This is an amazing manga. It's a seinen slice of life portraying the world through the eyes of Punpun, his family and his acquaintances.
As stated in another comment pretty much every character in this manga is scum
They are all in some way or another egoistical selfloathing petty people. But the things they do and the way it is depicted truly makes me wish for their happiness and succes.

In the start I thought the artist was too lazy to draw the main character and his family, but the more I read the more I believe that the way Punpun is depicted and the changes in this depiction lend far more depth to the story and the character than a classic manga depiction would have. And on a side note I don't think the artist is lazy, the other characters and the backgrounds are drawn detailed so that you can see every single flaw in the characters and their world.

Ah such bliss. I always feel much better once I've put the complicated feelings I have towards a complicated manga into words.

... Last updated on August 5th, 2013, 3:30pm

Since everyone said my opinions about this manga, I'll just say I wished to see more of Seki and
Shimizu... and rest of the gang. Seriously what happened to them? Okay it was pretty realistic
that not all elementary friends stay as friends (10% chance) but I still want to know what happened
to them.

Sometimes the story gets a bit confusing and drags, I really didn't get the parts with But the overall story is great, it gets down to the core of Punpun's thoughts as he grows and explores his twisted relationships with others. Punpun's appearance remains unknown, letting us know of his isolation from society, which I found was a nice touch. I really can't wait for the fate of

There's just so many elements that fit together and make this story so unusual but good.

... Last updated on April 16th, 2013, 2:10am

This manga truly deserves to be called Seinen or "alternative" because of its mature and demanding subject matter. There are almost no positive characters and i have no emotions to any of them with the uncle being the next best thing to "redeemable". The story if actually relatively upbeat for the first 2 or 3 volumes or so but then decides to pull back the curtain and show how damaged the characters really are and keeps going. The art is very unique and amazing and captures the pointlessness of modern live really well. I enjoy most of all how no one is truly pretty and the facial features are amazing. But be warned the manga includes physical abuse, rape and selfmutilation. If you liked this manga i recommend the novel/film American Psycho and Homunculus. They also show a very dark window into ordinary live and aren´t for everyone but if you can stomach Punpun check them out.

Update: I would have come up with darker ending but it fit the story to a certain degree so i won´t complain too much. The cult subplot and a few others sadly went nowhere. Some of the sex scenes made little sense and were gratuitous too. So be prepared to like the manga less as it goes on. It´s still good enough journey and probably Inio´s best work after Solanin.

... Last updated on February 17th, 2018, 4:34pm

Even in the first chapter you realize this isn't just a normal manga. The feelings he goes through is a portrayal of a normal kid that feels disillusioned in his society. It's kind of depressing and melancholy at times. And the expression of the adults are very spastic and insane. From the point of view from a kid it portrays their mistrust of adult motives and the arbitrary harshness of adults. This is one of the weirdest manga you'll read, but it's interesting.

as of ch. 110, there are a lot of arcs and stories, and some parts are more boring than others. But my personal favorite is Midori + the uncle and the most recent with Aiko.

... Last updated on August 14th, 2012, 9:50am

Well, i must say it the best Coming of age and Psychological manga i ever read.
It very deep in describ the change in Punpun after years and others.
One thing more, it break the old order in very special ways. for example, when describe the kiss ( etc...), other shoujo mangaka would focus on the kiss of the two, but Asano-sensei make it very large that i must find where the main chars are.


For anyone who hasn't read it before. i highly recomend..

The art of Asano Inio is always welcomed. The story is quite realistic and deserves attention. It's quite difficult to predict what would happen next. And the surrealist touch really makes it more attractive (unfortunately, later on, the surrealism is toned down a lot, making it less idiosyncratic). On the flip side, one might feel that the main character might be too self-absorbed and weak-willed. Other characters are not quite well developed, much is focused on navel gazing rather than self searching or finding solutions - but that's just my own opinion. That doesn't really change anything, as long as the depiction is realistic. What actually happens isn't as much important as how the story is told, I think. Anyway, not perfect, but one really can't expect more.

Powerful, it's the only word coming out of my mind when I read this. There's no big drama, violence or terrible tragedy, just common occurences that most people would have to face once or twice in their lives, death of a relative, lost love, naive childhood, childlish dream. But yet, it's terrifying to realize how any individual could sink, prisoned in their own minds, to realize that we might just have lived our life just as disastrously as theirs.

This manga is highly intriguing and abstract that I surely must remind myself to reread again after a while. The work is very interpretative and the author really drops a lot of subtle hint about they dynamic of human's psyche.

I find the series itself endearing as there are many times when I want to stop reading because the conflicts and situations presented in the story hit home, but instead of forcing me to a stop, it keeps me going. The characters are so realistic you might feel you met them at least once in your life and they only seem to get better as the chapters go by.

The story is a masterpiece, no questions asked, though it starts slow and progresses in similar fashion it never deters from being interesting. It's every day life to perfection.

Highly recommended!

When I was reading this manga I would stopped, thought to myself, "Damn this is too much for me" but for some reason I want to keep continue reading. Its definitely a seinen manga and not for little kids though. Why does it have to be so sad. Why does life have so many problems. Its like a needle in my chest but a needle with sugar.

... Last updated on December 26th, 2010, 4:57pm