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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
Nope. won't continue
Boring, repetitive and sick
Boring, repetitive and sick
“There is only one really serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide.” Having recently re-read my Camus, I couldn’t help but start to see the Goodnight Punpun series as basically a manga on existentialism. Why don’t I just kill myself? Is the question most of these characters seem to be asking over and over, with varying degrees of success at finding an answer. This volume focuses a lot on Punpun’s uncle Yuichi, giving us the backstory for why he’s a hollow man drifting through life, and it’s pretty horrific stuff. Meanwhile, Punpun is struggling with his desperate love for a girl and his mingled hatred and respect for another boy who loves her. As I mentioned in my review of the first volume, it’s dealing with extremely mature themes: abuse, rape, murder, and an overall agonizing tone of self-doubt and existential pain. By turns delicate and brutal, and extremely hard to put down.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
This volume took a much darker turn now that Punpun is getting older. This volume does focus a good amount on his uncle Yuichi and his life and what comes with getting older. A good continuation of the series.
This omnibus edition retains everything I liked about the first volume while diving deeper into the depressive headspace of its main character. This volume...is heavy. It makes you think about life. Past mistakes. Future ones. It left me feeling hollow. I think I’m at that stage of my life where I’m starting to doubt my choices and what led me here. Am I making the right decisions? Will I be happy? Should I have pursued my passions over choosing a safe career? Should I be more social? Does any of this matter? PunPun struggles with these same questions and has yet to find proper answers.
It’s easy to see yourself in the characters and the mistakes they make, but this volume isn’t without its spurts of levity. “Happiness is fleeting, so let’s enjoy it while we can” is a quote I’ll be thinking about, and I will be reading the future installments. If we’re only at Omnibus 2 out of 7 and I’m already feeling this spacey and existential, I can’t imagine how I’ll feel when I’m done. I like that this volume jumped ahead in time to PunPun’s time in middle school and how we spent lots of time developing PunPun’s uncle. Every character thinks they’re alone, but their pain runs parallel with each other. Feelings of isolation may be the one thing that unites every human, so maybe in that respect we aren’t really isolated. I guess there’s something comforting about that
It’s easy to see yourself in the characters and the mistakes they make, but this volume isn’t without its spurts of levity. “Happiness is fleeting, so let’s enjoy it while we can” is a quote I’ll be thinking about, and I will be reading the future installments. If we’re only at Omnibus 2 out of 7 and I’m already feeling this spacey and existential, I can’t imagine how I’ll feel when I’m done. I like that this volume jumped ahead in time to PunPun’s time in middle school and how we spent lots of time developing PunPun’s uncle. Every character thinks they’re alone, but their pain runs parallel with each other. Feelings of isolation may be the one thing that unites every human, so maybe in that respect we aren’t really isolated. I guess there’s something comforting about that
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
compared to the first volume, this is still pretty interesting and i'm still loving the art style!
the themes are captivating and there's a lot of sentiment to the conversations being had.
i don't at all mind morally skewed topics in literature--- in fact, i am quite interested in those discussions. but i think we are glossing over uncle's... past... too quickly. obviously an authors morality doesn't match the morality of their characters, but the way they're addressing the situation feels like they're not understanding how wrong it is.
i also wish there was more punpun in these volumes.
overall i like a lot of the same things in this volume as i did in the first one. excited to keep going!
the themes are captivating and there's a lot of sentiment to the conversations being had.
i don't at all mind morally skewed topics in literature--- in fact, i am quite interested in those discussions. but i think we are glossing over uncle's... past... too quickly. obviously an authors morality doesn't match the morality of their characters, but the way they're addressing the situation feels like they're not understanding how wrong it is.
i also wish there was more punpun in these volumes.
overall i like a lot of the same things in this volume as i did in the first one. excited to keep going!
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
character development on punpun himself is a little on pause in this one as it focuses on yuichi but the yuichi stuff is quite moving, in general, as with the first, it can be quite moving out of nowhere, i cried a decent amount in the 1.75 hours i took me to read this. i have some ~concerns~ about the yuichi backstory but part of what engages me about punpun is its frankness about misogyny, lust, etc. there’s a fine line between exploring ugly/messy aspects of humanity and just exemplifying them but on the whole i’m grateful for the grim but compassionate take on how people are warped and hardened by fear, loneliness, suffering, confusion, lust. but the demented 16 year old femme fatale is a little much
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes