The other day, I spent the weekend reading all 13 volumes of the manga "Oyasumi Punpun" in one go.
I don't think it's a manga that will appeal to everyone, but I found it so compelling that I read it all the way to the end.
To organize my own thoughts, I'm going to try writing an article introducing the book to people who haven't read it yet.
Work summary
This manga depicts the life of Punyama Punpun, an ordinary boy who seems like he could be found anywhere, from his elementary school days to adulthood.
Broadly speaking, it can be divided into elementary school, middle school, high school, and young adulthood, and there are gaps in time between these periods.
However, the story doesn't just focus on Punpun; it also depicts the growth of his family, relatives, and former classmates.
Therefore, it also has aspects of an ensemble drama.
If you ask me what genre this work belongs to, it's very difficult to answer.
However, if I had to choose just one genre..."love affair"That is my answer.
I don't think it's necessarily about romance, but I believe everything starts with the first romance (or the misconception that it's romance).
Characteristics of the artwork
The main character looks like a bird
A distinctive feature of this work is that the main character, Punpun, is depicted as a bird in the form of a scribbled drawing.
The image is as shown below (I drew it myself).
In the otherwise realistic illustrations, Punpun, his parents, and his uncle (his younger brother) are depicted in this style, making them stand out very much from the rest of the work.
When a character in the story draws a picture of Punpun, it has the shape of a normal human face, so it is written this way solely for the reader's benefit.
One possible reason for this is that by making the characters' appearances somewhat meaningless, the aim is to draw attention to their actions and words rather than their looks.
If you write characters as ordinary people, readers will perceive them as characters in a story, separate from themselves.
However, when Punpun is depicted in this way as something other than human, you can't help but feel like Punpun is you, and you end up seeing yourself in him.
An indescribable realism
The characters in the story may seem normal at first glance, but they all harbor a deep-seated madness.
However, this madness isn't the exaggerated madness you see in cartoons; it's more like just a little bit strange.
Even in the real world, we don't often see easily recognizable madness.
I think it's these subtle depictions of madness that send chills down the reader's spine.
These little moments of madness cause the events in the story to deviate significantly.
Literary descriptions
I wouldn't really recommend this work to others.
That's because I didn't get the feeling that the work itself was written with the intention of entertaining the reader.
言うなれば、娯楽よりも芸術性を重視した、純文学的な作品だと感じました。
However, as is the case with many works of pure literature, there are interesting works that are not written with the intention of entertaining the reader.
This work, too, gives me exactly that impression.
Because the author doesn't try to explain everything, readers are left to interpret things deeply on their own and try to find their own enjoyment.
I would recommend this work to anyone who can find enjoyment in it to some extent on their own.
The fact that the protagonist's actions are ultimately driven by sexual desire, and that his relationships with women are messy and complicated, are also strong points that make it a work of pure literature.
This is true of "No Longer Human" and "Kokoro."
My thoughts (contains spoilers, but doesn't reveal the plot)
Thirteen volumes is a bit too many to read all at once.
Nevertheless, I think it's a work that has enough power to make you want to read it all in one go over the weekend (just like I did).
It's not a lighthearted or cheerful story, but the narrative is divided into two-year timelines, which gives it a good sense of structure.
Each time the story is divided into sections, the people around the characters become new, which gives a slightly refreshing feeling.
That being said, the characters aren't disposable either.
Far from being disposable, characters who only appear briefly at the beginning often become important figures later on, playing a significant role throughout the story.
There are many clues and foreshadowing elements scattered throughout the story, and when you read it later, you often find yourself thinking, "Ah, so that's what that meant."
For some reason, the more I write my thoughts, the further I seem to get from the essence of this work.
This is by no means a lighthearted manga, so I think it's a work that only those who are determined to read it will be able to finish.
I think this work contains various messages, but I also think that readers will have different impressions of it.
What I felt after reading this work was,"Life rarely goes the way you want it to." "A series of small things can drastically change your life without you even realizing it." "Other people can never truly understand you."That's the gist of it.
I wasn't able to summarize my thoughts properly, so I'll leave it at this for now.
I'll rewrite this once I'm able to organize my thoughts better.
Goodnight Punpun (1) (Young Sunday Comics)(Amazon)
A compilation of manga-related articles featured on this blog
Rakuten Market: おやすみプンプン（1）