Homunculus (Omnibus) Vol. 3-4

Homunculus Omnibus #2

by Hideo Yamamoto

Nakoshi has had plenty of questions since getting involved with Ito's experiment. But there is one thing in particular that's been nagging at Why do only some of the people he looks at appear monstrous, while others seem normal? Before he can solve this riddle, he is confronted with a more pressing concern. His own left arm now looks robotic! From the creator of Ichi the Killer and Voyeur, the hit supernatural horror tale that inspired a live-action film on Netflix.

Genres: Manga, Horror, Comics, Seinen, Psychological, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction

666 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 13, 2015

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 1 out of 5]

OMG! A book that advocates for the healing power of rape. Graphically.

And embellishes the pages with so much semen and blood, and does such gross stuff with those body fluids. Ewwwwww.

I'm going to hate-read the next volume since I have it on hand from the library.

[Urbon Adamsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

EN Well, what an absolutely crazy trip this was. I loved it.

One of the things I appreciate most about Japanese manga is its creative freedom: the absence of a constant fear of offending or being “cancelled”. There are ideas and approaches I regularly encounter in Japanese comics that, nowadays, would hardly find space in Western comics. It’s even unsettling to realise how much Western culture seems hostage to a castrating morality, one that ends up limiting not only artistic creation but also critical thinking.
But that’s not the topic here.

What truly interests me is the way Hideo Yamamoto criticises society by exploring the depth of our traumas — which can manifest in many different ways, some more specific, others more chronic.

I added the best reads of 2026 tag when I was only halfway through the book. By the end, there was no doubt left: it is, without hesitation, one of the best manga I have ever read.

--

PT Bem, que viagem absolutamente maluca foi esta. Adorei.

Uma das coisas que mais aprecio no manga japonês é a liberdade criativa: a ausência do medo constante de ofender ou de ser “cancelado”. Há ideias e abordagens que encontro regularmente na BD japonesa e que, hoje em dia, dificilmente teriam espaço na BD ocidental. É até perturbador perceber o quanto a cultura ocidental parece refém de uma moralidade castradora, que acaba por limitar não só a criação artística, mas também o pensamento crítico.
Mas isso não é tema para aqui.

O que realmente me interessa é a forma como Hideo Yamamoto faz uma crítica à sociedade, explorando com profundidade os nossos traumas — que podem manifestar-se de múltiplas formas, alguns mais específicos, outros mais crónicos.

Coloquei a tag de melhores leituras de 2026 quando ainda ia a meio da obra. No final, não tive qualquer dúvida: é, sem hesitação, um dos melhores mangás que já li.

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story has a really cool idea with a good start in the first 1.5 volumes and decided to drown it in misogyny and rape.

[Kendra · Rating 1 out of 5]

will not be continuing this series. I was hoping for some psychological horror but bamboozled by pages and pages of extremely graphic assault- and also semen??? Literally WHAT IS THIS?!?! I normally love dark stuff but this just took it way too far- do not recommend this series

[Lucien · Rating 1 out of 5]

The psychological horror behind it was very interesting. Such a shame it turned into a truly perverted and unnecessary thing. Seriously, what does Japan have with sex offenders? It seems like every media has some element of sexual harassment. From girls yelling stop while meaning to keep going, to so many perverted things in the name of fanservice. I still have one more volume, though I might drop the series. Such a shame, it was a genuinely interesting concept.

[wooly ★ · Rating 1 out of 5]

this shit was abhorrent for literally no reason at all I’m going to pray this was just a really weird one-off

[Shimapan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I should've read Goodreads reviews before picking this volume up... The healing power of r*pe? And it's graphic and it's close to 50% of the page count? Nope.

Volume 1-2 was promising, but this one ruined it for me. Dropping this series.

[Steven Folden · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm so unsure how to feel about these two volumes, omnibus one was so solid and intriguing. This edition was just full of confusion and semen.

[Luca Cendón · Rating 2 out of 5]

YEAH NAH I DON’T KNOW MAN

[taylor clonce · Rating 1 out of 5]

i’m pretending this volume doesn’t exist

[Anna Quilter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disturbingly very graphic.

But so very different from anything I've read in a while.

The first time I read LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN...I felt like this

Very uncomfortable to read.

[HappyYuki · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ick 🤮. I have the next omnibus volumes from the library. Let’s hope it gets off this trajectory and back onto something more psychologically interesting/mysterious. I personally did not enjoy this one. That being said, it did prove without a shadow of a doubt that the main character is extremely morally depraved. It gives the reader background of his work history that is cold/callous as well as his poor personal relationships with women. This helps bring us some type of perspective as to why he is seeing things the way he currently does beyond the excuse of simply having the sketchy medical procedure. He has underlying issues without a doubt. This is less about other people and more about him. Amidst all my disgust the one point of interest to me in this omnibus is that he is so completely convoluted that he believes that by actively traumatizing others he is healing them of their homunculus. Phew 😮‍💨 this character is a real piece of work!

[Aurora Paglia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m writing this because of the sheer number of comments I’ve read on the subject (replying to everyone would be difficult). To all those scandalized by the rape and semen: have you ever heard of psychological horror? This manga is made to provoke disgust, disapproval, but also to take you on a psychological journey through the eyes of someone who is completely mentally ill.
If you’re into psychology and psychological horror, this manga is incredible. In my opinion, the mangaka not only has a great drawing style, but also narrates the story of a full-blown narcissist and mentally ill person in an outstanding way. For those who are disturbed by this, psychological horror probably isn’t for you. This manga does not glorify or justify rape if only you had read it with the right attention.
-from someone who has finished the manga completely, loved it and understood it.

[Victor The Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Homunculus (Omnibus), Vol. 3-4 (My Kindle Review)

Vol. 3 - Ito’s rendezvous with emotionless sand being Yukari takes an icy detour and now Nakoshi has to deal with her himself. We also get to see her controlling family that she deals with and that he might have his own inner demons. As their unexpected interactions continue, it slowly becomes a bit uncomfortable and suggestively dark as Yukari’s manipulative demeanor will test Nakoshi’s sanity as he sees she’s more than sand. B (75%/Good)

Vol. 4 - The ongoing interactions with Nakoshi and Yukari continue to get very unraveling, but really uncomfortable as his methods to open her up show us a very dark side of him morally and unhinged. He does end up opening her human side, but it does conclude her story quietly bleak with some unanswered questions. As for him, Nakoshi makes drastic changes in his life while we get to see his past before his homeless life as a manipulative insurance salesman. An interesting surprise find for the volume’s cliffhanger. B- (67%/Decent)

B (71%/Good)

[Soteralzobooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.2 (biblio)

[Paige Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why do libraries not # their orders. I got 3-4 instead of 1-2 so going in blind. 😭 Beautiful art though, cat-like faces and metaphorical personification (like crumbling to mummified mush when nervous, Achilles heel being a point of weakness, ideas transferring through touch like male and female tech ports, showing blood moons or primordial pools in other senses). Fashion and dialogue a bit Matrixy. After all, the “people” can see patterns and numbers and grids and monsters behind people. I don’t mind the emo or seedy melodrama, because you’d feel like you’re on psychedelics in their place.

[Cathy · Rating 1 out of 5]

nope

[Andrew · Rating 1 out of 5]

Contains a plot point that almost makes this series unreadable, almost made me want to put it down and never ever read it again... I would not recommend it for that reason.. genuinely disgusting and makes no sense at all. Plus many other gross smaller plot points that would make 99% of people uncomfortable, I would not recommend this.

[AlePH505 · Rating 5 out of 5]

My friend warned me that this series was disturbing, and Volume 2 definitely lives up to that reputation. While the first book was intriguing, the second volume has some genuinely visceral moments. The paneling and narrative are incredible; it’s a level of craft I haven't seen before. It’s significantly better than the first book.

[Moisés · Rating 1 out of 5]

The first two volumes of this had a promising start, but then this one just had to do what too many mangas do: not only does it sexualize underage girls, but the main character decides that the only way to heal a teenage girl is to rape her. Gross.

[❄️BooksofRadiance❄️ · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5⭐️
WTF

[Jiro Dreams of Suchy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The car guy is a former actuary with a penchant for facials, flashy cars and gifts. The symbol girl (who is 17) scared off the doctor who performed the trepanation - car guy tries to parse through her symbols by molesting her. Really weird, really graphic.

[Finn Ince · Rating 1 out of 5]

The last part of this volume was the only good part, I get that this is a psychological horror intended to make the reader feel disgust but this volume was vile. I’ve never felt so uncomfortable reading something in my life.

[Dakota Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting in a way but also very fixated on one particular thing in volume 3. Not the best, certainly not as good as 1 and 2 but volume 4 kind of kept me interested. The art is what keeps me interested, but the story is not bad. Once I read the next omnibus, it will really set the tone if I want to continue the series.

[Yanique Gillana · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hope the next volumes don’t repeat any of this or I’ll call it quits. The first volumes were intriguing, but this was terrible.

[Jeff B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars.

I loved the first omnibus and gave it 5 stars. This second omnibus is a bit more complicated with plenty to like but even more to dislike - enough to make many readers (including my friend I'm reading it with) give up on this series. The creepiness hinted at in the first volume is amped up to 11 in this one.

There is a sexual assault and rape of a 17-year old high school girl by our protagonist, Nakoshi, who is twice her age. It's unpleasant to read and goes on way too long and is confusing throughout. There's blood, semen, sucking on open wounds - lots of repulsive stuff here. I wasn't always sure what was happening in Nakoshi's head - I assumed he had gone insane from the procedure. I wasn't sure what the point was or his motivations, but I guess I have to keep reading to find out.

When he revisits his corporate job and the homeless camp across the street, it gets interesting. The book takes a more philosophical turn and explores interesting ideas like what it means to be human and how we look down on others and how sometimes life takes us to unexpected places.

We get flashbacks of his corporate life and learn he was always kind of a scumbag. I found this interesting and insightful. I mean, I'm not opposed to scumbag protagonists - hell, Lolita is on my TBR.

While the book is difficult and unpleasant, it's never boring or predictable. I have many questions and am intrigued enough that I will continue reading the series. I just wonder if the payoff will be worth it.

[Victoria · Rating 1 out of 5]

While I can appreciate the purposeful use of disgust and discomfort this psychological horror evokes, I cannot stand behind any literature which depicts an underage victim of rape being “made human” and “whole” as a result of being violently raped. As the scenes unfolded, I held out hope that the victim would seek justice after the assault, but I was utterly disgusted by the depiction of her admiring the rapist as he drove off, as if he had done something wonderful. Fucking YUCK.

[Peyton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was going into Volumes 3-4 optimistic after the first Omnibus really piqued my interest with some interesting ideas and really intriguing art style. I had no idea where this series was headed, so I decided to see where it went.


TW: SA, Rape (perpetrated by an adult against a minor), Blood/Bodily Fluids.


I did not enjoy Volumes 3 & 4 nearly as much as I had hoped to. There is an arc in this book that spans for close to half the length of the book give or take. roughly an entire volumes worth of this book is entirely focused on one encounter between our main character and a young woman, in which he sexually assaults and then rapes her.

It is difficult for me to find a reason why this was even needed in the first place, to justify such a large portion of the story being that encounter. It explores a bit deeper into what we have already started learning about how the homonculi are actually reflections and therefore monsters of your own self/faults. But there was no reason that such a graphic plot point needed to be the way that we continued to explore those ideas. I’ve read plenty of traditional novels and manga containing SA or rape in the plot, and I very rarely find that it’s necessary or was the best way for the author to tell the story they wanted to tell. There are exceptions of course, I’ll be unoriginal and lean back on the tried and true example of Berserk. In that story those plot points are not only integral to the story being told and are used to characterize and humanize the characters we are following, but they’re also handled with so much more brevity, they aren’t dragged out extensively or overly graphic, they are just as graphic as they need to be for us to understand.

My problem with how this volume of Homunculus treats those same issues is the way it’s incredibly drawn out, unnecessarily graphic and disturbing, and seemingly purposefully to make the readers as uncomfortable as possible.


Once that plot point finally ended, I enjoyed the short rest of the story we get at the end of volume 4, and i still felt somewhat compelled to know what happens next. I’m going to read Volumes 5-6, and if they don’t really bring it back to what made the first two interesting or continue to dive into the unnecessarily graphic for the sake of being graphic plot points, i’m dropping the series at that point.

[diddybludbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can understand why people would stop reading homunculus here and thats totally valid, but the book IS NOT glorifying rape. What nakoshi did is extremely wrong and your NOT supposed to blindly support him.

Now I want to say, these volumes were a bit worse than the first 2, but i feel like these were meant to be like building blocks for whats about to happen next and to get a better introspective view on who nakoshi is.


Nakoshi has the ability to see how people truly are, there symbols, but Nakoshi is deeply disturbed by this and is confused on who HE is, making it so seeing these symbols isnt that great of a power cuz he doesnt understand himself.



The manga is also trying to show the fakeness of society, how we put on masks and that we dont desire true human connection but what benefits us from being with that person. We can see this with yukari but she isnt necessarily selfish. All she wants is her dream of true love, she wants this because she hates the fakeness of all her connections, her mom constantly trying to make her perfect, and people always using her for her body. This is why when nakoshi learns that she has hope, hes jealous? angry? but he wants to destroy that dream because it didnt work out for him, ( we all know how he does it )
which is completely sadistic of him. Nakoshi is a sadistic narcissistic person who doesnt even understand himself.


Nakoshi is starting to uncover some of his past memories, i think he became homeless because of the fakeness of people right? but hes also still very sadistic and selfish.


A question the manga is asking is even though nakoshi can see their symbols is that all a person is? Is just there repressed emotions? I think not because there is obviously more to humans than just their darkest most repressed emotions.



anyways theres probably a few more things i could talk about but im probably forgetting them, i think ive covered everything though. yah

[Ariz]

TW: Sexual Assualt
Spoiler filled below:
This series can be graphic and follows morally shady characters. I think it also depicted things in a harmful way that justified abhorrent behaviour.
Yukari is depicted as this teenage girl who doesn't know herself. She conforms to other people, and Ito takes advantage of her vulnerability. Nakoshi also takes advantage of her. Having 'fixed' people's issues before, he is compelled to doing the same to this girl. He acts in a forceful obsessive manner. He is ticked off by her wanting to become 'one' with someone. He ends up TW:raping her. She is saying no and is not a willing participant. In my notes I wrote that her homunculus is kinda teasing him. Because he has this supernatural vision, the reader is supposed to take that to mean that shows her inner 'reality'.
After this incident she becomes ‘normal’. I think that perhaps the message is that she was able to let go of the silly dream she had of becoming ONE with someone. Maybe through this experience she was able to ground herself in reality and let go of her prior expectations. I think that is harmful. Because no way in hell would THAT result in that.
When they are parting she seems to look at him appreciatively or at least playfully. It is a dangerous concept because the moral of the story is it was for her own good. She was asking for it. And she is better for it.
To imply she was fixed of her silly ideas by being assaulted is inhumane. It says that: it's okay to take away your agency if it's for your own good. I know what you need better than you.
Now Nakoshi isn't portrayed as a stand up guy. He's unhinged and repulsive, but in this moment and others he is fighting against the 'bad'. This scene doesn't condemn his bad behaviour. He gets away with it and is portrayed as having helped her.