How terrible to be a child – review of the manga “Goodnight, Punpunie”, vol.1

It starts with violence

Good night, Punpunie hides a story about the dangers lurking in the family or school under the guise of bildungsroman , as realistic as Totally Not Nostalgia. Memuar . Inio Asano mixes different styles in his manga, and the main character and his relatives show as if they belong to a completely different genre (also literary) than the rest of the characters. When he talks about how unpleasant life can be, he also plays with patterns, breaking them into scary or absurd pieces.

Punpun’s parents are very different from Moomin’s Mom and Dad. So much so that their relationship is based on sexism and violence – first verbal, then physical. Their son seems completely insensitive to this. One might think that he is a naive, innocent child … if it were not for the fact that he sees the world as black and white, and once the decision has been made whether the opinion is an oracle for him. Punpun made it his mind that Mom was boring and Father was great – no matter what he did or did.

The need to pretend and not see things is very human. If nothing is wrong, there is no need to change anything. Unfortunately, at the same time you have to cut yourself off more and more from reality. Perhaps that is why Punpun and his family were drawn in a very simplified way, they do not resemble people, but rather sprites or birds sketched by a child. We view the entire manga from the perspective of its main character, and he is able to accurately introduce us to his colleagues, even teachers, but not his relatives. He also tries to know about himself and show as little as possible.

Totally not nostalgia

At the beginning I mentioned that the Asano manga reminded me of the comic book Hagedorn and Frąś, Totally not nostalgia. Memuar. You might get the impression that this is too distant an association – manga with supernatural elements and autobiography. Yet they both show how full of sadness, stress and real threats the childhood is. They talk about domestic violence, but also ideas for games, sometimes ending within a hair of a tragedy. The protagonists of both children, deprived of parental support and sexual education, also try to educate themselves, which leads to disturbing solutions. Adults take advantage of childhood naivety and ignorance, and children are not gentle with each other either. They see the world as an epic cartoon in which everyone is a relentless hero or a negative character. For Punpun, the most important thing is to keep your word, even if the promise is impossible. If he doesn’t, he will die, he will die, his life will be over. All this is – of course – drenched in a sauce of nostalgia, which we feel involuntarily when we think about our past. Also Punpun has a bunch of friends, a beloved uncle, first love. He is on vacation, exploring the city.

This longest publication by Inio Asano is an example of the classic “asana” style of realistic manga with elements of the grotesque. However, it also contains inserts from completely different genres that are unusual for this artist. Punpun himself, as I mentioned, is too cartoonish . In turn, God, who sometimes reveals himself to him, looks as if he was cut out of a picture with too strong a contrast. The confusion in the visual layer corresponds to the author’s idea. In making this story, he wanted to deconstruct shojo , shonen, and even a slice of life . It means you can reach for Goodnight, Punpunwithout preparation and reading in Japanese comics. We also have plot and aesthetic patterns in Europe and the USA. Asano will help you to see under their lining.

What’s next for Punpun?

The series Dobranoc, Punpunie was created for seven years and has 13 volumes. Kotori has collected them into three books, two of which are already available on the Polish market, and the next one will be published at the end of May. You don’t have to wait for the whole thing to be released. I think that after one and two you will need a moment to rest and reflect. The desire to break with genre patterns also manifests itself in Asano’s need to talk about difficult, unpleasant and shocking matters. In addition, manga allows you to look a bit differently at your childhood, youth or parenthood. Have you read Moomin ? Now see what could have gone wrong with them.