| Synopsis |
|---|
| Maka Albarn's team arrives on The Moon to save the lives of their teachers and peers, but the Clowns are not yet defeated. While Death and Tezca Tlipoca's debate whether the witches will assist the DWMA, they are interrupted by the arrival of Excalibur. Finally, Death the Kid makes an impassioned case for the crew of the Demon Airship to trust in the witches, even as their mission seems suicidal. |
To the Moon is the one hundredth serialized chapter of the manga Soul Eater. It was reprinted in tankōbon form in Volume 23.
Featured Appearances[]
Characters
the DWMA Moon Forces
- Spirit Albarn
- Franken Stein
- Zubaidah
- Jinn Galland
- Alexandre
- Dengu Dinga (weapon form only)
- Death
- Tezca Tlipoca (disembodied mirror form)
- Enrique
Demon Airship Crew
- Death the Kid
- Liz Thompson
- Patty Thompson
- Azusa Yumi
- Marie Mjolnir
- Kilik Rung
- Fire and Thunder
- Jacqueline O'Lantern Dupré
- Ox Ford
- Harvar D. Éclair
- Gen
- Bridge Commander
- Engineers
- Bridge and Other Crewmembers
Clowns
Other Characters
- Excalibur
- Bystander
Locations
Techniques
- Soul Hack (first appearance)
- Witch Hunt
Objects
Plot[]
The sky[]
A light shines, then blasting across, assumed by bystanders on the Earth to be a shooting star. But it is actually the flying Holy Sword, Excalibur.
The Moon[]
Wielding the Death Scythes Spirit Albarn, Jinn Galland, and Dengu Dinga against an endless army of Clowns, Franken Stein, Alexandre, and Zubaidah struggle to catch their breath. Kaguya mocks her opponents for reaching their limit—hence they will never be able to gaze upon her skin. Stein tries to motivate his fellow meisters that Death the Kid will return with the witches soon.
Alexandre smiles, claiming he was willing to sacrifice his life ever since he accepted this mission, with Zubaidah agreeing. But Spirit criticizes the two meisters, claiming their willingness to die at their young ages hardly will give much strength in this battle. Instead, Spirit tells the two to have hope to live, and the two meisters agree to follow his advice. The three meisters stand with their backs to each other to get a full view of the battle ahead of them.
Maka and Black Star arrive at the Moon
Far away in the sky, Maka Albarn, riding her winged weapon Soul Eater, struggles to fly as quickly to the Moon to assist her peers. Black Star has used Tsubaki Nakatsukasa to attach himself to Soul's staff, as he cannot easily vault through the ocean. Noticing how much Maka is struggling to breathe as she exerts herself to fly more quickly, Black Star encourages her to practice lamaze, prompting her to threaten throwing Black Star off. Maka then senses the Madness increasing, realizing Asura's location on the Moon is right behind this last set of clouds. While Maka is impressed with the view, Black Star brags that his presence overshadows even the Moon. While Black Star desires to land already, Maka warns that they should scope the setting from above first.
But Moonlight has already detected the presence of Maka and Black Star approaching, while Kaguya beams with pride that she "bring[s] all the boys to the yard." Moonlight fires a laser into the sky, almost hitting both Maka and Black Star. Maka orders Soul to dodge, but he complains that, with the "big-headed charm" Black Star attached to him like "a phone strap," his movements are compromised. Maka therefore advises that she and Black Star separate so they may more easily dodge. With a swing of her weapon, Maka loosens Black Star from Soul, sending him flying away as she shouts, "Get lost!!"
Maka's throw of Black Star sends him towards multiple laser beams, which he deflects easily with his hand—and grabs the lasers to throw back at Moonlight. Maka is shocked at Black Star's seemingly inhuman ability. But Black Star responds that he can do so because he is such "a superstar beyond any human understanding." Tsubaki resumes her sword form, as Black Star cushions his descent with a slice into the Moon's surface, alerting Stein to his arrival.
Black Star finds himself in front of his paltry "welcoming party" of numerous Clowns, including the Spider Clown that Kid fought earlier. Maka, however, remains in flight, uncertain whether she can fight that many clowns at once. As Moonlight shoots more lasers at her, Soul asks Maka to sense the wavelengths of the lasers, which allows him to determine their rhythm so that, with the keyboard appearing on his blade, he uses Soul Hack to control the very moon-shaped blades comprising each laser. With each blade control, Maka and Soul are able to redirect the lasers to fire upon the Clowns, decimating them.
Maka saves Stein from Clowns with Witch-Hunt
The Clowns are not impressed by these students' abilities, as they rush to attack Stein. But Maka lands, slicing those Clowns away with Witch-Hunt. Maka lands before Stein, thanking Stein and Spirit for staying behind on the Moon to continue the battle. Stein, however, is a bit embarrassed to be rescued by one of his students. But Maka announces that she is not done with this battle.
Meanwhile, Moonlight agrees to persist in his battle to spread Asura's madness, as even if Black Star seizes more of his lasers, he can produce an infinite number to overwhelm his opponents.
Death Room[]
Death complains of his inability to leave Death City, his soul tethered to the Death Weapon Meister Academy. Tezca Tlipoca questions whether the witches will assist the DWMA on The Moon, prompting Death to chastise his Death Scythe for having such doubts. Death reminds Tezca that the witches would not have approached the DWMA if they were not interested in a truce. Tezca is not convinced, thinking that the hatred held by witches and the DWMA against each other may outweigh any desire to oppose the global threat of Asura. Death concludes that, as they cannot change the witches' decision they can only trust them.
A beam of light shines above the Academy—then smashes through its buildings, igniting portions of the spires. The beam explodes into the Death Room, as Death shouts, "Those fucking witches!!! I knew those rotten bitches would attack!!!"
"Bon-jour," Death hears, as Excalibur has arrived. He complains that he knows Death has been talking about him, as he cannot stop sneezing. Tezca is too shocked by what Death just said (and denies saying) to be surprised at Excalibur's arrival. Death, however, welcomes Excalibur's arrival as a distraction, while the Holy Sword says he has come to the Death Room to watch Asura's battle from here. Death questions why Excalibur does not assist the DWMA to fight Asura, while Excalibur says he could ask the same of his fellow Great Old One, as Death is "the former ruler of 'Order.'" Death becomes silent.
Demon Airship[]
Azusa Yumi opposes Death the Kid's plan to charge the Airship directly at the Moon, when the witches are not yet here to save them should this potentially suicidal attack fails. Kid responds that the witches are watching them, waiting to see whether they are willing to risk their lives and to trust the witches. Azusa asks what Kid did in the Witches' Realm, taking Kid by his arms to tell him that his bows and humility will not undo all the hatred that the DWMA and witches have held against each other. Therefore, this suicidal mission may be a way for the witches to have revenge against the DWMA. Marie Mjolnir interrupts her fellow Death Scythe, but Azusa continues that, if it is hard for humans to forget their hatred, how can they expect an entirely different race of people to forget their hatred? She concludes that Kid is too young to understand that his ideals are not realistic.
Kid admits he may be naive, yet ideals must be realized, and if giving up his ideals is what must be done to be an adult, then he would rather live up to his name and remain a kid.
Azusa then attempts to persuade Kid to consider the lives of the Airship's crew: is he willing to let them die for his gamble on trusting the witches? Kid tells the "kind-hearted" Azusa to have more faith in Gen's crew: because they built this Airship to dodge every attack, they will not let this ship crash.
The Airship heads to the Moon, full speed ahead
Kid refers to all 36 members currently on the Airship, promising that, if anyone opposes his plan, he will call off the attack. But Gen, the engineers, and the Bridge commander all support Kid's plan. While Kilik Rung is surprised Kid is asking them, Ox Ford says that Kid already knows their faith in him, while Jacqueline O'Lantern Dupré is confident Kim Diehl will convince the witches to ally with the DWMA. Marie teases Azusa that she is the only one not to answer. Kid asks Azusa directly whether she trusts him. She smiles and complains that Kid is "as pushy as your father." Marie snatches Azusa's wrist, lifting up her hand to call for the Airship to plunge down to the Moon.
Manga and Anime Differences[]
- In both the anime and the manga, Excalibur comes to the Death Room to observe the final battle between the DWMA and Asura. In the anime, Excalibur is largely ignored upon his arrival, whereas Death and Tezca Tlipoca (who was not in the anime) are verbally surprised at his arrival. In the anime, this final battle takes place in part in the Death Room itself, allowing Excalibur to speak with Asura. In the manga, Excalibur is never shown speaking with Asura.
Trivia[]
- This chapter includes the results of the Official Popularity Poll, featuring a two-page colorized spread of the main characters huddled around the poll's winner, Death the Kid.
- The Popularity Contest results include comment from the characters. Among these comments are the following: Kid wishing he came in eighth place, Black Star and Excalibur complaining that they came in after Maka and others, Crona not knowing how to deal with receiving so many votes, Tsubaki still annoyed to have won the Volume 18 "sexiest" contest, Stein wishing to dissect his fans, Medusa crediting her popularity to her maternal nature, Justin thanking God, Marie thinking one of her fans may be a future husband, and Liz and Patty both pleased that the younger sister was in twelfth place and beat the older sister.
- The Yen Press English translation has Kaguya say that she "bring[s] all the boys to the yard." This is yet another musical allusion included in this manga, in this case alluding to a lyric from the 2003 song "Milkshake," performed by R&B electropop singer Kelis.
- In Chapter 97, the members of Spartoi made their own headbands with the Soul Eater logo. In this chapter, we see how well those illustrations came out: Fire and Thunder's are smudges (likely due to their age), and Harvar's is all straight lines (as he complained in Chapter 97 that he cannot draw curves very well).
- At the end of this chapter, the characters repeat the title from the previous chapter: "Full speed ahead!"
References[]