I forgot to post this a little while ago but this is Garu’s father…
These pages are from volume 1 of the Martial Arts Chronicles comic book series released by VOOZ in approximately 2006
In this scene we meet Garu’s father (who is still nameless, unfortunately) as he has returned home from the martial arts tournament taking place in Sooga. He tells Garu that he “can’t go on” and wants him (Garu) to take his place and learn martial arts at the Shoalin Temple in order to restore their family honour.
Garu is seemingly upset for all of 2 minutes before solemnly vowing to uphold his father’s dying wish. We then hear Pucca offscreen as she is cheering him on and has left a bowl of noodles for him (because who needs genuine words of condolence after your father literally dies in your arms when you can instead receive the symbolic equivalent of “that sucks, bro” with a bowl of Jajangmyeon noodles, I guess😭).
Okay joking aside, like much of everything else to do with Pucca (post 2003), these comics were of course intended for a child audience and so that likely explains why the death scene is more… comedic as opposed to dark and upsetting.
It seems to me that Kim Bu-gyeong was aiming both to provide context for the tragic exposition that justifies Garu’s motivation (and, in turn, sets the stage for the rest of the story), while also intentionally framing the scene so that the heavier aspects of the death do not eclipse the overall narrative.
In any case I’m very happy to have found volumes 1&2 of this series as they are very difficult to get ahold of nowadays. I hope to find the rest over time but even just this much is already a great amount of early lore for Pucca (and Garu)!
This scene is also the only time Garu’s father actually looks like his own character instead of later depictions that used Garu as a stand-in. It’s not much, but its something so I’m happy regardless🙂↕️
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