Goodnight Punpun

In North America, it was licensed for English release by Viz Media. A coming-of-age drama story, it follows the life of a child named Punpun Onodera, from his elementary school years to his early 20s, as he copes with his dysfunctional family, love life, friends, life goals, and hyperactive mind, while occasionally focusing on the lives and struggles of his schoolmates and family. Punpun and the members of his family are normal humans, but are depicted to the reader in the form of crudely drawn birds. The manga explores themes such as depression, love, trauma, social isolation, death, and family.

Goodnight Punpun follows the life experiences of Punpun Onodera, a young boy living in Japan, as well as a few of his friends. The story follows Punpun as he grows up, dividing it into approximately four stages of his life: elementary school, middle school, high school, and his early twenties.

Punpun Onodera (小野寺 プンプン, Onodera Punpun) / Punpun Punyama (プン山 プンプン, Punyama Punpun) A young boy who is most often depicted as a bird, although he is also shown in other forms as his character evolves. When he is feeling confused about life or depressed, he consults "God" using a chant his uncle taught him. Aiko Tanaka (田中 愛子, Tanaka Aiko) Punpun's primary love interest. Early on, she suggests that she and Punpun run away to Kagoshima. She occasionally takes on the last name Orihara (織原). God (神, Kami; literally God) A being, displayed as a photographic afro head, that often appears in front of Punpun in his times of need (Punpun "summons" him by saying, "Dear God, Tinkle Tinkle hoy" (神様神様チンクルホイ, Kamisama Kamisama Chinkuru hoi). Mama Punpun Punpun's mother, depressed and suffering from mood swings and anger issues. She has a very conflicted relationship with Punpun, to whom she gives her last name, Onodera, after she and Punpun's father get divorced. Yūichi Onodera (小野寺 雄一, Onodera Yūichi) Punpun's uncle, a 30-something freeter. Yūichi takes care of Punpun while his mother is in the hospital. Midori Ōkuma (大隈 翠, Ōkuma Midori) Yūichi's girlfriend, who runs a cafe. She briefly joins Punpun's family during middle school and helps take care of him and his family. Sachi Nanjō (南条 幸, Nanjō Sachi) A young woman Punpun meets in his young adult life. She is an aspiring manga artist who becomes one of Punpun's close friends. Masumi Seki (関 真澄, Seki Masumi) One of Punpun's childhood friends, who is a close companion of Shimizu. He is cynical and aloof, but cares deeply for Shimizu. Kō Shimizu (清水 コー, Shimizu Kō) One of Punpun's childhood friends. Shimizu has a wild imagination and depends on Seki. He later joins Pegasus' cult. Toshiki Hoshikawa (星川 敏樹, Hoshikawa Toshiki) / Pegasus The leader of a cult revolving around Akashic records in Punpun's city, and a recurring side character. Mitsuko Tanaka (田中 光子, Tanaka Mitsuko) Aiko's stepmother. A cult member, she is cruel and abusive to her stepdaughter and shows signs of mental instability. Though she ends up crippled, later chapters reveal this was an act. Heiroku Shishido (宍戸平六, Shishido Heiroku) Punpun's landlord, who becomes his friend. Shuntarō Harumi (晴見俊太郎, Harumi Shuntaro) One of Punpun's childhood friends. He becomes an elementary school teacher.

Asano announced the manga a year after finishing Solanin. Encouraged by its success, Asano said he was done with "feel-good stories". Despite initial opposition from his editor and publisher, he went through with the manga. Tokie Komuro, the editor-in-chief of Monthly Sunday Gene-X, who is a supporter of Asano, said that the only reason Asano was able to serialize the manga was due to his good track record and reputation from his earlier works. When he initially planned the story, Asano intended to chronicle Punpun's growth over ten years, spanning seven volumes. The first half was designed to be a romance, and the second half, when Punpun and Aiko go on the run, was reminiscent of a road movie. The manga expanded to thirteen volumes because Asano wanted to focus on the art, and many characters developed their own side stories. Asano purposely emphasized elements of the first half, such as its silliness, to increase the shock of the second half. With every dark turn in the manga, sales dropped, which Asano regretted because his readers were being alienated from the story. He also saw his readers as an enemy when he received criticism, which led him to react harshly and cause more backlash. The manga also served as an outlet for Asano's doubts and fears, such as the fear that he might be a victim or perpetrator of murder. When designing Punpun, Asano sought to strike a balance between making his male protagonist too handsome or too ugly, and decided to let readers imagine his face. Asano originally planned to depict all the characters like Punpun's family, but his editor did not like the idea. Asano utilized photography and computer graphics for the backgrounds of the manga. Outdoor backgrounds were created by taking photographs, converting them to black and white, and printing them so that his assistants could draw outlines and objects on them. Interiors were created in 3D modeling software, which had the benefit of capturing angles impossible with cameras. When asked why he placed so much emphasis on the backgrounds, Asano said that it allows the drawings to have more impact, especially since characters like Punpun are lacking in dynamism. Asano later came to regret digitally processing his images because he felt he was ruining his pen art.

Punpun's depiction as a faceless caricature was meant to help readers identify with Punpun and encourage them to keep reading, both when he was depicted as a bird and in his later forms. Asano also utilized Punpun's simple look for symbolism, such as giving him bull horns to represent Altair, the cowherd star, symbolizing his love triangle as part of the Summer Triangle, with Aiko as Vega and Sachi as Deneb. Asano described the young Punpun as a fundamentalist, which later led to his regrets and dislike of gray areas. Asano also ascribed these characteristics to the other characters: "The main characters in Punpun always remain children in the way their purity leads them to fail and become social misfits." At the end of the manga, Asano originally intended for Punpun to die while saving a friend's child, but he felt that it was too "clean" an ending. He continued the theme of nothing going right for Punpun by making him live and by denying Punpun solitude after Aiko's death by pairing him up with Sachi. In the final chapter, Punpun's experiences are contrasted with those of his childhood friend Harumi to show Punpun from the perspective of a normal person. Harumi sees Punpun surrounded by friends, but in reality, nothing went right for him, further emphasizing the theme of failure. In terms of genres, Asano disliked the labeling of the manga as an "utsumanga" (depressing manga) or "surreal," which he felt pigeonholed the manga. Since the manga was serialized in a seinen magazine, Asano created the manga for readers who could accept immorality rather than see the protagonist as a role model.

Written and illustrated by Inio Asano, Goodnight Punpun was first serialized in Shogakukan's Weekly Young Sunday from March 15, 2007, until July 31, 2008, when the magazine ceased its publication. It was then transferred to Weekly Big Comic Spirits, where it was published from October 20, 2008, to November 2, 2013. Shogakukan compiled the 147 chapters into thirteen volumes between August 3, 2007, and December 27, 2013. Some of these volumes have been sold as limited special editions, complete with extras such as a phone strap, T-shirt, colored pencil set featuring figures, and lensless glasses. In July 2015, Viz Media announced at Otakon that they had licensed the manga and would be releasing it in seven omnibus volumes, with the first volume published on March 15, 2016, and the last one on September 19, 2017.