Homunculus (Omnibus) Vol. 5-6

About

Nakoshi Susumu, age thirty-four, lives in his car between the homeless camps and the business district — suspended between two worlds that want nothing to do with each other. When a medical student offers him a large sum to undergo trepanation — drilling a hole in his skull — Nakoshi agrees. What follows is far stranger than hallucination: he begins to see people's psychological distortions as grotesque physical forms superimposed on their bodies. Hideo Yamamoto's horror manga uses its supernatural premise as a lens for examining the damage people carry invisibly. Each "homunculus" Nakoshi perceives is a manifestation of trauma, repression, or desire — making every encounter a confrontation with someone else's hidden self. A manga about the terrifying gift of seeing people as they really are — and the slow realization that the observer is the most distorted of all.