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Description
"Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette. Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire -- and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate. With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London's high society? Or will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart?"--Amazon.com, viewed February 23, 2012.… (more)
User reviews
The greatest fun of this adaptation, however, is the expression on the characters' 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?
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
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.
I love that this follows closely to the actual story instead of cutting out half the plot. I already read Soulless awhile back so I knew what would happen, but that doesn't mean it would be boring. It was a good refresher that was short, simple, and quick. If I ever need to reread Soulless I could just read the manga instead. And for people who haven't read Soulless before I think the story is easy enough to grasp and there shouldn't be any confusion.
I will definitely be reading the next volume of this when it comes out.
Quick & Dirty: Hits all the high points of the novel without any of the fluff. Soulless translates well into the Manga form with snappy lines and quirky characters.
Opening Sentence: Mama, it says here that a new gentlemen’s club opened last week in Mayfair.
The Review:
I’m going to start off my review with this note. If you are a manga fan, I highly recommend the Soulless Manga: Volume 1. It is funny, it’s quirky, and it hits all the high notes of the novel without any of the filler. There are a few things that may cause problems for true fans of the Parasol novels. In the manga, all the characters are pretty and young (minus the wax-like man) and boob-alicious. I always saw Professor Lyall as middle aged but here he looks like he is barely twenty. I did feel like one thing was missing from the manga, since you weren’t given the characters thoughts, it was hard to understand character motivations. The novel is full of each characters inner thoughts so it did feel like something was missing. Alexia never really complained about her Italian heritage or her father. Lord Maccon only mentions once that he is Scottish later in the manga, otherwise you would never know. I did read the novel and the manga back to back so I just filled in the gaps from memory.
The manga also starts off differently than the novel. Alexia and her family are at the breakfast table reading about Alexia’s adventures the night before from the paper. Although her family doesn’t realize that the paper is talking about her. The vampire attack is played as more of a flashback in Alexia’s mind, where you learn about Alexia’s abilities as a Soulless. Her Soulless abilities allow her to negate supernatural powers, temporarily turning them human as long as she is touching them skin to skin.
As I stated before, since there is barely any filler, the manga is a fast paced a fun read. This manga is a fantastic translation of the novel, scenes and dialogue match the book exactly. Lord Akeldama’s flamboyancy translates perfectly into manga form (his character was definitely made to be drawn!). Soulless Manga, Volume 1 is a must have for the fans of the Parasol Protectorate series.
FTC Advisory: Yen Press provided me with a copy of Soulless: The Manga, Volume 1. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
For those who do not know the story from the novel, it is set in an alternate Victorian London where werewolves and vampires are accepted members of society. Our protagonist is Alexia Tarabotti, a half-Italian spinster who is a preternatural: a person without a soul. Whenever Alexia comes into physical contact with a supernatural being, she renders them mortal, which doesn’t make her very popular with a number of the supernatural crowd. Of course, there are exceptions, one fabulous one being the incredibly flamboyant vampire Lord Akeldama, and another being alpha werewolf Lord Conall Maccon, although he finds Alexia frustrating in other ways.
The story is a comedy of manners, with a good bit of romance and plenty of mystery and excitement, especially in the latter half. The artwork is stunning! The artist captures the world and the characters brilliantly. Okay, yes, Alexia does not have her trademark Italian nose or quite as much stature as she does in the book, but I think that comes with being a manga. There are some things that will be lost. This reader was personally very pleased with the way Lord Maccon looked since it was very close to what was pictured in her head, and the amount of panels to feature his naked backside made for very pleasant reading. If you enjoy the books, or if you like romance, urbane fantasy, or very naked werewolves you should definitely pick it up. Really, I think you should pick it up anyway because it is a very good read and I doubt you would regret it.
Miss Alexia Tarabotti is a soulless or
This was a very fun read, it was engaging and I loved the illustration style. The illustrations are absolutely stunning. The costumes are extremely intricate and beautiful and I never had any trouble following the characters or story. The style is very manga-like but the book is read from front to back, left to right in American style.
I actually think this manga retelling was even more fun than the original full length novel. It hits all the best points of the story, there is a lot of humor, and the dialogue is witty and fun. This is the first time I have really read a manga that focused more on romance than action (although there is plenty of that). I actually really enjoyed it, it was just so much fun (I know I keep repeating fun...but it really was a fun read).
Alexia and Conall are a bit more light-hearted and goofy than in the original novel. Alexia is portrayed as much prettier and lady-like than I imagined her to be from the novels, still the slight shift in character worked really well for this manga style graphic novel. I loved Lord Akeldama, his overdone and flamboyant characterization translates perfectly into manga format and was incredibly well done.
Really this is one of those manga’s that was incredibly well-balanced. We are introduced to wonderful characters, there is an intriguing mystery, a solid world, action, romance, and beautiful illustration throughout. I really really enjoyed it.
I would recommend to older YA or adult readers. There is some nudity in here as well as some steamy scenes. Aside from that though the story doesn’t really have any swearing or horrific violence or anything like that.
Overall a stunningly beautiful and highly entertaining graphic novel. I really loved it. I would definitely recommend to fans of the Parasol Protectorate series. I would also recommend for those who love humorous manga that have witty dialogue, steampunk elements, and romance. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book!
It's been several years since I read the novel for Soulless, the first book of Carriger's Parasol
Really, the whole way it was laid out was perfect. The 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.
After getting my hands on a copy, I can say I'm impressed, both by how well the text translated over to manga and by the art. To say REM's work is
Manga wouldn't be manga with sexual overtones, but I think REM kept it extremely tasteful and in line with Carriger's books.
I definitely recommend this to any manga or Parasol Protectorate fan. It's top notch!
Beautiful artwork accompanies an engaging story to produce this book - a great read. Victorian fashion comes to life before your eyes with the artwork, and the story keeps you turning the pages.
The original series is full of wacky, memorable characters, supernatural happenings, mystery and adventure. It's
The manga version is paired down to the most basic elements and the silliest moments. There's plenty of time to see Conall lose his patience and fall in love with Alexia. Lord Akeldama is resplendent in his best attire. The wax men are creepy, nightmare fuel.
I've read the second Soulless manga and have the third book on order at my local indie. I plan to read the entire series both in both prose and manga forms.