It is time for us to go back to the story of Qi, a Chinese lesbian teacher whose mind has been switched in time with her past teenage self. Will she then be able to save the woman she loves from the disease that is slowly killing her? This review contains some spoilers for Volume 3 of Soulmate written by Wenzhili and illustrated by Keranbing.

IN THE PRESENT : Teenage Qi is finally reintegrated in her job as a teacher, a remark from her director pushes her to question the reasons that had led her to practice this profession in the first place. An incident allows her to discover who was the anonymous slanderer who outted her on the school social network, while at the same time discovering why she became a teacher and what price she had to pay for it : in order to have a regular income to help pay for Yuanzi’s medical expenses, she refused a contract to publish her first short story. Finally confronting the slanderer in person helps Teenage Qi realize the extant of her love for Yuanzi and decide to fulfill her dream of becoming a full-time writer with her help

IN THE PAST : Something is wrong. Adult Qi has told Teenage Yuanzi that she was in love with her, yet Yuanzi does not react accordingly to the news. Is something missing, maybe Yuanzi hasn’t fallen in love with her yet? Or perhaps it has something to do with the play their friend Keke is about to produce, a play that Adult Qi knows fully well that Keke’s father didn’t came to watch in her original timeline. To be sure that her own future will change and that she’ll be able to save the life of her loved one, Adult Qi decides to ensure that Keke’s father will be there to see his daughter ‘s first success as a play director.

Well, a lot of things happen during those 326 pages ! The stakes keeps getting higher and it is funny to see Adult Qi acting like an adult while in a teenage body (like when she literally break some would-be intrusive flirting boys in a single sentence). The chapter dedicated to the theatre play is perfectly drawn, showcasing some interesting part of the Chinese culture (the play is an adaptation of the classic tale “Tang Buo and Chow Heung”, which was adapted as movies in 1969 and 1993) and allowing Adult Qi to finally understand what is missing for her to fix everything and go back in her own timeline. When that event finally happen, it is in the most romantic way possible.

As for Teenage Qi, it’s a pleasure to see her mature this way and finally accept who she will become. This is to the point where she thinks she will never go back in the past and decide to carve her own path for the future, reciprocating Yuanzi’s feelings for her and accepting that their love will be short, for Yuanzi cannot be saved now. Unless…

Really, too bad that the gorgeous cover art is spoiling the ending ^-^

The secondary characters are what makes this volume so good, each one getting one or more chapters dedicated to how their own issues impact Qi in both timelines. Perhaps the most interesting one is Xinjue, Teenage Qi’s student who outed her anonymously : we finally learn why she did it, as well as the troubles she has in accepting her own closeted homosexuality. While she ends getting a well-deserved backlash for her actions, I still believe it is perhaps too much a strong one… Yet, this allows the story to be more realistic as this is probably what would befall Xinjue if she had done such acts in the ‘real life’. And I can’t help but to feel some pity for a girl who acted on impulse in trying to get herself loved and ended in losing everything she had.

Luckily, not all is dark and there is also a lot of humor, which helps to de-dramatize the most serious moments (my fave ? The reactions of Adult Yuanzi, desperately wanting to have some love action with Teenage Qi… But unable to pass the block of knowing that, even if stuck in an adult body, it’s a teenage girl completely unexperienced in sexual matters that lives with her)

As said before, you’ll know the end just by looking at the cover and it’s as romantic as you could expect (if not more). Those ladies deserved their happy ending, and it’s all wrapped up simply and with cuddly feelings oozing from every case.

ART : 7 – Lizi WENHZI knows how to draw good looking characters, I’m less of a fan of her super-deformed faces for comic relief but that is never a problem. The background are well drawn, and the colors aren’t too artificial looking despite being computer made.

STORY : 8 – Too bad for the cover art spoiling everything, but all the threads are wrapped up nicely until the end. The bonus chapter doesn’t bring anything new or useful, but is still a nice touch showcasing more how Qi and Yuanzi couple works as adults.

CHARACTER : 9 – Every character is relatable to, even the bastard ones like Keke’s father : we all know people like this, whether they’re good or bad persons. They may be just imaginary characters, yet we all know people who are like them. And we love them more for being that way.

SERVICE : 0 – Even with the few sexual innuendos of Yuanzi really turned on by accidentally seeing the naked body of her lover (barely shown on page).

YURI : 10 – As per the two previous volumes, of course.

OVERALL : I’m a sucker for well written love stories that end well and for well written science-fiction/fantasy : having both in the same manhua is a delight and, while Soulmate doesn’t break new grounds as a general rule, it is well worth your time.

I wish the World could be filled with more people like Qi, Yuanzi and all their accepting friends and families : it would surely be a better place.

“In tens of thousands of spaces and times, I will always love you.”