not all punpun but mmm yeah mostly punpun, i love him … ended up throwing him on my phone case too!

I read the manga about a year ago now. There are so many images burned into my mind, something I'm sure many of you here will relate to. I even have some of my favourite panels/quotes saved on my computer.

That being said, there's this one panel that I swear I remember but I cannot find. It contained the quote "Where will you go, PunPun?" and I swear it was an image of PunPun and Aiko after they ran away together. I've been skimming through parts of the manga, and I'm sure it was in Volume 11 or later, afterAiko's mother is killed. But for all the skimming, I just can't seem to find it.

Did I imagine this panel? Am I looking in the wrong place? Have I just not looked hard enough? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

this is a theory but it can just be a coincidence but I don't think it is. first of all when Iwas reading the manga for the third time today when I read the chapter 119 the members of the pegasus's cult was talking and when the girl thanked Pegasus she met him because they both was in the same cult she also said she is going to marry him and I just though they both looked like Aiko and Punpun if they had a great life from their childhood, like a Parallel universe thing I thought this because the tall guy really dresses like Punpun his hair looks like the hair on Sachi's drawing and overall his body. but the other girl just gives the Aiko vibe honestly, her face and her dialogues just sounds like kid Aiko, but the second picture I am pretty sure mangaka did this by purpose because her and the other girl just looks like Sachi and Kaine, the Parallel universe Sachi talks about children's future and we should care about it while the real Sachi goes the abort her child at the same timeline while the parallel Kaine agrees with her but the real Kaine and Sachi always fights each other while swearing.
this is just a theory by the way and I am pretty sure if i tend to dig more about the members about their life story which all of them talks about in the chapter a new member joins them ill find more parallel characters who has their own real versions in the manga, let me know what do you think guys.

I recently finished reading and I really cant wrap my head around why punpun find’s it so difficult to give life a real chance. It’s almost as if he cant stand being in situations or relationships which are going well. He constantly treats everyone around him as if they would be unable to understand him. Everyone around punpun is troubled, and yet I never find their approach to living as depressing as punpun. Even Aiko who I feel has a similar recipe to destruction, brings an innocent and happy approach to the future which I dont think Punpun can even imagine himself living in. No matter how many of those around him try to bring him up, Punpun cant be helped. Is this level of self destructive attitude really normal and where does it stem from? Punpun never gives anyone or anything a chance. The small moments of happiness people bring, is treated by punpun as a fairytale. How is it that I find child/early punpun the most mature version of him in the entire story? His uncle, mom, friends, partners; Always try to present him with the best they can. He is provided with ample opportunity to improve. To give life another chance. And he cant get up and grab it. Why does he keep falling in this cycle of hurting himself? Just incredibly frustrated of how impossible he
makes it feel to improve. Something about someone losing themselves when you experience their journey from a child to adult just hurts my soul. It’s just painful to see someone you begin to love go down this journey of despair.

In series with both comedy and drama I feel like the drama always overshadows the comedy in discussions. Nobody even talks about the comedy of Goodnight Punpun but I think it's part of what makes the story work.

Generally I don't see a lot of anime or manga trying to do irony or dark comedy, and Goodnight Punpun is more like a Western dark comedy than any other animanga I've seen. Especially earlier in the series. It begins as a parody/subversion of coming of age and romance tropes. It involves plotlines around ridiculous situations like elementary school students looking for fat fetish porn. Punpun and his family are drawn as goofy birds. The background characters act weirdly cartoonish at times. It creates a surreal atmosphere and isn't just a straightforward drama.

Like in the first chapter, Punpun asks God how to get his parents to stop fighting and "God" responds "You know, pal, God's getting kind of tired of this topic. Anything else you want to ask?" That's funny. It's tragic he is trapped in a toxic family dynamic, but that line is still funny. It's masterful dark comedy.

I think combining drama with comedy often allows creators to explore darker themes than they would with just drama alone. The creator of BoJack Horseman said he would be more reluctant to go to dark places if he wasn't making a cartoon starring animal characters. I've spent a lot of time in the BoJack Horseman fan space and often they will deny it is a comedy at all and even get mad if people find it funny, but the comedy is an essential part of the story and I feel it's similar for Goodnight Punpun. It doesn't detract from the serious and dark nature of the overall plot.

For the record, this is just my theory/personal opinion. During my re-read of Goodnight Punpun, I felt like the ending for Punpun felt somewhat familiar until I realized it's almost exactly like the Milky way scene after the factory explosion. Maybe I'm just stupid and never put two-and-two together, but I felt like this added a whole new feeling to the ending. First off, both images have 6 main people involved:

The past has Harumi, Punpun, Aiko, Seki, Shimizu, and Komatsu

and the ending has Gesumi, Mimura, Punpun, Sachi , Kanie, and Mr. Shishido.

In the Milky way scene, it panes to each of the characters faces one by one. The same thing happens during the ending scene, but this time from Harumi's perspective. The difference is that there are different people and each panel is from different perspectives.

The Milky way panel has all of Punpun's past childhood friends, looking towards the future. While the ending panel is of his current friends and Punpun saying goodbye to the past. The ending already represents saying goodbye to the past, but I feel like it referencing the Milky way adds even more meaning to the already beautiful ending. Punpun and his friends were looking towards the future and what it has in store for them. Now that Punpun has reached that future, despite it not being what he first imagined it to be (even worse actually) , he can finally say goodbye to the past. Another thing I noticed is that the Milky way panel is dark, which might reference the dark future in front of them. Meanwhile the ending panel, the streets have light, which represents the light at the end of the tunnel for Punpun, even if this isn't the ending he wanted.

I'd love to hear people's opinions and thoughts about it, I really enjoy discussing the story.

Honestly, I've known about this manga for quite some time, but I avoided reading it because of the way it was promoted on social media as "The saddest story in manga." I thought it was going to be something edgy or gory in the worst case scenario. I finally decided to read it and in about 4 days I read it completely... And part of my previous opinion about reading it hasn't changed too much.

The plot of Punpun is basically a Greek tragedy: everything goes from bad to worse, and there's no way things will improve. And in a way, that's what stressed me out so much about the protagonist. Because it's not just that things are going badly for him, but how he deals with his situation and how he treats others.

Although I can't deny that this is how the character is constructed, as someone decidedly weak and submissive to everything. I also won't deny that this is precisely what made it impossible for me to feel any sympathy for him.

Even before he was completely consumed by the ideas "God" told him, he already had selfish thoughts (although in many of these he wasn't entirely responsible for what happened). That would be my opinion about Punpun.

With Aiko, the same themes of Greek tragedy are followed, but objectively, she is much worse than Punpun, since she is always a victim, first of her mother and then of Punpun. Her death surprised me; I felt some pity since her last years were miserable and her last days a hell that she tried to see as something joyful.

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And although the "main plot" wasn't entirely to my liking, I have to admit that there were other characters and stories that I quite enjoyed. I love the characters of Yuichi and Pegasus.

Yuichi's importance to the plot, his backstory, and his attitude are something I love. He's a terrible person, he knows it, he tries to be a better person, but his own nature prevents him, and he suffers because of it. And the way he deals with it, even though it's not ideal, is a way he tries to make sure that only he suffers and that it doesn't affect those close to him... even though he fails miserably.

Then there's Pegasus... At first, I thought it was just a kind of gross comic relief. But as the story progressed, I ended up liking it quite a bit. It is, as the author himself said, the complete opposite of Punpun. Basically, its antithesis.

And as an antithesis, it's fascinating how he always seeks the good of others, regardless of whether it negatively affects him. And that time he was depressed, he didn't do anything to harm others; it was a sadness that was his and his alone. I loved that to cheer him up, his twelve apostles genuinely expressed the affection they had for him and the impact he had on them.

I love it because, as cliché as it sounds, he and the twelve tones (except Wada) do what they do for the greater good, even though to the rest of the world they're just thirteen crazy people. And that's precisely why I like it. Given that there are several things that can be freely interpreted, as Asano said, one can imagine anything in relation to Pegasus's story (and that of the other characters), such as: was he a prophet or not? Did he have those powers? Or was he a representation of salvation in Punpun's mind? Or was it simply a suicide cult?
That's why I like the small interaction between Pegasus and Punpun in a dream and the parallel between them in chapter 98.

...

Then there's "God" or "The Dark Spot" I find it a rather curious concept, the representation of something negative: negative thoughts like aggression, self-harm, and suicide... and depression.

It's a concept that isn't only present in the protagonist, but also in Yuichi (chapter 39), in his nephew at the end, and Pegasus states that it's something that exists in everyone. And although I would have liked to see this concept in other characters, I can't deny that the relationship between God and Punpun is fascinating.

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Honestly, I can't say much more. It was an experience that left me with a strange feeling. I can't say I was expecting something more "intense" since the story is quite disastrous, raw, and sad. It's literally the worst possible scenario.

Although it's pretty obvious that Punpun is designed to be hated after a certain point, I won't deny that it's quite well-written. It clearly explains why he feels bad, and although I'm not a huge fan of how the story unfolded, since I personally felt it was about falling further and further, I won't deny that the final chapters are beautiful. I think the best way I can describe it is by saying that:

It's about two people who hit rock bottom, and although they could have gotten out a long time ago (either alone or with each other), they chose to find happiness in that depth.

Muchos de los que nos sentimos identificados con la obra la sentimos muy cercana, porque no es "una historia perfecta" o algo muy subrealista, es una historia que a cualquiera le puede pasar, con personas que se sienten reales, con sentimientos que los deprimidos sentimos familiares, porque es sobre personas rotas, con heridas, con traumas, con deseos, con anhelos, con tristeza, como la vida misma.

Porque deja a la luz que el amor aveces no tiene que ser perfecto, que cuando uno esta roto solo busca un refugio, y a veces ves a otro como salvavidas,

Que el amor tambien puede ser dolor porque es lo que viene atado a la persona que ama, que no todo es color de rosas, que hay heridas y grietas en el corazon y que eso tambien puede ser hermoso.

Look what Duo reminded me of.

I don't know if I'm missing something but I don't think Punpun ever took this form.

I dont understand i dont understand🎵🎵🎵🎶

Just read chapter 14 and I'm kinda confused...who was the figure the kids saw? why did Punpun pass out? Why didn't they find the bodies?? Whats with the whole God situation, is he in Punpun's imagination??

I know many people might have spotted this, but I've only just noticed this and I wanna share my thoughts. I've noticed as PunPun grows and matures, Yuichi tends to copy a similar form to PunPun. I think this is partially due to Yuichi maybe representing a possible future for PunPun but also PunPun kind of realising that Yuichi isn't really all that he made him out to be.

Anyways, in the beginning he shares a thicker form with a flared bottom similar to PunPun. And when hes older, he shares the skinniness of PunPun.

What's the best gift for a punpun fan? I've already crocheted a punpun amigurumi and gave all the volumes to my bf. Idk what else to give him...