Homunculus

This is a very bizarre work that explores the supernatural, mental illness, and the trials of being human. While it is deeply philosophical, it does have some moments where the philosophizing becomes extraneous and unnecessary, but it doesn't take away from the work as a whole.

In summary, the main character, who has suffered from some mental illness as well as a "fall from grace", so to speak, ends up pretty much homeless after living a life of luxury. A eccentric rich person offers him money to have this "trepination" procedure done, theoretically to increase his extra-sensory perception. He then gains the ability to "see" the heart of people--the real human, the summation of their memories, emotions, and experiences. These people become "monsters" to him, though their appearance does seem to abstractly reflect their state of self. How the main character reacts to this seems to evolve and change over time--eventually, it becomes his entire world. This story is as much an exploration of the abstract concepts the author lays out as it is a story about a man falling further into a state of mental illness.

The story is definitely a thinker, and leaves the reader pondering the concepts, symbolism, and even the meaning of some of the events in the story. In the best possible way. The author never really gives an answer to the riddle he illustrates, and at times dosen't quite pin down a real point.

While many people will enjoy this style, others may find it irritating and unsatisfying. The concepts, art, and overall message of the manga are intriguing, and there is enough action and character development to keep the reader interested to find out what's going to happen next.

I recommend this to any manga reader who enjoys the bizarre, philosophical explorations of psychology and human nature.

Readers may disagree with my assessment. I can only assess my experience.

Homunculus had me captivated from the very first chapter with its magnificent art style, understandable dialogue, and overall tone.

The concept was Immaculate. It was not perfect, though it was intriguing enough to keep me reading to find out what was going on behind the scenes in these people's lives. I found myself continually trying to think ahead and decipher what their homunculus represented. I loved how they took the interpretation of the homunculus and fit it into the lives of several diverse characters.

It does come with its weaknesses. There are a few scenes where the conversation drops in quality due to babbling back and forth, though it's quite easy to overlook as you are drawn in by the fascinating artwork.

The ending left me quite unsatisfied and wanting more. I have no idea how it can continue when it felt so rushed.

Overall, I would recommend this!

Honestly guys this is a pretty gruesome mindfudge of a old skool manga that I've ever come across this year. Basically it's bout a dude called Nakoshi who used to be a "well off" salary man in a rich company and decides to live in his banged up car across from a homeless area. Yknow while reading this manga, I got serious Tokyo Godfathers with Junji Ito vibes, not gonna lie lol.

Anyways Nakoshi then meets a punky flamboyant Ito who's father is a doctor and apparently drills Nakoshis head just for "an experiment" if he'll gain the "sixth sense". Yeah that's when things start to get out of control and particularly weird.....

Nakoshi starts to deepdive into people's deep dark secrets and basically who they are as a person (he always accuses them of lying of who they are. Is there anyone in this story telling the truth at all lol????). He mainly uses his "left eye" to perform this "examination".

He performed this method on a Yazuka boss, a schoolgirl who doesn't get on well with her mum, a sugar daddy runaway Nanako and Ita. I personally found Itas backstory to be hardhitter like seriously, it was a big major oooof I gotta say.

As much I thought this was a really really well done psychological manga, the conclusion was rushed. That's all I'm going to say, just read this manga if you want your brain frazzled and want a decent thrilling read...

Nakoshi, the homeless main character who lives in his car, was approached by Manabu, a medical student, and offered him a large sum of money in exchange for undergoing trepanation. Trepanation is an ancient and debunked medical practice of drilling a hole on a person’s skull. It was believed that the imbalance of bodily fluids such as yellow bile, black bile, phlegm and blood (then called the “four humors”) causes mental disorders.

Manabu stated that through this method, Nakoshi can achieve ESP. He’ll be able to see Homunculi, which in this manga is depicted as physical manifestations of people’s inner thoughts. Nakoshi, having been recently fired and buried in debt, thought he has nothing else to lose, and agreed to do the procedure.

A few days after the operation, Nakoshi does begin to see people as deformed and abstract. What he called their “heart” would be something Manabu would later on admit as Placebo Effect. Placebo Effect is a phenomenon of wherein someone feels the manifestation of something without it actually physically affecting the body. Now was Nakoshi just imagining the existence of Homunculi? I personally think not. It would be too much of a coincidence that he just guessed all the pasts of the people he encountered throughout the manga. Maybe they are Yokai? Or maybe he actually became an empathy (someone who can see through people’s emotions and memories). Or maybe a little bit of both.

Collective Unconscious is what psychologist Carl Jung would describe certain ideals that are universally accepted. Such examples include mother figures, people’s dark side, and the belief in ancient wisdom. In psychology though, some abstract ideas cannot be easily be categorized as one thing or another. That’s why psychology tests require repetitive questions asked in different ways. Or in terms of projective tests, we try and detect consistent drawing patterns to confirm certain traits.

Having said these, there are instances in the manga where Nakoshi or other characters would have multiple interpretations of what a certain person’s Homunculi indicates about them. This is because what a symbol may mean to one person, may not be so for another.

Body dysmorphia is a psychological disorder wherein a person is so dissatisfied with his looks that he/she would often undergo surgery to change his/her appearance. A famous example of this is Michael Jackson. His problematic childhood caused him to be so insecure with himself that he constantly tries to change himself physically.

Throughout the manga, we have seen Nakoshi’s willingness (and later on, regret) to change his appearance. And we have been given multiple reasons as to why he did this – from feeling of rejection by his parents, to an extreme desire for beauty. The former is further reinforced by the way he sleeps. To sleep in a fetal position, accompanied by thumb sucking, is a classic psychological sign of profound insecurity towards the self.

But the sense of numbness that Nakoshi felt after the surgery can be interpreted both literally and metaphorically. One can say that the surgery has accidentally damaged some of his facial nerves. But the other is that feeling of dissatisfaction, thinking that he could achieve happiness through altering his appearance. Due to his aforementioned sense of insecurity, he was unable to form actual emotional connections.

Finally, what are my thoughts on the ending? I found it tragic yet satisfying at the same time. Having accidentally killed Nanako, his former lover, due to him misguidedly performing trepanation, he was arrested. Manabu blamed himself for introducing Nakoshi into this concept of Homunculi. Nakoshi himself has given up to search for people who can see his inner self, mainly because he doesn’t know himself either.

Admittedly, I considered dropping this manga around the second arc. Despite the amazing art, I thought it was just slow and the main character didn't really catch my attention.

I decided to just keep reading, and I'm honestly glad I did. For those who enjoy darker or more psychological stories like Freesia, you will like this. The main character becomes more and more interesting as the story progresses as you learn more about his past and him as a person. And no spoilers, but man is this guy an asshole. Not only did I come to love how much of a shithead this guy is, but I came to really like some of the side/supporting characters like the doctor. His personal issues reflected in his homunculus in relation to his past and his issues were really well done. If you were like me and found the first main two homunculi okay, wait until you discover more about the doctor.

The story, art, and characters are all uniquely fantastic, though I do have to put my enjoyment as 7 because of the dragging start. Some may find the pace good at the start, but I just personally started to lose interest.

If you like dark manga this is for you. If you like fun psychological textbook words, you will have a field day. If you like fantastic art you should read it, its short. Its worth your time, and has a pretty great ending in my opinion.

It's a very poignant psychological drama with some horror touches. It's a very good read in 15 volumes, even though some parts of the story seem to linger a bit too much.

The story follows the kafkaesque journey to self-discovery of Nakoshi. Nakoshi, living in his car between a fancy hotel and a park populated by a group of homeless people is approached by a strange man, Itoh, with a lucrative proposition: agree to be subjected to a trepanation (drilling a hole in his skull) that could supposedly unlock psychic potential against as substantial amount of money. Thus begins the strange and disturbing "awakening" of Nakoshi.

I really recommend it it's a good read. It takes a deep dive in the characters' psyches and is a bit cerebral in its concepts but the artwork, beautiful and terrifying, really shines and makes the manga very visually compelling.

Warning : contains mature themes and some disturbing scenes/imagery.

An excellently impeccable work. Both its art, characters and psychology convey a macabre tone of horror. Heavy scenes, traumas, extremism, everything here has a very well-built motivation to happen, and it is far from being gratuitous. The shocking tone is beyond the physical, it is through the psychological.

The art is incredible when it comes to representing emotions through close-ups, not to mention that it is also very well drawn, Hideo Yamamoto managed to make many panels that are genuinely disturbing and filled with meaning.

The dialogues tend to be incredible, there are great mind games and Nakoshi’s attempts to pull the trauma out of the characters and it’s extremely captivating and immersive.

All of its characters have incredible developments, all of them, even the secondary ones have something to highlight that is very well done; they are there to assist in the plot, and they succeed with mastery. As for those with real focus and the 2 protagonists, they shine and evolve in an incredible way, Nakoshi has an admirable deconstruction.

Part of the manga brings a lot of Nakoshi's past but it is very well used to reflect the current state of the plot, and that only contributes to the development of this incredible character.

The last chapters of Homunculus are the peak of Nakoshi, where he reached his maximum psychological pressure and simply loses his head, and these chapters yield one of the best endings in any manga I’ve read.

I don't really know how I feel about this manga. The concept and art is unique and refreshing and gripped me in from the beginning but the further into the manga I got, the more of a chore it became. I feel like it was a messy train ride from about chapter 4 till the end. A lot of repetitive bs and just down right weird sexual rapey scenes that tried and attempted to be deep, meaningful and philosophical but failed. Some parts of the manga were done really well and got the point across nicely but that was rare.

In hindsight I would have stopped reading half way through but didn't want to feel like a quitter and also lowkey wanted to see what the hype was about

Homunculus presents interesting ideas and concepts, but does not follow through with them well. It has sparks of brilliance among the drudging dullness of the story, and does present a rather great ending, but I fear the only thing I'll remember from this manga is how insane it is people drill holes into their skull (and yes, this is real).

Any broader message or themes the author was trying to hammer in are diluted by the silly abstractions and absurdities and the meandering story. The incredible artwork is hampered by mediocre paneling and composition that clutters and obfuscates the scene too much at times. Characters range from forgettable to somewhat interesting, and while this is intentional, the characters who do get attention never break much ground into what I'd call 'good' character writing, besides the main protagonist.


Story: 6/10.

Art, Composition: 10/10, 6/10

Character: 7/10

Enjoyment: 7/10

Overall: 6.5/10

This, is a perfect manga. Never before have I ever been so engrossed in a series. Over the years I have drifted away from the Shonen side of the manga demographic and rapidly slid into the world of Seinen, reading manga such as Berserk and Gantz I felt right at home in the Seinen demographic. One day i was searching through the Horror section on MAL looking for something in the vain of Silent Hill or Siren and i ended up stumbling upon a series called Homunculus. The synopsis on this page alone made me itching to read it, and the good reviews reinforced it. Lo and behold i searched and found scans of it. The story is grade A, its about a a man named Susumu Nakoshi, a homeless man who lives in his car, he is contacted by an eccentric medical student who offers him a large sum of money to allow him to perform a trepanation.(drilling a hole in the skull) and it bestows upon him the power to see the true nature of people. the series cannot be explained any further, it is something that needs to be experienced, the surreal imagery and the living enigma that is Susumu Nakoshi are what makes this manga great. I believe everyone should read it at least once.