Look, I picked up My Soul Mate expecting romance, the title practically demands it, doesn’t it? Instead, I got something infinitely stranger and considerably more ghostly: a semi-autobiographical manhua about two struggling artists who forge a creative partnership across that most inconvenient of boundaries—life and death itself.
Our hero, Chung Chuen Ming, is living the dream. Well, not his dream—everyone else’s. He’s spent years as an art assistant perfecting other people’s comics while his own creative ambitions gather dust like abandoned sketches. So he does what any sensible person would do: quits his job to pursue his passion project. Unfortunately, he dies. One simply hates when that happens.
Enter Cheung Shan, a fellow novice artist who suddenly finds himself possessed, and I do mean that literally, by Chung Chuen Ming’s ghost. What follows is a collaboration between the living and the deceased, racing against deadlines both mortal and, well, metaphysical.
The premise? Absolutely delicious. The execution? Rather like a first draft that needed another pass.
The dialogue suffers from a certain stiffness, whether that’s the original or the translation’s fault, I couldn’t say, but conversations that should crackle instead merely pop intermittently. Grammar stumbles here and there like an uninvited guest at a party. The speech bubbles lack pizzazz. These are not small matters in a medium where every word must earn its panel space.
And yet.
There’s something rather touching about this odd couple of illustrators. Their dynamic, while underdeveloped, grows on you like moss on a gravestone slowly, persistently, and with unexpected charm. The art itself occasionally soars, particularly in a sequence near the end that reminds you why visual storytelling matters. The ending arrives in rather a hurry, leaving plot threads dangling like unfinished pencil lines, but it manages sweetness without saccharine.
What saves My Soul Mate from mediocrity is precisely what its title promises: soul. Beneath the clunky dialogue and rushed pacing lives something genuine, a story about artists who refuse to let minor inconveniences like death stop them from creating. If you’ve ever felt possessed by your own creative demons (or collaborated with someone who might as well be a ghost), you’ll recognize the truth in this strange little tale.
Wah Kee has given us a flawed but earnest meditation on artistic ambition and the collaborations that sustain it. I wish there were more development, more scenes, more of that genuine connection between our spectral odd couple. As it stands, My Soul Mate is a quick, quirky read that doesn’t quite reach its potential but reveals enough heart to make you root for it anyway.
7 Things You Need to Know Before Reading My Soul Mate by Wah Kee
1. This Isn’t the Romance You Think It Is Despite its title, My Soul Mate delivers zero romantic tension and maximum supernatural collaboration. The “soul mate” here is literally a creative partnership between a dead artist and his living host—think less romance, more ghostly co-working arrangement.
2. The Premise Is Pure Creative Gold Chung Chuen Ming dies pursuing his artistic dreams, then possesses fellow novice artist Cheung Shan to finish his manhua. It’s a semi-autobiographical exploration of what artists sacrifice for their craft, occasionally including their actual lives.
3. Translation Issues May Haunt Your Reading Experience The dialogue feels stiff and grammatically inconsistent throughout. Whether this stems from the original Cantonese or the English translation remains unclear, but it noticeably impacts character development and emotional resonance.
4. The Art Elevates What the Words Don’t When the story stumbles, the visuals save it. The artwork ranges from competent to genuinely lovely, with at least one sequence near the finale that showcases real visual storytelling prowess—a fitting tribute in a story about artists.
5. Character Development Takes a Backseat Both protagonists remain frustratingly opaque. We get minimal backstory and surface-level motivations, making emotional investment challenging. The dynamic between them improves gradually, but you’ll wish for deeper exploration of who these artists really are.
6. Pacing Problems Plague the Third Act The ending arrives like someone shouting “Time’s up!” during an exam. Plot threads receive hasty resolutions, and the story’s most interesting elements feel underdeveloped. It’s a sprint when you wanted a marathon.
7. Authentic Soul Compensates for Technical Flaws Despite its imperfections, My Soul Mate possesses genuine heart. Anyone who’s struggled with creative ambition, collaborated under pressure, or felt possessed by their artistic vision will recognize something true here. It’s flawed, but it matters.
My Soul Mate proves that sometimes the most interesting creative partnerships are the most impossible ones. Just maybe give it a second draft next time.
Genre: Manhua, Supernatural, Drama
Perfect for: Artists, comic enthusiasts, readers who appreciate stories about creative struggle
Content warnings: Death, possession
Availability: 20 Jan 2026 but check your local comic retailer or digital platforms
Final Verdict: A concept with soul hampered by execution issues, it’s worth reading for the premise alone, even if the delivery doesn’t quite stick the landing. Sometimes the ghost of a great idea is enough.
Rating: 3.25/5 stars
Thank you to Mad Cave Studios and Nakama Press for providing an advance review copy. All opinions are my own.
jujucation.com 