Big Comic Spirits (2007-2013)

Story/Art by Inio Asano

Summary: This is a story that tells the tale of young Punpun, a normal boy living a normal life, except with one small twist: he sees himself as an anthropomorphic bird, and he sees his family in the same way. So follow Punpun as he journeys through life complete with heartache, heartbreak, family issues and a rather peculiar connection to God. While everyone else seems normal, Punpun is rather unique.

 Review: The fleeting memories of youth are no match for those lasting ones of an adult. When you’re an adult, things stick with you longer. Even as the memories begin to drift apart from you.

As volume 9 kicked into high gear, I felt Inio really dropped the ball this time. Letting little things slowly drive our characters apart after such a happy time last volume.

There are also unusual jump cuts between chapters where some of the chapter endings feel rushed and then next chapter jumps to feel as if time has again passed. Basically by the end of this volume I totally couldn’t remember why our main characters were fighting. I did know it was because they were all being stubborn, which is about par when it comes to personal fights in manga.

I’m never a fan of when mangaka don’t give their characters enough assurance to at least attempt to talk things out. That’s why when it does happen I am always impressed.

There’s also a rather odd time skip, I think, at the end of this volume. Punpun goes through an anxiety dilemma and next thing you know he’s at, I think, the DMV looking much older and beefier than he did a few panels ago. I think there was a time skip… I just don’t know.

Sadly this volume is probably one of the worst this series has offered yet, which is really sad because Punpun has such an interesting story and it’s a story about everyday life. How can you mess that up?

Also I’m not sure where everything is going with the Seki, Aiko, and Pegasus storylines. They didn’t really converge like I kind of thought they would and I’m starting to not find them as interesting as I used to the further they drag on. Volume 10 is going to be very interesting…

Final Score: 2 Good Vibrations out of 5

Derrick is a born and raised otaku with a love for comics, anime, manga and movies. The full list is pretty long, but that’s just the basics. Stories set in space are his bread and butter.

You can find more of his writing at IndieComix.net

@KazekunForever