Post from Alex G.

 

Going through Norwegian Wood, I had several thoughts. The first being that this was, to me, the strangest and most seemingly out-of-place Murakami novel. There is very little content in this novel that could be considered magical realism, and even that could be considered a stretch. Secondly, Norwegian Wood reminded me of a manga I read a little bit of in the past (I had to stop because of how incredibly dark and nihilistic it was). This manga is Goodnight Punpun, written and illustrated by Inio Asano. In this story, Punpun is a boy who is depicted as a bird to illustrate to readers his mental decline through a physical representation. These two works have quite a few similarities in plot and theme, with both including realistic depictions of mental illness, suicide, and making difficult decisions. The most direct parallel, however, is that both characters have to choose between two romantic interests. Even more interestingly, both Punpun and Toru’s choices are made for them with the suicide of their other love interest (Naoko and Aiko). This very well may be a homage to Norwegian Wood from Inio Asano. 

While Toru is more of a passive participant in his life, Punpun actively makes decisions that prove to be extremely damaging to his sanity and mental health. Neither attitude is particularly healthy or ideal, but these are not uncommon for young adults who have experienced a lot of trauma and do not possess healthy coping strategies.

Finally, I wanted to add that despite having similar themes, Goodnight Punpun is a far more grim and disturbing depiction of mental illness and trauma. I would not recommend this manga for anyone easily influenced by disturbing content/literature, because man, does this story have every character consistently going through some of the most painful story arcs that I’ve ever read. In that way, this manga makes Norwegian Wood seem light (ish) in comparison.