Warning, this story is pretty gore. As I read more works by Yamamoto, Hideo, the more I love his work. He has this exceptional ability of capturing this dark sexual identity in horror. I often find myself relating to a lot of his stories and characters. Ichi is no different, he struggles with his identity and is still very much a kid. I can relate to all the masochism and sadism in this book, and the bullying and pent up fear and anger in oneself. Ichi is a comically terrifying character and I love him, Jiji is also quite the amusement of a character. I have only read the Prelude and Homunculus at this time, and I plan to read his other books as well. Hideo is amazing at capturing psychological horrors spirit. The unsettling nature of his stories and the darkness to his stories are amazing. The art multiplies his stories greatness. Finally, all i can say is read this book and you will start to understand how great of an author Hideo is, and how amazing he is at making his characters feel real and human.