to humans.
How They Deafeted THe Villains:
A few examples that emphasize their strength are when they fought their strongest opponent in their own respective series, for Saitama that is Boros, and for Goku that is Jiren. To defeat Jiren, Goku needed the help of both Frieza and Android 17. Goku's sole chance of defeating Jiren on his alone is to master Ultra Instinct and be able to activate it at will. But Saitama on the other hand, barely took any if not, not taking damage entirely from Boros. But of course, we cannot completely tell which of Boros and Jiren is stronger, but the way that they are treated as the biggest threat and how our heroes defeated them with their power gap in mind states that Saitama gets the point in this category.
Training Regimen:
Saitama has stated that he will continue to do 100 push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and a 10-kilometer run every day. Based on the events in the anime, it appears that he has no need to improve or alter. This is a rigorous training routine for a typical human, but it is far from impossible. Goku on the other hand, in a variety of settings, practices martial arts. He's even been to other worlds to hone his abilities and endurance. He even used a gravity machine to exercise under 100 times gravity and completed 10,000 situps in one episode. This only shows the effort of Goku to become even stronger, while Saitama is bored to death by his lifestyle, so Goku gets the point.
Conclusion:
While I am a big fan of both franchises, it is clearly evident which of them are stronger based on these categories, if you read the statement it clearly shows that Goku is more powerful right? wrong. The truth is you should never compare two different series and comparing them with rules that don't work for both of them. It should be noted that one punch man is a gag anime, meaning it is meant for comedy, Saitama's strength doesn't have a consistent level, sometimes he can destroy planets but sometimes he cannot catch a fly, so if you compare his feats with Goku's it will be unfair. Both of them are the strongest, there shouldn't be a comparison for which of them is better. We should just appreciate their characters as a whole because they both deserve praise for being good series protagonists.
Thank you for listening to my opinion about the controversial topic of Goku vs Saitama!