Soloist in a Cage, a mesmerizing story in which a simultaneously cruel but empathically endearing pursuit of a lost loved one transforms (or becomes) a sad and erratic journey to find a sense of self that we can live with; a journey so personal, so heavily demanding, so uniquely transversal to all humanity.

The author has the ingenious ability of portraying in a small size work, a story so simply profound, where the level of detail assigned to each character or circunstancial scenary has a world of its own. He makes you lightly travel into the psyque of the most central characters to a point where you feel it as needed for a better conveying of the story without passing the limit of disproportion.
On the other hand, you have characters that are tremendously relevant to the congruence of the story, but fulfill their purpose in a difuse manner; few or even single appearances are enough to completelly shine through their pathos and ethos. A certain atitude in a certain moment becomes the embodiment of what they perceive their own life to be about.

The imense and superb artistry of the panels and the emotions portrayed on the monologues and dialogues, fuse in one so seemlessly that almost becomes impossible to grasp it happening a different way, making you find yourself inevitably lost and imersed in a fluid medium that you do not know or want to escape of. The way the subjective space in which the characters show themselves to be known is given as one of their inner characteristics; there is no space objectivity without character objectivity and that is done marvelously.

Sadly, (not sure if concerning the health of the author), the work does lose some impact on the later second half, with an open ending that albeit satisfactory and congruent, lacks the desired density and intensity that the story as a whole so highly deserved.

The score i gave does NOT make justice to this fabulous piece, but as we know, an ending is not just an ending, it is a confluence of narratives and places and moments, where the full essence of a work has to introduce itself as everything it was for everything it represents. And for that sole reason, i can not give it a higher grade.
Bear in mind tho, the ratings i am giving are not reduced to the universe of mangá, and therefore that might reduce its values. If we were strictly confining ourselves to that universe, a solid 9 would not be farfetched.

To let you and myself go, i will conclude saying:
If you're searching for a condensed piece that does not abuse on superfluous complexity to make itself profound and emotional, where the story is not stretched without reason, and with brilliantly harmonious art, this is for you!!