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Susumu, attraverso il bizzarro incontro con lo yakuza, è riuscito a comprendere istintivamente la natura del potere e delle visioni acquisite in seguito alla Trapanazione. Con l’aiuto delle conoscenze e delle ricerche di Manabu, la teoria viene approfondita, rivelando che solo le persone che hanno una qualche affinità con Susumu vengono da lui percepite come homunculus, ovvero proiezioni della propria psiche. Ora l’insolita coppia comincia la ricerca di nuovi homunculus, e si imbatte in una ragazza che a Susumu appare come un informe mostro di sabbia…

208 pages, Paperback

First published July 30, 2004

About the author

Hideo Yamamoto

165 books194 followers
山本英夫 Yamamoto Hideo , is a Japanese manga artist best known for the manga series "Ichi the Killer" (which was adapted into a live-action film in 2001) and the series, Homunculus (manga).
Recurring themes in his manga are crime, sexual deviations, and psychology.

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5 stars
570 (38%)
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600 (40%)
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256 (17%)
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50 (3%)
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19 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
Profile Image for sparkling almond blossoms.
1,138 reviews148 followers
June 28, 2022
Their distortions are my distortions. The human eye does not exist solely to reflect the world in front of it. It also reflects the self upon the outside world.


I friggin knew it! My theory from the previous volume was right, lol. There's a connection with Nakoshi! Otherwise, it'd be like your typical superhero comic, bleugh, I don't know what else to call it—if he ended up helping people relieve themself from the weight of homunculus in their life for nothing.

So, I think, as Nakoshi helps the distorted people, he may get a part of them (like when he acquired the robot arm after helping the yakuza guy) to build his real, scarred self... for him to find out who he really is. Superb! This theory also fits the (was the blond, pierced guy a neurologist? I forgot) anyway, it fits his Freudian theory so well.

This series is a bomb. It was vivid, horrifying, intense, and gripping in a one-rollercoaster ride. The emotive techniques are there that helped it even more, to bloom on its own. And the symbols are spot-on!! I was actually craving for more. Lol, symbols are really my thing and I love that it's overflowing with it. I love how the pierced guy put things together. Lol, he's so imaginative, I can't! Also, the sand girl was so terrifying lol, I had my heart in my mouth. I was so ready to leave and maybe take a breather if I couldn't hold my growing fear any longer.

And, I find this so creepy, but why is the pierced guy's distortion water? I need to know why! I mean water is also a symbol of life, purification, and flow so... All too positive attributes to me but I get a feeling that he's a villain. One way or another, that water will be disturbed. I mean, there's this blub blub going on already. He's gonna shed some skin sooner or later. But, I'd be dead if in the end he's not the villain, lol.

Lol, this is deep and painful to read, but hell, this is good.
Profile Image for daph pink ♡ .
1,119 reviews3,031 followers
December 29, 2023
Homunculus had me strapped in for whatever journey it took. The panels were beautiful and grounded, scanning views without using bubbles and picking out eye movements, twitches, winces, squints, smug grins, and a variety of facial emotions that lent weight to the conversation that followed.
Profile Image for Sakib.
98 reviews31 followers
July 10, 2017
More depth, more homunculi, more weirdness...

Our two main characters have started investigating the homunculi, and with that comes mysteries and the complex psychology of the human mind, the becoming of a person into what he seems in the plain eyes against the person he/she really is deep down there, and the chain of events in the past that has contributed to it.

Mr. Nakoshi may have solved one mystery, of the Yakuza boss, all on his own, maybe out of the plain eagerness that comes with a new power and the connection between his past and the Yakuza's if we consider that as a subconscious stimuli, but there is now a totally different type of case that, in his first encounter, seemed almost sickening and utterly perplexing, and it is too much to handle on his own.

But we can't leave out Mr. Itoh just because he doesn't have what Mr. Nakoshi has; up until now I didn't think of him as much, but now I think this guy is just brilliant, after all, he is a medical student who doesn't look like a medical student at all, rather someone from a goth club or a member of a cult or a weird band- these facts just point out that you can't take this guy for granted... also he found Mr. Nakoshi in the first place and from that point on it all started...

Also, I'm curious what Mr. Nakoshi "actually" sees when he looks at Itoh.

Eagerly waiting for the result of their investigation of the "sand chameleon" case...
Profile Image for Met.
440 reviews25 followers
December 30, 2021
Si comincia ad approfondire cosa sono questi “homunculus”; caso dopo caso resto sempre più affascinato. E Yamamoto inoltre è bravissimo nel rendere graficamente le assurdità di questi essersi.
Profile Image for Dhia Nouioui.
292 reviews157 followers
September 17, 2021
I think Ito's form is water because he feels invisible to his father, has no relationship with him and he lacks a personal identity? He's more fluid than the girl, he also takes the shape of the container, maybe thats the reason why he knows her behavior as well.
Profile Image for Alice.
722 reviews97 followers
August 22, 2019
I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate the stupid doctor who looks like a pierced avatar, he's so slimey and revolting, no wonder he's literally a fluid. He better redeem himself in the next volume because I'm so mad at his actions in this piece.
Also, he better stop licking his lip, he's disgusting.
Profile Image for LopaShoqjaIme.
130 reviews1 follower
May 27, 2021
Sand go wow.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Miguel.
342 reviews94 followers
December 29, 2017
This volume is phenomenal! It's funny, I didn't expect Yamamoto to express the thesis of his text in the exact same terms that I used to muddle through the second volume (before things are explained). But this brings the manga, in my estimation, to a whole new level of quality. Ito gives an account of the unconscious to Nakoshi and goes on to give a definition for homunculus.

One of the more fascinating aspects is Ito's proposed resolution to the appearance of a homunculus is nearly identical to the therapeutic thesis of Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis. Yamamoto's account of the unconscious, by way of Ito, is spot on. The translation of repressed thoughts into incomprehensible signifiers is replaced by the embodied form of the homunculus, visible only to Nakoshi. But just like on Lacan's couch, Nakoshi seeks to turn the unconscious, repressed, thoughts into some kind of sensible signification. The infernal translating machine of the unconscious, in Yamamoto's word, does not translate repressed thoughts into garbled words but rather embodies them in the form of a homunculus. Nakoshi seeks to make the illegible nonsense of the human psyche into legible, comprehensible, conscious thoughts.

Lacanian psychoanalysis as a productive hermeneutic for Homunculus is nowhere more evident than in this installment.
Profile Image for ✶ marta ✶.
85 reviews5 followers
March 13, 2023
Meraviglioso tutto, trama, personaggi, tensione. I testi, anche nella traduzione, sono fantastici, la riflessione sulla coscienza e l'inconscio mi è piaciuta tantissimo. Le tavole sono assurde, grottesca l'interpretazione delle creature. **might be spoilish**
Superbo l'homunculus di sabbia, mi ha ricordato tantissimo Tomie
Profile Image for Alma.
80 reviews2 followers
May 14, 2022
Increíble tomo. Me ha gustado mucho la reflexión de los traumas sin resolver ajenos y la revisión del inconsciente y consciente!

Seguimos con el siguiente!
April 2, 2024
Medio raro el hecho de abusar de una menor para descubrir su trauma pero GOD
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Yza.
41 reviews
May 2, 2024
Idk if I'm tired or STUPID bc I don't understand ANYTHING 😭
Profile Image for Alo ★.
163 reviews12 followers
July 26, 2024
no confío en el morrillo alternativo 🤨 mucho bla bla bla tmb
Profile Image for shea.
390 reviews15 followers
March 17, 2019
This is my cup of tea, it’s very weird but weird in a good way
Profile Image for nomid.
115 reviews1 follower
December 24, 2022
i can already tell things are going to get fucked
Profile Image for Elysa.
375 reviews33 followers
May 18, 2021
This manga series is about a recently homeless man named Nakoshi, and a young medical student named Ito. Under Ito's knife, Nakoshi underwent a surgical procedure called trepanation, during which his skull was drilled into to activate his sixth sense. In previous volumes, he had used this power to inadvertently play as amateur therapist to a yakuza boss.

This is the third volume. The feel-goodness from the precious volume is gone and the series begins to get creepy and unsettling. We learn more about the homunculi, what they are and what they represent. It's very philosophical and I've seen reviewers compare the homunculi to Freudian psychoanalysis because of Hideo's (through character Ito) description of the unconscious and conscious.
Profile Image for 47Time.
2,995 reviews91 followers
September 28, 2023
Out of the blue we get a long exposition related to humunculi. Manabu is suddenly an expert. He and Susumu investigate an especially exotic humunculus together.

Profile Image for Aritra  Dasgupta.
514 reviews9 followers
May 5, 2021
Spends most of its time retreading familiar ground, we focus on a new subject and get to know her more. If this is gonna be the style of the book, I'm just okay with it. I expected more emphasis on the main plot instead of this monster of the book format. And this story doesn't even get resolved. Most of it is setup and I didn't even get to understand what was happening with the water guy. Let's hope this picks up soon.
Profile Image for nu41.
59 reviews
April 2, 2024
a sí, la vagina de arena que habla, que maravilla. sin más el sensory homunculus va durísimo la verdá y ya última vez que comparo con la peli pero es que es todo mucho más desarrollado y lógico. que obviamente en una peli se tienen que perder detalles del manga, pero quitarme cosas como el proceso de 1775(nabuki/chihuro????) y lo de los detallitos del ojo de Ito pf, feo feo. planteándome seriamente aplicarme una trepanación.
Profile Image for Lump.
50 reviews
May 6, 2023
The art is absolutely amazing and now that I know what’s happening, I’m hooked. Still kinda confused but I think after the trepanation procedure, he can see when there are “distortions inside the human heart” (morally wrong actions) that manifest themselves into this “homunculus” (the monster versions of people). It’s coming together now lol
Profile Image for Lu ⁠⑅.
15 reviews
May 9, 2024
Vol3 is probably my favorite one. I liked how it really starts to dive deeper into the psychological aspect of the story. The plot really starts to ramp up at this point and the twist towards the end of the volume is a pretty clever one. It was a very enjoyable read and it kept me interested throughout.
Profile Image for Elle.
110 reviews10 followers
January 16, 2018
I'm conflicted. the art style is still irritating me, but its really freaking me out. it keeps getting weirder and now its becoming a weird fascination to continue this series. also vagina monster. unsettled is not the word for this series.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews

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