For some reason, I feel drawn to manga that are very dark and deal with very psychological and philosophical themes. This is a prime example of the how this this genre should be written. All of the characters are very well developed and all the themes are well pronounced.

Although the series definitely moves with its own continuity, it actually plays out a series of psychological analysis all intertwined with philosophical themes. Partially fueled by the very flawed main character, the resulting analysis is always dark and unexpected. And as the main character solves the problems of other people, he then starts to realize more about his own problems.

Which gets to the main point of the series. Hes not really solving other people's problems or learning about other people. Its all done as an act of self realization. And the problems of these other people are really projections of his own inner demons. Which leaves the reader not only guessing what each characterization means about that person, but also what it means about the main character.

My only problem is actually that sometimes I thing the series drags itself on a bit too long and over too dark of subjects without real necessity. Which seems to both shock the reader as well as be thought provoking. But, atleast so far, I don't think it has really detracted from the series.

Overall, its a series I'd definitely recommend to people, over and over.

i read this on a whim, i was looking for a gory horror at the time, and this happened to be under that genre on the site i was reading manga on. before i started readign i skimmed the reviews and read the word "homo" a few times and that made me excited with my yaoi addiction and what not but, once i started reading I was left with something much more than the dumb bulk yaoi-horror that i was expecting, something really deep and thought provoking!

once i started reading, I couldn't stop. I spent a whole day, reading 10+ volumes of this manga, i was completely absorbed. There's barely any gore but the tension set in this manga had me sitting at the edge of my seat a few times. While reading this manga, I was happy, angry, sometimes absolutely disgusted, it even made me teary eyed, once.

What I admire about this manga is, first, the original concept, the homunculus. I really like how the artist decided to interweave all the definitions of homunculus together in this story, the somatosensory homunculus, the fetus... etc. You can really tell he did his research and spent a long time mulling over this manga. Also, the way he did his characters, they are demented, unwhole people, and as readers (or more, human beings) we can relate to this in many cases, nobody is whole, everyone has their own shortcomings and complexes (though never as many complexes as the main character haha).

The only beef I have with this manga though is that... it was kind of hard to swallow, the whole seeing homunculi thing. part of me wanted to laugh it off, it was really hard to take seriously in the beginning, and still is (and was) hard to explain to my sister when she wanted to know just what was the hype about this manga that i kept on calling "genius, genius"

I didn't really expect to like it that much, but I read 75 chapters in one sitting.
The characters are interesting, along with much of the plot, and it's definitely worth reading.

It wasn't very hard to follow, which was what I expected, (I usually can't get into a manga if it is.) and from all of the comments telling shoujo fans to not read this, I expected things to be much more extreme.
I could probably eat with ease while reading, so nothing's too nasty, if that's what anyone's worried about.

All in all, it's a great series, with a demented main character, and it's focus on said main character.
I would say it was a fun read, but I'm probably the only one that thinks that.
Anyway, give it a try.

... Last updated on July 9th, 2008, 6:40am

Awesome! I can't really describe it so well, but this makes things similar to ESP believable if they are extensions of your total 5 senses. I can only hope some group translates this amazing manga.

After reading Koroshiya Ichi, I thought this mangaka couldn't dig deeper in the psychological gender. Fortunately, I've been wrong...

As someone said, this manga is a road to self enlightenment. Sometimes you want to be important to someone but you give enough credit to yourself. Everytime the MC sees another Homunculus he starts to realize his own inner demons.



Anyway, it's a really alluring manga, but the ending left a bitter taste to me.

this manga produce a lot of emotion in me. revulsion, disgust, mirth, alarmed, frightened, depression, melancholy etc. and enlightenment. that's the best part about this manga, enlightening me about myself.

i can't really further describe this manga in terms of plot, characters, art and other literary device, though it excel in any and every way they cease to matter as they are just the vehicle to deliver those emotions and those revelations straight to the readers.

just read this, and you will understand.

The manga begins about one man and ends on the same note. The ending was disturbing and painted such a bizarre, surreal image as I read it. I haven't finished anything in a while that left me feeling the way I did after reading this. The author of Homunculus is crazy. I didn't expect this to end the way it did but am glad to see it was able to end, but I'm honestly a little unsure of what to make of the ending.

If you are looking for something mature and, well, ****ed up. Search no more! this is an excellent manga by the creator of Koroshiya 1 (Ichi the Killer, the manga).

This is one of the few series, if not the only, that I don't know what I feel about how to feel about. The ending was the most I say that in a good way. But this manga, in simple terms, is very odd. It very much earns the psychological/mature genre tags. Be warned, the ending is,,, interestingly bittersweet, if you will.
If you wind up reading this, also be warned that you will fill like you're on an acid trip. It can get weird, very weird. Even weirder when taken out of context. This manga also deals with highly relevant issues such as transgenderism, depression, and more.
Its a very good read that really deserves more love, so I highly recommend giving it a shot.

Well now, that was an unexpected journey. I feel as though everyone should read this, no exceptions. It makes you think (as any psychological tagged story should). You get involved and you can't change the fact that this is one story that sticks to you.

The ending is not what I wanted, but not unwelcomed. The whole flow of the story is not really what I wanted, but not unwelcomed, if that makes any sense. Everything that happens is calculated and controlled by the mangaka. A very well made manga.