Before the Review If youre interested in the story read it. Its a fun time that maybe you will enjoy like it seems many have but if even considering this you are still interested in reading the review or have already read the story and want others opinions go ahead. Context Soulmate is a Chinese manga manhua written by Wenzhi Lizi and drawn by Ke Ran Bing. It focuses on the story of Qi Yu along two separate time lines with the 17 year old Qi yu being transported into her 27 year old self along with her 27 year old self being transported into her 17 year old self. The story could be summed up as a story of connections love and changing regrets if you want a better synopsis read the one on anilist. Intro Im going straight to the point dont read this bro I mean it. Ive always considered myself a chill guy its very rare for me to get angry but this shit broke me. For full transparency this review is written and fueled by an absolute sheer rage fury and disappointment of the likes that I think I havent felt for a work in years. Im going to go deep into spoiler territory as most if not all of my complaints pertain to the ending and thanks to the fact that Ill use some story beats to reference aspects. Simply if you want to read it do it ignore this review maybe it doesnt cause you this level of vitriol like it did for me and maybe youll enjoy it like many people seem to have dont take this review as a recommendation rather this is a structured critique of a piece of art. First tho lets start with the good. The Good As vitriolic as this has got me this gives me no excuse to undermine the genuine good that this manhua has. For starters the premise is pretty new and fresh. Stories with one sided time regression or going back to the past or future have become quite popular as of recent but this manhua twists that basic idea and makes it so the future self goes to the past and the past self goes to the future creating this new dynamic structure and premise with a lot more potential to branch and explore things. The premise also lends itself to being naturally moving and with a certain degree of purpose unlike many of these stories that just pull a bullshit excuse to allow the story to move. In the early timeline this purpose is helping Yuanzi avoid her future illness and in the future timelines its the simple ever moving presence of discovery and adult life. The effectiveness of this premise can be very easily noticed via the genuinely excellent and constantly moving structure that this manhua has another one of its good points. By changing between the past and the future perspectives every few chapters each one of these timelines gets their own period to expand on its individual story and make connections of how they relate to greater changes in the story and the characters. Its never stale yet never convoluted either a pothole that many stories with different time perspectives often fall into. The art also while not the most beautiful is still genuinely pretty and varyingly expressive with it greatly conveying the emotions through the characters expressions or body language. The only real negative that I can say it falls into in terms of the art and one a lot of other manhua or manwha fall into is the lack of compositional depth or interesting panelling but genuinely you dont notice it thanks to that being the standard plus I get that doing such things in a vertical format is tricky so its only very minor. Its nicely paced too. The other huge positive this series has is the characters. Qi yu: Naturally as the MC Qi Yu has a responsibility to not only be likeable but effective in conveying the stories narrative pace and ideas which she does so perfectly. Qi Yu is perfectly likeable with her being an outgoing honest eager individual that shows genuine strength of character even in her younger self. This is aspect that can be seen from the very first chapters with her in both younger and future selves showing a certain degree of determination and strength built into the character and her actions this is perfectly noticeable by the way in which the younger self adapts into the future with earnest seriousness and dedication even meditating running away but looking back and thinking hell no. Similar can be seen with some aspects of the future selfs story the one that returns to the past. What I also really liked about Qi Yu is that in both timelines while different she still held onto those core principles principles I outlined earlier that make her herself core values or elements intrinsic to her personality even if some of the edges change between the two versions be that via maturity or experience. What also rapidly surprised me is how genuinely not cringe it is. Usually with these types of time manipulating stories I find myself cringing so hard as either the older character in the younger body makes cringy uncomfortable call backs that stand out like a sore thumb and maybe even getting embarrassed as a result which is even worse despite them needing to be better and more mature than that or with the younger person in the future body/self completely falling under the weight of the situation which while understandable doesnt make it any less cringe nor unnatural as while an initial crash out is valid its only reasonable for them to start adapting. And thats exactly what happens in the story instead of making the reader suffer through some needlessly cringe transition period it highlights the strength of character of Qi Yu and her core characteristic by highlighting the difficulties in these new settings yet still finding the resolve to not fall under the weight and make shit work. This is another aspect that I greatly applauded Qi Yu for. Yuanzi: I have less to say about Yuanzi but still as the second MC she brings a nice foil to Qi Yu whilst solidifying herself as her own character. Unlike Qi Yu where her core values and characteristics are more obvious and intrinsic to her with Yuanzi the version of her from each timeline differs quite a bit but I actually found that a nice change. This perfectly showcases how the presence of Qi Yu changes and has changed her in slightly separate ways the differing origins of the affection their attitudes and so on. But this is actually a very nice and reasonable change of course the attitudes of each of them will change. In the future Yuanzi needs to take a slightly more motherly mature caring and cautiousdespite her illness yet still affectionate attitude towards Qi Yu as she still remains a 17 year old in mind while in the past Yuanzi changes towards being more outgoing assertive yet remains to the goofy and caring aspects that the future version also showcases at times. The differing origins for the love also serve to add to the story and the motif that no matter the circumstances well always fall in love. The origin of the sickly future was also nicely handled as it was given a legitimate reason and manner to be solved by making it depression driven eating of sweets thus giving her diabetes related illnesses such as kidney failure in the future Side Characters: The side characters are nice too they have enough personality as to integrate them properly in the story yet not enough scene time to where they obscure the stories purpose or pace with them instead aiding it and adding onto it with them also serving as examples of how through the new opportunities given via this time manipulation things can change for the better. Qi Yu and Yuanzi: The relationship feels genuinely believable and as if it has a proper basis on both timelines really not much else to add. Very well executed. Use of the Time Manipulation: This is one of the aspects that I must applaud too just with a slight setback. The story perfectly captured how this change in perspectives and times allowed each character to fulfill the others regrets or possible misgivings specially those in the past by creating a better life for the other self when they return back to their timeline such as rekindling with her dad curing Yuanzi etc... This nicely showcased what started to develop as a core theme of the story those being regrets changing for the better etc but heres where the slight setback sets in which would also transition us into the negatives the story never fully outlined what the purpose of all this was. Whats the theme of the story whats to learn etc And all this couldve been nicely wrapped up by a proper ending but well youll see how it turns out. The negative The Ending: This is where I am beyond mad. The ending basically consists of the future the 27 year old one Qi Yu returning to a better future where all the changes she made came into fruition and where the 17 year old Qi Yu returns to an unknown past with her memories of the future erased with the only differences being a notebook entry saying yuanzis name and to take care of her health. What. The. Fuck. What happened with the original future timeline? did it just cease to exist or was the sickly Yuanzi left without a Qi Yu? Either way what the fuck. By making it like this it raises a lot of questions about what actually happened while completely invalidating any and all actions that the 17 year old QI Yu took in the future. It takes away any and all weight to the incoming death of the future Yuanzi and it takes away any learning done by the 17 year old Qi Yu by taking away her memories and love of Yuanzi something which wouldve only harnessed the theme of the ever present love more. The only timeline that had a satisfying ? end was the 27 year old QI Yu returning to a better future but that raises such a disgusting amount of paradoxes too that it basically holds no weight either. Imma dissect it a little more in the upcoming sections. Plot Holes: why is only the Qi Yu from the future the one that goes to the past prohibited from saying her origin? What was the process behind the body swap? How did Qi Yu adapt to future technology? tho this one can be excused What the fuck happens with the timeline where Yuanzi is fucking dying the og one from the future after Qi Yu returns to the past and the future Qi Yu changes her future? Why did Qi Yu the 17 year old version forget her memories of the future once she returned to the past? Did all the actions taken by the future Qi Yu the one that returned to the past disappear upon the return of the past Qi Yu in case that they returned to the same time line? and if they did the future and younger personas converge at a certain point? Are they really using the it was all just a dream excuse? Did the younger Qi Yu return to a parallel past timeline where by some fortune the name Yuanzi was written in her notebook? I could go on and on and oooooon but that proves my point enough the ending is so shit and non explanatory that it opens itself to a myriad of paradoxical fallacies and non explanations. The main theory I have for the ending call me dumb if so may but this is the one with least paradoxes is that the Qi Yu the 17 year old version returns to a reality where the future qi yu was but all her actions were erased except for the notebook entry with yuanzis name this pushed for Qi Yu the 17 year old one to by sheer fate unite with Yuanzi in high school and thus start to do many of the things the future Qi Yu did but now with the knowledge that you need to watch Yuanzis health. This also explains why the divorce of Cocos parents remained the same. Now this sounds like a reasonable explanation and Id love to believe it but upon further inspection it still doesnt hold up the best. What happened to the og future timeline? did it just vanish? How does the future and past Qi Yus converge into one time isnt the past version lost by proxy when they converge or was it all in le head dream and it just coincidentally ended the same? These are just a few plot holes and this doesnt even call out the fact that this completely invalidates any and all actions taken in the future timeline with the sickly Yuanzi. What was the purpose of these actions taken for the future if the og future Qi Yu never returned to see the fruits of them and the 17 year old QI Yu didnt learn shit as she lost her memories of the future? Its all bullshit and invalidates half the story it also slightly meddles with the genuine purpose of the 27 year old Qi Yus actions in the past as now they basically just become a show piece to demonstrate a possible reality. Its just bullshit and forms a great deal of paradoxes like a worse Catch 22. It completely falls. It fails to a genuinely stupid degree where it cant even be excused as writing yourself into a corner. What s the purpose?: This ending also completely falls in giving the story a purpose. By not allowing the consequences of any of the changes made be felt as if they were eliminated it looses all meaning and weight in any thematic ideas it was trying to set up. The themes of changing things for the better or whatever which were already shallow go to even more shit as they now prove nothing as all voluntary attempts end up being eliminated in whatever timeline or theory you subscribe to. If it had for example returned the future Qi Yu to her original future/timeline with her sickly Yuanzi it couldve explored the aspect of changing that for the better as it wouldve given the 17 year old QI Yu an opportunity to return to a better changed past with a better future. It also wouldve set up this message with the future QI Yu as it is only through this that the reconciliation with the dad gains meaning and weight. By returning to a sickly Yuanzi we couldve also explored little motifs of grief and show how even through death the love remains further solidifying the big motif of Ill love you in every timeline and circumstance along with that having fulfilled the future Qi Yus wish of spending a little more time with Yuanzi like she did in the past and will be able to experience a little in her future again and by giving her the knowledge that she gave her past self a better future to look forward too. This would also easily explain the whole timeline conundrum by making it a simple branching timeline with a different future. What Should have been done?: I lightly touched on this in the previous paragraph but the proper ending wouldve been for each of the Qi Yus to return to their og timeline with the effects of the QI Yu previously in their timeline still present. This wouldve added weight to all the changes and allowed for the exploration and cementing of a proper theme or purpose as touched on in the previous paragraph. Unfortunately the author didnt bite the bullet. I understand that this as an author would hurt to write. To have your characters die and see their girlfriend die fucking sucks but thats what it needed. Thats what the story was building up to and it wouldve made a nice twist into a more logical and heavy conclusion. Though I recognize that this is nowherenear perfect as it wouldve made the actions taken in the past by the 27 year olds Qi Yus feel a little less meaningful for her as it didnt change HER future only that of her past self. Truly the author wrote himself into a corner and thats the best ending I couldve come up with as all other just result in paradoxes on paradoxes. The author just needed to bite that bullet and return each to their og timeline as ugly and unfortunate as it couldve been. That wouldve been devastating and wouldve lived in my mind for weeks to come now all that remains is disappointment and anger. Frankly I wouldnt even have minded if so happened that when the 27 year old Qi Yu returned to the future Yuanzi was miraculously given a few more years or even a few more decades despite the story implying otherwise sure thats decently copouty but that doesnt even compare to the entire copout that was the ending sorry. This ending feels like if Your Lie in April or something ended with a JK everythings all right lmaooo parallel words or something blah blah. Its genuinely tragic how much it fails. Conclusion The story was great I quite liked it honestly the characters were lovable there was a perfect amount of tension and release along with satisfaction in the story the premise was nice and the structure was great but the ending invalidates any and all actions taken in the story and any and all attempts to try to wrap your head around it lead to no satisfying conclusion. This is an absolute botchery of an ending and of a story really. I am now more disappointed deeply so than angry. It just feels like a wildly inconclusive and inconsequential end to a kinda remarkable story that decided to throw any weight and good it had out the window. This is tragic and fucking shit. Id like to insult the author but not only is that not allowed but I wont stoop that low I just wish he had chosen a different path or maybe laid out his story beforehand so as to not write himself into an awkward corner or situation like it did. Dont know. Such a disappointment. Would still read a later work from him tho If you read this far into the review or just skipped to the end to see the result thanks either way. Ill give it like a 4 because despite the absolute shit ending god im still so devastated by how inconclusive it is it just makes it bad not horrible but thats mostly due to the quality of the rest of the chapters even if id love to give it less. Godspeed. P.S. If someone disagrees with me id love to hear why. Also the shit of the multiple timelines is so confusing to properly write without it being a confusion. Also eng aint my first language.