Free Soul

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‘Free Soul’ is an interesting manga.

It’s about a woman named Keito. She is a lesbian who got kicked out of home and is now staying with a kind painter woman and her cook who graciously offered her a place to stay. She also pursues romances with various women who ultimately just use and leave her, though she also meets others who want to love her.

That description of the manga is an apt description of Keito herself. She has been abandoned by many while also offered kindness by others. She expends a great portion of herself trying to make up with her mother and pursue seemingly ... hopeless romances while ignoring better potentials. She seems surrounded by things that reflect her, her life, and her feelings.

Free Soul is no doubt a somber manga and, at times, it seems to be pointless.

There is no grand ‘goal’ or ‘dream’ the character is following. There is no real parable to take in. There isn’t even any message or objective the manga follows. Instead, the manga seems to be a short tale of a young woman struggling to get through the difficulties of life and slowly getting achievements inch by inch.

Really, it’s a ‘slice of life’ manga in the truest sense of the term.

I’m typically the type who do not like ‘pointless’ manga. I like my manga to have some sort of objective and for the plot to be making steady progress towards that objective. Had Free Soul been a long manga, the pointlessness I referred would all likely have been a grave weakness. Instead, its short length allows it to remain interesting throughout and the pointlessness is arguably even a strength.

It allows easier empathy with the main character, Keito, and for her to come across as human. She has the kind of struggles that readers will recognize and the kind of feelings we might be all too familiar with.

And that’s the kind of mindset I would suggest reading Free Soul for. Read it for a short, moving, and possibly endearing story that will end making you feel a little more joyful with life.

Reading Free Soul feels like pausing time. There's not much too it and very little significant progression. Because of that, it starts inviting questions about why we choose to be where we are, why we choose to be with the people we're with, and why we choose the path in life that we do. Also, somewhat, the reverse: there are some things about us that we cannot change and people we feel that we cannot let go of. It doesn't say a lot about these things directly, but it presents a lot of scenes that evoke our feelings about those scenes. If you give more ... than it gives, you'll enjoy it more, I think.

I checked this out because I adore the artist's drawing style. Her character designs are so simple and plain, yet they slide directly into sensuality so easily. It's really impressive here as well.