Block Mangafesto: Oyasumi Punpun

And now, another manga review! I hope everyone liked the last one.

“Oyasumi Punpun” (or “Goodnight Punpun”) is a manga written and illustrated by Inio Asano. You may recognize his name as he created the manga “Solanin” in 2005. I happened on this manga around the start of this year—I had seen a page from a chapter and got interested. I also read it in one sitting. It’s a very bad idea if you do and I’ll explain later.

The story follows Onodera Punpun, a normal child usually appearing as a bird creature and often speaks in speech boxes in a narrative format. The manga tells Punpun’s life split into four parts—elementary school, middle school, high school, and his early 20s. He copes with a dysfunctional family, his first love, friends, adolescence, and his overactive mind. While it starts out lighthearted during his younger years, it gets progressively darker as Punpun gets older. Several side stories give more insight on the numerous characters that appear, mostly his friends and family. One occurring character who appears when Punpun is feeling confused about life or stressed is “God”, often appearing in random places and questions Punpun’s actions (or putting Punpun down in depression even further).

This manga is an emotional roller coaster and it dives into the psyche of Punpun as he grows up, dealing with life. The ending did make me cry because it brought Punpun’s life full circle (I won’t spoil it but he deals with a lot of stuff). It will also make you dislike—or outright hate—multiple characters, even Punpun himself. It’s one of my favorites. The intricate story drew me in, the personalities of the characters are beautifully detailed, and the artwork is amazing.

It has completed, having 147 chapters. Here’s the link:

>>>>>Oyasumi PunPun<<<<<

If you love Inio Asano’s work or slice of life manga, then pick this up.

Thanks for reading!