Goodnight Punpun
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omg.. i’m speechless.... this manga is just too real...
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Amazing story, it was very bitter in some areas throughout but in the end I think it left off with an inkling of hope.
This is NOT your average slice-of-life manga. I repeat, this is not for the faint of heart in the slightest.
Oyasumi Punpun can be described with as many adjectives as possible under a heavy exhale - raw, depressive, melancholic, disturbing, at times even horrifying, and also very surreal and avant-garde.
Most of all, it's real. Extremely real for some, I might add.
It's disgusting. It's abhorrent. And it's unapologetic in its realistic nihilism towards the characters' motivations in the town of Punpun Onodera, a troubled and pessimistic individual who grows from a reclusive yet optimistic elementary schoolboy, into a brooding, misanthropic young adult as a result of the events that unfold around his nuclear family and fellow close ones.
Several events that occur in the manga are honestly some of the most vile and putrid acts I've seen in contemporary manga, including, but not limited to: rape, assault, and suicide. It's utterly brutal in the way that Inio Asano portrays these acts in a disaffected manner, from an amoral standpoint, which makes the acts even more disturbing to more ethically-inclined manga consumers.
If anything can be considered the closest thing to modern art in contemporary Japanese literature, Oyasumi Punpun is a strong contender as being the greatest Japanese literature-based work so far, like a modern-day twisted, lucid approach to a classic Greek tragedy.
This is essential viewing for any fan of manga/anime, but a very strong advisory for those who are emotionally unstable, or clinically depressed while reading this manga. I sure as hell am not going to read this again for a while. Need this whole thing to set in first. Tonally, I've seen many anime and manga go to places where Western animation can only dream of mustering their scenarios towards. The examples are plentiful, so I'll name only a few for the sake of convenience and avoiding as much redundancy as possible.
Grave of the Fireflies deals with an incredibly tragic tale of two siblings surviving in a post-WWII Japan, borderline apocalyptic in subtext and in actuality.
Berserk is a ruthless depiction of a fantasy world, completely deconstructed into the malicious hands into the darker side of humanity, if such a world existed in real life.
You have your sad, bittersweet endings of lauded romance anime like Clannad and Angel Beats, and they do hit very hard, right into your very vessel.
At least all of the aforementioned anime/manga above have some kind of redeeming qualities for the main characters of their respective stories.
Oyasumi Punpun is a different beast altogether. Punpun Onodera is a bitter, neurotic wreck by the end of the manga, and it's heavily implied that he's stuck with those exact, nihilistic values of life he's conjured in his mind over his years as a pitiful, sympathetic "anti-villian" of sorts. He loses all sense of redemption over the course of before he meets Aiko as a 20-year-old young adult, completely convinced of humanity being utterly wreched and self-centered, believing their actions to be solipsistic in nature, never truly meaning to benefit other people just because they can.
One could choose to leave this world, if they could, but even Punpun is too self-conscious for such a thing. He's so afraid of any kind of pain imaginable that even the easiest ways out become a phobic hassle by themselves.
The harsh truth of the hedgehog's dilemma is that with emotional vulnerability, you experience the full scope of human pleasure as well as narcotic despair and misery. Punpun decides to inhabit a hedonistic lifestyle and attitude, as the traumatic events of his life pile up into his psyche, never opening his already fragile shell with someone he probably could trust, but it's the easier way to deny the pain of living and rely on immediate gratification to numb his own depression. It all coalesces into the final volume of the manga as Punpun's psyche begins to break, and then reset itself into a sort of reluctant acceptance of life's harsh circumstances and situations, but a faint hope of happiness straddles its path beneath all the bleakness of Punpun's existence, what with finding and reuniting with his fateful love, developing a reasonably close bond with a person who he's able to somewhat trust and confide in, and the reconciliation with a particular loved one.
And sometimes it can seem too cynical of how it depicts people's tendencies to be self-centered, and not the other way around, when even the most "angelic" and pure-hearted of the characters are severely flawed by their inability to truly open themselves up to others, for fear of appearing too eccentric, too kind, or even too reminiscent of our bestial, survivalist sides as just barely civilized people.
I loathe that I deeply relate to Punpun. I really do.
It may very well be the bleakest manga ever written, but it's also the greatest manga ever written notwithstanding, or because of such notion.
Reality is often more disturbing than fiction.
10/10
Oyasumi Punpun can be described with as many adjectives as possible under a heavy exhale - raw, depressive, melancholic, disturbing, at times even horrifying, and also very surreal and avant-garde.
Most of all, it's real. Extremely real for some, I might add.
It's disgusting. It's abhorrent. And it's unapologetic in its realistic nihilism towards the characters' motivations in the town of Punpun Onodera, a troubled and pessimistic individual who grows from a reclusive yet optimistic elementary schoolboy, into a brooding, misanthropic young adult as a result of the events that unfold around his nuclear family and fellow close ones.
Several events that occur in the manga are honestly some of the most vile and putrid acts I've seen in contemporary manga, including, but not limited to: rape, assault, and suicide. It's utterly brutal in the way that Inio Asano portrays these acts in a disaffected manner, from an amoral standpoint, which makes the acts even more disturbing to more ethically-inclined manga consumers.
If anything can be considered the closest thing to modern art in contemporary Japanese literature, Oyasumi Punpun is a strong contender as being the greatest Japanese literature-based work so far, like a modern-day twisted, lucid approach to a classic Greek tragedy.
This is essential viewing for any fan of manga/anime, but a very strong advisory for those who are emotionally unstable, or clinically depressed while reading this manga. I sure as hell am not going to read this again for a while. Need this whole thing to set in first. Tonally, I've seen many anime and manga go to places where Western animation can only dream of mustering their scenarios towards. The examples are plentiful, so I'll name only a few for the sake of convenience and avoiding as much redundancy as possible.
Grave of the Fireflies deals with an incredibly tragic tale of two siblings surviving in a post-WWII Japan, borderline apocalyptic in subtext and in actuality.
Berserk is a ruthless depiction of a fantasy world, completely deconstructed into the malicious hands into the darker side of humanity, if such a world existed in real life.
You have your sad, bittersweet endings of lauded romance anime like Clannad and Angel Beats, and they do hit very hard, right into your very vessel.
At least all of the aforementioned anime/manga above have some kind of redeeming qualities for the main characters of their respective stories.
Oyasumi Punpun is a different beast altogether. Punpun Onodera is a bitter, neurotic wreck by the end of the manga, and it's heavily implied that he's stuck with those exact, nihilistic values of life he's conjured in his mind over his years as a pitiful, sympathetic "anti-villian" of sorts. He loses all sense of redemption over the course of before he meets Aiko as a 20-year-old young adult, completely convinced of humanity being utterly wreched and self-centered, believing their actions to be solipsistic in nature, never truly meaning to benefit other people just because they can.
One could choose to leave this world, if they could, but even Punpun is too self-conscious for such a thing. He's so afraid of any kind of pain imaginable that even the easiest ways out become a phobic hassle by themselves.
The harsh truth of the hedgehog's dilemma is that with emotional vulnerability, you experience the full scope of human pleasure as well as narcotic despair and misery. Punpun decides to inhabit a hedonistic lifestyle and attitude, as the traumatic events of his life pile up into his psyche, never opening his already fragile shell with someone he probably could trust, but it's the easier way to deny the pain of living and rely on immediate gratification to numb his own depression. It all coalesces into the final volume of the manga as Punpun's psyche begins to break, and then reset itself into a sort of reluctant acceptance of life's harsh circumstances and situations, but a faint hope of happiness straddles its path beneath all the bleakness of Punpun's existence, what with finding and reuniting with his fateful love, developing a reasonably close bond with a person who he's able to somewhat trust and confide in, and the reconciliation with a particular loved one.
And sometimes it can seem too cynical of how it depicts people's tendencies to be self-centered, and not the other way around, when even the most "angelic" and pure-hearted of the characters are severely flawed by their inability to truly open themselves up to others, for fear of appearing too eccentric, too kind, or even too reminiscent of our bestial, survivalist sides as just barely civilized people.
I loathe that I deeply relate to Punpun. I really do.
It may very well be the bleakest manga ever written, but it's also the greatest manga ever written notwithstanding, or because of such notion.
Reality is often more disturbing than fiction.
10/10
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- Mar 6, 2019
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- 66
@notahomo That's the thing it was supposed to be. Punpun was essentially supposed to have the worst life possible hence, the unsatisfying ending.
Its real.
Unfortunately, that's what Punpun is just a fucked up realistic life of an average person.... it could happen to anyone.
That's what the ending showed we all start the same, but, end up in totally different places in our life. IDK 😋 I was satisfied but, your not supposed to be lol....
Its real.
Unfortunately, that's what Punpun is just a fucked up realistic life of an average person.... it could happen to anyone.
That's what the ending showed we all start the same, but, end up in totally different places in our life. IDK 😋 I was satisfied but, your not supposed to be lol....
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@Sakumai-cawk the author of that and Punpun are actually mangaka rivals.... fun fact i guess...
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@takashiobatasan Oh wow... Completely didn't know that lol
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100 chapters in and all I can say is what the fuck
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- Mar 7, 2019
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lol Aku no Hana is MUCH better than this, it's one of the best bildungsroman out there. Kasuga starts out a pretentious loser, gets more sucked up into his pretentiousness stemming from foolishness and immaturity, then he's forced to reflect on his immaturity and grows up. Punpun is just edgy misery porn shit.
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@TakeshiCuzao I would have to disagree so very much with you, but I too enjoyed Aku no Hana
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@TakeshiCuzao I personally don't understand why people compare the two, as they are completely different works in both execution and purpose.
First off, yes, both are bildungsromans, but Aku no Hana focuses solely on Kasuga, with all the other characters being merely artifices for his own personal growth. Punpun focuses on a considerably big cast of characters, all of whom eventually grows and completes the coming of age cycle, even though Punpun never does -- because that's his character. He's supposed to be this loner, self-destructive loser who's not gonna move on while everyone else around him has. And there's a reason for that that I'll talk about on my next point.
Second, Punpun actually carries off Aku no Hana's initial proposition: that of giving oneself to chaos and evil. Punpun is not a tale of growth but of self-destruction. Asano himself states that his initial idea with Punpun was to mock romance stories and then see how much more chaotic it could get from there. And he did just that: at the end, there's virtually nothing recognizable from the first few volumes. I wouldn't go as far as to call it subversive because, deep inside, I feel like Asano is laughing at anyone who takes him seriously, but he certainly achieved his initial purpose.
It's interesting to note that I don't think Aku no Hana was ever clear about whether Kasuga actually grew up or not: all he did was turn his back to his 'flower of evil' and move on. Considering the contrast from the first and second part and the symbolism, I'd say it's understandable to see Nakamura as the true hero of the story. If I had to define Kasuga in a sentence, he's the kind of person who would read The Old Man and the Sea and feel bad about the fish -- and when the story is about fishing, there's no place for a character like that at the spotlight.
Third, heh, I won't contend defining it as 'misery porn', but I think it has far more finesse and actual purpose than something like Henshin which is shocking for the sake of it.
Anyway, I think Punpun is just different. I understand people who dislike it for its over the top misery, but it's far too complex and elaborated to simply dismiss it for that.
First off, yes, both are bildungsromans, but Aku no Hana focuses solely on Kasuga, with all the other characters being merely artifices for his own personal growth. Punpun focuses on a considerably big cast of characters, all of whom eventually grows and completes the coming of age cycle, even though Punpun never does -- because that's his character. He's supposed to be this loner, self-destructive loser who's not gonna move on while everyone else around him has. And there's a reason for that that I'll talk about on my next point.
Second, Punpun actually carries off Aku no Hana's initial proposition: that of giving oneself to chaos and evil. Punpun is not a tale of growth but of self-destruction. Asano himself states that his initial idea with Punpun was to mock romance stories and then see how much more chaotic it could get from there. And he did just that: at the end, there's virtually nothing recognizable from the first few volumes. I wouldn't go as far as to call it subversive because, deep inside, I feel like Asano is laughing at anyone who takes him seriously, but he certainly achieved his initial purpose.
It's interesting to note that I don't think Aku no Hana was ever clear about whether Kasuga actually grew up or not: all he did was turn his back to his 'flower of evil' and move on. Considering the contrast from the first and second part and the symbolism, I'd say it's understandable to see Nakamura as the true hero of the story. If I had to define Kasuga in a sentence, he's the kind of person who would read The Old Man and the Sea and feel bad about the fish -- and when the story is about fishing, there's no place for a character like that at the spotlight.
Third, heh, I won't contend defining it as 'misery porn', but I think it has far more finesse and actual purpose than something like Henshin which is shocking for the sake of it.
Anyway, I think Punpun is just different. I understand people who dislike it for its over the top misery, but it's far too complex and elaborated to simply dismiss it for that.
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Who rated this a 10? LMAO
@TrueGoddessReincarnation you are honestly retarded
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Another kind of "Catcher in the Rye", for those who like those kind of stories (which I do) except that the Holden Caulfield in this story doesn't go around making a nuisance of himself. He simply experiences unfathomable pain and emptiness, like a cracked cup that you can keep pouring water into and it will never be full enough to satisfy your thirst.
If you are interested in that and willing to see it through to completion, then proceed...
P.S. there isn't a tag for it, but some nudity and sexual content exists. It's absolutely not fanservice and 100% plot driven.
If you are interested in that and willing to see it through to completion, then proceed...
P.S. there isn't a tag for it, but some nudity and sexual content exists. It's absolutely not fanservice and 100% plot driven.
