Homunculus

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Homunculus is one of the most unsettling works of art I've ever experienced.

Frankly, I've never been more morally conflicted on a work of art in my life. Narratively, artistically, and technically, this work is borderline masterful. Susumu and Manabu are incredibly well written characters as well, with Susumu in particular cracking the top 20 characters across all mediums. Most impressive of all of course is far and away the illustrations, which provide for some of the most gorgeously horrifying imagery I've ever come across.

Having said all that, Homunculus is deeply flawed in it's messaging. Whilst I can appreciate it's psychologically scarring takes on loneliness, ... sexuality, humanity, and inherent selfishness, it sometimes borders between being too 'we live in a society' to downright problematic in it's messaging. It's pacing towards the middle-end of the series is also arduously slow at times, with it feeling like many elements of the story are just being repeated.

I try to rate media in a way that reflects my enjoyment (worth 3 marks), perceived objective quality (3) and overall artistic merit (4), so admittedly, my personal gripes with the tone effected my enjoyment. This is why I'm giving it an overall score of 8, or 2/3/3, because if I can put aside my personal beliefs and biases, this work would be a 9/10 easily. I highly recommend anyone who's into psychological explorations or horror to check this out.

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.

I really liked it at the beginning, the directing is amazing, the panel and the art are easy to follow and detailed, the character art designs are great and the backgrounds are fantastic.
So im ready, im sold , then the supernatural twist happens and its slowly losing me, as the supernatural twist is unfolding it starts getting very sexual and im almost out, the protagonist is trying to help characters with his supernatural abilities, but more and more its a woman with a sexual issue. How about bipolar couldn't you do that ? or a woman with money issues ? BUT no it has to ... be sexual. I started losing interested. So in the end the protagonist after helping all those people he starts losing himself and his identity, good for him, i was already out at this point.

One of the most thought provoking mangas out there. I came for the psychopath and art and that is exactly what I've got.
I could go into detail, but there are too many reviewers already doing just that, so keep this in mind: {This is the disturbing exploration of a man who doesn't feel]. I suppose some will find the more gory scenes an exageration, but in the end it doesn't really matter.

What really matters is that you feel good in your own skin, and that is a personal effort.

As to fill the word count...

Is the story unique? If it was predictable, did you enjoy ... it anyway because you like this genre/set-up?
-Not really predictable, it does take you by surprise
Do you think the art style is fitting for the story?
-Yes, somber but realistic
Were the characters well-rounded? Did they have flaws and strengths, or were they unusually strong/smart/stupid?
-Can't really comment on this. I only really focused on the MC as it was in the time I was debating whether mangas can really have a villain MC.
Did the characters react to situations and events in a realistic way?
-Realistic is a bitt much... though I could see a police case about these events showing up in the news
Do you think others will enjoy/dislike this series, even if you didn't? Why?
-A subjective work, not for everybody. I don't give the rating as to "preach about life changing philosophies" or anything like that. I came to research if Psychopaths can be shown well in mangas while being the MCS and that I found in plenty.
My research ended in failure though, so who can really tell...

TW: Self harm/mutilation, Sexual abuse

I heard of homunculus in passing in a berserk video and wow am I shocked. Despite it being a work of masterful art in terms of visual design and storytelling, It managed to fly under most people's radars. I understand that this is something that came out in 2003-11, but it is something I believe should garner more attention than it has.

The story starts off relatively light while also giving enough information about the world and main character. It manages to have a cohesive through line without having to throw blocks of text at the reader. The supporting characters happen ... to be well written with clearly defined faults and aspirations, and fit into the narrative and one another seamlessly; as it does not show anyone out of place at any particular time. While the plot is simple in theory, Hideo Yamamoto orchestrated a beautiful symphony without the use of complex, out of left field ideas. The occurrences that take place never feel forced or unjustified; does not take away from any prior chapters, nor contradicting the latter. The final chapters leading to the finale -while could be seen as confusing- is an impressive cacophony of the gradual build up of intensity in terms of insanity and some of the most awe-inspiring manga panels I've seen to date.

My nitpicks with the manga are very few and far between, bordering on trivial; only that I think the MC goes a little too far at times, however I believe it to be a well thought out catalyst for the things to come. Because of that, I hold my right to reserve further comments (as to not spoil) or potentially dissuade anyone whose interest I or the manga have caught the attention of. In conclusion, I highly recommend this manga to anyone interested in psychological horror seinen looking to latch their internal cosmic tendrils upon.

(Bonus points for having one of the best trans representatives in manga)

Music to pair: A somber/eerie instrumental should fit the themes for the most part

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.

Não sou nenhum especialista ou coisa do tipo, mas cara que mangá bom, ele trás uma crítica sobre como as pessoas só olham para a superfície das outras, os homunculus são uma representação interessante das pessoas e seus traumas, se você gosta de psicologia ou filosofia talvez esse mangá seja perfeito para você.

Essa obra com certeza vai te fazer pensar bastante sobre o mundo em sua volta, e você provavelmente vai ter uma crise existencial lendo ele, até porque ele faz perguntas filosóficas muito legais. Homunculus aborda temas extremamente sensíveis e tem um gore agoniante, então com certeza não é uma obra para todo mundo.

There are theories that state the possibility of developing a sixth sense after this surgery: telepathy, the ability to see dead persons, and the examples go on. Patients chose suicide after a few months of gaining that 'ability'.
A not-so-normal medical student has been obsessed with this theory, and so he paid a man, who owns only a car, 700K in order to get the surgery done on him to test the results.
Our test subject, in the beginning, couldn't see any difference. Th next day though, he closed one eye using his hand, and what he saw was terrifying ...
description
We bury our bad memories, fears, unforgivable ... sins, desires, in the unconscious. Our guy here has started to see the ugliest hidden emotions in others' unconscious, bare and naked in front of his 'eye'.
Let's take this as an example:

In reality, the woman is a normal mother and the sand is her daughter .
Why does our guy see them like that? Well, the daughter is seen as sand because she didn't find her true self yet. She has been following certain patterns and was getting molded by her parents and society. Her mother is seen like that because she's the one molding her.
This manga is truly a psychological ride, digging deep in humans' way of thinking and acting but also their emotions and feelings.

Before you watch this I must warn you there will be a lot of explicit scenes like a lot. Ok so I think the main character has very in depth writing. He is very complex and while your reading this your gonna be like “what’s next”. Some panels of him will just leave you thinking.Now the art for the manga is top tier it’s so realistic and it fits the vibe of the manga so well.I think it’s exetremely detailed and the drawers must have spent a lot of time working on it, it mind blowns me most of the time.Now for enjoyment sometimes this ... manga can get very disturbing and kinda boring. But it gets very good at the end if you understand it.

*spoilers*

Homunculus is a story that takes place in Japan more or less close to the present day and that manages to work well with mystery and drama with elements of horror, which can generate some reflections about the functioning of society, about how people can see each other, how they see themselves or how they feel and how the life story can shape and influence them. All of this using an interesting concept, the homunculus, which are representations of a person's core identity and feelings.

Our protagonist now has the ability to see them after doing a somewhat invasive procedure known as trepanation after ... a bit of persuasion from an eccentric doctor named Ito who he had met a short time ago, besides these there is also a relatively small group of characters as well. Interesting ones that comprise homeless people, Yakuza's, a girl in high school, a woman from Nakoshi's past and a few more that will be worked out throughout the manga through their relationship with the MC and the homunculus he sees.

Something also worth noting is the manga art is very cool and has a very characteristic and unique style, it is also very detailed in the expressions and emotions that the characters feel, in the city setting, the park in front of the luxury hotel in that much of the story is spent following Nakoshi in a fetal position inside his Mazda Carol and of course the homunculus that are very varied, creative and disturbing.

Finally Nakoshi is an interesting and sympathetic character at the beginning of the story and that over time we discover that he is full of dilemmas and complicated issues from his recent past before losing everything and the ability to no longer recognize himself and make sense of things, however we also discover how selfish and even narcissistic he can be, having a sense of superiority and indifference when working for banks and which also extends to his violent way towards women as what occurs in his encounters with Nanako later in history or the abuse in relation to Yukari with justification to resolve the issue of the girl's homunculus (which are bad points in the manga for the approach that the author has on these themes and the way these characters act after abuse and violence). Some of his actions in relation to homunculus are positive as what happens with Ito, for example, but in the end his obsession leads to a tragic ending both for him and especially for some people close to him.

Homunculus is defined by one word: unique. In my opinion, the manga starts with an incredible arc that includes meaningful settings and characters, and really seems to engage the reader with the absurdity of the main event(s)-- trepanation. The buildup of characters is good, and we see a lot of growth in all of them. But it is largely figurative. Homunculus is a philosophical manga that relies on metaphors to convey most of its ideas, so you have to really pay attention to understand the symbols portrayed in it. This lasts for a while, but towards the end it just devolves into the ramblings of ... a narcissist who cannot face reality, and who begs and cries out for an outlet to validate himself and his regrets. The symbols devolve into self-serving symbols that uncover the slop that builds the character, never really showing anything but self-rooted hatred and a desperate attempt to find a way out of his own self.

But this is what I find beautiful. The main character, Nakoshi, is an example of the strife many people go through when finding their own identity. Personally, I feel like he exhibits the same forlorn yearnings that I do when I can't figure out what is "wrong with me". This is a universal experience for everyone who is human, and Nakoshi shows an extreme version of this self-search that resonates with the reader. This on top of such amazing artwork.. just take the scene with the sand girl and water-Ito at the table together. Beautiful. It also represents more hidden aspects of personality, such as the battles those who are queer deal with in regards to their sense of identity through gender and sexuality, with the story and development of the bright and wealthy scientist Ito.

Homonculus is a manga that will show you perspective. It has ups and downs, but ultimately, it is something that you think about after putting down. I highly recommend it!

As a person that was an anime only I didn't know what I was getting into the only thing l knew about the manga was it was well-known in the manga community so I was expecting something great but didn't expect any masterpiece the premise is simple about unlocking one's sixth sense but the author tried to reimagine what the sixth sense is and displayed it in somewhat relatable but still alien way and when we come to the art it is nothing short of beautiful you can tell even the background arts took some time while drawing And our main character susumu nakoshi is ... a very
questionable individual some will say who needs help ASAP or thrown in jail but for someone who lost everything and had some random dude drill a hole in his head and started seeing things he is functioning as expected just another way of the author trying to show you the barbaric side of humans definitely not for the light hearted. All in all a really good read I don't think it will ever get an adaptation anytime soon or ever but if you haven't get on Homunculus I highly recommend it

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...

This manga really had me hooked from start to finish.

The protagonist decided to undertake a procedure that would require his skull to be pierced, in hopes of "Opening the third eye". Surpisingly, after the operation is succesfull, Susumu starts to see the world in a completely different way.

Naturally, he begins to wonder if this means his third eye actually opened, or if he's simply crazy now.

This is the question that will acompanny us for the rest of this manga. wondering wether this new powers are real or not.

If this sounds thrilling to you then you will surely enjoy this manga ... as much as I did.

I would've ranked Homunculus as a 10/10 if not for the car scene , iykyk.