Drakengard
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General Info:
Series Name: Homunculus
Year of Serialization: 2003
Author: Hideo Yamamoto
Artist: Hideo Yamamoto
Genres: Horror, Psychological, Seinen
Current Status: Finished
Moment of Reviewing: Completed
Other Format: N/A
Series Summary:
Mr. Nakoshi is a man with nowhere to go. With only a suit, spare change, and a cheap car to his name, Nakoshi lives his life inside his car right between a top-of-the-line hotel and a park filled with the homeless. He's not rich enough to live a fancy life with the big shots, yet he doesn't quite seem to fit with the homeless either. His greatest companion is his car, a machine that's easy for him to understand - all you need is oil and gas to fix all of its problems, after all. But aren't people just like machines too? Shower them with gifts and compliments, and won't their problems all go away all the same? To Mr. Nakoshi, people these days are more machine than the machines themselves. He passes the days by idly, unsure of how to proceed toward a fulfilling future.
One night, Mr. Nakoshi is confronted by a strange man by the name of Ito, Manabu who offers him 700,000 yen in exchange for participating in a "simple medical test". Ito tries to convince Nakoshi to be a test subject of trepanation, a medical procedure practiced since the neolithic era in which a small hole is drilled into the skull. Legends say that in some circumstances, trepanation can instill a "sixth sense" in a person, giving rise to ESP in about 36% of overseas cases. A medical student fascinated by the human mind, Ito realizes that such a phenomenon couldn't possibly exist, but his inner longing for the supernatural won't be put to rest until he proves it to himself.
After having his precious car towed away through malicious intentions, Mr. Nakoshi goes through with the deal and has a hole, ~6 mm in diameter, drilled into his skull. At first, there appears to be no significant impact. However, as time goes on, Nakoshi realizes that by looking solely through his left eye, people turn into grotesque monsters right before him; taking on many different forms and symbols, these monsters are called the homunculi. With Ito's help, he realizes that these monsters represent peoples' subconscious thoughts and emotions, and that he may have the power to see the inner hearts of others. But these hommunculi aren't always easy to decipher, and as the story progresses, Nakoshi comes to realize two very important concepts: that humans are far more complex than meets the eye, and that the person he really knows the least about is himself.
Critical Review:
WARNING: LOTS of Adult Themes Present in this Manga Including:
Nudity, Rape, Explicit Content (eg. drinking blood & semen), and More
As for every story out there, there are traits that some readers love and others detest, and I'll go straight through the only real part I didn't like about the series - the repetition. I felt that certain points dragged out for a long time and became repetitive. I found myself thinking "Haven't I read this already?" a couple times during the read. Although this could also be a positive if you appreciate a reminder or two, especially to those who don't binge read. Regardless, I couldn't help but feel myself silently hoping that I could get to the main points a bit faster. I feel that this is also due to how the manga is set up in volume segments rather than chapters, meaning that I was encouraged to read about 200+ pages per interval.
But that's really about the extent of my personal peeves. I really did find this story to be one of the best out there, and I'm glad that I got the chance to hear about this gem of a manga.
One of the most interesting parts of the story is our enigmatic main character Mr. Nakoshi. Unlike most other series, we barely know anything about the main character's background early on. Instead, bits and pieces of his life are revealed as the series progresses. What's with the main character's weird sleeping posture? Why is he well known at the fancy hotel by name? What does Nakoshi really want out of life? While the questions keep piling up, the writer already has you tied into a web of characters and themes before you even realize it yourself.
I will say that Homunculus gave me a new way of looking at the psychological genre. I've always assumed that by watching series like Monster or Death Note, I knew what it meant to read a "psychological" manga because of the random tags I saw associated with it. However, this story completely turned that around for me. It's not out to appeal to your mind, it's out to gnaw at your heart.
The artwork plays a big role in giving it that effect for me. Every panel in this manga is drawn beautifully, and while some series have specific panels that are shown for their amazing artwork, Homunculus is very consistent with its stunning visual appeal. Even for the less thrilling parts of the story, I could never help but feel that this series is a real Masterpiece. You can completely miss any underlying symbolism there is in the story and still feel its enriching tone. I always say that the Masterpiece series are the ones that carry on with you past the realm of the page (er, scans?) into real life. In Homunculus's case, it allowed me to think deeper about several concepts of society and human emotion.
If you're interested in reading the series, I recommend at the least to try the first 2 volumes before putting it down. I personally think it gets better afterward, but by 2 volumes you can start getting a taste of how the manga is. If you do read past then, but start feeling the repetition I was talking about before, I still suggest reading to volume 8, because I believe volume 7 serves as a good transition into the conflicts of Nakoshi's life, which is the real conflict of the entire story.
I hope you enjoy!
Diversity in People
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Ito's... Homunculus?
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Humanity
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