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Soul Eater was a great inspiration for me when it came to action-packed fantasy, wizardry and folklore. It tells about the story of three gifted meisters and their weapons(who have life as well) who study in a school wherein they are trained to fight against evil.
This is my second review and I have to say that I've had mixed emotions when I was watching this anime.

►Story◄
Plot-wise, the story was top-notch, grasping the essence of both fun in fantasy and moral within hardships. Fillers were enjoyable and there was a lot to look forward to. It flowed like Bleach but obviously, still different in other points ... like this show excelled in comedy, GREATLY.

Despite of the fact that the anime's plot stretched away from the manga, it did served a good entertaining story but all that came to an end by the show neared its end.

Unlike the anime, the manga shown more scenes and more moves that were more enjoyable and most of the audience preferred most from the manga's plotline.

Hands-down, all of it felt like it was rushed and in the final episode, I was devastated with their final blow to the big boss. It was all "Digimon" for me in the end and I was left unsatisfied with nothing to remember about and was left puzzled with the short unexpected events like Maka's sudden ability to become a human scythe.

So to sum it all up, first half was soaring high in the clouds while the second had turbulence and dived into a volcano. Kid would be disappointed if he looked at it that way.


↕Art↕

Even thought the concept wasn't as detailed as the other animes I've seen, the artists still captured the feelings and emotions for their character.

All of them looked different (asides from the constant black attire) and looked memorable. Some, I could even say looked totally hot like Blair and Mizune.

The environments were great too as both moon and sun had this creepy yet comical look and the coloring within the lighting and shadowing kept me going.

The weapons were superb but there were times where I wanted to see more of that artistic beauty. Soul looked badass in the first part and then looked cool in the second part. headbands DO look good on guys.

The facial structures especially when the characters go mad really captured the Western art rather than the eastern. It's a bit old-school but can also be original and unique compared to the other animes.

♪Sound♫

This is one of the anime's strong points. The music of each scene really got me going and I have to say that they're quite good to listen to. Especially the tracks played before and during fights. OP and ED themes also reflected both positive and negative feelings of the show but in any way, I was hooked with the soundtrack.

Sound FX are ok but still, I got the "been there, heard that" feeling so there's nothing special to mention but it was still good. Just not to the point wherein it blew me away.

Voice acting was top-notch. They really grabbed a lot of aces but it did took time for Maka's to grow on me. The rest however fitted their character especially Black Star's, Kid's, Medusa's and Patty's.

☺Character☻

All did their roles well and made a good roster for the series. Their weapons really reflected their character and I enjoyed their presence.

I also liked Kid's attitude for being obsessive-compulsive which can be rare attribute to put into a character. I also liked Stein for being the nutty professor and inspired me in being both cool and wise. Just not the smoking habit...

The characters were inspirational and given their contributions for the series. My only complaints are -
1. Why Blair is acting like an extra (fanservice maybe?).
2. Free and Mizune weren't doing much in the end.
3. The other Death Gods and whatnot who were mentioned earlier didn't appear.
4. (Read last sentence on the 4th paragraph on the story corner)

◘Enjoyment☼
Like I said in the story - first part was great while the last parts were deplorable.

Stunts here and there were both funny and cool to look at and I had my share of "OOH!"s and "LOL!"s.

The suspense was also great for the mix, giving a little thrill to the talking parts which were quite as exciting as to some of their mindless fights here and there.

•Overall•

First half = 5/5
Second half = 2/5
Overall = 7

That was already being generous for me. Honestly, I was gonna make it a 6 but I felt sorry for their effort in the first part. Everything else was fine and dandy but the rushed ending and the epic scenes from the manga which were removed got me looking for another show.

That's all there is, folks and I'm signing off.

To start off, .hack is well-known by fans as a game within a game. With the online game, "The World" as your setting, you play as a character who interacts with other characters who are all aware that this is all but a game they're facing, from beginning to end. Twists and turns soon crash on the protagonist and his allies as they encounter different obstacles that usually do not play by the game's rules. Most of these rule-breakers are usually rendered as bugs, viruses, glitches, hacked entities and more anomalies that can be defined within the branch ... of computer ethics.

As a fan of the series(more on the games), I appreciated .hack for being a story that most people today can relate. The series also inspired me to play online games which in time, I grew tired to continue due to the fact that it wastes my wallet, time and ego.

The first series, //SIGN made an impact on me by being emotional, mysterious and sharing a piece of action overall but mostly, it was just fantasy with suspense. The second, "The legend of the Twilight", a.k.a. //Dusk, was mediocre for me though, it was good for the series to have a livelier side for a change but the sad fact was that they didn't complete the anime series or at least portrayed it completely from the manga which had a touching(yet surprising) ending.
Here, //Roots now has it's changes for its own respect to the series.

Now, on to the review:

Story:
For the sake of the part of the audience who didn't really seem to get why "The World" has began its new revision, the company of the game, CC(Cyber Connect) Corp. had its main building, set on fire by an unknown cause, thus, deleting most of the original online game. The developers then made an idea to make a new "The World" where more people could enjoy. The ratings soon grew rapidly after debut with the help of interested new players though old members seemed to grow tired and quit the game.

The story begins with a player named, "Haseo" who was back stabbed by his party members during his first try on the game. These players are branded as "Player-Killers" or "PK" for short. Another player, Ovan took care of them and revived the crushed Haseo, thus begins their friendship.

Now, the story more so revolves around Haseo as he copes through his life, in-game. Regularly, you would see him in dilemmas as every decision he makes can affect his friends and enemies. Sometimes, both. The story's pace is rather slow and describes Haseo's life before the events of //G.U., the main plot and climax of Haseo's story.

But there's more to the show than just the life of a misguided player. There are other more things where the online game seems to have trouble with. Soon, Haseo these problems will soon make a drastic impact on the protagonist, changing his shy and dependent attitude into a fierce vengeful vigilante.

The story overall is absolutely more than decent as it combines mystery and drama with fantasy and gaming though the main plot slows down as different characters have their own story, pausing the plot's pace which is sometimes a drag to some part of the audiences who have little interest with those specific characters.

The story ends with a cliffhanger wherein we have to buy the game, .hack//G.U.(all 3 volumes) in order to finalize its story. Now, most people would call this some kind of marketing trickery although the story is appreciable to its own extent, making it a good experience for those audience members who would want a taste of a story about online games which are click in today's society.

Art:
Animation isn't that much different with //SIGN's though you'd have to agree that it has improved in different aspects. The only problems are usually that they are frequently recycled, making it a less remarkable as the show continues on. Clips often repeat here and there though at different times throughout the story which is like budget-saving in terms of business so there's nothing much to say when it comes to the show's art though the digital effects when the characters draw their weapons never become much of a yawn.

Costume and weapon designing can be pleasing to look at, especially when you compare Ovan's look to Haseo's which is an important interpretation to their background. Almost all characters wear the usual part-ethnic, part-medieval attire with a good touch of designing that greatly expresses their form of character. Another not to add is that there are now anthropomorphic characters which are a fresh idea to the franchise since there were limited of those kind in the earlier series.

Guns and swords have their fair share of love and war. You would just really want to hold them..... well, most of them.... at times...

Sound:
The sound effects are good to hear though aren't all that fresh in the world of special effects. The intense blade-bashing and the flickering sounds of weapons drawn are used less than needed which is a real downer although there are some cuteness effects like tail-wags to boot which can really be a reliever at times before and after the action.

Soundtracks are frequently used to fill-in the usual silence and some same tracks are played in every episode. Some people might call it a drag though the ethnic genre can really give a good feel in "The World". It just so happens, that you might get annoyed, hearing the same song over and over again within a span of 26 episodes.

Character:
This is probably one of the most interesting aspects of the story; the characters' personalities vary a lot and you can't exactly tell which character can be like the other. Earlier, Haseo has this introverted persona and later events convert him into a cruel beast which is an amazing change with a little psychology in there while Ovan is the cool-headed and mysterious character. We see a cute, tiny, fuzzy character named Phyllo who is actually a wise old man behind the mask. Shino, the usual kindhearted, nature-loving damsel, Tabby, your cute cheerful catgirl and others more with some returning characters for fanservice.

Overall, they're not too dull to look upon and they can be interesting from time to time.

Enjoyment:
Honestly, you'd love the game more than the anime itself. Delays are usually bound to happen at times. You'd frequently see a long pause after a short conversation/fight where there will come a time where you just want to fast-forward to the juicy parts. This was where I was really disappointed about the show - only a handful of action is present. If you were less of an action-person and more of a talker and in for the soap opera-like drama, this is more for you but if your in it for the sword-fights and the usual "Saving the world while kicking some ass" thing, don't set your hopes too high or you might just end up pulling your hair or glancing through the window rather than the TV screen.

Overall:
This show was merely born for the sake of //G.U. If you played the game but you wanted to know the "why"? You better watch the series. If you haven't played the game yet but you still finished the series, better grab the //G.U. Trilogy movie instead. Saves a lot of money for those who only want to watch rather than play.

The show didn't really swept me off my feet but it was fair enough to be engaging so a forgivable lucky 7 should do nicely.