Goodnight Punpun

Never has a manga made me feel as sad as Oyasumi Punpun, to the point that I often find myself with tears in my eyes reading some chapter. And that this work touches quite deep topics like depression, existentialism, childhood, mistreatment, abuse, among other topics, it was in a manga that as it did the end of I Am a Hero, that as I mentioned in that post, that end left a void in my chest, in the case of Oyasumi Punpun during several moments of this story I felt that same void but with greater impact.

This manga tells us the story of a child, represented as in a kind of small and very rare bird and all his ailments, experiences, experiences from early age to adulthood. In this manga is a clear example that in life things do not happen as we want and that sometimes we must live knowing that those things that so many want or those people we love so much, simply sometimes will go out of our hands and we must accept it.

Oyasumi Punpun, is one of the very few manga that have made me cry, in fact, there are very few moments in which I have cried in reading some chapter of a manga, they are so few that I think with one hand I can list them and to name just a few, I would mention: The Death of Goin Merry in One Piece, The Death of Jiraiya in Naruto, The Death of Escanor in Nanatsu No Taizai (even though the end of this manga was rubbish, this death is quite sad, because this was one of the best characters in this story) and few others. However, the moments that this manga (Oyasumi Punpun) made me feel with sadness and melancholy are many, since being a manga where it shows us the growth of a character during the different stages of his life, it is undeniable to feel identified with some of the moments that the main character lives or even secondary characters. Because, as few mangas, Oyasumi Punpun gives a lot of importance to secondary characters, being them the main protagonists in many occasions. In such a way that it was possible to create a quite realistic universe in this story.

Oyasumi Punpun is quite cruel, but, as I said earlier, it is quite realistic on many occasions. With an exceptional and beautiful drawing, one of the mangas with best drawings so far, is a manga that knows how to capture easy expressions really well, feelings and those moments of pure cruelty, it knows how to recreate them so well that, if when you are reading the manga you find yourself in a state of total immersion in the story, it really makes you feel what the characters feel at that moment. The drawings of their landscapes, cities, is something that left me quite impressed the first time I read this time, and the second time I read it, I knew how to see those drawings from a better perspective, those double page images are really pure visual art, beautiful is to say little about the drawing of this wonderful manga.

Oyasumi Punpun is a manga that I recommend a lot, but I would not recommend it if your sentimental situation or your state of mind is very bad, since it is a depressing manga, which has beautiful and happy moments, of course, but it leaves you with a great emptiness and many thoughts.

After reading a review from someone I relatively trust, mostly because we have the same taste in entertainment, I decided to pick up volume 1 of Goodnight Punpun. It is the omnibus version so it actually has a few volumes of the original in it. What I can say before even starting is that the first volume with over 400 pages, I ended up finishing in a few hours. Sure it is a manga and the pages are mostly art, but I was so in love with the main character and the wackiness of the story, that I am already waiting on a few more volumes to arrive.

The story is written Inio Asano and although I havent read many of his prior manga, he adds some similarities within the character designs and a bit with the ideas. The story is about a young boy Punpun Punyama who is going through elementary school and figuring out life for the most part. He has a crush on a new transfer student whose a bit quirky and weird, but Punpun likes her nonetheless.

The character of Punpun is represented by what I can only explain as a ghost puppet bird and his family is based on various versions of the same design. Within the first 20 or so pages his father beats up his mother and is forced to leave, while his mother stays in the hospital, removing herself from the situation completely. In their absence Punpun's loser unemployed uncle comes to take care of him, but mostly just lets Punpun fend for himself.

I wont ruin anything else, but the story in the first volume is very much a coming of age story because it starts almost at the exact point Punpun realizes his parents no longer have a relationship and everything will be different from now on. Compounded with things like learning about girls and watching porn with friends, many things are new for Punpun. This will continue and in the end he needs to make a decision about where he wants to take his life. The story ends with him in middle school, but continues on in other volumes to the point of young adulthood.

Overall the story and the characters put within it are absolutely charming. Inio Asano has made a wonderful piece of art and this is only the first volume. I have a few of the other ones on the way, but I will read them and review them when they come. The book is a bit expensive for a manga ($20) so I would suggest buying it used or maybe read the story online and then buy the manga if you agree it was a good read. I look forward to updating you guys on this bizarre but lovable character and where his adventures take him. For the first volume, I would have to say its a must read for any manga fan or someone thinking about reading something in the future.

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