Soul Eater Season 1 part 1 anime dvd review
SEASON: 1
EPISODES: 1 – 13
GENRE: anime, action, comedy
Synopsis
Soul Eater sees a group of teens questing to become ultimate weapons and warriors, death scythes and death scythe wielders respectively. The teens work in teams of two, one the wielder of a powerful weapon, the other the weapon to be wielded. That probably sounds a bit strange, but the latter are able to change back and forth between human and weapon form. It’s worth noting here that the weapon and wielder must be compatible beyond “just getting along” in order for combat to ensue).
The teens attend Death Weapon Meister Academy, and further their studies by collecting the souls of evil humans. Once they have collected 99 of these, plus the soul of a single witch, death-scythe status can be attained by the weapon, thereby allowing him or her to be wielded by Death himself. The series starts just as a pair, Maka, a tomboy teen, and Soul, the weapon of the title, have acquired 99 souls, and target their final challenge. With 24 episodes in the series, you can probably surmise that things don’t go quite as planned.
Review
Soul Eater is a textbook case of style over substance. You’ve seen its tale of totem collection and questing for ultimate warrior titles time and time again. You’ve even seen its take on super-powered teenagers fighting for supernatural leaders (in particular, grim reapers. See: Bleach). In fact, if you were just to look at the story by itself, even if it was an in depth summary, there would be little to no reason to give Soul Eater the slightest look. That is, unless you actually saw an episode of Soul Eater.
While the overall story of Soul Eater is fairly derivative, the show’s visual panache is undeniable. The characters all have a rough and tumble Little Rascals gone Gorillaz quality — dangerous and likeable, cute, yet mildly psychotic. Maka is a lovable pug faced tomboy and Soul is a snaggle-toothed prankster. The world which they inhabit is a Halloween town to rival Burton’s. No, in fact, I like it better than Butron’s. It’s wildly colorful, spooky, and freakishly awesome. If it were a theme park, I’d be there on the weekends. Fights too are amazing. They rarely last longer than one episode, but they’re equally intense as the longest Claymore altercation. Sure, they’re not quite as dangerous (most of the time the protagonists live to see another day), but they’re equally entertaining.
I should also mention the quality of the US Dub. I’ve watched the series with both audio tracks, and I’ve found that I actually prefer the English dub a bit better. Acting is of an exceptionally high caliber from all involved (even for Funimation standards), and it allows me to appreciate the show’s visuals to the fullest extent.
Soul Eater may not be the most original thing on the block, but it’s a whole lot of fun, and certainly worth a watch. And for you fans of Bleach: I actually like it better than Bleach. A lot better. Check it out.
Bonus shots
Trailer
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