Earn money Online by just viewing ads

Earn money Online by just viewing ads
Earn money online by just clicking your mouse!

Friday, July 19, 2013

Soul Eater Review


Soul Eater is an impressive anime. It's one of those where you will no doubt enjoy watching

::STORY::
After watching some of the first episode you'll think Soul Eater will have your typical Shonen story. Basically, human weapons and their student technicians reside in Shibusen and have to collect 99 evil human souls and 1 witch soul, the reward being that the technician's weapon will transform into a Death Scythe.

It seems pretty formulaic, nothing you haven't seen before. The way the first few episodes pan out will make this seem like the main goal, but soon after you'll realise there is actually a deeper story developing. This story isn't something complex or too clever, but events that happen during the story makes Soul Eater watchable and interesting, the action is ever present, it always keeps humour in mind, but can be serious and emotional when it needs to be. Eventually you will forget what the main characters were initially trying to acheive because the story drags it in such a different direction. The problem is that the story isn't anything memorable. At points you might watch and forget the reason why they are doing something. That is the anime's weak point


::CHARACTERS::
This is what Soul Eater will be remembered for. Its colourful cast of characters.

Maka, our main character and a technician, despite being flawed she is always looking to do the right thing, always thinking of others, easily annoyed and determined. She grew on me as I realised she is probably the most human of all the characters. Soul, Maka's weapon. Just your typical cool guy? No. He is much deeper than he looks. Despite what he says he is only concerned about one thing: To protect Maka.

Black*Star is Energetic, rash, loud, bashful and his one goal in life is to become bigger than God. He can provide you with comic relief and become involved in intense battles yet shows his human side often, his weapon Tsubaki is always willing to help him whenever she can.

Death the Kid seems like some 'Mr Perfect' character. And he can be, but also has his flaws, most notable his obssessive compulsive disorder about symmetry. Anything slightly out of alignment will either cause him to fix the problem immediately or spiral into goth style depression. His weapons Patty and Liz are usually around to comfort him when he goes crazy or gets depressed.

The supporting cast are memorable as well. The grim reaper is always cheerful and relaxed; Spirit (Maka's father) is desperate for Maka's attention, even though she doesn't enjoy his company much; Blair is your typical fanservice character; Professor Stein is strong and clever yet deeply maniacal; Crona is shy and fearful, but powerful; Medusa, the main antagonist is pure genious; Mifune is an action and Samurai fan's dream character and plenty more who you'll come across.

Most characters will stand out at least once giving you reasons to like or dislike them. Characters are a strong point in this anime.

::ANIMATION & ART::
The good thing about this anime is that nobody looks ordinary or familiar, you'll notice every character has a certain design, from Soul's sharp teeth and Maka's plain green eyes to Kid's strange hairstyle and Liz & Patty's odd hats, all characters are uniquely styled.

All scenes are quite detailed, the atmosphere is usually dark but manages to look bright at the same time (a rare sight in anime). If its what the background artists were going for, I think they nailed it. Shortcuts are rare which is good, you can see that episodes weren't rushed. The art stays consistent (unlike Naruto) and the quality remains the same throughout.

The action is fluid, creative and non-standard (unlike Bleach) fight scenes aren't just repetitive movements shown at different angles, or just sword bashing and gun blasting. It manages to keep fight scenes interesting. Another strong point is action, which never fails.

::SOUND::
At first you will be introduced to 'Resonance'. A memorable opening track that fits very well to the series. This would be among the best if it wasn't for 'PAPERMOON' the 2nd opening which is even better than Resonance. I'm yet to come across anyone who thinks otherwise. This opening is epic. All ending themes are decent. Some are generic, the best being the current ending 'STRENGTH' and the 2nd ending 'Style' which stands out more than the 1st ending 'I wanna be' and 'Bakusō Yume Uta' which you will not remember at all.

Audio is decent, but there aren't any special moments or tracks that will hype you up or give you that tingly feeling inside when coupled with a good action scene. Songs aren't memorable like something Bruce Faulconer could cook up but do fit well with most happenings.

::CONCLUSION::
Soul Eater is an anime that manages to keep consistency throughout. It's lack of fillers (with the exception of the excalibur episodes which will drive you nuts) is enough for action fans to watch without worry, seriously 98% of the episodes are significant to the story (unlike Bleach which has whole filler arcs. 20+ FILLERS IN ONE GO!!!).

I find this more enjoyable to watch than Naruto or One Piece (which are heavily overrated). Mainly because the anime has a point and sticks to it. The Medusa Arc is to stop Medusa reviving the Demon God. The Arachnophobia Arc is to stop Arachne to allow the Demon God to spread madness over the world.

People complain about lack of originality but I am yet to find an anime that is truly similar. Shinigami's have been used before, but Shinigami literally translates to The Death God or The Grim Reaper, who in this case rules Shibusen and his son. Due to the halloween theme of Soul Eater I find the Grim Reaper necessary and is in no way similar to Ryuk of Death Note or characters like Rukia of Bleach. Let's get this straight their only link they have is the word 'Shinigami'

And finally Soul Eater is a must watch for any Shonen (Action, Comedy) fan. It has already been licensed by FUNimation which means a dub is coming soon and I believe Soul Eater will become another one of those famous anime shows. The only difference is it is actually has consistent entertainment value.



No comments:

Post a Comment