Homunculus (manga)

Homunculus (Japanese: ホムンクルス, Hepburn: Homunkurusu) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hideo Yamamoto. It was serialized in Shogakukan's seinen manga magazine Big Comic Spirits, with its chapters collected in fifteen tankōbon volumes. A live-action film adaptation, directed by Takashi Shimzu and starring Gō Ayano will premiere in April 2021.

Homunculus
Cover of volume 1 of Homunculus
ホムンクルス
(Homunkurusu)
GenrePsychological horror[1][2]
Manga
Written byHideo Yamamoto
Published byShogakukan
MagazineBig Comic Spirits
DemographicSeinen
Original run2003 – 2011
Volumes15
Live-action film
Directed byTakashi Shimizu
Licensed byNetflix
ReleasedApril 2, 2021 (2021-04-02)

Plot

Trepanation is the procedure of drilling a hole in the skull. It is said to increase the blood circulation and improve pressure inside the skull. It is also said to bring out a person's sixth sense, including the ability to use ESP, see ghosts, and move objects with one's mind. This is speculative fiction based on the concept of trepanation.

Susumu Nakoshi is a 34-year-old homeless man living out of his car. For two weeks, he declines his fellow homeless men's invitations to set up a tent with them, preferring to sleep in his car. One day he is accosted by a strange-looking man searching for participants to subject themselves to trepanation. Nakoshi tells the man to leave, and discards the flier the man placed on his windshield. However, when his car is towed, he agrees to let medical student Manabu Itoh drill a hole in his skull in exchange for 700,000 yen. Itoh claims to be interested in trepanation for the sake of science; he is interested in humans, fascinated with ESP and the sixth sense, and wants to disprove the existence of the occult. Itoh's father owns a lab facility, as his father is a rich hospital director. Itoh performs the trepanation surgery on Nakoshi and does a variety of ESP tests. When Nakoshi reveals that he sees distorted humans when using only the left side of his body, Itoh researches and discovers that Nakoshi can see homunculi.

Itoh explains psychoanalytic theory to Nakoshi after the yakuza incident.

Characters
Susumu Nakoshi (名越 進, Nakoshi Susumu)
Portrayed by: Gō Ayano[3]
A 34-year-old man. At the beginning of the series, he is shown to be recently homeless and living out of his car. He is living between two worlds, that of the upper class and that of the homeless. He is a former employee of a foreign bank, and a pathological liar. After the trepanation procedure he gains the ability to see peoples homunculi, or "distortions".
Manabu Ito (伊藤 学, Itō Manabu)
Portrayed by: Ryu Ito[4]
A 22-year-old medical student who proposes the trepanation experiment and investigates material relevant to Nakoshi's reports. He dresses in an overtly flamboyant manner, but hides this fact from his ailing father, with whom he has a somewhat strained relationship and who is a high ranking doctor at a hospital.
Yukari (ユカリ)/1775
A 17-year-old girl working in a burusera salon and one of the first homunculi Nakoshi interacts with.

Media

Manga

Homunculus is written and illustrated by Hideo Yamamoto. It was serialized in Shogakukan's Big Comic Spirits from 2003 to 2011.[5] Shogakukan collected its chapters in fifteen tankōbon volumes, released from July 30, 2003 to April 28, 2011.[6][7]

Volume list
No. Release date ISBN
1 July 30, 2003[6]978-4-09-187071-1
2 April 30, 2004[8]978-4-09-187072-8
3 July 30, 2004[9]978-4-09-187073-5
4 December 24, 2004[10]978-4-09-187074-2
5 February 28, 2005[11]978-4-09-187075-9
6 August 30, 2005[12]978-4-09-187076-6
7 November 30, 2006[13]978-4-09-180772-4
8 June 29, 2007[14]978-4-09-181068-7
9 February 29, 2008[15]978-4-09-181747-1
10 August 28, 2009[16]978-4-09-182129-4
11 December 26, 2009[17]978-4-09-182250-5
12 February 27, 2010[18]978-4-09-183018-0
13 July 30, 2010[19]978-4-09-183353-2
14 December 25, 2010[20]978-4-09-183535-2
15 April 28, 2011[7]978-4-09-183790-5

Live-action film

In September 2020, it was announced that Homunculus will receive a live-action film adaptation that will premiere in 2021.[21] The film is directed by Takashi Shimizu and stars Gō Ayano. It will premiere in Japan on April 2, 2021, and will premiere exclusively on Netflix worldwide.[3]

Reception

As of September 2020, the Homunculus manga had over 4 million copies in circulation.[21]

References
  1. Loo, Egan (February 14, 2011). "Hideo Yamamoto Ends Homunculus Horror Manga Next Week". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
  2. Loo, Egan (July 13, 2009). "Hideo Yamamoto's Homunculus Manga Returns from 1-Year Break". Anime News Network. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  3. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (December 2, 2020). "Live-Action Homunculus Film Reveals Cast, Director, April 2 Debut, Netflix Global Streaming". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  4. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (December 14, 2020). "Live-Action Homunculus Film Unveils Teaser Trailer, 4 More Cast Members". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  5. 山本英夫の問題作「ホムンクルス」完結、最終巻は4月. Natalie (in Japanese). February 21, 2011. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  6. ホムンクルス / 1 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  7. ホムンクルス / 15 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  8. ホムンクルス / 2 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  9. ホムンクルス / 3 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  10. ホムンクルス / 4 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on July 21, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  11. ホムンクルス / 5 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on July 20, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  12. ホムンクルス / 6 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on July 18, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  13. ホムンクルス / 7 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  14. ホムンクルス / 8 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  15. ホムンクルス / 9 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  16. ホムンクルス / 10 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  17. ホムンクルス / 11 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  18. ホムンクルス / 12 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  19. ホムンクルス / 13 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  20. ホムンクルス / 14 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  21. Sherman, Jennifer (September 10, 2020). "Hideo Yamamoto's Homunculus Manga Gets Live-Action Film in 2021". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
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