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Year: 2008-2009
Genre: Action, Dark Comedy, Dark Fantasy
Episodes: 51
Rating: 4 out of 5
Death is a scary thing or entity. We all will die, but what is the afterlife? In many mythologies, the Grim Reaper is the personification of death. A black-robed skeleton wielding a scythe that causes the death of people and collects their souls. No one knows what death really looks like. Is it a divine force, or are there others out there that do Death’s bidding to collect the souls of the world? Soul Eater is an anime that revolves around Death’s academy and three students tasked with collecting souls.
Overview
In Death City lies a famous academy led by the one and only Lord Death. The academy is called Death Weapon Meister Academy, or DWMA for short. The DWMA is a technical academy or training facility for humans that can transform into weapons, as well as the wielders of those weapons, called meisters. The academy’s mission is to fight against the world’s evils but also to consume the souls of 99 evil beings and one witch’s soul.
Soul Eater follows three particular students and their partners: overachiever and, by the book Maka Albarn and her scythe partner, Soul Eater Evan, a Demon Scythe who is cool and aims to become a Death Scythe. Then there is hot-headed, loud-mouth, and highly confident assassin Black Star who is partnered with the caring and gentle Tsubaki. Finally, there is Lord Death’s son himself, the OCD, and everything needs to be perfect Death the Kid who is partnered with Patty and Liz. Each of these students has been tasked with absorbing the souls of 99 evil humans and one witch, but as the soul count rises, the secrets of the world, evil enemies, and Lord Death’s past soon becomes more than the students can handle.
Review:
I have to admit that I was a little disappointed in this anime. I thought it would be one of the best ever made, and it was decent. Is it a great anime to start with if you want to get into the anime genre? Sure is, but after watching many other anime series, you feel like it will let you down just a tad bit.
I guess where I got confused was the purpose of Soul Eater. I thought it would be like a precursor of Bleach, where there were people who had the ability to capture souls or people battle it out to capture souls. I really don’t know what I was expecting. In return, I get Death, who runs a type of school. In this school, there are meisters who can wield weapons and humans who can transform into weapons. The series mainly focuses on Maka Albarn and her scythe partner, Soul Eater, along with loud-mouth assassin Black Star and his kind partner, Tsubaki Nakatsukasa, who turns into various ninja weapons; and finally, Death’s son, Death the Kid, and his pistol partners, Liz and Patty Thompson.
The story is interesting and good, but it takes a while to really get going. I will say that there are three arcs that introduce significant villains, and then after a while, they all converge into one central storyline. The first is Medusa, a witch who has infiltrated the school and causes havoc. She forces her child, Crona, a meister of the demon sword Ragnarok, to collect non-evil human souls and eventually transform into a kishin, an evil god. This half-arc was interesting because it introduced the characters but also gave you their motivations. It also planted the seed of Franken Stein becoming a problem in the future. The main goal of this arc is Medusa’s group successfully reviving Asura, who was once Death’s most trusted warrior until he went crazy. Asura bounces to spread worldwide chaos after a brief battle with Shinigami.
The second arc is when Medusa’s sister Arachne emerges from hiding and reforms her organization, Arachnophobia, which poses a severe threat to DWMA. This one, to me, was a placeholder for the Asura battle. In this arc, shit hits the fan as many of the characters question themselves and become unhinged. When Soul is almost killed and gets black blood inside of him, there is a scene that may Twin Peaks used with a little, red demon-like creature having a room with a piano. When Soul uses this blood, he becomes powerful, but the little demon gains strength. It is really creepy. Also, Maka feels the effects of the blood and loses her cool, and pushes herself beyond anything. Black Star starts losing his confidence after a string of losses. He becomes unhinged in doing everything he can to be the best.
The third arc pretty much wraps everything up. Medusa was “defeated” in the first arc but had her essence spread out and controlled a little girl. In this arc, Asura becomes the focus as chaos spreads. Death and Asura fight for a while, but in the end, Maka, Soul, and the crew defeat the mighty weapon. This arc was the best, as it went balls to the wall and showed what this anime should be.
The anime also has some episodes that are used for comic relief. Those episodes revolve around the legendary sword Excalibur. In this anime, Excalibur is the strongest weapon, but it is really full of itself, narcissistic, and never, never stops talking about itself. The appearance of Excalibur would make you laugh because he is just some short dude with a top hat and cane. Everyone dreads when Excalibur shows up. He is sprinkled throughout the series.
I will say that the animation is the highlight of this anime. It was a little dated with the first season but looked more modern and crisp as the episodes progressed. The way the characters were drawn and the colors used were terrific, but the way they used their powers was fantastic. When the characters used soul link, I loved how the soul sphere went around the characters and then linked up. The area I really think the animation was fantastic was when Soul and the little creature were in his piano, jazz-type bar. The room was red and black, and it seemed spooky but not. It had the feel of something dreadful but calm. You have to see it to get what I am saying.
There are a ton of characters in the Soul Eater series, but I want to talk about the main ones. First up, is Maka Albarn. Maka is the one that is an overachiever and is considered a prodigy meister. She has a really strained relationship with her father, Spirt, as he is a womanizer, and she blames him for the divorce. Maka is also partnered with Soul, and she is deeply obsessed with making him into a death scythe. Maka’s attitude and mood changes when Soul is infected with the black blood. This causes Maka to become infected. She seems irritable by her friends and wants to prove herself to the highest of levels. Even with the black blood, Maka is one that you want in the trenches. She is protective of Soul and would fight for anyone.
Another character that should be talked about is Black Star. Sometimes I found Black Star annoying as hell because he seemed to always do something that is the reverse of his assassin ways. He is loud-mouth and arrogant, which causes him to make a flashy entrance rather than a stealth one. What I respect about Black Star is that he will tell it how it is and train his ass off to prove that he is one of the strongest. Dude gets a broken leg, and the next day trains like nothing happened.
My favorite characters are Soul, Death the Kid, and Spirit. Soul is a demon scythe, the partner of Maka Albarn and the main male protagonist. His weapon form is incredible as it is a red and black blade. I love his personality as he is laid-back and has a nonchalant personality. During battle, he always tries to maintain a relaxed attitude. He is highly loyal to Maka. When homeboy becomes infected with the black blood, his demon room is one from Twin Peaks. It’s a bar with him dressed in a black pinstripe suit. It is something to watch when you discover that he is a talented pianist.
Death the Kid or Kid is the son of Death. He is a powerful character in his own right, but what makes Kid one of the best is his need for perfection, which causes MAJOR OCD. He wants absolute symmetry in everything and will go to great lengths to ensure everything around him is symmetrical. The second fight between him and Black Star is insane because he loses his mind when Black Star destroys part of the DWMA.
One last character I want to mention is Spirit Albarn. Spirit is one of the best parts of the whole show. He is also the funniest. When he thinks of Maka, he goes all tingly inside and professes his love for his daughter. The best scene is when Maka asks him to hang out, and his head explodes. It had been a long time since I laughed so hard at an anime scene.
Soul Eater is a decent anime you will love if you like the supernatural, fighting-type genres. It is 51 episodes, so it might take you a while to get through the series, but it is worth it. I would say this is an excellent introduction to anime. You will find a character to root for. Mine was Spirit. Not because he was a womanizer but for his love for his daughter, Maka. Watch Soul Eater and fight the world against chaos.
