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Will Goodnight Punpun Get an Anime Adaptation?


Will Goodnight Punpun Get an Anime Adaptation
Credit: Inio Asano / Shogakukan / Viz Media

Goodnight Punpun is one of the most highly-rated manga series. But will Goodnight Punpun get an anime, and would that even be a good idea?

RELATED: Where to Read Goodnight Punpun Legally Online

Goodnight Punpun: A Bleak Masterpiece

Goodnight Punpun: A Bleak Masterpiece
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Credit: Inio Asano / Shogakukan / Viz Media

Goodnight Punpun is an award-winning coming-of-age manga written and illustrated by Inio Asano.

This heart-wrenching yet beautiful story follows Punpun, a boy growing up in Japan.

In a unique choice of style, Punpun is sketched roughly as a bird-like character while those around him are still drawn as humans.

Throughout Goodnight Punpun, we observe Punpun Onodera in different stages of his life as he undergoes both mundane and traumatic experiences that mark his gritty, dark upbringing.

The story is divided into four parts: primary school, middle school, and high school, up until Punpun's twenties.

What Is the Goodnight Punpun Manga About
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Credit: Inio Asano / Shogakukan / Viz Media

Goodnight Punpun is a genre-defying story as its creator didn't try to neatly fit into any given category such as tragedy or surrealism -- though elements of both are very much there!

However, the manga -- after originally appearing in Weekly Young Sunday -- was later serialized by Weekly Big Comic Spirits, a seinen magazine.

This goes on to show that it's primarily meant for mature audiences who can accept the darker themes and understand that the characters shouldn't be taken as role models.

Given the demand for more mature anime that don't rely on shounen tropes to generate hype, we could see many people wanting a Goodnight Punpun anime adaptation.

Will Goodnight Punpun Get an Anime?

Will Goodnight Punpun Get an Anime
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Credit: Inio Asano / Shogakukan / Viz Media

As of writing, there are no known plans to adapt Goodnight Punpun for the screen. Compared to other popular manga titles, this would actually be tricky to adapt.

That being said, there is an observed interest in adapting the creator's work!

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Should Goodnight Punpun Get an Anime?

Is a Goodnight Punpun Anime Even a Good Idea?
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Credit: Inio Asano / Shogakukan / Viz Media

Some anime fans, even those who read and loved Goodnight Punpun would argue that an anime adaptation of the manga isn't necessarily a good idea.

Goodnight Punpun is a very experimental manga, and the fact that Punpun and his family are drawn as birds are just the tip of the iceberg.

Punpun is a largely silent protagonist who is never seen interacting with the other characters and he only ever talks to the audience.

Despite being a coming-of-age story, the manga doesn't follow a traditional structure where a character desires something and works to get it, either succeeding or realizing it was never what they needed.

Is a Goodnight Punpun Anime Even a Good Idea Punpun
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Credit: Inio Asano / Shogakukan / Viz Media

Punpun is more of a bystander, and while there's nothing wrong with that, many feel that such a protagonist wouldn't translate too well on the screen.

While it is indeed hard to make such an experimental story approachable but not too pretentious for the screen, I could still see a talented director achieving it.

Remember that the science fiction novel Dune was considered unadaptable for a long time, before finally getting a successful movie that does it justice in 2019.

At the end of the day, not all good manga need to get an anime, but with the right vision, a Goodnight Punpun anime could be possible.

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