Well I've just read the last chapter of Goodnight Punpun and here are my instant thoughts. First off definitely thought it was going to be more of just a super sad like traumatic roller coaster manga. But I see why it’s even more tragic in a sense than I thought. It’s human, and that’s what makes reading it hurt, uncomfortable or not enjoyable, it reflects all aspects of society and people, those living out their dreams, those living a normal quiet life, those struggling quietly day by day, those who look down on people, those who take the world as it is and face everything head on and those who try to find or cling to something that will bring peace to that chaos real or not. It’s an incredibly well written story with characters and moments relatable to all people. I would say it is the most human work I’ve read to date. I’ve read Vagabond and Berserk and though I would say I have them rated slightly higher they don't connect to humanity quite like this. Musashi and Guts are very human and relatable protagonists but Punpun’s story as a whole is very grounded in humanity and covering topics such as family trauma, suicide, toxic relationships, isolation, anxiety and suffocating depression. That topic of suffocating sadness is where the story excels it's not just a sadness that you feel every now and then but a void in where sometimes you feel free and you can take a breather but there it is lingering and I saw that very apparently in chapters 80-100. The story doesn't have a specific chapter where it becomes super sad or anything like that (besides 139) but its more of a slow descent into deep themes of depression, lack of selfworth, suicide etc. Punpun also does this extremely well. Where it doesn't feel like the super traumatic story you heard it was at first but it picks you apart slowly and steadily falls along with Punpun's character. If I had to pick a part of the story that resonated with me the most and hit me the most would be Chapters 33-39 especially 39 which covers a pretty important side characters backstory. But the story never brought a deep cry out of me or extreme sadness like I expected but at points it definitely did feel heavy and exhausting to continue reading, emerging myself in the world made me feel almost tired mentally but that’s what makes the work a masterpiece in its own right. I don’t think I would ever read it again due to how mentally draining it was and due to the nature of the story it wasn’t something I necessarily enjoyed reading but something I’m very happy I read and can finally check off my list. All in all Goodnight Punpun will stick with me for a long while and is definitely one of the best manga I’ve ever read.