People had been telling me to watch this series ever since it came out in Japan. I finally got around to it in February, and I watched the entire 51-episode series in about 3 weeks. That's how much I liked it. Granted, Soul Eater starts off much stronger than it finishes. If you stop after the Kishin arc, you'd be just fine. The end of the series isn't bad, exactly, but it's not the same as the beginning, and it's a rushed ending because the manga is still going.
The first thing you notice when watching Soul Eater is it's absolutely stunning art. Tim Burton is the usual comparison, which shows you that we need to get more filmmakers out there with something remotely Burton-esque, or else he'll dominate the genre forever. I'm not quite sure what that genre is, but there's other people out there with similar visions. Atushi Okubo (author) and Takuya Igarashi (director) appear to be some of them. The first opening theme, which I just included in my list of favorite opening themes, will give you a perfect idea of what the rest of the series looks like. The art is incredibly unique. You'll never confuse Soul Eater for anything else. The cities are all deliciously old-fashioned, with cobblestone streets, candle lanterns, bricks, clock towers, Gothic churches, and more. The first scene of episode one makes for a perfect example. The character designs are my favorite part of this show. Everyone is distinct, without being over-the-top, or having to resort to stupid accessories. Their costumes all are uniquely their personality, and are also clothes that people would actually wear. Series like Bleach and Fullmetal Alchemist are praised for character design, and rightly so. They struggle with half of their characters having the exact same costume, however. Everyone from Maka down to Ox Ford, Free, Sid, all get main-character worthy character designs.
The story, for the first 26 episodes, is pretty solid. The manga was originally 3 one-shots that turned into a full story, so the first 3 episodes are stand-alone stories about the 3 main groups of protagonists: Maka and Soul Eater; Black☆Star and Tsubaki; and Death the Kid, Patty, and Liz. Maka, Black Star, and Death the Kid are Meisters, while Soul, Tsubaki, Liz, and Patty are weapons. The latter transform into, well, weapons, and the meisters use them to fight people with souls that have become "kishin eggs". These eggs have the chance to turn into a full-fledged kishin, a big giant demon thingy. The meisters are also trying to feed their weapons 99 kishin egg souls and 1 witch soul, which will turn the weapon into a Death Scythe. (the name applies no matter what kind of weapon it is) These particular meisters and weapons, by episode 5, are all students at the Death Weapon Meister Academy, or DWMA for short.
Maka and Soul are the main characters. Maka is a bookworm, a serious student, and level-headed, though known to angry outbusts. Soul, instead of being the hotheaded partner he might sterotypically be, is instead very "cool". He transforms into a red-and-black scythe. Hothead goes instead to Black Star... though hothead is less apt than "complete idiot". Black Star is a ninja, but doesn't understand the ninja art of shutting up. He constantly proclaims his own greatness, even while sneaking up on enemies. Tsubaki, who can change into a number of ninja weapons, is quiet, humble, caring--the complete opposite of Black Star. Death the Kid is the most unique of the whole cast, suffering from OCD. Literally. He is obsessed with symmetry, which is why he has two weapons, twin guns. While they are identical in weapon form, he constantly laments that they are different heights, hair colors, and bra sizes. Kid commenting on the last one usually earns him a punch from Liz, the elder sister. Neither Liz or Patty is very bright, both having grown up on the streets... of New York, I think, though that makes me wonder about the cowboy hats.
After introducing the characters, the main plot appears: the witch Medusa has some sort of dastardly plot involving a young person named Crona, and experiments with black blood. She is joined by a really awesome, handsome werewolf named Free, and a few other witches. A kishin is thrown in the mix, and our heroes are charged with protecting the entirety of their school.
Besides our students, there's also:
Lord Death, headmaster of the school and protector of Death City. He's an even more-groovy Dumbledore. Death Scythe, whose name is Spirit, is Lord Death's weapon of choice, and Maka's father. She despises him, and he is very depressed by this. Vic Mignoga voices him, which surprises no one who knows he played Tamaki in Ouran High School Host Club. Dr. Franken Stein, Spirit's crazy ex-partner, and the greatest meister to graduate the DWMA. He is quite crazy, and constantly wants to experiment on people.
Medusa is one of my favorite anime villains of all-time. She's got an amazing, unique character design, which also carries over to her attacks. She is also crazy-powerful, wreaking unbelievable havoc with just herself, the werewolf Free, and a couple other witches. After Medusa and her small band of cronies, Arachne and her entire evil organization is a let-down, which is why I dislike the second half of the series.
Medusa also controls one of the most interesting characters I've ever seen: Crona. Crona is so unique because no one knows what gender Crona is, and it doesn't affect the plot one bit. Crona's so messed up from Medusa, the audience doesn't need to know Crona's gender. It's just useless information. It amuses me to see people giving Crona a specific gender in fics so they can pair Crona with Maka or Death the Kid. If Crona likes Maka or Kid, does it really matter what gender Crona is? Crona's character development is what kept me watching at the reckless pace I did. I got through 7 episodes in a night (a school night) so that I could end on a good Crona episode. (boy, howdy, did I ever. Episode 45. I can only imagine what my roommate would have thought if she could have seen my expressions)
Since Crona's the most interesting character, though, it's not always fun watching Maka, Soul, Black Star, and the rest. Maka can grate on the nerves with her mood swings and stubborn ways. Soul doesn't get enough backstory. In fact, no one gets enough backstory except Crona. That, and the letdown when Arachne becomes the main villain, are the main faults of the series.
The voice acting is good in both languages. I watched the series on FUNimation's youtube channel, so I watched the first four episodes in English, and the rest in Japanese. Black Star is a little too feminine in the dub, but appropriately over-the-top. The rest are pretty spot-on, though I haven't had the chance to hear Medusa or Crona. I have my doubts about Medusa. Laura Bailey makes an excellent Maka, but I'm not in a position to judge both languages. From what I've heard, I'll take her either way, but the emotional stuff comes much later in the series. Soul is equally good, that I know for sure. Also, his voice actor is Micah Solusod, not Johnny Bosch. I believed it was Bosch for a very long time.
In summary: ARTWORK! Animation, fight scenes, character designs, background designs, everything that is visual is gorgeous and unique. Medusa is a really cool villain. Stein is a really cool anti-hero. Crona is a really cool... whatever archetype Crona is. Other than that, the characters are pretty good, but need more development. The story takes a turn for the worse in the second half. I never really understood the black blood stuff. And the ending is hit-or-miss.
Overall: B+
+ Anything visual: characters, backgrounds, fight scenes, opening and ending themes. Female main character in a shonen series.
-The story is just another shonen fighting series, and lags in the second half. Main characters aren't likable enough.
Once again, watch it free and legally on FUNimation's youtube channel!
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