Comics / Manga

Goodnight Punpun: Volume 3 manga review


By Leroy Douresseaux
September 28, 2016 - 14:10

goodnight-punpun03.jpg
Goodnight Punpun Volume 3 cover image


Rated “M” for “Mature”

Goodnight Punpun is a manga from creator Inio Asano (Solanin, What a Wonderful World!).  The series is a coming-of-age story that focuses on Punpun Onodera, a boy in middle school and his adolescent trials and tribulations.  VIZ Media is publishing Goodnight Punpun as a seven-volume graphic novel series.  Each volume is an over-sized manga paperback containing two individual volumes (called “parts).  Goodbye Punpun Vol. 3 contains Part 5 (Chapters 47 to 56) and Part 6 (Chapters 57 to 67).

As Goodbye Punpun Part 5 opens, Punpun decides that he wants to have sex.  Back to reality:  Punpun, Mama Onodera, and Midori Okuma (girlfriend of Punpun's absentee uncle, Yuichi Onodera) move out of the old apartment and into a new one.  Now, it's time for high school.

In Part 6, Punpun is 15-years-old and freshly deflowered.  A newly-minted high school student, he meets a girl, Azusa Kanie, and it's love at first sight.  Of course, one must wonder how she feels.  Plus, love, crushes, marriage and death.

THE LOWDOWN:  If I did not know that the Goodnight Punpun manga is fiction, I would be heartbroken.  Calling it teen angst or tragic does not come close to describing this drama; such descriptions are likely shallow.

Goodnight Punpun Volume 3 defies description, which is what I wrote about Vol. 2.  For all the loneliness the narrative depicts, the series is hopeful.  Most of all, I think that it is about exploration.  Creator Inio Asano is always digging in his characters, finding the sweet, sour, and unrelenting pungent.  Poignant and heartbreaking:  I think Asano finds beauty in the struggle and mystery of life.  Drawing some of the characters as tubular-like caricatures does not blunt the power of this exceptional manga, Goodnight Punpun.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Fans of youthful drama will want the VIZ Signature title, Goodnight Punpun.

A



Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12

    RSS       Mobile       Contact        Advertising       Terms of Service    ComicBookBin


© Copyright 2002-2023, Toon Doctor Inc. - All rights Reserved. All other texts, images, characters and trademarks are copyright their respective owners. Use of material in this document (including reproduction, modification, distribution, electronic transmission or republication) without prior written permission is strictly prohibited. Toon Doctor ® is registered trademarks of Toon Doctor Inc. Privacy Policy