The suffering of young Punpun
We know from the previous volumes of this manga that young Onodera does not have loving parents, reliable friends or even a warm uncle. If he happens to go out with friends, it is to an abandoned factory. Commitments to others and a very strict notion of loyalty have overwhelmed him from birth, and certainly from early elementary school. He is a silent, secretive boy who is completely unable to understand the feelings and needs of other people.
With such baggage, Punpun enters adolescence. She goes to high school, meets new people, hopes for her first romantic relationships. Would that be how he would put it in words? Absolutely not, the inner monologues of this young man, hungry for tenderness, are as unpretentious and direct as his mother’s. Freud would have nothing to do here, cards and body fluids were openly laid out on the table.
So what do you associate the appearance of the hero with?
If so far you had any doubts about what the simplified silhouette of Punpun refers to, set against the backdrop of Asano’s beautiful, oversensitive realism, this volume will dispel them. He will do it very directly and in scenes that are painful enough to take away the appearance of a joke. If the heroes of this manga can do something stupid and evil, they’ll probably do it. You could also learn this from previous adventures of Onoders and friends.
Asano has no intention of elevating his hero’s sexual maturation or the gusts of his… heart. It’s possible that it’s just a bit like that – at some point young people don’t exaggerate literature. Perhaps that is why Punpun’s mother becomes the main character of the third volume. You will hear a lot of statements from this experienced woman here: advice for the younger ones, flirting with the older ones … And no, it will not gain in your eyes. This time the author is not playing with the fear that something terrible will happen, but with the embarrassment of the reader.
The changing tone of the manga makes it harder to empathize with – it’s not as impressive as Punpun’s childhood stories. Full of details, sweet drawings add to this atmosphere this time. I felt quite a distance from the characters, but that doesn’t mean I put down the comic book. As I mentioned, Asano likes to torture the recipient, but usually gives them something in return. This time… I’m not so sure.
A crisis volume
In the third volume of Good Night, Punpunie there is an unquestionable crisis. The heroes struggle because they cannot realize their desires. Sometimes they don’t even know exactly what they want. Until now, they thought love had to be the answer, but they seem to be starting to doubt its reality. The reader, on the other hand, has no illusions about the lofty slogans used in the manga at different times, from the mouths of people whom we have learned not to believe. We have already got to know the heroes who are now only wandering in their wrong choices, and we look at their misfortune from a distance.
Until now, traces of hope, and even tiny catharsis, could be grasped in the history of Punpun. This time we are in a depression together with a whole bunch of more and more unhappy and harmful to ourselves characters. We are left with cultivating the hope that at least the title character will grow up a bit and take care of himself.
