Photo by Nicole. Anashin, Volume 1 Cover Art, How I Met My Soulmate, Kodansha.
How I Met My Soulmate – Information
Author of Story: Anashin
Chapter Count: 7 volumes, 28+ digital chapters
Status: Ongoing
Content Warnings
These content warnings do not reflect the contents of the review below; only the literary work itself.
- Illness
- Mature content
- Partial nudity
Spoiler Disclaimer
This recommendation post may contain small plot spoilers for review purposes. Any major spoilers are hidden by default and are able to be revealed via click or tap.
How I Met My Soulmate – Plot Summary
How I Met My Soulmate (also known as Unmei no Hito ni Deau Hanashi in Japanese) is a really cute romantic manga that focuses on the main character, Yuuki Honda (age 20), and her quest for love.
She is currently in university and is feeling a bit lonely as a young adult living alone for the past two years. She wants to fall in love, but is the kind of person who wants to find her soulmate; or in other words, is looking for “the right one.”
Eager to meet more people, Yuuki and her friend Sanae decide to go to a popular club. While at this club, she meets an interesting (and drunk) man at a club and ends up tending to him for the night.
This person, Iori Souma (age 23), later agrees to help her in her quest of love, as an apology for his rude behavior while he was drunk. These two quickly become good friends, and this begins the plot of this sweet and romantic story!
Why I’ve Enjoyed How I Met My Soulmate
I really love how How I Met My Soulmate starts out. The two main characters don’t immediately begin having feelings for each other, and instead are just two people who became friends by chance. It feels a bit more realistic and relatable.
It also allows the characters to actually learn more about each other before feelings begin to develop! And it’s very interesting to start a love story where the FL receives help finding love. It reminded me of Shujinkou Nikki, but with a more mature character setting.
We also get a great impression of the two main characters early on. Yuuki is an earnest and sweet person who just wants to date whole-heartedly to find “the one.” She just doesn’t know where to start.
Iori, despite having a poor first impression, is quickly shown to actually be a genuinely good person.
Anashin, Volume 3 Cover Art, How I Met My Soulmate, Kodansha.
He also seems great at understanding other people’s feelings, and becomes a very supportive friend to Yuuki during her journey to find love. Both characters are very likable!
Yuuki is a great Fl who is very aware of her own emotions. It’s refreshing to have a main character who’s well-attuned to her own heart.
There are a lot of sweet shoujo mangas out there that show younger FL’s discovering what love is and trying to understand themselves, but in How I Met My Soulmate, she already understands her feelings and even listens to her heart so well.
It seems like she isn’t interested in super casual dating; she really wants to find her destined person. It feels very mature for Yuuki to know exactly what she wants, and to pursue it, too.
I also love the focus on fate, destiny, and soulmates in this series. I think these topics are very fun when relating to romance, and helps keep the storyline wholesome and sweet.
Whether or not you believe in fate or soulmates, this manga shows how true love will make those aspects feel real! It’s a really cute theme in this manga that also sort of shapes the main female lead’s personality. However, this manga also redefines what “fate” truly means to these characters.
Overall, the main characters are super cute and their relationship is very sweet. This manga definitely isn’t a slow burn, but their relationship develops nicely over a reasonable amount of time.
This is also a romance between two adults, so the story feels appropriate in terms of affection; as well as portraying other responsibilities such as their university studies and jobs. The romance feels mature and passionate, which is extra nice in this story since the art style is so gorgeous.
That’s actually one big reason why I’m loving this manga; the art style throughout the series is just so pretty! I also love all the volume cover art of How I Met My Soulmate. They are so gorgeous, colorful, and modern. These characters are very attractive, and the artist is clearly very talented at drawing a crisp, modern art style.
Another great thing about this story is that many of the side characters are interesting. We are very quickly introduced to multiple characters that feel like they have an important role, rather than the plot only focusing on the main couple.
So far, we have met some of Iori’s friends and family, and two love rivals; one for Yuuki and one for Iori. We are still learning about some of these characters and their backstories, but overall even the rivals in love are still interesting people with unique personalities.
None of these side characters seem to have super malicious intentions, but misunderstandings happen very fast in the main character group.
Then there’s Sanae whom we meet at the beginning of How I Met My Soulmate. She is a very supportive and fun character that is close with Yuuki albeit their personality differences. She’s very outgoing and encourages Yuuki to pursue her love interest; such as convincing her to try the club for meeting new people.
She isn’t super involved with the other characters’ messy drama, but I am hoping we’ll get some side-relationship chapters for Sanae (as she is also in a pursuit of love). I just really like her character; she’s such a supportive bestie, haha.
Anashin, Volume 2 Cover Art, How I Met My Soulmate, Kodansha.
I will say that although none of these characters are made to be too overstepping, this romance is turning out to be a love hexagon of sorts, haha! Though there is a lot of miscommunication happening; but none of it feels too angsty.
This story has complex, caring characters who seem to want the best for each other, but their methods of doing so are just weird.
This manga feels like a friends to lovers story, and is written in a mature and a refreshing style. I especially enjoy shoujo mangas like this one, that portray emotionally mature characters in a sweet, wholesome relationship (if you’re a fan of this too, check out A Sign of Affection as well).
I’m looking forward to seeing how the drama in this story plays out, and seeing the main couple strengthen their relationship in How I Met My Soulmate!
Any Cons?
There is a lot of miscommunication in the plot. It’s primarily caused by the supporting characters spreading rumors, making assumptions, and just not communicating properly with the actual people in question!
It turns into a big he-said she-said situation, with nobody knowing how anybody in the group actually feels. It gets a little frustrating, so if the miscommunication trope bothers you, maybe beware.
On the other hand, the main couple seems to be pretty good at communicating with each other and supporting each other, so that’s a good sign.
Anashin, Volume 4 Cover Art, Unmei no Hito ni Deau Hanashi, Kodansha.
There’s also multiple shoujo tropes happening all at the same time in How I Met My Soulmate. We have love rivals popping up within the miscommunication trope, which feels like a more complex version of the usual shoujo drama.
However, the characters don’t really act super bold or dramatic about it, nor do they seem to have malicious intent. I sort of like the way this story is using these tropes to be honest, but I’ll still put them here as a possible con in case some readers want to avoid those tropes.
Final Thoughts
Overall, How I Met My Soulmate has been an interesting read so far. This manga has a fun, drama-filled plot and is very engaging. The main couple is so cute and they are very likable characters; I am rooting hard for their relationship!
This story is also romantic, and so pretty. I really love the art and story thus far, so I’m looking forward to seeing more updates. Check it out and share your thoughts in the comments!
Disclaimer: Any images used for this blog are for illustrative purposes only, are not owned by me, and are under ownership of the artist or publisher.
Images Credit: Anashin, Unmei no Hito ni Deau Hanashi (How I Met My Soulmate). Kodansha, 2022.
