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Scattered thoughts on #punpun's 2nd volume. Lots of things happened. This is probably going to be a not-so-coherent rapid fire stream of consiousness kind of thread but if you want the short version — it was great; personally resonant and strikingly beautiful
Reading Oyasumi Punpun is like staring at a shattered mirror gradually coming into view, both in its narrative structure and underlying themes. I love character-driven stories that branch out to multiple plotlines, and this volume is exactly what I needed from this series.
I've always found Yuichi to be the most personally relatable character from Punpun right from the start. Someone who's cynical to an extent yet not completely devoid of compassion. Someone who tries to be a good person but has very little self-worth. Someone who doesn't want to-
be a nuisance to anyone for they only see forming relationships with others to inevitably cause suffering. Punpun exposes these ugly aspects of myself in the form of a grotesque caricature of a birdman bearing raw human emotion. For something that looks so inhuman to express-
such genuine feelings is one of the most beautiful things in this series thus far. Inio Asano's ability to convey these so painstakingly mesmerizing in his illustrations create an experience I've never expected to witness in this medium. There's still quite a lot of the story-
I have yet to go through, but right now I think it's safe to say that Yuichi's little arc within this volume has to be one of my favorite self-contained stories in fiction. I liked him from the very beginning but now that I've went through the past that made him who he was-
made me love his character even more. I've always been fond of stories that tackle overcoming stagnation. Yuichi finding a reason to live beyond atoning for the sins of his tragic past is something I found to be inspiring. Being able to open up once more and rekindling human-
connections are themes that always never fail to move me. For a series I've always known for being depressing, this was something oddly full of hope. I should expect this bliss to be taken away at some point knowing the style of this story, but for the meantime, I want to-
cherish this feeling. This tiny spark of happiness is something I want to keep close to me. Going back to the main storyline, it's exactly as I described with my mirror analogy. If the first volume was all about innocence, this one's all about an ugly self-reflection.
Punpun's maturity is portrayed through his gradual realization of the hideous aspects of himself. Contradicted by the fact that the desires that drive him in the first place are inherently despicable, he chooses to lock these emotions away to focus on something else he finds-
to be more worthwhile. This volume had a lot introspection going for it more so than him just aimlessy wandering around in the last one. Inio Asano's depictions of how the inner workings of Punpun's mind function had evolved to be much more expressive and fascinating this time.
I'll be looking forward to his future developments in the next volume. As for the other side characters, I don't have much to say about them other than Aiko, I guess. While her desires are ultimately selfish (and quite toxic) I can somewhat empathize with how she's feeling.
The desire to have someone completely dedicate themselves to you, to have another person completely understand and accept the person that you are, I have to admit, is a sentiment I personally share with Aiko. And I'd like to think that a lot of people do, too.
There wasn't much of reason to share that I guess but that's the end of the thread. I initially wrote this last night and just continued it now. Going to start volume 3 as well today, looking forward to it.
