Notwithstanding my poor experiene with mangas altogether, I've come to the conclusion that a good mangaka is someone who is able to portray the feeling//the atmosphere of every page without many bubbles or with no bubbles at all. As flawed as my conclusion can be, if we just accept it for a second, we will soon realize that the author of this manga is either a genius or simply someone who has crafted his art to such extent that he's able to flawlessly portray exactly what he wants and how he wants it. Probably the latter.

Of course, portraying everything with such precision and abundance demands an appropriate art. An art that can be easily trademarked "Asano Inio". An exuberant and genuine art which requires skill, patience and assiduity. One way to desribe it is if the art of most modern shonen authors is simply chalk drawings on a road then Asano Inio is an artist carefully painting using expression, precision and above all humanity.

The art, the ability to portray everything effortlessly and flawlessly and, of course, the strangeness of some scenes//characters are the most evident aspects of Asano Inio's work. If you decide to read this title, you wil see for yourself. As far as the actual content of the manga, some will like it, others will not; some, like me, will deem it genius, others will not. Well, that is up to you to decide, but what I guarantee you, is that you will find nothing like this elsewhere. It is indeed one-of-a-kind.

... Last updated on August 28th, 2011, 8:02am

it is really a good manga, sometimes i understand the main character, sometimes i don't ,it is really depressing but not like evangelion, this is a different kind of depression ,it is really good i must say and really admire the mangaka, this manga is awesome, at first i thought i wouldn't be standing the bird's but somewhere in the storyline just seem natural and it really didn't matter anymore, if u haven't read it, don't waste any more time and read this

What, he shanks his ham like once-- twice at max-- and suddenly it's classified under the masturbation category? Really, it's just a dire category on its own.
Age progression: yeah, definitely; dream/s: sure; family and flaws: yes, easy; realistic and surreal: why yes, this is just the case; a tad of schizophrenia: sure, if you look at it that way. Then masturbation. God. Dammit. On another note, this is a pretty sweet read.

... Last updated on April 3rd, 2011, 2:47pm

This is seriously the best manga I've ever read. It's so deep, so amazing, I can't write everything that I love about it. One thing, though, you must come into the series with an open mind. The main character is not a bird- he is portrayed as such to show his feelings of alienation from his peers, and the rest of society. If you can't get past the fact that he's portrayed as a caricatured bird, then just go back to reading Naruto or whatever. -.-

I'll warn you, though, it's somewhat graphic in some chapters.

Welcome to depression, kids. As someone who lives with clinical depression, I can say this is anentirely accurate portrayal of exactly what it's like to live with depression. Some of the symbolic aspects of this title are very clever, and useful ways of depicting some of the more pronounced symptoms of depression.

Punpun and his entire family are depicted as stick-figure birds, while every other character gets an eerily realistic portrayal (and for some of the characters, downright creepy looking). It's a perfect illustration of what it's like to feel like you're a part of society, yet somehow less important; less significant somehow. And Punpun never speaks a single word - the narration always takes over whenever he would be speaking. Just like feeling as though you are experiencing your life in the third person -- the things you say and do are of your own doing, but the specifics seem trivial and meaningless (save for progressing the situation of the moment). Punpun's uncle's feelings of worthlessness and self-dissatisfaction. So much of this story so perfectly illustrates the hopeless feelings of despair and anxiety associated with depression, it's kind of alarming how well-written it is. Either this is a god-tier author, or he's writing from personal experience.

Also of note: much of the artwork in this series is outstanding - amazing beyond my ability to describe. It's so fitting, and there are some panels where the art hits with such force, it's disorienting.

This is no simple comic. This is a serious, and dark, masterpiece work of literary genius.

Filled with metaphorical concepts, irony, and basically just an intriguing read that makes you rethink a lot of things. I think that Punpun and his family being in the shape of birds is a metaphor in itself. There are some really deep concepts in here. Though this is not my normal kind of manga, it's worth a try.

... Last updated on September 30th, 2009, 6:43pm

Punpun is another great triumph of Asano Inio, further confirming his ability to write, well, anything, with nothing but the utmost excellence and superiority. Punpun is one of the smartest comedies out there- it's gutbusting, thought-provoking, disturbing, and heartwarming, often all at the same time. The highly-detailed art creates an excellent contrast with Punpun's cartoon visage, and the characters all prove to have interesting world outlooks. If you can deal with the sheer absurdity, you'd be doing yourself a huge disservice not to read this manga.

If i were to summarize Goodnight punpun in one word it would probably be corruption. This author is great.

... Last updated on February 28th, 2008, 11:42pm

I have to say that after reading this and three of his other works, Asano Inio ranks as one of my personal favorites (probably second only to Takehiko Inoue). My opinion doesn't really matter, but I do hope that other readers who are venturing into the seinen genre check out Asano's works. From experience in reading his other manga, I have learned to read slowly and take everything in -- and Goodnight Punpun, from the first chapter onwards, is really impressive. The main character and the setting are truly bizarre, but the story is really funny and touching. I'm enjoying myself immensely, and this is something that I don't get from most manga that I read. I'm really looking forward to the release of the other chapters.

Best line so far:
"A piece of my brain just shot out of my weiner!"

... Last updated on April 26th, 2008, 11:59am

Strange but really good.