Oyasumi Punpun

Interpret this as you may. You could say it's a non-score. Rating sites treat a zero rating as such. And it is half true in this case. This piece has made me re-evaluate how I rate things, but that's a topic for another thread. The other half for the reasoning behind this score-

I think is pretty obvious; it's a bottom-of-the-barrel kind of a bad score. Which is also true. This might as well be the worst experience I've ever had with a piece of media. Every chapter of this manga has been an unpleasant read, and every page I turn has had me desperately-

grasping at straws trying to find a reason to even go on. I kept pushing on with the prospect of finding a profound conclusion tying it all up. Finishing it however has made me realize that it wasn't all about a grand ending. Perhaps, the pursuit of trying to finish this manga-

despite all of its unpleasantries is the point of it all. To keep moving forward. Oyasumi Punpun is a beautiful yet equally disgusting illustration of the downward spiral of despair. It explores the deepest and darkest corners of the human psyche with its strinkingly grotesque-

imagery and visceral presentation. In fact the circumstances presented in the story get so bad it honestly makes me feel like the world isn't as bad as it really is. It almost feels unreal. But to think of it that way would be wrong. I think Punpun puts a highlight on tragedies-

as a way of bringing awareness that these things do happen to real people, and an even further emphasis that there is virtually nothing we can do about it. I think Punpun was a necessary experience. To be able to feel this frustration against the injustices of the world.

To despise the ugly aspects that constitute our being. To be angered by our powerlessness and the inevitability of suffering.

I wholeheartedly hate this manga.

The moment I stop hating Oyasumi Punpun would be the day I give up on the betterment of myself and humanity.

To hate this manga is a rejection of its message. Humanity isn't doomed. This oddly optimistic outlook I've taken out of something as depressing as Punpun is quite strange. When you've hit rock bottom, the only way forward is up. Punpun plunges you into that abyss and lets you-

see the faintest light glowing up above. It never tells you that there is hope. But by continuing to move forward, you'll realize that it is there. The future is too unpredictable for us to preemptively judge with our limited information of the present. The computational power-

required to simulate the world in pinpoint accuracy to calculate what lies ahead as we move in time is scientifically impossible. And it is exactly because of this uncertainty about the future that we have to keep moving forward. The world isn't absolute. And so are we.

We make mistakes but we have the ability to change. Acknowledging them is the first step. So hate yourself. Hate the world. So long as you stay alive, you can affect the outcome of the future. Life is inherently meaningless. Because it's up to us to give it one.

Goodnight.