In 2008 Bones Animation Studio released the action-comedy anime known as Soul Eater based on the manga of the same name. The anime received high critical success and appraisal from both veteran fans of the source material and newcomers to the franchise due to its interesting premise, well animated action scenes, and a unique Halloween feel that made dull colors stand out in the odd designs of the world that the series took place in.
o Characters & Synopsis:
The world of Soul Eater takes place in Death City, real world Las Vegas, in an alternate reality our own world. The city is under the protection of Lord Death, and within it he installed the Death Weapon Meister Academy (DWMA) to scout and train teenagers with special abilities that either allows them to transform into weapons or be the meisters or handlers of such weapons. The main purpose of the academy is to create Death Scythes out of the weapon students for Lord Death to use in the future when the world is in peril, and order for a weapon to become a Death Scythe, or a weapon of equal power, it must eat 99 kishin, or corrupted, souls along with the soul of a witch to make a total set of 100 souls. Within the academy we have our group of mix-and-match main cast along with a gigantic yet memorable supporting cast.
In the main cast we have 3 pairings of meisters and weapons. First is Maka Albarn and Soul Evans, the typical pairing of flat-chested bookworm with mister cool guy; although they would seem like an unexpected pairing they work off well one another’s pros and cons and Soul is apparently the only student of the DWMA that is able to transform into the actual weapon of the Lord of Death, a Death Scythe. Next is the rambunctious Black☆Star and the sincere but quiet Demon Blade Tsubaki Nakatsukasa, similar to Maka and Soul Black☆Star and Tsubaki work off one another, especially since Tsubaki is the only person that can stand being around Black☆Star for most of the time. And finally we have the Brooklyn raised Olsen Twins Patty and Liz that become the Double Team Demon Guns to the fan-favorite, son of Lord Death, and symmetry obsessed Death the Kid.
Other noteworthy characters include Lord Death himself, Spirit Albarn, the Lord Death’s current Death Scythe and Maka’s father, Blair the Cat, Professor Stein, as his name suggests his obsessed with anatomy and dissecting in particular, Sid the Zombie, a former teacher that got turned into a zombie after his untimely death, the genderless meister known as Crona and his weapon Ragnarok, the iconic, demented, but still likeable witch known as Medusa, and the legendary sword Excalibur, feelings and opinions towards him change from person to person.
o Animation & Soundtrack:
As stated before, Soul Eater was highly appraised for the fluidity and high quality of its actions scenes, but that doesn’t mean that the rest of the series was of any less quality. Whether it was in the complex backgrounds and building designs to the Smiling Sun and Bloody Moon, everything in Soul Eater was made with the finest detail without diverging too much from the original source design. Something noteworthy to mention is the Halloween vibe the whole series gives off, whether it comes from the colors, the character’s designs, all of which look like they are ready to go to a costume party, or the contrasts of lights and darks it makes the anime feel a lot more alive and almost as if one was walking and living inside of the anime instead of being a simple onlooker behind a screen.
As for the soundtrack, nothing much could be said except that the music fits well with the tone of the moment, nothing more nothing less. Whether you decide to go subbed or dubbed you can’t really go wrong as Funimation did a near perfect dubbing for the series, I say near perfect because the voice actress picked for Black☆Star wasn’t that great but that’s just my opinion. One final note about the soundtrack will be the extremely famous openings, which are known to almost any anime watcher, first is T.M Revolution’s Resonance a strong-voice paired with a great use of guitars and drums all of which are combined to a pumping opening that prepared you for the anime you were about to watch and easily to pull you through a trip to the gym. The second opening is softer voiced with Tommy Heavenly6 taking center stage with the song Papermoon, similar to Resonance, Papermoon had a good use of strong vocals combined with guitars and drums; which of this openings is better is up to the viewer but I feel like Papermoon is the better song while Resonance is the better fit for the show.
o Final Scores and Opinions:
Whether or not you enjoy Soul Eater is really up to your affection towards action-comedy animes, semi-dark themed series, and whether or not you want to see a shonen anime that actually ends, 51 episodes, but word of advice after watching the anime it’s best to read the manga to receive the ending intended by the original creator.
As for final scores I give Soul Eater a(n):
• Critical Score: 8.1/10
• Personal Enjoyment: 8.7/10
• Rewatch Value: 3.9/5
Along with the overall recommendation to Watch it Whenever Possible, it’s a great anime and provides many a good laugh and eye candy in the action scenes but the iffy ending and the episode number might make it a bit overwhelming to pick up and watch, although I never regretted it nor do I personally know of anyone who did.
And with that I conclude this review, leave a comment, like, etc and if you feel so inclined tell me of an anime you would like me to review in the future please do. Thank you for your time and have a nice day.
