|
Soul Eater Not!
Anime Review
It's time to return to the world of Soul Eater -- but from a different perspective. Soul Eater Not! (set before the events of the original series) follows the adventures of Tsumugi and her two friends, Meme and Anya. As readers might remember, Soul Eater characters possess one of two traits: they're either able to turn into a weapon, or able to wield said human weapon. From there, they're further divided into two classes: EAT or NOT. As you might guess, NOTs are the lesser-skilled group of students.
 Tsumugi, Anya, and Meme are all in the NOT class, but it's there that they find their camaraderie. Their traits are all set up to play off each other, of course, in typical comedy fashion. Tsumugi is the driven student who doesn't know how to control her weapon abilities well, Meme is the friendly and eternally optimistic ditz, and Anya is the spoiled rich girl with a heart of gold. Thankfully, these obvious archetypes aren't too tied down, and the characters are given some leeway to grow.
 Don't expect more Soul Eater though, as Not! is definitely a slice-of-life show. Most episodes involved them helping classmates, working at their part-time job, or making dinner. Optimism is the name of the game, here. There is a plotline underlying everything featuring a group called the Traitors which are attempting to bring the school down, however it hasn't developed into the main story yet. The show continues to tease a darker overall plot, though!
 They also often will feature the original cast in brief cameos. Maka, Soul, the Thompson sisters, and more all make appearances. The colorful art and animation is done by BONES, who do a fine job handling the daily life of the characters. It's impressive that they're able to run with three shows at once right now (the other two being Captain Earth and Chaika - The Coffin Princess). The occasional action scenes are well-done also, and add energy to the world.
Soul Eater Not! aims squarely for comedic slice-of-life, and it does it well. It occasionally has the same issues that most slice-of-life shows do (overall plot, slow pace), but if you're here for lighter fare more in line with K-On!, you'll be plenty satisfied by this series. It also adds some flavor to the world of soul Eater by buffing the backstory to both the school and the characters, which will entice current Soul Eater fans as well. Soul Eater Not! is happy, colorful, and packed with optimism -- and it's fine with doing just that.
Review by Ben Huber, August 2014
Soul Eater
Anime DVD Review
Soul Eater moves fast, even for anime. There's a cast of really weird characters, all of whom have their own "special" abilities (I mean, aside from having kick-ass abilities, they also all come with bizarre personality quirks). They even have a character named Justin Freakin' Christ, which is pretty damn funny, as far as we are concerned.
Visually, the show is incredibly well-realized, and although a lot of that can be attributed to the manga, it's clear that the anime talent involved LOVED that character designs and designing the world they inhabit. Furthermore, even as an action-series, the point of which is to keep you glued to your seat with the action, the action itself is AMAZING. Really. This is like a new high-mark for how to choreograph and animate an exceptional fight sequence.
 But the characters, you'll either love or hate... with no in-between, and often within the show itself. In other words, while we find Death the Kid's OCD to be pretty funny, Black Star is only interesting because he's even more annoying than Naruto. On the flip side, the antagonists are quite strong since they have the combination of neurosis and intellectual brilliance to have a truly menacing presence.
On the surface Soul Eater looks amazing. Yet for me it feels like the studio isnÃt taking any chances or trying anything new: For starters the plot is pretty much Bleach and the character designs remind me a great deal of One Piece with just a dash of Jamie Hewlett thrown in for fun. The show looks entertaining yet it's evolutionary not revolutionary in terms of the field. Frankly is it just me or is the character of Black Star very similar to the character 2-D from the Gorillaz?
 Soul Eater suffers from excessive filler (as most of the budget seems to have gone into the fight scenes), but, if you are someone who likes shounen action anime, then the over-the-top aesthetics, amazing visuals, the stunning action sequences, and the strong soundtrack will reel you in and make you love it.
If however, you're hoping for a deep plotline, or you're waiting for the next Cowboy Bebop (i.e., a show so cool that it transcends the medium), this just ain't that. Regardless, it's a very entertaining way to kill some time, and once again, we need to emphasize that the action alone, is reason enough to justify watching this.
Reviewed by Brian Cirulnick, January 2010
Below: Scenes from Soul Eater.
|
|
|
 |
|
Soul Eater
Manga Review
Reading volume one is a gateway for manga readers to get into a series, that otherwise has a 51 episode anime. Meeting Maka, Black Star and Death the Kid should bring familiarity for those who have seen the anime from Funimation. The parent company of Soul Eater in Japan is Square Enix, and if you know them for their video games, then it should be no surprise that they also have a publishing department of Gangan Comics which produced other titles that have found success in anime adaptations, with the most notable being Full Metal Alchemist.
When you are living a life to survive it means fulfilling survival needs and wants. Putting it in context of the Soul Eater universe, it takes 99 souls and one witch to what it would take for a demon scythe to become a weapon of ultimate use to the Shinigami. With the partnership of a meister and the guidance of the Death Weapon Meister Academy, (DWMA for short) it seems like the road is ultimately paved with challenges for the rich yet eccentric bunch of characters.
 There are currently 19 volumes in Japanese, and a spin off series. This is Atsushi Ohkubo's first known lead popular series. He has a career so far as an assistant to other artists work, and possibly from those times, he has grown an appreciation toward fan art, since there is a rich amount of it and of his own background as a fan artist.
This should resonate a lot for people who ultimately would come into this series from recommendations or attraction to an element of the series like the contrasting art style. An example of this is to look at the drawings of the characters and then look at the forms of the sun and moon. In the Soul Eater world, looking at its celestial forms should be a scream for people who have enjoy Tim Burton art or like a scary yet funny side to art.
Reviewed by Linda Yau, September 2011
Below: Promotional illustrations for Soul Eater.
Below: An illustration from the Soul Eater manga.
|
|
|
