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.

False face, false money, false women, false status, false life.

Susumu Nakoshi is a beanie-wearing homeless man living out of his beat-up car. He hangs out at a park with other homeless people though not being one of them. This man is actually more displaced than the vagrants he surrounds himself with.

The mystery of this man, his real identity and motives is the highlight of this brilliantly disturbing psychological drama. Each chapter peels away like an onion, the more you read the more layers are uncovered about Nakoshi and his place in society, his relationship to other humans and how he ended up where he is when the manga begins.

But that’s only the outer layers. Deeper inside are some very strange ideas at play. Author Hideo Yamamoto dabbles with trepanation and the concept of homunculus, via a kooky surgeon, Manabu Ito, willing to use Nakoshi as a guinea pig. The idea of homunculi is that they represent the subconscious mind. The question of whether they're 'real' or just subjective delusions hovers in the air all throughout the manga. Things are never simple with Homunculus, and the relationship between Nakoshi and Ito develops and complicates as brilliantly as all the other people depicted in the story.

There is a main narrative of Nakoshi's experiences connected to Ito's operation, the after affects that he has to deal with by himself, and the larger narrative of who Nakoshi really is.

Nakoshi's relationship with Ito is an engaging cat and mouse affair that gets increasingly complex throughout the story. Who the cat and mouse are up for debate. Who is using who, and what for? The relationship is unpredictable and always entertaining. Yamamoto avoids convention all throughout the story and the twists and turns will continually surprise you. It’s never for shocks however, the story just flows from one turn to another without letting up so at one point you think you've got a handle on the story and a character; then a few volumes later your entire perception is changed.

The after affects of the operation on Nakoshi's skull are as if he suddenly gained super powers. If so, Nakoshi is surely the most messed up superhero ever. His so-called power is to see people's inner hearts and minds via imagery that would make Picasso vomit. The art is inspired and so disturbing; Yamamoto's ambitions in the manga are admirable. We get many dynamic panels, artistic point of views and designs of human anatomy re-arranged or plain replaced with inanimate objects or beasts.

Nakoshi is seeing the world in a way most of us would rather not. On top of being aware of the distortions of the mind and sufferings of the heart, he has to work for the answers. It’s no use seeing a woman with a zebra for a body; he has to figure out what the symbolism means in order to understand her problem.

Every story has arcs, in shonen the climaxes are battles, in shoujo they're confessions, but in Homunculus the climaxes to scenarios in this manga culminate in surreal imagery with symbolism and allegory all over the place. Its psychological battles of wit and mental fortitude that make the manga so gripping, you never know what the author is going to throw at you next, whether through narrative or stylistically.

The actual main story is pretty compelling. Yamamoto takes a typical post-modern predicament and distorts it in such a way it feels fresh whereas if he'd just told the story straight without all this hallucinatory craziness it would just be clichéd po-faced stuff.

Homunculus should ideally have hit the seinen manga scene like The Matrix hit cinema. Both are about/products of the post-modern condition and have crazy effects while showing more possibilities of the medium they're in. Whether you like it or not, Homunculus is definitely unlike any other manga out there, with great visuals and substance to boot.

Okay what the hell were the last few chapters.I really am confused to what happened to mr.Nakoshi ,but overall an amazing story with great art,deep characters and a must read for anyone that is interested in the human psyche.
Let's start with the story.Our MC is an ex-millionaire that lost his job,money and prestige.He is now living in his old car,near a park that's inhabited by homeless people.One day he gets an offer by a goth stranger that offers him money for a trepanation.Trepanation is an act of opening a hole in the skull,and it should help the brain get more blood.With that,theoretically you should get a "sixth" sense.Nakoshi agrees to that and the operation is a succes.After some time he starts to see changes in his everyday life..
Story 10/10
Art was great,but because it looked so damn real I had trouble reading some parts,I almost threw up at some scenes.You'll know what I mean when you start reading ^~^
Art 9/10
One of the most amazing character development and breakdowns I've seen in any manga.The struggles,passions,happiness and sadness were demonstrated perfectly.Dialogue was superb and better than in most criticall acclaimed shows on tv.
Character ,an easy 10/10 .
To be honest it was hard to read for me,because some parts really hit me hard.But nevertheless a great story and a must read.So depending on someones taste I'd rate the enjoyment between 7-10
Enjoyment 8/10
Overall it's a 9/10.If you're looking for a not so long manga,that's completed and similar to the works of Oyasumi punpun ,definetely read this masterpiece.

Every human most of the time has the same pattern, or the same context rather.. and each person you may encounter can be a representation of yourself, even the sick side of them can be a piece of your own puzzle that you can connect to the past and the present to move forward to the future..

..but eventho you think you've found the answers there will be more questions.. It's like a neverending "why"...

Homunculus is a really good and well researched manga. The content or the main idea of this manga has a mix of philosophy and psychology that is and can be applicable to one's self.

This is the first manga I've seen that I can consider perfect.
The story is so smart and so well explained that it hooks you so fast, the next thing you'll notice is that you've reached the end of the volume! xD
The characters are mysterious and VERY interesting.
The art is simply the best I've seen.
Enjoyment- do I need to repeat myself?... MAXIMUM PLEASURE!!!
Overall- I hunger for more and more volumes

I wouldn't call this work "pretentious" because I don't think Hideo Yamamoto is a good enough writer to be called pretentious. I would, however, call it a rambling, messy attempt at philosophising.

The art in Homunculus is fantastic, and the story is intriguing, but the manga loses itself when Yamamoto slows everything to a grinding halt to have two characters repeat lines of nonsensical dialogue to each other in an attempt at driving home some "deep" message. "We get it. We got the message 10 chapters ago. There's no need to repeat yourself." I found myself saying that (in my head) nearly every chapter.

When the manga doesn't creep to a slow crawl to bang philosophical meanderings into our skulls, it really shines. The entire first arc where we see Nakoshi first drawn into the world of trepanation is fascinating, as is his initial relationship to Itoh. Nakoshi's gradual descent into insanity is where I found myself wholly invested in Homunculus, and the ending was satisfying, albeit a bit rushed (because the author spent so damn long repeating the same bits of dialogue and philosophical nothings to us over and over again!)

Honestly, I can't say that I recommend this manga. Is it beautifully drawn? Absolutely. Is it a page-turner? For me it was, but only because I was hoping for something that was never really there. You'll like it if you're okay with being spoon-fed nonsense about "seeing the truth," but if you've read your share of literature, you'll see right through Yamamoto's preachy attempts at being deep. Homunculus has an intriguing premise, and it does a lot of things well, but it's a try-hard mess and not much else.

What begins as the grounds for a very promising story and a narrative that begs the question of many what's--and more importantly /why's/--lands disappointingly flat, in a painful fall from grace. Perhaps the word "fall" would be giving Homunculus too much credit, as it suggests there was any kind of impact upon contact with the ground in the first place. (There wasn't.) More fittingly instead would be to describe the entire ordeal as a steep, upward climb on a hill, potential mounting with every step and very much peaking at its summit, only to be met with the arduous journey downhill afterward. In the end, we find ourselves unsurprised, from all the previous indications we had been given on the direction the story was headed for, but disappointed to be in the same place as we were when the journey started--with more questions than we had answers to. I kept hoping for a sudden, shocking recovery towards the end, one that would allow the manga a final re-redemption before its conclusion, but it never came.

It's the shame that it is because the manga started off with so much potential, really. The art was and is fantastic, that's one constant throughout all its chapters, beginning to end; it's Asano Inio with its deadpan moments that are cleverly drawn to suggest so and its surrealism that sets the tone of the story as perfectly as it does. But the characters, disappointingly, show little growth throughout the series: Nakoshi remains as narcissistic as he he had been from the beginning, and Itoh, one of the manga's most intriguing personalities, had, upsettingly, been reduced to a mere side character by the end of it. I did like what Hideo Yamamoto tried to do with the other men at the park, but I do wish they played a bigger role in the story--more than just the few filler panels they were given.

What Homunculus lacked everywhere else though it definitely made up for in story. (For the most part, at least.) Intriguing in the beginning and gripping later on through the chapters, it does a perfect job in reeling its readers in and keeping them hooked by the scruffs of their necks, peaking in suspension at the MC's slow but gradual descent into insanity (the part where I can say I was /wholly/ invested in the manga)--only to let them down in the most disappointing way from the bullshit that was the Nanako arc onwards. After that there isn't much more substance to the story outside of the same pseudo-philosophical ramblings that Yamamoto repeatedly tries to drill into our skulls until the very end, grinding any and all sense of real progression to a halt. The dialogue became painful to read, and put simply: the whole thing just near-agonisingly repetitive, and for so much buildup only to end so rushed.

It's beautifully drawn, yes, and it's a page-turner, continuing to be one even towards its end--but that was, more likely than not, just myself hoping to find something that wasn't quite there. Homunculus tries hard to be philosophical--you could even say it was semi-successful in its first half--but it ultimately fails, ending in a messy, incoherent, try-hard ramble and not much else.

Homunculus has a very interesting synopsis but it turned out to be a big disappointment. It just botched the potential it had. At most, it was just scratching the surface. It tried to make a giant out of something small.

A lot of panels are recycled, we know the MC gets drilled in the head but why do we have to get the same treatment. It was just so messy. The whole time, it felt like the author was forcefully and repetitively drilling my skull with his psychological musings and tried to convince me it was "deep" and "smart". It wasn't, it's just bad writing

It actually started good with all the musings, but felt like the author didn't have enough resolution so he just dragged his musings the F out. It dragged and dragged, dragging out revelations but what for? The 2 MCs haranguing each other, trying to show the other one who's more deep and clever, was just so pretentious.

It could've benefited from more depth and complexity but the characters are also the stereotypical conflicted ones, written with all these dark, twisted "quirks" that's supposed to add a layer or make them deep or interesting.

The art was the best thing about this, I only got to finish it because of the art. I got bored by vol 5 when it became somewhat episodic. Honestly, I almost dropped it but i thought it was a short-ish read and I really wanted to review it as a whole. It felt long, most likely because much of the dialogue was again, repetitive.

The whole thing feels trying, trying to reach heights, trying to reach depths. It felt like all those gross scenes were just there to incite awe in how deep it was trying to be. I feel so dumbed down

This manga was interesting and entertaining. It intrigued me from the start and introduced some great concepts.

Unfortunately, starting from the Nanako arc, it went downhill. Towards the end, everything grows rushed and ends flat. All the terrific character development is abandoned as Manabu, one of the main characters, is reduced to a minor character.

While the manga introduced multiple fascinating concepts, it failed to fully utilize them and ultimately failed to be meaningful. Instead, the author throws a bunch of twisted "wtf" moments and overplays it in an attempt to be meaningful. Could fool those who are newer to this genre, but (sadly) it couldn't fool me.

Story: 10
Gripping. Its filled with such rich contents that you can't shove it aside. It is original and it is well researched. It depicts each character's lives in such realism. It shows how lost we humans are, how much we've lost our true selves. And that out past and present are linked even though we hide them under layers of make-up, they still are there, lingering within the depths of our conscious.

Art: 10
Very very real. Its nice how the author takes different views and angles. How each character has a touch of humane in them. It it also very detailed form the twitch of a finger, to the dripping of sweat. And how he shows how Japanese people actually look like. I can differentiate characters =)

Character: 10
So well thought of into and out. They have their story and its filled with humanity. The modern problems of today's generation in identifying oneself. The main character isn't so perfect himself is why the manga is a success because it portrays true human qualities. The minor characters are interesting as well and have their side of their story which is equally intense and mysterious.

Enjoyment: 10
This is a mature manga and it does live up to its rating. The mature contents are somewhat gross yet exciting.

Overall: 10
This manga is very well plotted and the author knows exactly what he's doing and where he's going. The beginning til' the end and the title are connected that it challenges you to even try to predict what happen next. Though its rather slow paced but the detailed expressions and scenes make you lose track of time, it makes you hungry for more. This manga is worth the time if you have the patience.

*Spoilers*
After 15 minutes of writing i realised i probably shouln't spend the whole day here so I'll try to not say too much unnecessary stuff. What i like the most about this series and, well, the main theme of the series, is Nakoshi's journey to insanity. I really liked the way the author made it so that we were, unknowingly, experiencing the whole story until the last pages (right before the 1 year time skip) through the mc's perspective, making it so that it always felt like Nakoshi was nothing but a man who managed to get some kind of superpowers, but other than that he was just a normal person, all his actions seeming justifiable, and it was Manabu who was the problematic one, not understanding Susumu's actions. And well, even though Nakoshi's "sixth sense" was real, in the end that was the very thing that made him go insane, blinding his mind with the homunculi, and even if he did understand other people more than a normal person would, his mind couldn't handle it: he got to a point where his human mind was not prepared to get to. And, when seeing Nanako not having the same power as him (because, obviously, even before the surgery she was still just a normal person) he clinged to his idea of her, thinking she did have the same powers and the trepanation would bring them back.
It was right after she died that the author made us realize what it was actually going on: Nakoshi, a person who went totally insane killed a woman because he thought she would start "seeing him again". There was no coming back for him, and well, pretty much after the first trepanation he was gradually losing it, making it faster as the multiple surgeries came in. And that's what I meant when I said we've been experiencing everything through the mc's perspective: the final seemed very sudden and dark, when in reality it was only then that the story got a truly objective perspective, when Nakoshi, who had been living in his own world for one year already, got arrested.
The art was trully outstanding in my opinion. I don't think there's much else I can say about this.
The story was, as the rating says, very good, but i don't think it really makes the series stand out much.
Overall, even though i enjoyed it a lot, I still felt like there could've been more, and I kind of feel that at some points the author was putting more effort in the art alone.
Under normal circumstances i would probably give the series an 8 but, as i already said, the character's evolution was outstanding, enough for me to make it a 9