Free Soul

‘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 seeminglyhopeless 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.