The protagonist of Goodnight Punpun, Punpun Onodera, is followed from boyhood through his mid-20s as he becomes increasingly disillusioned with the world and eventually kills his muse’s abusive mother and goes on the run. After all the terrible turns the story takes, Oyasumi Punpun ending is neither cheerful nor sad — it’s simply an ending.
Onodera Punpun
The series’ main character is a bird-like mascot named Punpun Onodera, whose real name is never revealed. Punpun is emotionally distant since he was raised in a home where his alcoholic father and emotionally distant mother caused conflict. He always imagined himself as the hero astronaut who would save humanity’s extinction.
Punpun is very sympathetic and wants to make everyone happy, often at his own expense. Punpun becomes a cynical and self-loathing adult as a result of his disappointment in himself and the lack of empathy he encounters in the world. Punpun sees Aiko Tanaka as his only hope for the future.
Iko Tanaka
Aiko Tanaka remains Punpun’s one true love. Similar to Punpun, Aiko was raised by her occult-obsessed and verbally abusive mother. A normal existence with supportive friends and family is Aiko’s top priority. Her unforgiving upbringing prevents her from being able to smile naturally, which squanders her chance for a successful modeling career.
Aiko falls in love with Punpun because she believes he is the only person who can truly understand her because they both come from damaged worlds.
Punpun and Aiko Love, A Broken Promise, and Mutual Destruction
Punpun and Aiko were attracted to each other from the start of their elementary school careers, but their friendship eventually deteriorated after Punpun broke a promise to accompany Aiko on a runaway to Kagoshima.
Punpun, wanting to make her happy, promises naively to go along with her proposition but then changes his mind. As adults, they decide to make good on their vow from their youth, only to be attacked by Aiko’s mother upon telling her of their plans to leave. Their mother, Aiko, assaults them, wounding Aiko before Punpun tackles and strangles her. When Punpun left the room, Aiko stabbed her mother to death, as she later tells him. They decide to go into hiding after what happened.
Although it stems from innocent childhood expectations, Punpun’s principal cause of sadness is the promise that was broken. In an effort to make up for lost time, he becomes fixated on keeping the promise he made as a child.
But all Aiko asks of Punpun is that he returns to being the kind and thoughtful kid she knew back in grade school. There’s a gulf between their expectations for each other; Aiko wants stability and mutual understanding from Punpun, while Punpun wants whimsy and a similarly cynical worldview from Aiko.
Their time together on the run only serves to emphasize how far off Punpun and Aiko really are from one another. In contrast to what Punpun had expected, Aiko is a more typical teenage girl, and Punpun has changed significantly over the years, becoming cold and cynical.
What Does Punpun’s Afterlife Mean, Good, Bad, or the End?
Many years later, Aiko has a dream in which she and Punpun have a conversation. He tells her he’s sorry for breaking their pledge from when they were young and that he’ll soon forget her even though they vowed to never forget each other. Though it is a sad time, Punpun’s declaration that he will continue to live despite his agony is a way of paying tribute to Aiko and her efforts to help him.
Punpun is shown with his companions in the final panel. This sequence seems to vindicate Punpun, yet the ongoing burden he carries and Aiko’s death give significant subtlety to the final moments of Goodnight Punpun. Maybe the point isn’t for there to be a happy or sad conclusion at all, but rather just an ending, one that recognizes that life carries on regardless of who you are.
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