History Manga / Homunculus

* BaitAndSwitch: Itoh sets off a ''lot'' of red flags at the start of the manga, and initially comes off as an antagonist, though this turns out not to be the case.

* GainaxEnding: That's to be expected in such a MindScrew series. But this is made even more unsettling by the fact that for a moment it ''seems'' like we're heading towards a HappyEnding with Nakoshi realizing Nanako's role in his life and freeing himself from the Homunculi. [[spoiler:[[DownerEnding The exact opposite happens]]: he throws Nanako aside (after ''trepanning her''), stays prisoner of this world and totally loses it, [[GoneHorriblyWrong even trepanning himself two more times]]. Additionally, given Nanako's final scenes and the people Nakoshi is running toward in his final scenes being dressed like cops, it's possible that she died from blood loss.]] [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone Itoh is utterly horrified by how Nakoshi's experience turned that sour.]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/homunculus_manga.png]]

* BaitAndSwitch: Itoh sets off a ''lot'' of red flags at the start of the manga, initially making Itoh come off as an antagonist, though this turns out not to be the case.

* TheReveal: After getting the hang of his new ability, Nakoshi begins to wonder what ''his'' homunculus looks like, and searches for a way to see it. Once he finds another person who can see homunculi, we see that his homunculus is[[spoiler: an''oni'', not just an abstract representation of trauma, like the others are. She's horrified, but]] Nakoshi himself [[TheUnreveal doesn't notice]] and keeps searching for his true face.

* TheReveal: After getting the hang of his new ability, Nakoshi begins to wonder what ''his'' homunculus looks like, and searches for a way to see it. Once he finds another person who can see homunculi, we see that his homunculus is[[spoiler: an [[OurDemonsAreDifferent''oni'']], not just an abstract representation of trauma, like the others. She tries to run away in horror once she sees it, but]] Nakoshi himself [[TheUnreveal doesn't notice]] and keeps searching for his true face.

* TheReveal: After getting the hang of his new ability, Nakoshi begins to wonder what ''his'' homunculus looks like, and searches for some way to see it. Once he finds another person who can see homunculi, we see that his homunculus is[[spoiler: an [[OurDemonsAreDifferent''oni'']], not just an abstract representation of trauma like the others. She tries to run away in horror once she sees it, but]] Nakoshi himself doesn't notice and keeps searching for his true face for the rest of the manga.

* AccentAdaptation: The scanlators translated Nakoshi's backwater [[TohokuRegionalAccent Tohoku accent]] as something akin to [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel's]] bumpkin accent.

* UsefulNotes/{{Homelessness}}: The homeless play a huge part in the story, given that they give our protagonist a place to come back to and talk to him frequently. [[spoiler:We later learn that Nakoshi may have put some of them out of work back when he had a high paying job.]]

* ADateWithRosiePalms: Nakoshi had a compulsion about masturbating at work. When he turned in his resignation letter, he did it on his desk as well.

* WellDoneSonGuy: [[spoiler:Itoh]]'s entire motivation stems from a need to be acknowledged by her father. [[spoiler: Except not really because they're actually a closeted trans woman]]

* Transgender: [[spoiler:Itoh]] is a closeted trans woman.