Soloist in a Cage T01

檻ノ中のソリスト [Ori no Naka no Soloist] #1

by Shiro Moriya

This is a prison where every single prisoner is housed, an inescapable cage, which has grown to the size of being considered a “city”. Born and raised in that bleak and snowy city, a young girl lives alone with her baby brother. What will be their fate…? Their story of hope and struggle begins here.

Genres: Manga, Dystopia, Fantasy, Comics, Graphic Novels, Drama, Seinen

Pocket Book

First published June 4, 2021

Reviews

[Zala · Rating 2 out of 5]

Placeholder for volumes 1-3
This started out promising but then flopped so bad.

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dystopian John Wick with a badass dagger-wielding female protagonist named Chloe on a brutal mission to save her baby brother from a city-sized prison full of tyrannical guards and savage outlaws.

A gritty action thriller with elements of 1984 and Brave New World. It’s dark, moody and bloody, taking place in a grimy jail always sheeted in layers of snowfall. The plot and character motivations are fairly straightforward but it excels at what it does. It forces good people to do bad things for the sake of survival and it uses its dark set pieces to produce some quality art.

Chloe is a cool protagonist and I enjoyed her journey from helpless little girl to morally gray rebel assassin. A bittersweet quest of revenge and redemption.

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

The perimeter of Prison City is patrolled by armed guards and killer robots, but the prisoners serving life terms inside are left to survive on their own terms. And any children they might have inside stay inside with them.

A decade after the sole successful escape attempt, a teenage girl enters the prison with, let's say, "a very particular set of skills." Her mission is to find the one precious thing that was left behind during the escape. And god help anyone who gets in her way.

The premise is ridiculously unlikely but still compelling in its simplicity and execution. And since it is a three-volume series, there doesn't seem a lot of room for extraneous fluff.

I'll be back for more.


FOR REFERENCE:

Contents: Chapter 1. Little Brother -- Chapter 2. Big Sister -- Chapter 3. The Car Dealer with No Cars for Sale, Part 1 -- Chapter 4. The Car Dealer with No Cars for Sale, Part 2 -- Chapter 5. The Car Dealer with No Cars for Sale, Part 3 -- Chapter 6. The Escapee's Lost Property

[Curious Madra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Soloist in a cage is a really well done manga....no words....

[Beanis Weenis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good and depress what the heck
Kinda violet evergarden vibes so my friend might like this
Imma snatch the next volume soon heheh

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

L'ho comprato perché ho visto delle recensioni molto positive che lo indicavano come mix perfetto tra AoT e the promised neverland. Devo dire che ho trovato una sua originalità, mi piace la protagonista, la sua storia e il rapporto con il fratello minore. Mi piace l'idea di questa immensa prigione e delle guardie Yes Man, dotate di intelligenza artificiale. Bellissime tavole, e di piacevole lettura.
Ha la mia attenzione ed essendo solo tre volumi, se la deve giocare bene.

[Rahy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes it is good to judge a book by its cover.
Cuz I saw this at my bookstore and only picked it up bc the cover was gorgeous (though I told myself to stop buying books)
I didn’t even know what it was about.

And oh lord. This book was definitely not what I expected.
It’s dark and gritty but not tooooo graphic (but not for the faint heart)

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young girl and her baby brother are amongst the denizens of Prison City, a quasi-futuristic gulag. Yearning for escape, a desperate plan presents itself, but things go awry and that’s why, years later, she’s breaking back into the hell she freed herself from.

Depravity is hard to get right. It just is. You’re in a lawless prison city and obviously the worst of humanity is going to be present, but conveying that without marinating in it is a tricky proposition.

Or, as happens, going a little indulgent. This story believes it should be taken seriously despite a prominent side character wearing a polar bear head for their whole time there. And the gang leader who just chugs pills from a bottle at the end and the very goofy drug paraphernalia shot towards the end? Phew.

Try-hard, achieve-some, is my rough estimation of this story. It starts off feeling like a derivative version of Promised Neverland, with its weird prison location and bizarre sci-fi trappings. The second the Yes-Men robots were introduced I could feel my stomach sink.

The escape attempt ends up leading things to swap to a whole other plot, as I mentioned, and it goes so fast that I have to wonder whether that actually was the intended plan or a complete story pivot. It’s Shonen Jump, so I have my suspicions.

Chloe, our lead, is an okay character and I like the way she turns cold with the change to her purpose. Her upbringing is survivalist as all get out and that gives her the chance to survive on her rescue mission, but it has compromised her humanity.

It’s too bad that there isn’t an original bone in this story’s body. You can see every single character beat (sorry, Mr. Bunny) and relationship coming from a mile off. The functioning of this prison should be fascinating, but it boils down to ‘let’s threaten the women’ and excuses for Chloe to get stabby.

The allegedly major hook is that Chloe kills things in a way that looks like she’s dancing, which doesn’t give much of an actual hook because it isn’t dynamic enough. There’s no point where you’ll go ‘slay, girl, slay’, that’s for sure.

I wouldn’t say this is bad, but this clearly thinks it’s way better than it actually is and by the time the (spoiler, I guess, so hold tight) wall of child skulls shows up from the ‘really bad part of the bad place’ courtesy of a child-worshiping cult (which is absolutely incongruous with them having a wall of child skulls to dissuade intruders - plus it’s like me hanging a doily up to ward off rabid badgers) I was pretty much done here.

Maybe if this is your first book of this type, you’ll be wowed by Chloe winning over a guy who appears primed to ignore her appeals until she, again, steel yourself, wins over his last shred of humanity. Or the bad guy in this volume being so wildly evil he shoots somebody at random. Never seen that before… yes, wait, I have.

It’s not the worst thing, really, and the art has a nice style for the type of story that it’s trying to deliver. It just offers so little to make it stand out that its few little novelties are lost amongst the gloom. And if shonen is not your typical thing, as it is not mine, then there isn’t anything compelling here.

3 stars - I wouldn’t say it’s awful, but I won’t be back. It’s 25% engaging and 75% eye-rolling and that isn’t a ratio I can throw my limited budget at.

[Janina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Der Zeichenstil ist unglaublich gut - so präzise und detailliert. Das Konzept ist interessant (Gefängsnisstadt) und unsere Protagonistin, Chloe, ist mir sympathisch. Ich bin mir nicht sicher, ob ich es gut fand, dass die Periode zwischen Ausbruch und Rückkehr so kurz war. Einerseits mag ich, dass wir dadurch sozusagen schnell zurück zur Action kommen, andererseits fehlt mir aber die Entwicklung von Chloes Charakter. Ich weiß, wir sehen diese durch Flashbacks immer mal zwischendurch, aber ich hätte das Vergehen der Zeit gerne auch gespürt, anstatt es rückblickend gesagt zu bekommen. Ich werde aber weiterlesen und bin gespannt, einen neuen Bezirk der Stadt im nächsten Band kennenzulernen.

tw/cw: Gewalt, Mord, Verletzungen, Trauer, Tiermord (einmal, nicht graphisch), Überwachung

[kesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

this started really promising before becoming clunkier towards the middle with time skips, i always appreciate a good dystopian premise and for what it was, it was solid

i was hoping to spend more time with the characters and ease into their escape plan, giving us an opp to explore the orwell-esque city itself as a character

granted, when chloe returns to the city to find her brother we do get that, the pacing was just off

3/5.

[Maja Sørensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tenkte jeg skulle teste ut å lese manga før jeg reiser til Japan😌 Uvant, men likte det🌟 spennende bok, skal definitivt fullføre serien🙃

[nath_a_lu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dessin plutôt fouillis selon moi mais un minimum clair, l'histoire commence bien et est plutôt agréable

[Pâmella Pregun · Rating 4 out of 5]

é uma história ótima, arte lindissima, mas acho que não vou continuar não
sou extremamente sensível a tudo que envolva irmãos e irmãos mais velhos cuidado dos mais novos
talvez eu leia os outros 2 volumes depois, aos poucos
não acho que seja uma história que deva ser digerida rápido também, de toda forma

[Vikas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this series on Manga Plus, so I thought of giving it a chance, and there are only 20 chapters. This was a nice start, as we see a prison city obviously in a dystopia. And after escaping, a sister returns to find her brother, and let's now follow her on the journey, and let's keep on reading.

I have always loved comics, and I can and I have. I love comics to bits, may the comics never leave my side. I loved reading this and love reading more. You should also read what you love, and I hope you will always love it. Even though I grew up reading local Indian comics like Raj Comics, Diamond Comics, or even Manoj Comics, now's the time to catch up on international and classic comics, Mangas, Mahwas, and Graphic novels. I am on my quest to read as many comics as I just want to Keep on Reading.

[Nyx · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the best manga I've read lately. The plot is really interesting and I absolutely adore the main character as well as the side ones :)
The manga is on a heavier side when it comes to a plot as it takes place in Prison CIty and as the name itself might suggest, stuff happens.
Would defnitely recommend to everyone who likes action packed stuff and is not afraid of lots of deaths and gore.

[Hibikiyume · Rating 1 out of 5]

pour ce qui est de l'extrait franchement je n'ai pas été emballé même après avoir vu la vidéo de Merick qui explique ce qui se passe plus loin je reste pas motivé à acheter ce titre donc ce sera juste sans moi

[Pinky N.A]

DNF. The story was way too unexpected for my "expected moment". But the gore was incredible.

[Frey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Le style graphique et l'histoire me laissent autant sur ma faim que perplexe dans le cheminement, je vois où ça veut aller, mais je trouve que ça manque encore de prises.

[Maria Eleni · Rating 4 out of 5]

SO UNDERRATED

[Irene ➰ · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.8/5

Recensione a fine serie!

Per il momento disegni spettacolari ma storia molto confusionaria.

[Bee · Rating 4 out of 5]

while I knew this had an intense premise going, I didn't realize how freakin scary it would be!! not a lot of visible scariness, just the implication of awful things happening to people, so be warned. that said, beautiful art ad a really intriguing story, I'm excited to read the next one!

[Virginia Moscatelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una città prigione, violenza, dolore e tristezza
Alcune scene colpiscono nel profondo
Non penso sarà facile andare avanti

[Iminie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Une ambiance sombre, glauque et violente avec des personnages attachants. Un thriller sombre qui me donne envie de savoir la suite et d'en savoir plus. Mention spéciale aux dessins

[Kelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an INTENSE read!

From start till end, this story doesn’t let up—it is relentless and thrilling, each page turn keeping you on your toes.

In this series, we are introduced to a desolate prison world populated by desperate, hopeless people. Life is an endless spiral of suffering and pain. Everyone is monitored by AI guards and escape is essentially impossible—for all but the daring to try. When a seemingly impossible escape goes one part right and three parts wrong, one young girl finds herself in a position to challenge this bleak reality and find hope in herself and her loved ones despite the circumstances.

I find this to be a really intriguing and unexpected first volume. It is equal parts dystopian and thriller. Honestly, this truly reads like the most gripping of thriller novels from the first chapter. I genuinely felt my heart jolt and drop as the story unravels.

This is a compelling story with a strong, thoughtful narrative. Our main character is strong and determined—she inspires sympathy and encourages readers to root for her. This series already has a lot going for it—and I’m so looking forward to embarking on this journey.

Highly recommend this series for readers who enjoy more narrative-centric, literary manga. I think this series is a good choice for readers trying to transition from books and get more into manga.

[Catarina Prata · Rating 5 out of 5]

This first volume of Soloist in a Cage is astonishing. Packed with raw, emotional and devastating scenes, with such a beautiful and sad artstyle, and a main character that is already a favorite, this manga has a lot of triggers, but it also portrays familial love so well. Absolutly in love with it.

[Tomatenkind · Rating 3 out of 5]

In einer Gefängnisstadt versucht ein junges Mädchen zu überleben.

Der Zeichenstil wechselt zwischen niedlich und düster, was sehr gut passt. Allerdings ist es bei den dunkleren Stellen für mich manchmal schwer gewesen überhaupt irgendwas zu erkennen. Die Geschichte ist eher nichts für Kinder, da sollte man sich nicht von dem Cover täuschen lassen.

Vom Klappentext hatte ich ein wenig etwas anderes erwartet, finde es aber sehr gut, dass dieser eigentlich gar nicht spoilert - das ist wahrscheinlich nicht einfach da die Balance zu finden. Mich hätte allerdings sehr interessiert, warum es dieses Gefängnis überhaupt gibt und wie es gerechtfertigt wird, dass auch Kinder dort sind. Vielleicht wird das in späteren Bänden ja noch thematisiert.

Es ist der Anfang einer Reihe, daher endet er natürlich mit Cliffhanger und es bleiben viele Fragen offen.

Ich werde diese Reihe wahrscheinlich nicht weiterverfolgen, auch wenn mich die Geschichte und die Welt, in der sie spielt, schon interessieren.

[BumfuzzledNerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wirklich ganz anders als erwartet! Viel brutaler, düsterer und blutiger als ich dachte.

Den Kampfszenen konnte ich nur schlecht folgen und das Pacing ist etwas abgehakt, aber die Geschichte an sich ist sehr vielversprechend!

[Kristen Harvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This really blew me away, it very much has some vibes of war time Germany but with the manga style and the intricate set up of the prison town, I was fully engaged. I cannot wait to see what happens next.

[Bella Azam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it for free on Manga Plus App and I love how amazing the story is.

[Manmangaboy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very grim and dark I was a huge fan of the art as well.