Buenas noches, Punpun, vol. 9

おやすみプンプン [Oyasumi Punpun] #9

by Inio Asano, Marc Bernabé (translator)

Tras saborear fugazmente lo que podría haber sido la felicidad, Punpun cae en una melancolía mucho más profunda que antes. El tiempo de gracia que se había concedido llega a su fin, por lo que se plantea qué hacer con su vida...

Genres: Manga, Comics, Seinen, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Drama, Slice Of Life

224 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 2011

About the author

Inio Asano (浅野いにお, Asano Inio) is a Japanese cartoonist. He is known for his character-driven stories and his detailed art-style, making him one of the most influential manga author of his generation.
Asano was born in 1980 and produced his first amateur comics as a teenager. His professional debut happened in 2000 in the pages of the magazine Big Comic Spirits. Since then, he has collaborated with most of the major Japanese magazines of seinen manga (comics for a mature audience). Among Asano's internationally acclaimed works are: the psychological horror Nijigahara Holograph (2003-2005); the drama Solanin (2005-2006); the existentialistic slice-of-life Goodnight Punpun (2007-2013); the erotic A Girl on the Shore (2009-2013); the sci-fi Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction (2014-2022).

Reviews

[Shi2chi · Rating 5 out of 5]

-it was no doubt the Heaviest volume so far.
-I think through the prophet you can glimpse at Inio Asano's views on society and how he himself sees people which was made more clear when he ran for mayor and was given a chance to speak on tv.
-shimizu's back story was unexpected and added a lot to his character (which untill now was almost nonexistant).
-old gentle hearted shishido got what he did not deserve but after his final words to sachi you could wonder if what he got is sadly what everyone gets in society by having the same attitude twards other people.
- The Taka part was darkly funny!

Good vibrations!

[Jon Ureña · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series is called "Goodnight Punpun" in English. I'm reviewing just this volume. Three and a half stars.

Early on in this series, the author introduced a subplot about some sort of messianic figure who was predicting a major cataclysm. Later on we learn that the protagonist's father had moved away to Fukushima. It was written about two years before the disaster at Fukushima, so it felt quite eerie. The disaster caught the author in the middle of writing this series, and he must have considered the coincidence troubling as well, because the reactions to the disaster become a prominent point in this volume. Necessarily, though, that must have derailed some plot points, and some other setups don't have the pay offs originally planned. The feeling in general for this volume was off, and it was made worse by the prominence the author gives to the "Messiah" subplot, in which a dangerous cult is moving pieces for some upcoming disaster that they might or not provoke. I don't recall having read any other series that was affected in this way by a real life disaster, although I suppose there must have been quite a few back when "some people did something" in 9/11.

The last volume ended with two of the protagonist's childhood friends running into Aiko Tanaka, the love/obsession the protagonist has been nurturing since he was a child. She's dressed as if for a funeral. One of the guys brings up that Aiko had been doing some modelling. She pretends they got the wrong person, and leaves. She looks detached from reality, somewhat depersonalized as the protagonist had been in the recent past. We see later a photo of her modelling work: she has a forced smile pasted on and clearly hates it.

I'm more interested in the protagonist and his sort of friend with benefits Sachi Nanjou. For the last year and a half they had been riding the high of creating a manga together, but now they must face a gatekeeper, one of the editors for a major manga publishing company. The manga these two have created has a similar vibe to this series, and you can imagine the author Inio Asano having such a conversation with an editor at some point in his career. The guy argues that stories about depressed people who can't find their way are a circle jerk, that his problems would be solved by getting a job and working hard at it. That people don't want stories with dark, deep themes, implicitly now in particular with the whole Fukushima disaster and everything, and what they look for are easy going, mostly shallow stories. Sachi pushes back: there are many people out there with problems such as the ones the protagonist of their manga has, and she wants to tell a story about how to face this uncaring world when you are someone who won't fit in anywhere. To give them if not hope, at least tools to deal with it. The editor dismisses her, and claims that there aren't remotely as many people that would care for such a story as Sachi assumes. Sachi, furious, bails out. Back in the street, the protagonist wants to comfort her and tells her that it'll go alright, that after all she's a genius. The comment only ticks her off. She yells to the sky in anger and frustration.

We get more of the protagonist's pair of childhood friends, the one who didn't go to high school and the other who is a co-dependent sort of schizophrenic. We see the first one attending different jobs and how he interacts with people. He's the kind that in a regular work conversations would start bringing out topics of death and destruction; he mentions how he despises his parents, and that when the next earthquake comes he'll take advantage of it and kill them (pretty sure his mother committed suicide long ago, though, and his father is around but a rotten drunk, nothing like what he was describing). He's aware that others don't like him, but he clearly doesn't care. Probably enjoys provoking other people. Apparently the schizophrenic guy's mother died during his childhood, and his friend was there. The first guy had felt responsible, or protective of his weird friend, ever since. However, he's sick of having him around still as a 20 year old. When the schizophrenic guy mentions how he doesn't want to get a girlfriend because he has to take care of his mother, the first guy flips out and tries to get into the schizophrenic's head that his mother has been dead for a long time.

Later on they both go together as part of the first guy's recycling job. They were called into a building for a company selling suspicious bottled water; part of the cult subplot. The owner had died, and now his sane son is trying to dismantle the company. Additionally, this dead guy is also the one whose funeral Aiko was attending; her family had been in the cult from the beginning. The other son from this dead guy is the cult leader, a complete lunatic who is now trying to run for governor of Tokyo. He's convincing enough for crazy people, though, and during this sequence the schizophrenic childhood friend "breaks up" with the other childhood friend, and prefers to follow this cult leader.

Later on we witness the political video from this cult leader attempting to gain the votes of the citizens of Tokyo. He's some sort of pseudo-religious communist; he begs for people to abandon their possessions and join in, and emphasizes very explicitly that whoever doesn't want to join his movement to bring love and joy to the world should be beaten to death. Somehow he remains in the race for governor; I guess they think he won't win.

I hate, hate this cult subplot. I want it out of this series. The author keeps entangling secondary or even some main characters into it, but it feels mostly contrived. Bring me back to the protagonist and his despair, and Sachi's passions. Hell, he hasn't brought up the protagonist's uncle nor Midori in a good while.

There are some scenes in which characters argue in relation to the new state of the country, and humanity as a whole, after Fukushima. Sachi and her best friend, an annoying do-gooder, disagree completely about how to live their lives from this point. Sachi still focuses on her own goals to make some difference, even small, through her art. The friend argues that they have to focus on big problems and extract donations from the general public. I wonder what would have been here if Fukushima hadn't happened. Shortly after, the protagonist's apartment manager, who was employing the protagonist part-time, gets confused for a shoplifter in a complicated situation and suffers a spinal injury. Now they have to put their business on hold, maybe even sell it. The protagonist can't work there anymore.

At this point, the failure to publish the manga has soured his relationship with Sachi. They have a bitter moment in which she's in a foul mood and the protagonist grabs her hand to comfort her. She asks him not to touch her. You always attempt intimacy at the worst moments, she says. He apologizes. And you apologize all too easily, she says. She brings up that she hated hearing that everything would go alright because she's a genius; it just slapped her in the face with the reality that she's mediocre, that she'll always be mediocre, and that her art will go nowhere. They were enjoying a mutual fantasy. In fact, nobody wants the stuff that would come naturally from either of them. Their relationship started as an artistic project, and now she's stuck with this sad sack loser that sometimes she has to drag out of bed, and who believes that she's a sort of girlfriend. Pity is no base for a romantic relationship. Now she can barely look him in the eyes.

The protagonist sees less of less of Sachi. Additionally, the lease for his apartment is about to expire, and he remembers the promise he made to himself two years ago: if he hadn't found Aiko and brought her into his life, he'd hang himself. What did he achieve exactly during this period? He feels that he hasn't moved at all from his initial point. He keeps living in that apartment he chose to share it with Aiko, and every night he has to tolerate hearing the moans of the girlfriend, or whatever girl he met while drinking, of the neighbor next door. The protagonist begins to research the best method to kill himself, and during that time suffers a psychotic break. He decides to go out acting like how he imagines his successful neighbor to be, and approaches random women in order to have sex as soon as possible. In the process he ends up in one of those centers where they provide driving lessons (I'm not sure if he just ended there chasing girls or if he planned to get driving lessons himself; if it's the latter, it feels out of character for him at that point). One of the girls he pesters agrees to talk with this suspicious character as soon as she finishes her exam. As the protagonist is basking in his delusion, he realizes that the woman who sat right next to him is none other than Aiko Tanaka, who recognizes him immediately.

Overall a strange volume, a bit of a mess. Some of the characters introduced during periods of the protagonist's mental dissolution have stayed around; one of them is the protagonist's histrionic friend who sounds like a fifteen year old virgin who pretends otherwise. Originally his introduction was a great counterpart to how depersonalized and detached from the world the protagonist was feeling, and how absurd the world was in general, but in the present that guy just annoys me. Somewhat similarly superfluous is Sachi's do-gooder friend, who is also in the cult.

I worry that this series will end with some pseudo-mystical, cult related disaster that will bring everybody together, and that'd piss me off to no end.

[Geethika Atluri · Rating 5 out of 5]

remember the song 'All the kids are depressed' ?
yeah... yes.

[Dragana]

Totalna papazjanija...ali bolje od prošlog dela koji je bio 0

[Jovana Radovanović]

posle ovoga će mi trebati malo duža pauza od čitanja Punpuna

[Elessar · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5

Recuperando la lectura de este manga de Inio Asano por donde lo dejé, llego al tomo noveno. Un volumen muy centrado en la subtrama de la secta, cuya presencia en la historia aún sigo sin terminar de comprender. Desagradable en las formas, aunque más realista por ello.
Punpun sigue estancado. Pero eso no es nada nuevo. No obstante, también lo hace más creíble. Se nos da a conocer, además, la actual vida de alguno de sus viejos compañeros; quizá sea esta parte la más interesante del tomo.
El último capítulo abre la puerta a dos opciones: un futuro más esperanzador o su condena definitiva.

[Volo · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Lo que la gente necesita es un sentido de valor más tangible con el cual resolver los conflictos de la vida cotidiana. Incluso si eso causa que los demás piensen que eres retorcido, siempre y cuando te mantengas fiel a ti mismo hasta el momento que mueras. ¡Eso es lo que creo es verdadera dignidad!"

"Quiero decir, las cosas que no se pueden comprar con dinero, son una molestia porque no las puedes vender cuando no las necesitas más."

[Eni Gajanova · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shvatila sam da mi se jedino dopadaju delovi koji se bave Punpunovim unutrašnjim svetom, depresivnim i suicidnim mislima a da su mi delovi koji se bave sporednim likovima jako dosadni. Ovaj tankobon je izvukao kraj.

[Vladimir Veškovac · Rating 1 out of 5]

Stvarno mi nije jasno šta me drži da nastavim sa čitanjem.

[PopiTonja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Opada kvalitet... opada...

[Radwa · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is that ending?

Also, that cult has been creeping me out for the past volumes, but now i'm really freaking out and i'm scared of how pegasus and his crew would fuck up punpun and his life more than it's alreadt fucked.

[Jelena]

U nastavku priče o nekada dečaku, a sada odraslom i samostalnom mladom čoveku Punpunu, pratimo razvijanje svih onih tema i odnosa koji su započeti u prethodnim delovima.

Saćo je u depresivnom i otuđenom Punpunu koji nije pronašao svrhu svog postojanja videla potencijalnog pripovedača koji bi mogao da joj pomogne da napiše mangu. Njihova ideja, međutim, iako sjajna doživljava krah jer urednica nije zadovoljna pričom o depresivnom dečaku koji se samosažaljeva, možda nesvesna toga da priča verovatno potiče iz Punpunovog životnog primera i da bi možda uspela da inspiriše i druge mlade ljude u sličnoj ili istoj situaciji u šta pokušava da je ubedi Saćo.

Još jednom neshvaćen, ovaj put i kao umetnik, i konačno poražen jer ga sve sustiže, Punpun sve dublje tone u depresiju i želju da se otuđi pre svega od sebe. Jer kad bi postao neko drugi, verovatno bi se i njegova sreća promenila, razmišlja on. U tako izmenjenom stanju duha gde preuzima ulogu svog u njegovim očima savršenog komšije Punpun odustaje od ideje o samoubistvu i konačno sreće Aiko. Hoće li taj njihov susret pomoći Punpunu? Iskreno sumnjam u to budući da je do susreta došlo kasno kada je Punpun već konačno izgubio sebe.

Paralelno se nastavlja i poigravanje sa idejom o Bogu kroz Tošikija, koji tvrdi za sebe da je on upravo izabran da spase narod. Rekla bih čak da je njegovo kandidovanje za gradonačelnika na neki način izjednačavanje religije i politike kao dva vida demagogije, kako ih vidi autor.

[Debora Santo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plot: Focus of this part is on the cult leader, Pegasus, and we don't get much development on Punpun's side until the very end of this part.

Likes: I enjoyed diving into the sad origins of the relationship between Seki and Shimizu.

Dislikes: This was just too quick of a read compared to some of the previous parts.

Audience: You should like manga or weird stuff to enjoy the overal series, but this part had a lot close friend moments that could resonate well with just about anyone with a heart.

Rating: 4/5 stars. I liked it, but it's not my favourite from the series.

[Ami 乁⁠ ⁠˘⁠ ⁠o⁠ ⁠˘⁠ ⁠ㄏ (written by Jane Austen) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting volume. This is also another thing that I noticed in Inio Asano's works where when push comes to shove his protagonists suffer an abrupt change in personality (not necessarily from within). It was the same with Ouran from Dead Dead Demon's Dedededestruction and now with Punpun here. Curious to see how the next one will play out.

[Aida · Rating 5 out of 5]

End. 1401/4/26
ما همه نظرات و عقیدهای شخصی خودمون رو داریم، که هیچکدوم اونها درست یا غلط نیستن. به قول معروف، تفاوت‌ها چاشنی زندگی‌اند.
پس چرا دلمون نمیخواد همینطوری که هست باشه؟
_______________________________________________
اونشب، اونودرا پون پون مرد.

و بجاش فوجیکاوا تاکاشی زنده شد.

[Sotos · Rating 4 out of 5]

La gracia que me hace que esta cuenta se haya vuelto una oda a la otakeria……….. lean punpun

[Mon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cada vez me cae peor PunPun. Creo que ya voy entendiendo todo.

[Aitor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tengo my fair share of problems con este tomo, sin duda el más flojo hasta la fecha. Tengo la sensación de que, si el tercero se perdía en diatribas secundarias y el octavo, en repetir cíclicamente una misma idea, este parece querer emular el tedio de Punpun a través de capítulos más bien aburridos y que no van a mucho. Mi principal problema es, sin duda, la trama de Pegasus. Como sé hacia dónde va el argumento, me alegro de que Asano no vaya a llevarla demasiado lejos; por lo que se ha visto hasta ahora, capítulos y capítulos se suceden con una misma idea: hay un supuesto fin del mundo y un trasunto de profeta decide preparar a la gente para ello. Ese es el resumen de medio tomo y, la verdad, no estoy nada convencido con la ejecución. Muchos secundarios sin importancia y, por encima de todo, un par de elementos argumentales que no he acabado de entender. En esta misma categoría cae el incidente del Presi. En Buenas noches, Punpun, hay algunas casualidades que cuesta un poquitín de aceptar, pero vistas en retrospectiva y con esta por delante, la verdad es que era un poco tiquismiquis. Aquí se fuerza hasta el extremo la nueva situación de Punpun, que, aunque lógica y brutalmente realista, confía en una casualidad algo absurda para cimentar próximos capítulos.

Pero claro, esto es Asano y pocas veces no va a haber algo realmente interesante. Todo el capítulo dedicado a la crítica al mundo editorial es interesantísimo y da pie a varios debates. De hecho, me gusta que, una vez más, el debate sea bidireccional: no solo se refiere a la publicación de obras como Buenas noches, Punpun en un mercado plagado de ficción barata e intrascendente, sino también a la pregunta de hasta qué punto es aceptable publicar una obra con tanto de su autor que en ocasiones linda lo autocompasivo. Casi soy capaz de ver a Asano desdoblado en el editor, por una parte, y Punpun con Sachi, por otra. Muy interesante.

También, más allá de cualquier excelencia del dibujo (que está, indudablemente, ahí, pase de cierta repetitividad en la forma de plantear el escenario), me parece realmente admirable la forma en que el autor retoma los episodios más depresivos de Punpun a través del stream of consciousness. Creo que podría haber funcionado de manera más experimental en imágenes, pero el mérito está ahí y que la cubierta del tomo bajo la camisa lleve este recurso al extremo me parece todo un puntazo. No hay aquí nada como el capítulo del tomo 8 que no tenía un solo diálogo, tan solo un espíritu experimentador que agradezco en la configuración de Asano como autor totalmente sui generis.

Que nada de lo dicho anteriormente elimine mi opinión principal. Hay cosas muy interesantes en este volumen, sí, pero más como notas al pie que como el contenido esencial de la obra. Este tomo, para mí, es un desliz de Asano en su extraño viaje por darle sentido a Pegasus, pero el final ya indica que, a partir de ahora, se acabaron las tonterías. He llegado al momento que estaba esperando desde que empecé esta relectura y no voy a negar que tengo mucho miedo. Asano ha decidido que el capítulo 100 sea el iniciador de un arco completamente distinto en el siguiente volumen y, además de una idea estilística que hay que aplaudir, es también una marca perfecta para comenzar la decadencia de Punpun y, espero, el auge de Buenas noches, Punpun.

[Gabriel Quintana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Y la felicidad duro un tomo.

La verdad pensé que Aiko iba a ser el motivo de la desgracia de Punpun, pero fue que él siempre será el autocompasivo Punpun. Apenas sale algo mal algo como no le gusta y ya empieza a llorar contra su vida y los desgraciado que es, tubo una niñez difícil pero ahora tiene un presente muy bueno y lo tira por la borda por ser un mimado que no acepta que algo le salga mal.

Este tema se toca bastante bien en el mismo manga cuando hablan sobre la historia de Sachi y Punpun, el personaje principal se nota inspirado en Punpun y la editora les dice justamente todo lo molesto del personaje, lamentablemente Punpun no cambia, es más la negativa no lo invita esforzarse, sino a decir porque nada le sale bien, es que espera que las cosas le salgan bien a la primera y el mundo no funciona así, es una lastima que todo lo vivido con Sachi y como es ella no le ayudarán a crecer, siento que ahora Punpun irá a peor y sigo pensando que Aiko será la piedra que termine con su camino.

[Gustavo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hasta ahora ha sido el peor tomo de la serie, tan lento que pareciera que Asano estaba pasando por el mismo momento que PunPun y Sachi: peleando con manga que no se trata de otra cosa que de un chico deprimido. Todavía es un buen manga, y el arte es genial, asi que espero que en el proximo tomo tanto Punpun como su manga salgan del pozo.

[Leila ✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Es increíble como, si sacas este volumen de la historia, salvo por la aparición del culto ese que anda a saber qué relevancia tendrán en la trama, no se pierde absolutamente nada de información 🤡 posta me parece de no creer como llevamos 9 volúmenes que tranquilamente podrían acortarse a 4 💀

2 de 5 estrellas.

[Alejandro Casanova vázquez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pues sí hubieron fuertes revelaciones en este tomo, así como la reaparición de Aiko Chan. Veamos qué sigue.

[Yasmin Minus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Things were really starting to look up for Punpun ://

[Marko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Za nijansu slabiji tankobon.

Uvodi Asano malo neke mistike u ovom broju sto je donekle očekivano razvojem lika Pegaza, pitanje je kako će ta priča koja se gradi kroz par tankobona lagano poentirati.

Ali priča nastavlja da bude teskobna i kompleksna i sad već čitalac uveliko može da se saživi sa likovima (pod uslovom da želi i da mu je ovo nešto srodno).

Videćemo kako će se sve okočanti u preostala četiri tankobona mada sad posle devet pročitanih mi deluje da je možda i malo razvučeni je nego što je bilo neophodno.

Iako verujem da je ova manga platforma za autorove frustracije jer se neki motivi provlače kroz sve njegove mange.

Svakako remek delo Asana za one koji vole Asana.

[Pardis Ahmadi · Rating 3 out of 5]

this volume was a lot less interesting, the general theme of emptiness and despair remains but the story, characters, and drawings for each panel were a lot less impressive especially an entire chapter that was dedicated to Toshiki Hoshikawa that was hard to read without losing 99.99% interest. This volume ended with some hope for the next though... we will see

[Yuki Ura · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is no one who understands everything and is alive, and it will be funny if you try to find only the truth. President Shishido did not intend to do shoplifting, but if a third party sees it, the shoplifter is caught and the number of people caught may be justice. I don't know if I spend my life unchanged and despair, but I thought it would be difficult to live.

[Rahul · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars

This manga is now getting over my head now, I have never read manga so emotionally complex. I have read Welcome To The NHK and I love it, but this is a whole new level. I can relate to Punpun and how he feels about his worthless existence but other things are too complex. Still heading to vol 10.

[Brujaxa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Buf, creo que es el momento de asumir que me tengo que rendir con esta serie.
No me transmite nada, siento que es una parrafada tras otra.
El autor no para de regodearse en la miseria y después de 9 tomos no llegamos a ningún sitio.

[Raúl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un punto de inflexión en la historia de Punpun, al tiempo que lo existencial se ve contaminado con la trama, por ahora realista.

[Met · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colpo di scena finale, il ritorno di una vecchia conoscenza di Punpun che spiazza tanto lui quanto me. Volume lentino.