10 Manga With Amazing Artwork

Manga may be known more for its fantastical epics and sci fi sagas, but some of the grandest stories to comes out of the medium have centred simply on modern humanity.

Inio Asano’s achingly sad coming-of-age drama revolves around lead character Onodera Punpun’s maturation from childhood to life in his 20s. Devoid of adventure, action, interstellar insanity and so on, we instead read the troublesome life of a young man whose happier moments prove all too brief.

Charting all manner of themes and experiences most of us will go through at some point or other, the art of Goodnight Punpun provides a snapshot of the emotions of its characters. From romance and humour to depression and isolation, Asano’s knack for facial expressions and atmosphere is second to none.

Whilst all characters involved are completely mortal, normal humans, Asano opts to often represent them as birds at various points. In doing this, his art captures both the potential they have to one day soar sky high but also the unfortunate chance they remain grounded, only dreaming of one day flying away to a better life.