Goodnight Punpun is probably the most "9/10" thing I have read or will ever read. I am fresh off reading the final chapter so this review may be half-baked after submission. Read this manga during your free time as I did because this does deserve undivided attention for the people who need it, who need to find themselves, and who need to be found.
Spoiler-free mostly unless stated otherwise.
I started on October 3, 2021 because I thought hey why not, it's the weekend and my school break comes to an end the following week after. I divided my time my reading 1 volume per
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night, dividing the rest between Friday and Saturday, then finally volume 13 on Sunday.
The art is a 10/10 at least for me. The mangaka deserves praise for portrayals of despair, angst, disgust, and without trying to make it sound edgy, a descent into madness. Asano Inio-san illustrates these emotions and so much more into his panels which struck a chord in me each time. Asano-san said that he made Punpun Onodera to take the form of a bird like person to lure in people under the guise that this manga would be simple, which I was fooled by as well. It's amazing how you feel so connected to a main character who is portrayed as not human. You would think that the same effect could be achieved if he had just drawn everyone as a human and conveyed emotions differently but to that I say that would take away from what not only the mangaka has to say but also Punpun's words as well. To have him as a human and morph into different shapes and characters each time would take me out of the experience completely. My experience on each chapter was amplified because I had read each time in the dark with playlists on spotify entitled "goodnight punpun", so the atmosphere was very much set for me but some people may not be comfortable with that type of atmosphere and to each their own, as long as the message is transmitted the way the author intended. The double panels are as great as the internet had painted them out to be, the beautiful night sky with all the friends pointing at it being the most popular example. Overall the art alone can warrant it's reading but the thing is that there are more things than just that going for it
The characters are also a 10/10 at least for me. Good characters can be attributed to superheroes who grow cynical after the day to day life of saving people, a society plunging a man into darkness to only be shocked when that man pulls a gun on the world, this is 2021 already and there is an abundance of characters who break free from their norms so you would think that reading this today would feel somewhat monotonous after seeing this level of character development on tv or reading it somewhere else. But that isn't the case at all. I don't know how other people read not only this manga but any form of fictional storytelling but I do talk out loud in the moments of things happening. This may or may not be a spoiler but punpun is cringe, the furthest person from being based. But it is that very cringe that I connect to on a deep level. I question the things he says and does and I pause to remember that how crazy it is that so many similar things have happened in my life. I am reminded of my childhood and high school years which have only felt like they happened last week. The girls I have talked to and the anxiety of approaching them as I got older, how I ruined a relationship of mine with a girl in the past, how friends can split apart from each other and I get stuck with what seems to be a good-for-nothing person. But through punpun I am also grateful these inconveniences and misfortunes have happened, because wishing they had never happened would basically be tantamount to suicide by killing my current self for an idealized version of myself that may or may not even come true. Forgive me if you are a psychology major reading because I am still about to take the course in college but if I may, no one is perfect in this story which is something that we see lately in every story nowadays but yet this manga still felt very different. Every character suffered from disassociation and self-indulgence with the fact that they had assumed different lives to please other people or themselves. Many actions of these characters made me question whether or not there was a good person that existed that did things for others not for the sake of doing so but rather the satisfaction received from doing so. By process of elimination I would say that Midori (an aunt of Punpun) or Harumi (childhood friend) is the least morally-questionable person even after the things Midori has done, which you'll find out why so. But the main focus of this part goes now to the actual characterization. I love how almost the whole group's characterization is almost balanced and still not be very much drawn out. While I did feel at times that some panels were out of place or had taken me out of the immersion overall I'm glad they're there and made me appreciate everyone more. You can't help but cry, yell, or be plainly disappointed when characters do or say things because it feels as if I am almost in the world with them. Maybe only I consume media like this but it is this very reason I rate it a 10/10
The story is a 9/10 for me. I'd be lying if I said this story didn't make me ugly cry in most of its volumes. I can only explain so much without minor spoilers or things that can put people somewhat off because I do want everyone going into this blindly. I recommend, if comfortable with it, to read the chapters during the night, and there are several playlists on spotify that are somewhat tailored to the reading experience (any playlist is fine, I picked the one with the most likes.) . As I said earlier, I did feel a deep connection with the main character and was thrown back into my earlier years. Although while the things punpun experienced can be generally associated to a lot of peoples lives I felt as if it was me in that story and the author did a good job on that part. Reading this did change my perspective for the better and made me get up and hug my mother and my sisters lol. To describe the plot of what happens in this story would be actually very simple and would span only about 1 volume probably, but the reason that isn't the case is because this isn't about the plot, this is a character-focused plot, where even simple conversations can last an entire chapter. Emulating real life somewhat where you feel that time completely freezes and takes forever when talking to your crush. This really is a coming-of-age story with how surreal it had felt to me and was a bittersweet epilogue by the end of it all.
I give it a 9/10 as a whole because it may not truly change your life if certain circumstances do not happen to you, and even if so many similar things happened between me and punpun and many chords were struck, it just didn't feel as if it were a 10/10 masterpiece that a lot of people are saying it is. This is a manga however that while is a life-changer for some, me included, I would never recommend to anyone personally. To find this during ones own time and to read this on their own accord is what I feel is the best way. And with this I would just like to add that it is a 9/10 because maybe I don't need the message it conveys right now, maybe in a few years time I might fall down and a reread may get me back up. I was told in videos and reviews that people who have read this were either still on an ongoing battle with themselves or had been in a lesser fortunate situation during the time of reading which I was not. Overall a great read regardless and I am glad I spent my week doing this. It isn't a message that changes my life path but rather something to keep in mind when I am walking down my life path. I'll revisit this manga hopefully in 10 years or so and maybe my opinion will change.
Minor spoilers now:
The only part of this manga making it a 9/10 was its story because while I felt I was beside punpun or was in the first person perspective all throughout the story, it was the final arc in the last 3 volumes that took me back and made me see punpun from a third person perspective instead. The entire last portion of the story felt like a fever dream to me and I still can't wrap my head around it. And that was the intent of the author and that's completely fine, it is still a 9/10 and by no means a bad manga. MAL does not have a rating system with decimals but if so I would give it a 9.9/10, it is there but not quite. I also love how he also made a meta argument poking fun at the story through Nanjou being questioned by a manga industry, saying readers don't want to read things like what I just read which is completely true. Even now I still feel an emptiness inside, not because the story made me sad beyond repair but because of the fact that it's over just like that. While I consider the story to not be on par with its art work and characterization I also understand that is where it had to go and to end the story much earlier would warrant a lower rating and be a disservice to the message of the story. I understand what punpun does also on volume 12 and while I no longer feel as if I am part of the story and rather am reading a story I also see that even I may go down the same path as him if things went differently.
Oct 10, 2021
Oyasumi Punpun
(Manga)
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Goodnight Punpun is probably the most "9/10" thing I have read or will ever read. I am fresh off reading the final chapter so this review may be half-baked after submission. Read this manga during your free time as I did because this does deserve undivided attention for the people who need it, who need to find themselves, and who need to be found.
Spoiler-free mostly unless stated otherwise. I started on October 3, 2021 because I thought hey why not, it's the weekend and my school break comes to an end the following week after. I divided my time my reading 1 volume per ... |
