Goodnight Punpun
aka Oyasumi Punpun
Huh.
Not really sure what to say about this series except I didn't like it that much despite the hype from certain parts of the internet, although it's artistically brilliant, and some segments are an incredibly spot on depiction of depression. In fact, the series makes a lot more sense if you think of it as a warped slice of life from the POV of a dude suffering from untreated clinical depression. Once I started thinking of it that way, I actually found the last few arcs (post-Big Twist) pretty predictable.
(I just realized I also read the same mangaka's Solanin years ago and didn't like that much either.)
Another reasonable summary: life is awful, awful things happen, all relationships are fundamentally dysfunctional, and good things happen only to make life even more awful.
I say all this and probably sound like I hated the series, but you know, I read all 13 volumes of it.... I kinda respect the mangaka for doing what he did with it, but I'm also a little boggled by the gushing fans.
I think part of it is that as brilliant as it is, I don't think it's actually saying anything particularly new or interesting, and a lot of the major plot twists mainly seem tacked on for cheap shock value/melodrama. Well done melodrama, but still. What really differentiates it from trashy soap opera aside from the unique POV and stylistic choices?
Also, every time I read Yet Another Story about the awful existential angst of male puberty and disaffected male 20-somethings, I can't help but wonder, where is the female version of this story?
(The most famous female hikikomori series is a joke and a trainwreck.)
To be fair, what makes Punpun good is that the major female characters are nuanced and sympathetic and believably flawed despite the POV filter (and the narrative is pretty self-aware of the POV-filter, which a lot of these types of stories aren't).
Otoh, there's a lot of unavoidable emotional objectification due to said POV filter (which makes me more uncomfortable than physical objectification tbh), which is actually arguably the major theme of the series, and like I said, although I think the NARRATIVE is pretty self-aware, I wonder if the most enthusiastic fans of the series are?
That said, I do like me some pretentious literary crap sometimes so I'm probably not really in a place to judge. :P Like, maybe if I'd read this 10 years ago I would have loved it? IDK though, actually. Although tastes do change, I think there is still some sort of fundamental "core" to the things I enjoy or don't enjoy.
I guess even with my misanthropic tendencies there is still a part of me that is stubbornly opposed to such a bleak view of life and human connections.
edit: I'm also impressed that so many people think it has a happy/uplifting ending when it reads pretty cynical to me (and this interview confirms that was the author's intent, although he allows for freedom of interpretation).
comments at the original Dreamwidth post
Huh.
Not really sure what to say about this series except I didn't like it that much despite the hype from certain parts of the internet, although it's artistically brilliant, and some segments are an incredibly spot on depiction of depression. In fact, the series makes a lot more sense if you think of it as a warped slice of life from the POV of a dude suffering from untreated clinical depression. Once I started thinking of it that way, I actually found the last few arcs (post-Big Twist) pretty predictable.
(I just realized I also read the same mangaka's Solanin years ago and didn't like that much either.)
Another reasonable summary: life is awful, awful things happen, all relationships are fundamentally dysfunctional, and good things happen only to make life even more awful.
I say all this and probably sound like I hated the series, but you know, I read all 13 volumes of it.... I kinda respect the mangaka for doing what he did with it, but I'm also a little boggled by the gushing fans.
I think part of it is that as brilliant as it is, I don't think it's actually saying anything particularly new or interesting, and a lot of the major plot twists mainly seem tacked on for cheap shock value/melodrama. Well done melodrama, but still. What really differentiates it from trashy soap opera aside from the unique POV and stylistic choices?
Also, every time I read Yet Another Story about the awful existential angst of male puberty and disaffected male 20-somethings, I can't help but wonder, where is the female version of this story?
(The most famous female hikikomori series is a joke and a trainwreck.)
To be fair, what makes Punpun good is that the major female characters are nuanced and sympathetic and believably flawed despite the POV filter (and the narrative is pretty self-aware of the POV-filter, which a lot of these types of stories aren't).
Otoh, there's a lot of unavoidable emotional objectification due to said POV filter (which makes me more uncomfortable than physical objectification tbh), which is actually arguably the major theme of the series, and like I said, although I think the NARRATIVE is pretty self-aware, I wonder if the most enthusiastic fans of the series are?
That said, I do like me some pretentious literary crap sometimes so I'm probably not really in a place to judge. :P Like, maybe if I'd read this 10 years ago I would have loved it? IDK though, actually. Although tastes do change, I think there is still some sort of fundamental "core" to the things I enjoy or don't enjoy.
I guess even with my misanthropic tendencies there is still a part of me that is stubbornly opposed to such a bleak view of life and human connections.
edit: I'm also impressed that so many people think it has a happy/uplifting ending when it reads pretty cynical to me (and this interview confirms that was the author's intent, although he allows for freedom of interpretation).
comments at the original Dreamwidth post