Homunculus 7

ホムンクルス [Homunculus] #7

by Hideo Yamamoto

Susumu è misterioso individuo, con un passato da nascondere e il vizio della menzogna. Ha un aspetto distinto, eppure è un senzatetto. Vive ai margini di un parco, residenza fissa di un gruppo di clochard, e sebbene spesso si unisca a loro, allo stesso tempo mantiene le distanze, dimostrando diffidenza verso chiunque. L’unica cosa a cui è legato è la sua macchina, una specie di ventre materno, di cui sente il morboso bisogno. E proprio per guadagnare i soldi necessari a riscattare l’amato veicolo, Susumu accetta di sottoporsi a un intervento chirurgico al cranio teso a destare i sensi sopiti dell’uomo. L’esperimento lo rende in grado di percepire grottesche visioni, che capisce essere la proiezione della psiche delle persone con cui spartisce qualcosa. Queste esperienze psico-somatiche risvegliano il doloroso passato di Susumu, che sebbene vorrebbe sfuggire ai propri fantasmi, capisce che affrontarli è l’unica soluzione che ha per smettere di tormentarsi.

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

232 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 2006

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

[Keiko, the manga enthusiast ♒︎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this volume, we get to see a broader view of Nakoshi's life and how his life is parallel to the sand girl's. Before his life in the car, he was an ordinary man working for the bank, having senseless sex with girls, and buying them expensive gifts to make them submit, almost on a daily basis. It was his routine, and how he couldn't even feel anything from this tiring day-to-day process. He was on the higher ground... he couldn't see life as it should be. He was numb to the world, just as the sand girl is numb to her own feelings. That was their similarity. And one faithful moment, when he rode a taxi and got to know a former employee of a company he shut down, all the feelings of guilt swallowed him whole. He gripped his left leg like it was the source of the guilt that's been eating him whole. He's finally seeing things in different light... he's finally feeling it.

A monster. No... A part of me? A reflection... The homunculi's distortions are my distortions.

Nakoshi went around town observing people and trying to identify what their homunculus means.

Also, pierced guy is really making me so anxious. What does his homunculus mean? I really can't figure it out no matter how I think about it.

Nakoshi: Look, I just want this hole filled in.
Pierced Guy: Y-yes...
Nakoshi: If you can fill it.

Does it imply that pierced guy is an empty human being and that his form reflects what he carries (like the guppy in his bag.) What about the water, slowly draining when he's in a tight situation?

Also, I swear, the art style is so creepy!

[Dhia Nouioui · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nakoshi is literally the manga character embodiment of Patrck Bateman in American Psycho.

[daph pink ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

It performs an excellent job of drawing in and retaining its readers by the scruffs of their necks, peaking in suspension at the MC's slow but deliberate spiral into insanity just to let them down in the most dismal way from the Nanako arc forward.

[LopaShoqjaIme · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peshku blup blup.

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 3 out of 5]

A big improvement over the previous two volumes. I’m beginning to get the impression that the protagonist has sociopathic tendencies. He also seems to be capable of emotion and wanting to change to a certain degree, so I’m not entirely sure if he’s a pure sociopath. He’s extremely repulsive and bizarre yet intriguing as well. I hope we get to learn more about his upbringing.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yay for a less gory and violent volume!
Yay for an introspective piece that gives a little insight into Nakoshi's past life and what he used to be like.
Yay for more homunculi!
Yay for a more rational yet complex volume that sheds some light on what's happening and where this might be going.

[꒰ sonia ꒱ · Rating 3 out of 5]

finally it gets interesting to read but i still have this bad aftertaste of the fifth volume

[Alo ★ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5
vato privilegiado ve a todo color lo q sus acciones han causado jjjjjk esquizofrénico nivel dios x favor ya no más escenas d él comiéndose su semen, gracias

[Robin Burton · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

[Luis Angel Razo · Rating 5 out of 5]

somos iguales???

[Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

WOW. this is definitely a turn to a new ark and I am SOLD. swear it's so up and down with these volumes haha.

[47Time · Rating 2 out of 5]

So much padding for nothing major added to the story. Unless faces covered in love juice helps the plot. I'm thinking it doesn't.

The volume begins with flahbacks from Susumu's life. He was a playboy who took advantage of women. Arguably, they could have done more to avoid being treated like meat, but his gifts were just to die for. You go, girlfriend! Susumu's lifestyle didn't bring him any happiness. Now, why we need to see his former conquests covered in love juice is beyond me.

He remembers an old man who was always looking at pictures in the park. That man has been gone for days, but the memory helps Susumu recollect a former bank worker who ended up as a taxi driver. After losing his job, the man also lost his family and possessions. He and the homeless with the photos are the same man. This makes no pactical sense whatsoever. It's padding to waste my time.

After checking out more ordinary people to gain a better understanding of the various humunculi - or to waste even more time - susumu gets a call from Manabu to complete their deal early. The experiment is over and it was always based on a lie - a placebo. Manabu manipulated Susumu into believing in the existence of humunculi. So then Susumu asks that the hole in his head be filled in again. Just like that, no anger, no panicking. One would think humans would react more explosively to the news of their recent unpleasentness being based on a lie. But, no. Our Susumu is one cool hombre.

[Elysa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This manga series is about Nakoshi, a homeless man who underwent a surgical procedure by Ito, a young medical student, to unlock his sixth sense. Now, he can see homunculi, which are symbolic representations of a person's repressed unconscious. So far, the story has largely been about experimenting with the sixth sense and discussing the philosophy and psychology of the homunculi.

In Volume 7, we step away from the repulsive acts of Nakoshi in the previous two volumes and look at his past. From before he was homeless. This way of comparing him now to who he was before shows that while his perspective and treatment of some others have improved, he is still a dark and distorted character

[Razor · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
I really am trying my best to rate each volume based on how much I liked them separately but I find it hard forgetting the events of the last two volumes when the protagonist is acting like nothing happened.

It's nice to see his past and the contrasts between his status back then and where he has ended up now, drawing parallels between him and the old man he used to see when looking out the window.

I'm happy we're exploring more of the homunculi and seeing different people's deformities because this time, we actually get explanations and they make sense.

[Paulina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este tomo sí que fue lo que estaba esperando cuando comencé a leer el manga. Se conoce un poco más acerca del pasado de Nakoshi y se descubre que está viviendo la miseria que él tantas veces provocó en su pasado gracias a su trabajo. Mientras se vuelve loco tratando de entender a los humunculus, y medio que convirtiéndose en ellos, registra su pasado y por último reaparece Ito, que al parecer ya no quiere saber nada de él?
Ito me da la peor sensación, no se sabe qué esperar de él

[kaatyane · Rating 2 out of 5]

bagunçado

Inicialmente, não entendi e achei muito confuso.

Quando o protagonista tem uma crise de identidade e acaba voltando para o começo de tudo: o parque.

Nisso, não me liguei que o outro personagem, o do fetiche, era o nosso protagonista, na sua outra vida de banqueiro.

Mesmo sendo o volume 07 e as coisas já terem tido avanço, ainda tem algumas partes que não entendo direito, e isso acaba me deixando confusa.

Mas, espero e desejo que no próximo volume haja explicação.

[Alma · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐
Me ha gustado mucho la parte del señor vagabundo taxista y el enfrentamiento que ha tenido Nakoshi asalariado con el presente.

Creo que en las últimas páginas donde se tontea con que la trepanación ha sido un efecto placebo podria ser un buen final de esta historia dejándonos con la boca abierta a los lectores.

[Lump · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok this is crazy. No way the guy who conducted the experiment is pulling the “it’s the placebo effect”. So did he really drill into his head or not?? The guy has a hole in his head….and these homunculus are more than just visions. And no way this guy wants him to FILL UP THE HOLE IN HIS FOREHEAD. Shit is getting REAL now

[nu41 · Rating 4 out of 5]

muuy bien, desarrollo de personaje, sabemos más de Nakoshi y su pasado (básicamente era un capullo rico que se comía su semen) y sabemos que tiene remordimientos. uf, el pececillo y la mujer del ascensor me despiertan intrigas, quiero más esquizofrenia Hideo.

[Sophia Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

this dude is a FUCKING FREAK. but it is very interesting seeing how we was before and how he acted and how many lives he fucked up and didnt even care about until seeing it ACTUALLY affect those people... huh empathy is kinda a wild thing huh....

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like it.

[Kurtis Burkhardt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty awesome manga, one of the best Psychological manga’s I’ve read! Great/interesting and exciting art and pretty great story😻👌😁

[Aritra Dasgupta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank god all that shit is over and we're moving to greener pastures.

[Siraa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fun thing about this volume is the author are trying to make the story back to his first idea.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.25

[Simone Piergentili · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐

[Met · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volumone introspettivo, come i primi. Non riesco a smettere, ma ho solo un altro volume!!!

[Shin Donghae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bisa dikatakan, dg mengulas masa lalu Nakoshi, ini seperti semacam volume introspeksi. Semakin menarik tak sabar lanjut ke volume berikutnya!!!

[Nehemiah Bekele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jesus fucking jesus fuck

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Horror.