The first thing you notice is the moon; a cartoon paper crescent with a psychotic smile leering down at the streets below. Right there that tells you that this is no mundane normal town. It is Death City, where apprentice reapers harvest the souls of corrupted mortals, and where every day is Halloween.
SOUL EATER is an anime series based on a manga by Atsushi Okubo. The manga is still running, and the anime has been distributed in America by Funimation It’s a fun series; weird and surreal and very Halloween-y.
The series is set at Shibusen, the Shinigami Weapon Meister Vocational School (or the Death Weapon Meister Academy, depending on the translation); an institute of higher learning run by none other than the Grim Reaper: Shinigami, the God of Death. Long ago, Shinigami destroyed the Demon God, a malevolent being of evil which caused great destruction and suffering in the world. When individuals stray from the path of humanity, particularly when they eat the soul of another human, their souls become corrupted into demon eggs, with the potential for maturing into a new Demon God. Shinigami established his school to train living weapons, capable of destroying these demon eggs before they become a greater threat.
Soul, the title character, is such a living weapon. He has the ability to transform into a large scythe, which is wielded by his partner, Maka; a serious, intense girl who is driven to surpass her father, who is the Shinigami’s right-hand man. If that sounds like your typical angstful students fighting supernatural horror anime, well, it is; right down to the typical Japanese theme of Continuous Improvement, (the weapons have to gather the souls of 99 demonic humans plus one witch in order to upgrade to the status of Deathscythe). What sets this one apart is the streak of sheer demented wackiness that runs through the series.
Far from being a bishonen pretty-boy hero, Soul is more than a little creepy-looking with a ghoulish smile like a bear-trap. Maka’s father issues stem from the fact that although he is a Deathscythe himself, and Shinigami’s chosen weapon, he is also, next to Genma Saotome, possibly the worst father in all anime. His desperate attempts to regain his daughter’s respect always end in utter fiasco, partially because he is a compulsive womanizer, but mostly because he is socially inept.
The other students each have their own goofy twist. Black Star is in many ways a parody of Naruto; a little runt who is a legend in his own mind. He has an unshakable belief in his own greatness and that someday he will surpass even the gods themselves. In fact, he knows he already is that great. To Black Star, apotheosis is only a technicality and he’s willing to wait for everyone else to recognize his greatness. He is supposed to be a ninja assassin, but his love of dramatic entrances and bombastic monologues hampers his ability to sneak. His partner, Tsubaki, is quiet, patient and understanding. She admires Black Star’s bravery and confidence, but frequently has to apologize to people for his obnoxious antics, explaining “He’s stupid.” She is also a living weapon who can transform into a variety of ninja gadgets, from flails to shuriken to smoke bombs.
Death the Kid is not technically a student at Shibusen. He is the son of Shinigami, and therefore a powerful entity in his own right; but he attends classes as part of his personal drive for perfection. He has an obsessive love of symmetry which led him to choose as his personal weapons, a pair of sisters, Patti and Liz, who transform into matched pistols. The fact that the ditzy Patti and worrywart Liz are not themselves identical annoys him to no end; and the fact that he himself has asymmetrical hair sends him into paroxysms of depression.
My wife’s favorite character is Dr. Stein, a cheerful sadist who delights in vivisection and has an large screw imbedded in his head which he tightens from time to time. He used to be partners with Maka’s father and is the most powerful Meister to graduate from the school.
Then there’s Shinigami, the Día de los Muertos Dumbledore of the Shibusen school, who appears as a jagged squiggle of a shadow with enormous goofy hands and a face that looks like a cross between a death’s head and a clown mask. Shinigami can be serious when the situation demands it, but usually he sports a casual, laid-back attitude that annoys his subordinates. His office is a pocket dimension (or possibly the Afterlife itself) where cheerful puffy clouds float in a clear blue sky and grave markers litter the horizon. It’s entrance is through a series of guillotines.
The story follows the adventures of the students and faculty of Shibusen as they battle various types of monsters and face the growing threat of a new Demon God, cheerfully mixing horror, drama and unashamed goofiness. The animation is first-rate and the character design manages to be appealing and occasionally unsettling at the same time. (The way noses are rendered on the characters means that in profile the faces gain a skull-like appearance; even the cute ones).
As the series progresses, the plot becomes darker. A trusted member of the staff turns out to be a witch who has turned her own child, Crona, into an abomination; Another instructor, Sid, is killed; (he keeps teaching, though, as a zombie; becauses that's the kind of man he was). Soul becomes infected with Crona's black blood, which threatens to corrupt him as well. Stein descends into madness; (which for him, granted, is a pretty short trip). And above all, Asura, the Demon God, is revived and begins unleashing madness upon the entire world. The sole island of sanity becomes the peculiar school in the middle of the desert which looks like a cross between a battleship and a birthday cake.
Soul Eater is a dark, fun series with plenty of action, monsters and eccentric humor. The episodes I have seen were fan-subs, so I do not know what Funimation has done to the series. My teenaged daughter, a purist, cringes at Funimation's usual bowdelrization; but I think it's worth checking out.