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Manga author Inio Asano feels for you and your pathetic circumstances. He understands the wide range of emotions that have been experienced by those who lived their life only to find that they were far more inconsequential than they'd thought. He understands, and he's here to tell you a story. He'll tell you one that may make you feel better, one that'll make you feel worse, one that'll make you cry, maybe even one that'll help you come to understand yourself and others a little better. One thing is certain though, he's going to tell you that story with style. Since his break into the manga world, Asano has explored the theme of finding meaning in a seemingly meaningless life. Luckily despite the angst inherent in this subject he does so with of wealth of humor, wit, and artistic talent. I'd highly recommend any of his works available in English, which you can learn more about by clicking above (or scrolling down). Also feel free to help yourself to: Before Dawn and the End of the World, a compilation of his one-shots. Grenadier fucked around with this message at 06:08 on Dec 21, 2013 |
# ? Mar 28, 2011 06:46 |
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# ? Mar 28, 2024 11:53 |
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Asano's first work, published when he was only 22 years old, is the rather enjoyable What A Wonderful World!, a compilation of tenuously connected little vignettes about the lives of all sorts of people in ordinary and extraordinary situations which extols the the value of life in this world, even in the face of some of the most unappealing situations. It covers everything from estranged siblings to confused lovers to lonely young children, bullied by their peers and ready to test the limits of their willingness to deal with such a baffling and cruel existence... The story follows the lives of all sorts of folks, and Asano's insight into human character at his age was impressive, though painted here in somewhat broad strokes. This is also his least coherent narrative, in terms of an overarching story, but it is still an excellent read and a relatively cheap buy. Grenadier fucked around with this message at 21:18 on Mar 29, 2011 |
# ? Mar 28, 2011 06:46 |
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Probably his most popular work, earning itself a live action interpretation, would be Solanin, the story of a group of twentysomethings who are realizing they didn't come anywhere close to having the lives they thought they would, striving to find some small enduring happiness. It is to an extent the definitive thesis of his work to that point. Solanin's like, 'hey its okay... don't worry about it, just go rock out with your band between your boring job and arguing with your significant other.' In other words its your life... only you don't have a band or a girl, but that doesn't mean it isn't remarkably entertaining, so buy it.
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# ? Mar 28, 2011 06:47 |
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Have you read What a Wonderful World! yet? Well somewhere between that and Nijigahara Holograph Asano apparently decided that the scattershot examination of loosely threaded characters would make for a fantastic setup for a psychological horror, and he was right. A group of classmates in a small town are connected by single dark event which took place at an embankment nicknamed Rainbow Field. As the story guides us back and forth from character to character, between past and present, it becomes clear that this event is only part of an even more disturbing occurrence. It's tough to talk about this one without giving a lot away, but it's a really good read, and a pretty chilling take on the subject. Just know you are in for what is probably the author's most relentlessly bleak work to date, though the next story certainly is giving it a run for it's money...
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# ? Mar 28, 2011 06:47 |
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Finally, there's Asano's current hit and magnum opus: Goodnight Punpun. Punpun takes the themes he'd been building up and bolsters the style, storytelling, and drama with a deftness that frankly blows his previous works out of orbit. Allow me to attempt to sell you on a read with one image alone: Punpun is the story of a young man's adolescence. Strangely enough this young man and his family appear as two dimensional bird-things in the midst of an otherwise completely normal (and astoundingly well-rendered) world. Though it appears to just be a quirky gimmick on first blush, it serves a very important and subtle purpose: allowing the reader to more easily identify with this admittedly dramatic character. A hell of a lot happens to Punpun, but by being reminded only very occasionally that he is actually a completely normal young man who does not appear at all as he is rendered to those around him, we can more easily find the common links between him and ourselves, filling in the blanks where necessary. The story begins with our young hero, who is struggling to work out the two most common mysteries in life... Faith: and Love: These and many other issues put Punpun through trial after trial, so far all the way into his teens: How he will fare in the end, only time and a lot of F5's during the occasional volume drops will tell. For now, onward fellow readers! Into the strange and wonderful world of Inio Asano!
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# ? Mar 28, 2011 06:47 |
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Holy poo poo, awesome post. Thanks for the new thread! Also worth mentioning is that Grenadier has generously purchased the last few volumes for Hox(mediafire account, blog down as of this posting) to scan and translate! Punpun got me into Asano's stuff and I've read everything except Solanin and loved it. Masterful work.
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# ? Mar 28, 2011 08:38 |
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Thank you for this thread! I knew I've seen Punpun randomly at a bookstore but couldn't remember the title for the life of me.
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# ? Mar 28, 2011 10:31 |
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Oyasumi Punpun is the best and the worst thing. I hope that God shows up again, anyway, he's been absent for a while and he was always a really funny character. One thing that Asano is pretty good at is drawing comedy with otherwise realistic-looking people. Rip dreaming or Kato and Taneda hanging out at the zoo in Solanin are great examples of that.
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# ? Mar 28, 2011 11:49 |
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Punpun is a work of unspeakable genius. Its one of the most devastating things I've ever read. From start to finish it's nothing but characters making terrible, stupid choices based on impulse and, more often than not, raging hormones.
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# ? Mar 28, 2011 13:45 |
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Epoxy Bulletin posted:Also worth mentioning is that Grenadier has generously purchased the last few volumes for Hox(mediafire account, blog down as of this posting) to scan and translate! I actually had a costly hard drive failure right near completing the scans for this volume, so hardly any of them will be mine this time around. This is actually kind of a good thing for everyone concerned because hox found someone with more free time and focus who was willing to do it in my place, which means faster Punpun for all. quote:I've read everything except Solanin
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# ? Mar 28, 2011 14:52 |
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Ah! Solanin is his? I've picked up that manga at bookstores constantly, drawn to it for some reason, always wanting to read it but never actually buying it. I'm going to have to remedy that and start checking this guy's work out.
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# ? Mar 28, 2011 16:07 |
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Here is a cool tweet I saw a few days ago:HIDEO_KOJIMA posted:Bought Mr. Inio Asano's new book. "Umibe-no-Onnanoko (A girl by the seaside)." The binding is beautiful as always. http://t.co/K2N17t3 Kojima is apparently a big Inio Asano fan, which isn't all that surprising, but still is very neat.
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# ? Mar 28, 2011 19:33 |
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Cipher Pol 9 posted:Ah! Solanin is his? I've picked up that manga at bookstores constantly, drawn to it for some reason, always wanting to read it but never actually buying it. I'm going to have to remedy that and start checking this guy's work out. It's out of print, so do so quickly.
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# ? Mar 28, 2011 19:44 |
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More Punpun? Hurray! So I guess "God" actually exists? What the hell?
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# ? Mar 28, 2011 20:53 |
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The only thing I've read from him is Solanin, which was pretty good. I adored the style of it, even if I wasn't satisfied with the final third or so. I'd definitely recommend it. I should pick up What a Wonderful World, I assumed it would be longer than 2 volumes... Unfortunately, that and Solanin is all that's out in English.
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# ? Mar 28, 2011 22:46 |
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AzraelNewtype posted:It's out of print, so do so quickly. Son of a. drat my cheapness! Thanks for letting me know, hope I can still find it.
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# ? Mar 28, 2011 23:41 |
I read Solanin after Punpun and was pretty disappointed in it. I like to think that it was just practice for writing Punpun. edit: not sure what I think of Nijagahara Holograph yet, though. I'll probably need to read a few more times just to understand it. ANIME AKBAR fucked around with this message at 03:05 on Mar 29, 2011 |
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# ? Mar 29, 2011 00:44 |
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I've read some Punpun and now I feel the uncontrollable urge to take a romantic bath with my toaster.
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# ? Mar 29, 2011 04:55 |
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Cipher Pol 9 posted:Son of a. drat my cheapness! Thanks for letting me know, hope I can still find it. You're in luck on both counts. Still available and quite cheap!
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# ? Mar 29, 2011 05:36 |
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If you like Inio Asano he makes an appearance as the impossibly cool ex-boyfriend of the love interest in I Am A Hero, another cool manga about having emotions in our modern world.
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# ? Mar 29, 2011 17:59 |
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I just read Solanin because of this thread. Thank you. It was most excellent. Now to time the return of this copy to my friend with the arrival of my very own. That or see if I can find it on the cheap at my local going out of business Borders. e: Actually was the Solanin live action any good? linall fucked around with this message at 18:19 on Mar 29, 2011 |
# ? Mar 29, 2011 18:17 |
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http://www.mangafox.com/manga/oyasumi_punpun/v07/c072/1.html We are approaching critical mass. linall posted:e: Actually was the Solanin live action any good? I have had that drat thing sitting on my hard drive for ages now and just have not mustered the care to watch it. My guess is that it's a perfectly mediocre adaptation, very much like any J-Drama manga -> movie adaptation. Grenadier fucked around with this message at 23:42 on Mar 29, 2011 |
# ? Mar 29, 2011 23:38 |
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I am never going to look at my avatar the same way again (NWS). Thank you, Oyasumi Punpun.
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# ? Mar 30, 2011 00:05 |
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Grenadier posted:I have had that drat thing sitting on my hard drive for ages now and just have not mustered the care to watch it. My guess is that it's a perfectly mediocre adaptation, very much like any J-Drama manga -> movie adaptation. Basically this. I was actually pretty excited to see it as I love Asian Kung-Fu Generation, which is pretty much how I imagined their band sounded in the manga. None of the music in the movie really stood out to me.
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# ? Mar 30, 2011 02:41 |
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More Punpun: http://www.mangafox.com/manga/oyasumi_punpun/v07/c073/1.html
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# ? Mar 30, 2011 19:41 |
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Bybus Slago posted:Basically this. I was actually pretty excited to see it as I love Asian Kung-Fu Generation, which is pretty much how I imagined their band sounded in the manga. None of the music in the movie really stood out to me. I imagine they have to cut stuff out to make it fit into a two hour or whatever movie? I swear to god if they cut out any of the Kato-focused stuff...
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# ? Mar 31, 2011 17:23 |
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Bro Dad posted:More Punpun: The panels of Punpun running are amazing. I can't believe he can get so much life out of a bird stick figure.
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# ? Apr 2, 2011 04:59 |
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Oh poo poo chapter 7 came out? Time to send myself into a soul-crushing depression before I sleep, thanks guys.
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# ? Apr 2, 2011 08:56 |
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Three more chapters of Punpun to discuss with your therapist: http://www.mangafox.com/manga/oyasumi_punpun/v07/c074/1.html
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# ? Apr 3, 2011 09:04 |
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Can someone explain Nijigahara Holograph for me? I read it and it was kind of amazing but it feels like I'm missing one or two important pieces of information to make it all sort of coalesce into a coherent narrative.
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# ? Apr 3, 2011 16:23 |
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Punpun Chapter 77: the OnoderamidShazaminator posted:Can someone explain Nijigahara Holograph for me? I read it and it was kind of amazing but it feels like I'm missing one or two important pieces of information to make it all sort of coalesce into a coherent narrative. Holy poo poo posted:I'm not sure if any of this is right, but this is what I got from it. Grenadier posted:
Grenadier posted:
Holy poo poo posted:think I agree with your interpretation. The whole time loop thing is the world ending over and over, while Arie watches it over and over via butterflies while in a coma. Arie tells everyone her story, but what she says is something that no one wants to hear, and so she becomes a scapegoat and "sacrificed" each cycle. Each of the characters in one way or another turns away from doing something that will change things; the teacher with the hurt eye turns a blind eye to bullying, Arakawa gives in to her jealousy, Suzuki goes along with whatever happens and never uses the tin box, the manager guy attacks Arie. I'm not sure about Komatsuzaki, though. I thought the butterflies may have been telling him to kill people, but at the end he was sleeping with Arakawa and defended her, instead of waiting around for Arie.
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# ? Apr 3, 2011 21:44 |
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...Huh. I didn't get that there was a Time loop going on, but there was obviously something freaky-deaky happening. I'll try giving it another read with that in mind, thanks for digging that out of the archives.
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# ? Apr 3, 2011 23:13 |
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Grenadier posted:Punpun Chapter 77: the Onoderamid I don't quite understand why PunPun became a pyramid, but I feel like it may be for this panel.
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# ? Apr 4, 2011 01:02 |
How old is punpun supposed to be now? It seems like he shouldn't be able to be a high school grad so soon. I thought there have only been three time skips so far, each being two years, so how could he be older than 16 or 17?
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# ? Apr 4, 2011 03:07 |
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There were quite a few time skips in the last few batches of chapters. Alot of it was indicated by the progress of his mom's cancer. He's out of high school now and basically being a slacker working a part time job and living on his own with support of his uncle and aunt. You can see the change of seasons through various little hints, like if Punpun is wearing a scarf or something or the weather signs in a couple of chapters. Also, one of his school friends mentions not having seen him since graduation.
Robo Pope fucked around with this message at 04:24 on Apr 4, 2011 |
# ? Apr 4, 2011 04:16 |
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Pigasus posted:I don't quite understand why PunPun became a pyramid, but I feel like it may be for this panel. he has, in his darkest of moments, become a perfectly self-consolidated existence. the geometry of his personality and beliefs now seemingly impenetrable for better or worse (it's worse).
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# ? Apr 4, 2011 05:27 |
Robo Pope posted:There were quite a few time skips in the last few batches of chapters. Alot of it was indicated by the progress of his mom's cancer. He's out of high school now and basically being a slacker working a part time job and living on his own with support of his uncle and aunt. You can see the change of seasons through various little hints, like if Punpun is wearing a scarf or something or the weather signs in a couple of chapters. Also, one of his school friends mentions not having seen him since graduation. Oh, I was only aware of the "goodnight punpun" timeskips. Didn't know that whole sequence took place over the course of years. I thought it was just a series of flashbacks from his mother's perspective. And I think I know who the girl in the new chapter is. Completely different personality, but the looks match up anyways.
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# ? Apr 4, 2011 06:09 |
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Oh snap, you got me reading old chapters and I just noticed this. The latest girl to join that weird cult is the same girl that joined Punpun's elementary class in the second semester.
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# ? Apr 4, 2011 06:37 |
Robo Pope posted:Oh snap, you got me reading old chapters and I just noticed this. The latest girl to join that weird cult is the same girl that joined Punpun's elementary class in the second semester. Yeah, and you lead me to reread chapter 71 and notice this. Seems like something very very big is going to happen in two years. After reading nijigahara holograph I've realized that Asano really loves hiding relevant details all over the place.
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# ? Apr 4, 2011 12:12 |
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# ? Mar 28, 2024 11:53 |
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ANIME AKBAR posted:Oh, I was only aware of the "goodnight punpun" timeskips. Didn't know that whole sequence took place over the course of years. I thought it was just a series of flashbacks from his mother's perspective. And more recently, he met her as Kanie's sister's friend. Her painting reminded him of the day they met.
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# ? Apr 4, 2011 12:28 |