Page 45 Review by Jonathan
"I bet you're thinking... "What's life all about, anyway?" But it's fruitless to ask such things."
"Yeah. I should just do my homework instead."
Well, I wouldn't go that far. I'd probably read some comics...
So... much like volume one of Inio Asano's everyday mind-scrambler GOODBYE PUNPUN, by the time I closed this opener's front / rear cover (depending on your perspective) I genuinely still had no clue as to what conceivable direction the main story is going in, no matter which way I flipped the pages. I know a fair bit more about our characters, though, with our high school ladies Kadode Koyama and Oran Nakagawa, their cacophonous circle of chums, Kadode's weird Munchausen's-afflicted mother and crush-worthy teacher Mr. Watarase leading the cast.
But as to how and why it all intersects with the gigantic, implacable, immovable alien mothership casting shade over several districts of Tokyo, generally depressing the national mood and the perversely, almost comedic, pathetically easily repulsed mini-flying-saucer invasions dispensed from it on a daily basis, I truly have no idea. I suspect we will eventually find out given part of the typically irreverent Asano asides on the rear cover. Other creators need pull quotes; Asano just treats it as an extra bonus page to mess with us even further:
"The Japan Self-Defence Forces are STILL looking for a way to combat the alien threat, but so far conventional weapons have had no effect. Maybe it's time to try something UNCONVENTIONAL."
But actually being completely in the dark it does not matter in the slightest because, like me, you'll be too busy being entertained and occasionally mildly appalled by the gloriously relentless send up of myriad manga tropes such as schoolgirl panties, Yaoi fanatics, inappropriate teacher-pupil behaviour, blaming the American government for everything (surely a nod to Naoki PLUTO / 20th CENTURY BOYS / MONSTER Urasawa, that last one?) and many, many more besides.
The characters clash and collide, verbally joust and jest, in the most delightfully ridiculous of ways that you almost feel an ensemble musical number could spontaneously burst out at any moment. Knowing Asano, that's not something I would rule out for a future volume, either... But overall it really does feel like Kiyohiko Azuma's classic high school yarn AZUMANGA DIOH has been taken as the starting point and then sprinkled with some classic high-concept, esoteric Asano lunacy. Make that a lot of it.
There is possibly one clue thrown out about what said 'unconventional' methods might be, which I think might have nothing to do with the Japanese Self-Defence Forces and everything to do with Oran, but, again, with Asano, he is the master of faux red herrings. Or just making the reader so deliriously confused they start trying to read something significant into every little thing to attempt to glean some semblance of sense as to what is going on. It's a very clever trick and a truly unconventional storytelling technique that few can pull off. Personally, I've found the best thing to do with Asano is just strap in and enjoy the swirling mental Waltzer ride.
