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“What am I doing here?” “What have I become?” “Who am I?”

These are the questions some ponder at different low points in their lives. In Punpun you see different answers to these questions.

**Light Spoilers Throughout**

Oyasumi Punpun is a story in which we get to see a once normal boy turn into a borderline schizophrenic psychopath after more and more unfortunate circumstances deteriorate his psyche. A recurring theme in Punpun was that of god. God was represented in Punpun’s mind by that of a smiling bearded man who gives him advice. God plays a vital role in the process of Punpun’s psyche crumbling, by ... which he was the one who signified the start and the end of it. To explain this further, the first time he appeared was after his father was arrested for spousal abuse in the very beginning after his uncle taught him the tune to make “God” appear. He only showed up at times of great stress for Punpun, and in each of these different situations his help for Punpun was teetering towards the side of using violence to solve the issues at hand. God was also there to give him the final push towards insanity. In a psychological roundabout way of saying it, God is a representation of Punpun’s darker desires of using violence in situations that don’t necessarily call for it.

To get onto the topic of characters in Punpun, they are some of the most well-done 3-dimentional imperfect characters imaginable. What’s great about each and everyone one of them is that absolutely none of them are perfect; they all have flaws. A great example would be Punpun’s uncle Yuichi, who on the outside is a normal happy guy who loves his nephew. But on the inside is a sad angry man who could care less about his family and blames himself for the death of another. But what makes all of these characters work is that at some point they find resolve for all of the problems in their life which truly makes them feel even more real than there base was.

The Art was hands down the greatest I’ve ever seen in a manga before. It has the most realistic use of background and shading I’ve ever seen. The character design and the use of the penguin/bird like representation for the Onodera family is the smartest move Inio Asano could’ve made. As well as Punpun changing into different representation’s of himself. The Triangle, the Pyramid, and a Demon.

Oyasumi Punpun is most definitely a very well written masterpiece that never disappoints the reader in finding more sadness and despair than they could handle, but it also has its moments at being hilarious and meaningful. You will also find a boat load of symbolism placed throughout its 13 volumes that add even more to the enjoyment I can guarantee reading this.

Sundome
Throughout my life I’ve seen things, watched things, read things, experienced things, Sundome was really an experience.
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
I don’t think there’s much about Sundome’s story that I could say much different than many others before me have already said, so I’ll get into the parts that I think were well done.
I will give Sundome props for staying true to a serious illness, It didn’t have any weird, “HEY LETS MAKE HER LIVE SO PEOPLE WILL BE HAPPY” type things. I’ve seen it with Clannad, I’ve seen it with Great Teacher Onizuka, but I didn’t see it here. Though I do love to live ... in a fantasy world where everything has a golden Hollywood ending where all is happy, but I know this has never and will never be the case with reality. That’s great because when you build your story off a base of realism, and end with realism it’s oddly touching. With me, it takes a lot for anything to make me legitimately sad; this manga is most definitely one that did this. To be quite honest, I knew Kurumi wasn’t going to make it through this whole manga since her first nose bleed. Which made me hope that I was wrong, which wasn’t the case because I was right, to watch a person slowly fall apart over time isn’t something easy to deal with, but Hideo(Protagonist) dealt with it in the most realistic manner possible, with true acceptance. I suppose it was just easier for me to relate to because I’ve had to go through the various emotions leading up to the death of someone I truly care for. Throughout the story Hideo went through each of the Kubler Ross model of Grief, Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and finally Acceptance. The manner in which he went about each of these stages truly added to how the tone of the final chapters felt, which I can’t praise this author enough for making me feel the same way I had in the past.
The Characters in Sundome were for the most part very 3-Dimentional, relatable, funny, and realistic. I found it really great that I feel as if I could say I’ve met people throughout my life who were just like these. What else is great is that they aren’t portrayed as what they are on the surface. As you read on you get to see how the hormonal sex obsessed teenagers evolved into someone you can really care for.
The art of Sundome besides the excellent use of shading isn’t anything special, but it doesn’t need to be. I’ve always thought that anime’s & manga’s don’t need to have great art to be great. It’s the story and characters that make the literature excellent.
Sundome is most definitely something worth reading. It seems that people get turned off of it because of what they think the portrayal of sex will be. The same with Onani Master Kurosawa, which by the way is an excellent piece of literature. I thought that was going to be some stupid ecchi crap before I read it. I was very very wrong on that and I’m happy that I’ll never make that mistake again. So really, don’t judge a book before reading it.

The Garden of Words
In 40 minutes the Garden of Words had done more than some anime do in their entire run, it presents realistic and likable characters, a simple story, glorious visuals, and an excellent soundtrack.
The story of The Garden of Words follows a 15 year old high school boy named Takao Akizuki who aspires to one day be a shoe maker. On rainy days he likes to go to a park and create different shoe designs in a peaceful place there, one day he meets a 27 year old woman named Yukari Yukino who skips out on work and spends most of her ... time there. As the plot thickens these two slowly begin to open up more and more to each other.
Coming from creator Shinkai Makoto who also made Byousoko 5 Centimeters, it’s no surprise that the visuals are absolutely stunning; from the lighting to water droplets it’s visually beautiful.
The soundtrack of The Garden of Words had performances by Motoshiro Hata, who if you didn't know did some of Sakamachi no Apollon’s soundtrack; you shouldn't be surprised that it was very, very well done. Just to add something else into the mix on sound it was really cool to see Kana Hanazawa pull off a very mature sounding character in comparison to playing a whole lot of younger roles.
In conclusion, The Garden of Words managed to make use of all of its short run time without feeling rushed, which I guess I shouldn't be surprising coming from Shinkai Makoto who with many of his other works created near perfect masterpieces within a short run time. This is definitely a must watch if you like some short simple excellent works of art.