Homunculus (Manga)

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Homunculus ( Japanese ホ ム ン ク ル ス , Homunkurusu ) is a manga series by the Japanese mangaka Hideo Yamamoto .

The main character is a young man who, out of financial difficulties, undergoes an operation that is supposed to change his life forever. The story is aimed mainly at adults and can therefore be assigned to the genre of his .

action

Susumu Nakoshi has been living on the street for two weeks. He used to work for an insurance company as an actuary , but now, after his release, he spends the time either across the street, where some homeless people have made themselves homes, or in his car, which he spends as often as possible and with which he makes a "tour" every day.

One day he was approached by Manabu Ito, who pretended to be studying medicine and who was looking for volunteer test subjects for an experiment. He promises Nakoshi a handsome fee and after his beloved car is towed away, Nakoshi agrees, hoping that he can buy his car back with the money.

Ito performs a trepanation on Nakoshi in order to reduce the pressure at a certain point in the head and release unexpected abilities. At first, no changes seem to be detectable. Nakoshi, asked by Ito to use the left side of his body in an ESP card game, reveals four out of five cards with a star symbol, but this makes Ito rather suspicious of him. The same evening after Ito said goodbye, Nakoshi was plagued by the effects of the operation. From now on he is able to visually perceive people's deepest emotions and feelings, the Homunculi , as Ito later calls them , with his left eye . This happens more by chance, Nakoshi's right eye was hit by a sudden gust of wind that carried some dirt and leaves, which is why he only uses his left eye for a moment. Extremely confused about what he can see now (including a woman walking on her hands, a stout man who is thin as paper when viewed from the side and a kind of walking tree), he steps backwards and accidentally spills his first bought canned coffee over the jacket of a yakuza boss, whose homunculus is transformed by Nakoshi in the further course of the story so that it corresponds to the person who is perceived by Nakoshi with both eyes (i.e. the external appearance).

Characters

Susumu Nakoshi

He is the main character in the series. Always well dressed and well-groomed, he wants to hide the fact that he lives on the street. After the trepanation, he is able to perceive the homunculi of different people. As a result, Nakoshi also has the ability to free people from these, which, however, has the consequence that the homunculi then pass over to himself.

Manabu Ito

Ito is an extremely mysterious character that not much is known about. He looks after Nakoshi for a while after the procedure to find out what changes are noticeable in him. After recognizing Nakoshi's ability, he asks him about his own homunculus. It turns out to be a body of glass filled with water. The subplot of the story is about Ito's childhood and relationship with his father, as well as his problems with his gender identity.

Yakuza boss

He is the first Nakoshi encounters after discovering his new ability. The Yakuza boss homunculus is a boy in a ' Mech who tries to cut off his pinky finger. He is later released from his homunculus by Nakoshi, which means that his right arm now has the shape of a Mech.

Yukari

Yukari is a young girl who suffers greatly from her mother's influence. When Nakoshi looks at it, it looks like it is made of sand. As it turns out, these are tiny little symbols that express what Yukari doesn't dare to say. After Nakoshi has released her from her homunculus, it goes over to his left leg.

Publications

In Japan, the series was published weekly in individual chapters in the manga magazine Big Comic Spirits from 2003 to 2011 and was published in 15 paperback books by the Shogakukan publishing house. The manga is published by Editions Tonkam in France and by Planet Manga in Italy , and in Spanish by Ponent Mon.

In Germany, the Egmont Manga & Anime series was published in 15 volumes by March 2012. The translation is by Monika Hammond.

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