Soulless: The Manga, Volume 1

I picked this up purely for the art (the gorgeous linework! the fancy dresses! everyone's delicate eyelashes!) but the story is so fun and funny, plus I love Alexia and Lord Maccon's interactions so much that I am actually going to read the novel. So this manga did a pretty good job as promotion for the book series.

The story zips along quite fast as it's a manga adaptation of a full-length novel, and I felt there were tons of things that were left vague or unexplained. For example, just what does it mean to be soulless? As far as I can tell, it really doesn't affect Alexia's life that much aside from being able to neutralize supernatural abilities. Lots of things about the setting aren't really explained either, but the story is still show more understandable regardless.

I love love love the character designs for basically all the major characters and the artist did such an expressive and beautiful job with the artwork. I want to read the rest of the manga for sure, but I have also already picked up the Soulless novel. show less

I loved, loved, loved the Soulless novel and I was unbelievably excited about the manga. They finally got them in our local bookstores and read it on the commute home.

The Good Stuff:
I liked the round and organic feel of the art, it didn't have that overly sharp and angular art that I'm not too fond of in a lot of manga.The backgrounds were gorgeous, and it was lovely to see little steampunk touches here-and-there, like bizarre bikes in the the park, dirigibles randomly in the sky, The Vampire Hive background detail was amazing, the glassicals (which were a little underemphasized imo). I can only imagine how fun it must have been to come up with the clothing designs. There are some pretty intimate scenes in the novel, and they were show more translated quite tastefully- it added to the humour to see the artist's efforts to cover up Lord Maccon's private bits towards the end. The Vixi Man was appropriately gruesome, more so than I had imagined him even, and the villains were quite creepily rendered. And then there's Lord Akeldama! not as I imagined him, but I still loved him anyway: I only wish he was in colour so that we could get the full effect of his...particular fashion sense. It was nice to see a fully realized world of Soulless, and as a fan of the series, I really enjoyed it.

The Not-so Good Stuff:
I was a little disappointed in how short it was. I didn't think the entire novel would fit into a single manga volume, and I wish it had been at the very least, two volumes. It does have this rushed feel to it, and I think that if you are not already familiar with the series, some parts of the world and the plot points of the story can be confusing. Also, if it had been split, there might have been more time to focus on things that I felt were grievously underemphasized, like the aforementioned glassicals, the marvellous butler Floote, Tunstell was only in 1 or 2 two panels, and Ivy's hats! They were far more underwhelming than I would have liked. As far as complaints go, these are minor gripes. The only REAL problem I had was Lord Maccon's hair. It was too short! I could accept everyone else's differences, but his hair bothered me to the point that I might even draw over it.

I enthusiastically recommend it to fans, but for those who are new to the series, I would urge you to read the novel first to get the best out of it. show less

After having read the audiobook version of the book this is based on, the Soulless manga (well, graphic novel in a manga-esque art style) is a sort of speed-run adaptation of the story, but it hits in a pleasant way that doesn't sacrifice the plot of the original book, and streamlining some of the comedy in it's new visual medium, replacing some of the British humor and wit with blink-and-you'll-miss-it illustrations with really good expressions. The art style is also gorgeous, reminiscent of Black Butler (another supernatural manga series in a Victorian England setting), and it really does the characters described in the book justice.

Though one thing I find particularly interesting about the art style is just how young everyone looks. show more If you didn't read or listen to the original book first, you might not have a clear grasp on how old the characters are supposed to be? In the book, it's stated that Alexia (our main character) is a spinster, and she's 26 years old, which is old for the Victorian era - especially if you aren't married, and her age is such a big deal in the book that it's always mentioned. Even the woman posing as Alexia on the covers of the original book series are clearly adults possibly late 20s, in their 30s, maybe even early 40s, but the art style in the manga really shows Alexia being youthful. But again: this is the Victorian era, so of course her being considered old is so prominent, and in this illustrated adaptation of the story, her age is almost emphasized by her sisters being drawn young, and even her friend Ivy looking pretty young, almost teenaged, herself. Though in terms of Alexia's appearance: she's also described as having darker "Italian" skin on top of her dark hair, but that's not reflected in the art style - and while the said can be same about the models on the covers of the books, the graphic novel being illustrated and still not reflecting just how different Alexia is from others on top of being soulless may be a turn off to some. But at least, they cut out a lot of the "Italian" talk in this adaptation, which got a little grating in the original book, so you win some you lose some.

The story is still a streamlined version of the book, so if you've already read the book, you're not missing much: you're basically just getting the highlight reel, in a good way, along with the nice art and illustrated interpretations of the story's characters and world. But if you're not familiar with the book and this is your first introduction to the series, the pacing might seem a bit rushed by comparison. It truly does feel like a edited down version of the first book in the Parasol Protectorate series, but not necessarily in a bad way: just in a way that might leave those who have no context for the original book out of the loop on some details.

There are 2 other books in the series of graphic novel adaptations of the series that I'm curious to hunt down and read first, as while I was reading both this book and listening to an audiobook version of the book it's based on at the same time, I wonder if the other two graphic novels will make sense and still suffer from oddly fast pacing without their respective books as context (assuming each of the mangas is a 1:1 adaptation of their respective book volumes despite the manga series going only by the name "Soulless" and not having their respective books' titles).

Overall, I did end up liking this adaptation of the story for what it is, bringing me back a time where anime and manga were becoming more mainstream and more available in the US, and even English-language books getting graphic novel adaptations with manga-esque art styles, or getting Japanese manga and anime adaptations of their stories, so not only do I recommend it for a quick supernatural mystery fix with nice art and a little bit of illustrated mild spiciness, but it's also a series I hope to hunt down and own. show less

It was refreshing to turn to something quick and light with this manga adaptation of the well-beloved (at least here in the 75ers group) manner-steam-para-punk-romance novel, Soulless. If you have read that novel, I hardly need detail the plot here. (If you haven't read that novel, why the heck not? It's jolly good fun.) The manga adds sleek, attractive illustration to the mix, resulting in visualized characters (looking much younger than one might expect) that "show" what the novel previously had to tell. The fashions, whether loosely limned in black and white or richly illustrated in the few color pages at the front, were particularly delightful to see.

The greatest fun of this adaptation, however, is the expression on the characters' show more faces and through their bodies during particular interactions. Mutterings, eyebrow-raisings, flirtations, are all rendered in clean lines alongside the quirky dialogue. Alexia's substantial bosom has never been so readily apparent, for example... and Lord Maccon's observations of that endowment have never been so hilarious. Though the interpretation of the characters delivers audience appeal over descriptive accuracy, I found the images to be a fine fit and a pleasant way to expand the novel's demographic. That said, I don't think this is a substitute for the novel; its purpose seems to be to collect teens into the growing coterie of Carriger's readers, and just in time for the soon-to-be-released YA series she's been working on. For the rest of us, this is a worthy diversion that offers an hour's entertainment and some actual LOLing. What more could one ask? show less

After reading a terrible, awful, no good very bad book, I needed something fresh and happy. I've had this manga in my to-read pile for ages, so it seemed a good time to grab it. Wise choice.

It's been several years since I read the novel for Soulless, the first book of Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series. I was excited that it came out as a manga. Steampunk is a visual feast for the eyes--the technology, the fabulous clothing, the dramatic settings--and REM is an incredible artist. The novel translates to comic format incredibly well. There is that initial shift where the way I imagined the characters has to accept the artist's rendering; this was especially true for Lord Maccon.

Really, the whole way it was laid out was perfect. The show more wit and plot flow at a good pace--it's a very fast read. I remembered the basics of the novel but it had been long enough that I was still surprised by some of the developments.

In all, an excellent read that does justice to the novel and perhaps adds more through its gorgeous artwork. show less

A graphic novelization of Gail Carriger's "Souless", the first novel in her parasol universe.
Alexia Tarabotti already struggles with high society's expectations, with her being a spinster, her dead Italian father, and her not having a soul (meaning she can cancel out supernatural powers). This gets worse when a Vampire rudely attacks her at a party, earning her extra attention in a major investigation of London's supernatural society.

Content Warning: Nudity and Semi-Spicy Scenes, Horrific Scientific Shinanigans, and VERY Outdated Views on Women.
(Aka, she's a spinster in her 20s. Her TWENTIES.)

I've seen the actual novel, and it's on my list, but I'm happy to tuck this one under my cap. The artwork is quite pretty (the same artist show more illustrated a paranormal romance series from my teenage years), and it gave me a skim over of the story that makes me just want to read the actual book all the harder. If "Steampunk Urban Vampire Fantasy" sounds fun to you then please pick both of them up. show less

They illustrations were really lovely, for the most part aligned with what I envisioned the characters to be when reading the book. As much as I enjoy manga, after reading the book I can't help but miss all the little story lines they took out. I so wanted to seen more of Ivys hats ! and they didn't mention the Floote dynamic either. And a lot of the backstory information was left out, especially with her family. But as usual I loved the Alexia-Conall dynamic, and Prof. Lyall was lovely as usual. I hope they incorporate more of the steampunk that is so apparent in the texts in the mangas to come, especially when we get to meet the multifaceted Madame Lefoux (im sorry but thats a horriby cliched french name). I know that not everyone show more cares for the series, but it is nice cozy bit of fun, all be it not of the highest calibre. show less