ソウルイーター

SOUL EATER

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
25
RELEASE
August 12, 2013
CHAPTERS
117

DESCRIPTION

Maka is a scythe meister, working to perfect one particular scythe until it is good enough to become Death's Weapon -- the weapon used by Shinigami-sama, the spirit of Death himself. As if that wasn't unusual enough, her scythe is a demon scythe called Soul Eater, which can change form from a scythe to a human-looking boy. In order to make Soul Eater powerful enough to be Death's Weapon, he must eat the souls of 99 humans and 1 witch. Along the way, the two of them face many different challenges, including a cat witch named Blair (who happens to have a thing for Soul) and a teacher who's been turned into a zombie (and wants him to join her!). Her fellow students, like the shadow ninja weapon meister named Black Star who always needs to be the center of attention, aren't much help, either. It'll be a miracle if Maka even survives, let alone manages to make Soul Eater into the Death Scythe.

(Source: Yen Press)

Note: Includes the 3-chapter prologue and 1 extra chapter.

CAST

Death the Kid
Maka Albarn
Soul Eater Evans
Black☆Star
Crona
Franken Stein
Tsubaki Nakatsukasa
Blair
Shinigami
Excalibur
Patricia Thompson
Elizabeth Thompson
Medusa Gorgon
Spirit Albarn
Mifune
Justin Law
Asura
Eruka Frog
Kilik Rung
Arachne Gorgon
Marie Mjolnir
Ragnarök
Free
Tsugumi Harudori
Mira Nygus

CHAPTERS

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MANGA ActionSoul Eater Not!

ANIME ActionSoul Eater

MANGA ActionEnen no Shouboutai

REVIEWS

Aetherys117
86/100
Démence et folie en D Mineur
Ce n'était pas gagné au début, soyons honnêtes deux minutes. Visuellement, les premiers tomes de Soul Eater offrent une lecture presque forcée, dans l'espoir de voir éventuellement le style évoluer et les personnages gagner en épaisseur. Le fan service est alors légion et les chara-design sont assez laids, et je comprendrai que certains ait lâché dans ces eaux là. Mais une fulgurance approche aux alentours du tome 6, moment où l'intrigue décolle vraiment et où l'enchaînement des tomes se fait alors avec un plaisir total. L'ennemi ultime, le Grand Dévoreur, fait son apparition et les enjeux sont alors clairs et précis. C'est à partir de ce point que le rythme devient soutenu et que l'on observe une véritable guerre entre plusieurs factions pour éviter (ou précipiter) l'avènement du Grand Dévoreur.

Et s'il y a bien un tour de force que nous devons reconnaître à Soul Eater, c'est bien celui de faire croire à son public qu'il est un shonen nekketsu basique pour ainsi mieux le surprendre avec des concepts complètement novateurs et originaux. En effet, l'auteur offre à contempler un univers halloweenesque auquel vient se greffer des références au rock et la culture hip hop, dans un melting-pot des plus agréables. À cet univers barré s'ajoute des séquences hallucinantes où le quatrième mur vole complètement en éclat et dont les brisures nous arrivent en pleine face.

L'humour qui, dans ses débuts, est assez balbutiant, joue finalement la carte de la réserve en n'étant finalement moins présent et usant de ses personnages drôles (En l'occurrence, Excalibur) avec parcimonie. En plus d'être une lecture agréable, Soul Eater possède une histoire haletante et bien rythmée car échappant aux classiques arcs hors série ou filler pour se concentrer réellement sur l'intrigue principale.

Au fur et à mesure que l'histoire évolue, les personnages principaux gagnent en charisme et en développement et s'éloignent de leur stéréotypes pour s'offrir une backstory conséquente et des objectifs concrets. Alors que la conclusion approche, il est intéressant de souligner comme la folie et la démence contamine l'œuvre, saturant l'espace dans certaines cases au point d'emmener nos pauvres protagonistes dans les limbes de leur esprit. Et c'est bien cette descente aux enfers qui nous fait aimer l'univers, autant que ses combats dynamique dont l'impact des coups se fait ressentir à des lieux à la ronde. Voir certains personnages être consumés par la peur, chose à la fois si concrète et si abstraite, nous fait conserver un attachement profond pour eux tout du long.

Le style de Okhubo se façonne à mesure que l'histoire progresse, et c'est un vrai régal que de voir tout le travail accompli depuis le commencent.

Et même si le manga ne démarre clairement pas avec toutes les cartes en main, il arrive on-ne-sait-comment à les retrouver une par une pour les abattre avec fracas durant son final.
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yiendubu
80/100
We were on the same wavelength, for the most part
It’s been quite some time since I watched the Soul Eater anime. Even if I knew that it deviated from the manga, the anime original ending left such a bitter taste, I couldn’t bring myself to read the manga until now. To me, where Soul Eater excels the most is its aesthetic. The sun and moon with the creepy faces, the architecture of Death City, DWMA, and the character designs should be enough to make you at least a tad bit curious about this series. I dare to say Soul Eater does Halloween better than Halloween itself. Talking about character designs, Okubo constantly blew my mind with them. Aside from, ironically, the MC Maka, all of them are fantastic and distinct. Distinction between characters is a really important aspect for me, so I appreciate the effort put into everyone looking different. If I had to crown someone for having the best design, it would be Black Star. He reminds me of a ninja from Naruto, but way cooler looking. Despite the aesthetic tho, the worldbuilding felt bursting with potential that wasn't explored. The only setting that felt like a legitimate world was Death City.~~~ ~~~ The characters in this series are a hit or miss for me. I found the main character Maka to also be one of the most boring characters. There’s a time when she and Soul struggle to resonate because she feels like Soul is carrying her on his back. He convinces her that this isn’t the case, but I couldn’t agree with that. Almost any time they need to power up, Soul steps in. Thankfully, Soul, Kid, Crona, and Black Star are enough to carry the series. Kid and Black Star had outstanding character arcs and a really enjoyable dynamic. Reminded me of Naruto and Sasuke at times, and had they been the MCs instead of Maka, I think their dynamic could’ve been on the same level as the duo from Konoha. Kid’s struggle with finding the ultimate order and Black Star’s struggle with confidence felt real and resonated with me(no pun intended) Crona is easily a favorite shonen antagonist of mine, but if I go into detail why I’ll just spoil the entire series from start to finish. Just know that Crona is awesome(For fellows who have finished the series - chapter 87. Pure perfection, only rivaled by Shigaraki’s backstory in MHA for me). Soul is a bit of a weird case. I do like him, but not for the reasons the author might have wanted me to. He’s cool, loyal, supportive, fun to be around and god I love his “mean” comments. I didn’t feel like he needed backstory or conflict, but it was nice to learn more about him later on. Tsubaki, Liz, and Patty were given some characterization, but not nearly enough to make me care about them. Stein and Justin on the other hand felt like an idea without good execution.~~~~~~ Soul Eater reaches its peak during the Baba Yaga arc and from then on steadily declines. I don’t blame Okubo for it, it’s hard to top such an arc. It encaptures everything I love about Soul Eater. Black Star vs Mifune is my favorite fight in the whole series, and even if it didn’t have the fantastic build-up it did, the art would’ve been enough. I really think it has some of the best artwork in the manga. Kid vs Mosquito was also great, Kid’s despair felt genuine and real, especially when he yelled at Patty. Maka vs Arachne fell flat IMO, and as always Soul carried. Soul and Maka’s relationship is also one of my favorite things in the series. Instead of forced romance, it’s mutual respect, loyalty, and just plain friendship. Friends that will go above and beyond for each other, always there to support the other one. It was refreshing to see this kind of relationship between a boy and a girl in shonen. I mentioned at the start that the anime original ending left a bitter taste and well...I can say the same about the manga. It’s not nearly as bad, but a series like this didn’t deserve such an ending. I feel like it needed 2 or 3 more chapters to give a good conclusion to everything. The last thing I want to say is how fun it was to watch Okubo’s art progress. I’m going to be real, the art at the start of the series is far from appealing. It came as a shock to me, someone who had seen the anime first. I saw on Twitter that the author got inspired by the anime’s art style, and if that’s true, it might have been the best decision in his career as a mangaka. Atsushi Okubo’s style is iconic and extremely recognizable, which I think should be one of the main goals of an artist. Around chapter 80 is where he really hones it and it starts looking like his ongoing manga Fire Force(I think Soul Eater’s Justin might have been the main inspiration for Fire Force) Soul Eater gets an 8/10 from me! A fun ride with some bumps along the way. (Thank god I didn't rate it any other number, Kid would've freaked out about the symmetry!)
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AnotherBadger
74/100
A Sound Story Dwells Within An Unsound Series
“So this is nothingness; the culmination of order. It’s an order imposed on all living things… On everything. It is death.”
- Death the Kid, Chapter 73
When I was thinking about Soul Eater, there were a number of things that sprung to mind about this series that leave me with a conflicted feeling. Perhaps the most apparent element is the treatment of the younger female characters. I will address this here, partly to get it out of the way and partly so that if this is something you don’t like then you can skip this review. Earlier parts of the series, and some later chapters, sexualise them quite a bit and this could ruin this manga for some. At best, it is an annoying and overused trope that distracts from the plot and, at worst, it is grossly uncomfortable to read.

So, with that out of the way, on with the review.

Soul Eater is a manga that has a lot of interesting ideas crammed into it; inevitably getting a little bit confused as to what it is wanting to say. However, when it manages to find its voice, it tells an intriguing story of madness, order and death that offers a unique perspective on a world of Shinigami, Witches, and one very annoying sword.

The central themes of Soul Eater are inherently interesting; leaving a lot of avenues to explore. Many narratives with this scope tend to leave a lot to the imagination however, by keeping a majority of its early story tied to a school setting, the reader gains a fairly comprehensive understanding of the core mechanics that drive this series. At times, possibly due to the affordances that being a fantasy series, plot developments can be forced. This is especially noticeable when new mechanics are introduced that haven’t previously been mentioned, making them feel like instances of Deus ex Machina. It gets the characters where they need to be, but it can make Soul Eater feel disjointed and unplanned at times. This is reflected in the pacing as it can definitely be a mixed bag at times. Most of the arcs are well structured and further the plot, however, a couple can be quite volatile to read; jumping between scenes and plot points. This can sometimes make the narrative difficult to follow even when re-reading the series and knowing what will happen.

For Soul Eater, the intricacies of the plot aren’t the focus, the narrative focuses more on how characters cope with what happens to them. This makes the cast the most important element and, for the most part, they are handled well. The main cast balances each other out to offer the reader different perspectives on events. Their relationships become tangible and are built on throughout the series to make the struggles and successes feel earned rather than merely being a part of the plot. The characters are also the base for some of the better-executed comedy moments as it takes what has already been established and utilises it with some strong comedic timing which matches the tone of the series well. There are, however, a couple of times where characters have been reduced to tropes which is a shame since it especially affects the side characters who have some of the most potential. This doesn’t take away from their better moments and the amount of thought put into their characters and their respective abilities but it can be noticeable. Soul Eater’s villains and more morally ambiguous characters also have intriguing designs and abilities that match well with the themes. The witches all follow a similar tone, but each is executed in a slightly different manner which makes them feel unique and interesting. Asura makes for a great main antagonist and, with his slowly unravelling past, he creates enough tension throughout the series to make fight scenes feel more important. Unfortunately, a couple of the minor villains can fall a little flat; becoming quickly forgotten as they are swept away by the pace of Soul Eater’s narrative.

Ookubo’s artistic style easily stands out; especially further on in the series where there is more experimentation used. This can be seen in the inversion of black and white or including detailed imagery to convey the tones of madness and dread. The disturbing imagery allows the reader to understand how the characters are feeling without needing to rely on internal monologues as much. This is reflected in the fight scenes which, for the most part, are easy to follow and entertaining. The large variety of weapons is definitely an advantage as it stops the fights from becoming repetitive. There are also some weapons that you wouldn’t expect to see and these are utilised well, creating some of the more interesting fights; it’s just a shame that we don’t see more of them. The art can also fall into some stereotypical patterns and, with the originality of Soul Eater, these moments stand out which is a shame as, while it doesn’t ruin the experience, there could have been a more unique approach taken. Despite this, the character designs are really good; easily capturing the mood and style of each character while making them stand out. The settings are also visually interesting and distinct, aiding in the more dramatic moments.

For me, the weakest element of Soul Eater is its final chapter. The plot beforehand had a clear enough direction and the characters are consistent with what we saw before. There was also a well-handled balance between focusing on the cast and action. However, this is cast aside in the final chapter and that leaves it feeling a little bit out of sync with the rest of the series. Some characters feel like they have been shoved in while others act in out of character ways which may be an attempt to make the ending feel complete, but this makes it less satisfying. It isn’t bad, but more along the lines of disappointing. It does have a couple of good moments in it, but it left a slightly sour taste in my mouth. Especially since it doesn’t develop in any tangible way from the outcome of the series main plot lines.

Overall, Soul Eater is a conflicted series that tackles some grand ideas and gets a little bit lost on the way. There is an inherent uniqueness that makes it an enjoyable experience and it manages to overcome some of its earlier stumbling points. Unfortunately, it struggles to shake free from a lingering disharmony left over from the earlier chapters and that comes back full force during the final chapters. However, Soul Eater is a fun read that contains a number of really great moments and, if you would like to read a solid action series with some interesting characters, give it a try.
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