Anime Review: Soul Eater

Genre: Fantasy

Studio/Creator: Bones/Atsuki Okubo

Distributor: FUNimation

No. Of Episodes: 51

Suggested Age: 13+

My Rating: 10/10

Summary: This series focuses on three groups of students at the Grim Reaper’s Death Weapon Meister Academy. There are two kinds of students–Meisters (those who wield weapons), and Weapons (students who become the Meisters’ weapons). These students fight various evils to protect the souls of the living. The series mainly focuses on three Meisters and their weapons: Maka and her partner Soul (a scythe), Death the Kid and the Thompson sisters (guns), and Black Star and Tsubasa (various ninja-based weaponry).

Review: Soul Eater is an excellent shonen-based series.  The animation seems similar to One Piece. The landscape of Death City is grim, evoking a cross between London and Gotham. The cast has a very cartoony look to them and the designs are zany.

The three sets of heroes are fun. Maka is all business and Soul is determined to help her become the most powerful Meister at the academy. She’s cute and she kicks major ass.

Death has MAJOR OCD. If something is the slightest out of symmetry, he becomes so offended, he goes ballistic. I enjoy his banter with the Thompsons and how he handles the situations. He’s probably the most badass of the cast, which is saying a lot, because the WHOLE CAST qualifies as badass.

Lastly, there’s Black Star. He’s basically a parody of Naruto, and it shows. However, while Naruto actually eventually showed some signs of maturity as he grew older, Black Star never really develops beyond being obnoxious. He will either annoy you or you will laugh at him.

We also meet a boy named Chrono and his weapon, Ragnarok.  Unlike the others, his relationship with his weapon is far from symbiotic. In fact, it’s parasitic, with Ragnarok vying for control of Chrono’s mind and constantly belittling him. Maka, however, reaches out to him in friendship, breaking through Ragnarok’s hold.

What I think makes the series work is that each of the heroes seems competent (yes, even Black Star), and none of them really overwhelm the importance of the other.  Also, even though it’s twice the normal length, it doesn’t drag that much and takes its time. It also doesn’t go off on side quests, like some shonen anime.

Dub/Sub: Both versions work fine.

Music/Score: This soundtrack rocks! I especially like the first opening and closing themes.

Violence: (5/10) Most of the violence is magic-based, but there’s still a fair amount of blood.

Language: (5/10)Some slurs and suggestive dialog, mostly from Soul and Maka’s father.

Nudity: (3/10) When the Weapons take on their alternate forms, we see their naked spirit forms. Also, there’s Blair, a witch who becomes a cat. When she’s human, she will sometimes be naked, often to mess with Soul.

Sexuality: (2/10) Just the lewd comments from Soul. Maka’s father is quite the womanizer.

Religion: (4/10) The heroes fight demons, monsters, and witches. Black Star constantly boasts that he will surpass God.

Related Media: This is based off the manga. There is also a spin-off manga called Soul Eater Not and a video game.