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Episode Name
English Title

The Battle of the Gods – Death City on the Verge of Collapse?

Kanji Title

神々の闘い~デスシティ崩壊の危機に?~

Rōmaji Title

Kamigami no Tatakai 〜Desu Shitī Hōkai no Kiki ni?

Episode Data Report
Airing Date(s)

Japan: September 15, 2008

Running Time

23:50

TV Rating

TV-14

Story Arc

Fight to the Death Arc

Episode Guide
Episode 23 Episode 25
List of Episodes |Image Gallery

The Battle of the Gods – Death City on the Verge of Collapse? is the twenty-fourth episode of Soul Eater.

As Asura struggles to return to his past shape, Death the Kid and Black☆Star fail to prevent his escape. Maka Albarn pursues Asura to the surface but fails as well. With all three meisters incapacitated, Death finally escapes the Independent Cube in a deadly clash that damages Death City. Unable to prevent Asura's escape, Death orders Sid Barrett to summon all Death Scythes to return to Death City. Even as Franken Stein finally defeats Medusa Gorgon, one of her snake slithers out of a drainage pipe to escape the battle.

Featured Appearances[]

Characters[]

DWMA

Medusa's Army

Other Characters


Locations

Techniques

Objects

  • Skin Scarves (first appearance)
  • Death's seals (first appearance)
  • Snake housing Medusa's soul

Plot[]

Death City Underground (Past)[]

Franken Stein explains he intended to defeat Medusa Gorgon as quickly as possible, as the witch extended the fight as long as possible to prevent him and Spirit Albarn from joining their students at the Kishin Shrine to prevent Asura's resurrection. Although Stein was able to use a Soul Force attack to impale Medusa, still the witch was not yet dead, keeping him and her in a fatal stalemate. Elsewhere, Death the Kid managed to catch up to Free and Eruka Frog, who were preparing to resurrect the Kishin with an injection of Black Blood. Free blocked Kid's path while Eruka prepared the injection. Although Black Star finally arrived and attempted to slice the Black Blood syringe, instead he fell under madness and, under hallucination, inadvertently destroyed the very shrine that was to keep Asura confined, and Eruka managed to inject the Black Blood.

As Asura's madness began to spread, Medusa let down her guard, giving Stein the opening to dismember her, seemingly killing her. Although Stein was victorious in this physical fight, Asura has been successfully resurrected.

Death City Underground (Present)[]

Maka Albarn is running to the Kishin Shrine but then stops running, upon feeling a large madness wavelength released: she realizes the Kishin has revived. Soul Eater asks about their teammates' status, but Maka cannot sense their soul wavelengths due to the overwhelming madness felt. She resolves to hurry to join her teammates.

Kishin Shrine[]

A fog curls through the shrine, as members of DWMA and Medusa's Army stare at the newly reformed Kishin. Eruka looks horrified at the naked, uncannily human form in front of her. His limbs long and lanky, his skin hugging as close to his ribs as possible, Asura struggles to upright himself, his bones and muscles making disgusting sounds as it tries to hold up its own weight to walk towards Eruka. Asura finally stands, then with his left hand grips his right forearm—and tugs on its loose skin, for a moment, as his grip weakens and the skin snaps back to his arm, causing him to lift up his head as if feeling a sting of pain.

Soul Eater Episode 24 HD - Asura screams at Eruka

Asura screams at Eruka

Overwhelmed, Eruka collapses to her knees. The Kishin saunters towards her, and as one foot touches her knee, he kneels before her. Although his eyes are closed, his face is towards her own. He turns his head away and rubs his right eye, as if trying to wake up. Slowly his eyes open, and the first thing he sees is the terrified Eruka. He pauses. Then his jaw practically unhinged as Asura lets out a chilling scream, causing Eruka to respond in kind. Free is surprised, while Kid assumes Asura is surprised at Eruka.

Black Star finally lifts his head, annoyed at the scene before him, and the fact this person in front of him is the Kishin. Tsubaki Nakatsukasa calls to him, and he orders her to transform into Enchanted Sword Mode to kill Asura now. Tsubaki refuses, citing Black Star's injuries and the risk that her form could slice off part of her meister's soul. "Shut up and do what I say!" Black Star demands, but again Tsubaki refuses. He slams Tsubaki down to the floor and runs to fight the Kishin alone. Tsubaki calls out to her meister to stop, while Kid orders the Thompsons to follow him--Patty sounding more enthusiastic than her nervous sister.

Black Star runs at the "creepy naked pervert" Asura to attack with Black Star Big Wave, but the meister's body cannot endure his own wavelength, and the Kishin seems unaffected. Black Star prepares a Soul Force attack, but Asura swings back a hand, which seems to barely graze along Black Star's face—until a bit of blood expels from the meister's nose, then a powerful red field surrounding Asura expands outward, hurtling Black Star backwards.

Furious, Kid fires rounds at Asura, but the Kishin simply tugs again on the skin of his right arm, this time snapping it forward towards Kid. The skin can only snap so far forward, shrinking at its tip as it does so, but managing to smack Kid in the forehead, leaving what looks like the third eye on Asura's forehead.

Kid is surprised, but in a moment, as with Black Star, the effects of Asura's attack far outweigh how powerful it initially seemed: the young shinigami as well has blood explode from his nose and mouth, as he tumbles to the floor, unconscious. While Liz calls to Kid, Eruka watches in surprise as Asura tugs with both hands more skin from his chest and the back of his neck, until he is able to pull it like strands spinning it around his body to form scarves to cover his nakedness. Still annoyed at how naked he is, Asura decides to depart, using his new skin scarves to propel his body upward, crashing not only into but through the roof above. But before departing, Asura says he prefers the "macho look," leaving Free to assume the Kishin was referring to him.

Soul Eater Episode 24 HD - Maka reaches for Asura

Maka reaches for Asura's scarves

While Tsubaki wonders to where Asura is escaping, she is surprised to hear footsteps, as Maka has caught up to her peers, immediately assessing the situation and leaping to catch one of Asura's scarves—which pulls her up through the hole in the roof. Maka demands Asura stop, as she wedges Soul's blade into the newly formed tunnel's walls to slow the Kishin's ascent. But Asura is not slowing down, as he drags Maka up with him, out of the ground and above Death City.

Death City[]

Above ground, a crowd of men has surrounded the destroyed fish shop, lustful for this "catfight" between Blair and the merged Mizunes. Blair has Mizune pinned to the street, goading her to use her magic, as the mouse witch asks the same of this "loser cat."

The spectators then notice the ground thinking, assuming it is just their excitement and Blair thinking Mizune is nervous. But Mizune knows better, smirking in recognition that Eruka and their peers have succeeded in resurrecting Asura.

The street's cobblestones rip upward as a red ball of energy quickly blasts towards the red sky. It slows as it reaches its zenith, as Asura, hands clasped together, has produced a circle of arrays around himself. Residents of Death City look concerned and huddle near each other as they point to the ascending figure, and even Mizune is surprised at the Kishin's appearance.

Below Asura, a figure can be seen falling. It is Maka, barely conscious from being dragged through the ground. But Soul is still awake, as he reverts from his weapon form so with his own hands he can grip around Maka's body and cushion her against their fall. They crash through crates of oranges, surviving but unable to continue this fight. Still, Maka looks upward to see Asura's floating figure, and she reaches out a hand, intending to stop the Kishin. Before she can continue, she finally passes out atop her partner, who remarks that she is "really something."

Soul Eater Episode 24 HD - Death's seals contain Asura

Death's seals wrap around Asura

Near where Soul and Maka have fallen, more cobblestones shake lose, as Soul realizes something else is going to blast through the ground. Four tendril creatures, each with pins pierced through their wrappings and skulls atop them, come through the street, flying towards Asura. The Kishin recognizes them as Death's seals, as the four wrap around each of Asura's limbs, then pinning themselves into his skin and attached back underground.

While Death City residents, as well as Blair and Mizune, stare in surprise, from the hole in the ground Free emerges, with Eruka in her frog form atop his shoulder. Upon seeing Death's seals wrapped around Asura's limbs, Eruka asks whether they will hinder the Kishin, and Free responds that the old seals cannot hold back a newly reborn Kishin. Sure enough, the smirking Kishin merely lifts his right arm, and the seal tears away easily. But Eruka and the residents turn back to the Death Weapon Meister Academy, seeing the Independent Cube is dissolving when only 40 minutes on this 60-minute spell have passed. Free admits that he must have over-estimated, as "a man" is want to do. But that is not what shocks the people the most: rather, it is the almost instantaneous arrival, with little fanfare, of Death himself, who has four skulls around his body and each propelling his body with heat above the ground to face Asura. The scarves along the Kishin's face begin to crackle, as Asura removes them to face Death directly.

"Hiya. Long time, no see," Death begins, before remarking how frail Asura appears and how uncomfortable he must be wearing clothing far lighter than what he prefers to wear. Asura as well is surprised at Death's "comical mask," but the shinigami explains that after sealing away Asura he began his academy for meisters and weapons, only to learn that his previous appearance was too scary for children. Death then notices how scary his old seals look pinned into Asura's body. Asura assumes Death's explanation would also explain how "funny" the shinigami's voice now sounds, but Death assures that he has grown accustomed to such lighter mannerisms. Death then prepares his hand to chop Asura as he apologizes that, so soon after Asura's awakening, the Kishin must die again. As Asura covers his face again with his scarves, Death's mask no longer appears jovial, and his voice deepens as he shouts, "Reaper Chop!"

Death's attack knocks Asura into the streets of Death City, kicking up a cloud of debris. Even as the impact produces a crater in the street, Asura chuckles, pushing upward with his legs as his shoulders stay on the ground. The Kishin asks whether Death knows the pain of being flayed, as he himself cannot remember. Asura then claps his hands together and uprights himself, throwing his scarves from the ground level up into the sky as he asks Death to help him remember that pain, intending to rip Death's skin from his own body. As the scarves approach him, Death charges energy through the eyeholes of his mask, forming a protective orb of electricity, his Shinigami Shock Waves, around his body and which tear apart these skin scarves, running down their length until they hit Asura directly, causing the Kishin to bleed black.

Soul Eater Episode 22 HD - Explosion in Death City

Death's battle damages Death City

But Asura's wounds heal almost immediately, allowing him to continue this fight by forming hand signs that allow him to fly upward with two rows of two columns of arrays forming in the sky. The top row of arrays form eyes that blast towards Death, who blocks them with his hands. But Asura's attack is not yet cancelled, as the beams persist against the struggling Death. Death finally moves his hands to deflect the beams, but they crash into the streets of Death City, causing explosions that destroy buildings. The shinigami is aware of what he has allowed to happen, expressing surprise.

Out of the Academy have escaped Ox Ford and Kilik Rung, with their weapons Pot of Fire and Pot of Thunder and Harvar D. Éclair. Sid Barrett is surprised at their arrival, ordering them not to simply sit around but to tend to injured residents and to evacuate civilians from Death City. While worried that this battle between gods could destroy Death City, Sid is counting on Death to win this fight.

Death flies downward to take the fight to the streets. Asura's blocks this attack with his scarves, but in holding back this attack, its force still causes Asura's feet to dig deeper into the street, enlarging that crater. Asura chuckles again, his scarves knocking back Death into a building. Asura prepares to fly, but Death forms Death Block, an energy barrier resembling his own mask, to press the Kishin into the ground. The street caves under Asura's body from the weight of this attack, as Soul, still cradling his unconscious meister, looks impressed. But Asura lets out a bellow, his power dispelling this barrier. Death is surprised how powerful Asura is, even though he is not yet at full strength, and fears, without his own Death Scythes, that the Kishin could kill him.

Asura pierces Shinigami

Asura rips through Death's body, escaping Death City

Asura flies towards Death, demanding he stop blocking his escape. Asura then opens his mouth, revealing his consumed weapon, Vajra. Death produces another Death Block against this path, which Asura hits with Vajra, demanding his weapon perform another energy attack. Death's barrier holds long enough for much of Vajra's energy waves to be knocked back towards the streets, kicking up more dust that sweeps past Soul, the unconscious Maka, and the Fish Dealer and other civilians still standing. Death struggles to hold the barrier, but Vajra's energy continues to pour out as Asura announces that the shinigami cannot stop him. A crack forms in the Death Block, surprising Death, but before the shinigami can react, Asura breaks through, ripping through the barrier—and through Death's own body.

Soul Eater Episode 24 HD - Asura sails through sky

Asura escapes

The scarves around Asura's body spin like a top, propelling him through the sky. Soul calls out to Death, who although decimated turns, announcing that he is ready to flay Asura again. Death Claws, black tendrils of energy resembling hands and skulls, reach upward at Asura, but the Kishin merely cackles. Death is confused, until he and Soul both see why Asura is so confident: the tendrils are repelled, not by Asura but by Death's very soul, because Asura has flown high enough above the city to exist beyond the reach of Death's soul. Asura removes some of the scarves around his mask to announce that he doubts he and Death will ever meet again. Death can do nothing as Asura concludes, "Goodbye, Master." Arrays form around Asura's body, propelling him higher through the sky until he is no longer visible. With Asura gone, the red cloud dissipiate, revealing again the smiling, bloody mouth of the Moon.

Death descends back to the entrance of the Academy. Sid approaches the shinigami, who orders him to tend to the children who went underground first, then bring back all of the world's Death Scythes. After Sid departs, Death's mask returns to its usual appearance, and his voice resumes its higher pitch, as he reflects on the appropriateness that Asura returns on the anniversary of the founding of his own school designed to prevent another Kishin from emerging. He anticipates how much busier life is about to become.

The Desert[]

Far away from Death City, atop of a rock formation stands Eruka, who tells the surviving Tadpole Jackson and her fellow magic users that they should now be safe at this distance. Free is surprised at the woman next to him, learning she is the combination of the five Mizunes. Eruka also notices that she cannot sense Medusa's magic, leaving her with one regret: that she did not witness Medusa's death. Eruka admits she looked up to Medusa, given the caliber of her skill, a situation that she finds "funny."

Death City Underground[]

The seemingly lifeless corpse of Medusa, or rather than her corpse above the waist, still lies on the floor. A discarded still smoking cigarette skips along her body onto the floor. Stein expects that Death has fought Asura, and as the madness has faded, the Kishin must have escaped. As Stein muses, he seems not to notice Vector Arrows snaking along the floor. Spirit Albarn, still in his weapon form, bemoans his failure to be at Death's side, anticipating his presence may have allowed Death to stop Asura's escape. Stein admonishes Spirit to stop worrying how everyone will blame him for this failure, as the battle is not finished yet so long as Asura remains a threat now to the entire world.

As Stein finishes his point, the Vector Arrows wrap around his shoulders and neck, and these arrows tug upward the limbless but still living Medusa, who bites into Stein's shoulder. Stein struggles to tear her off himself, finally slamming her body down to the floor. Although facing her own demise, Medusa smirks and says, "I love you, you know." Although his left shoulder is cut, with just his left arm Stein thrusts Spirit downward, slamming his blade through Medusa's chest, seeming to be the fatal blow. Stein criticizes the dying witch not to speak such lies: "You're just like me. You can't possibly understand love." Medusa chuckles, as her body dissolves into Vector Arrows, which then dissipate. Spirit is shocked how this "kind of woman" would "extinguish her soul." Stein says nothing, holding to his shoulder.

Kishin Shrine[]

With the Kishin no longer present, Liz and Patty have transformed out of their weapon forms in order to lift the unconscious Kid by his shoulders and legs. Tsubaki also is back in her human form, resting Black Star's head on her lap as she tries to reawaken him. Ragnarok, still in his reduced formed, has his hands across Crona's wrists, still tormenting the meister by tugging their arms into the air before letting go of those wrists to instead tug at their face.

Death City[]

Through the desolated streets, Soul has his meister on his back, as he carries her home. But what the weapon remembers is what Stein had said, how dangerous the Kishin's revival could be, its madness spreading like a disease. Soul looks to the Moon, as elsewhere Death considers how exhausting this night has been. But at least there is the morning to look forward to.

That next morning, the Sun again is laughing, and the sky again is blue. The residents of Death City have wheelbarrows to cart away debris and reinforcements to repair buildings. And still the Fish Dealer is overwhelmed with lust regarding Blair's fight against the merged Mizune Family.

Elsewhere is a canal, where sewage drains against a grassy field with a barren tree and mountains in the background. And from one pipe leading out of Death City, a snake covered in arrows slithers into the water.

Manga and Anime Differences[]

  • In both the originating chapter and this episode, Asura tells Death that he doubts the two of them will see each other again. While Asura's prediction is true in the manga, as Death dies in the midst of Asura's fight against the newly ascended Death the Kid on the Moon, in the anime, Asura will be captured by the Death City Robot and fight Death, who wields Spirit.
  • Chapter 22 reveals more of Mizune's breasts as Blair's fight against her has tugged down the top of her outfit, whereas in this episode, Mizune is more covered.
  • In this episode's English-language dub, Asura can speak clearly despite having Vajra resting in his mouth for some attacks. In the Yen Press English translation for Chapter 22, Asura's speech is garbled by having something on his tongue, necessitating a parenthetical translation of his garbled speech.
  • In this episode, when Death remembers meeting with children scared of his face, Death City is seen with forests and mountains, suggesting a less arid climate. But in Chapter 22, not only is this image of Death City in the past not shown, but neither is the scene of Death inadvertently scaring children.
  • During Asura and Death's fight in Episode 24, Death sounds horrified upon seeing Asura's attack destroy part of Death City. Death reveals little shock at this event in Chapter 22.
  • In Chapter 22, Sid orders Kilik and Ox to prepare for emergency response should the fight worsen, before Asura's attack seems to cause much more damaging explosions. In Episode 24, Sid is more adamant in ordering not only Kilik and Ox, but also Harvar D. Éclair and Fire and Thunder (who do not appear in Chapter 22), to rescue the injured and to evacuate the city. In Chapter 22, Sid never tells anyone to evacuate Death City.
  • In Episode 24, Medusa needed to form Vector Arrows to assist her with crawling up Stein's body. In Chapter 22, Medusa does not use Vector Arrows, odd considering that she somehow managed to climb up Stein's body without her arms and without Stein noticing her presence by his very shoulder until it was too late.
  • In this episode, Eruka expresses honest admiration of the deceased Medusa, whereas in Chapter 22 Eruka follows up her praise with, "Just kidding," indicating she is disingenuous in her praise.
  • In this episode, Stein seems to kill Medusa by slicing into her chest with Spirit's blade. In the manga, Stein instead slices into Medusa's head. As well, Medusa's wounds in this episode are covered in shadows, whereas in Chapter 22, the wounds are shown with more graphic detail.
  • In this episode, Ragnarok is shown being in his smaller form torturing Crona, whereas in Chapter 22 Ragnarok had not yet been decreased in size.
  • In this episode, the narration regarding the long night and the upcoming morning is given by Death, whereas in Chapter 22, it is not clear whether someone, or something else like the Moon or the Sun, is narrating.
  • In this episode, the repairs to Death City, and the Fish Dealer's continuing lust, are shown. In Chapter 22, these scenes are not shown.
  • In this episode, the canal around Death City is shown near a grassy field with a barren tree. In Chapter 22, the field and tree are not seen, as the canal seems to be at a closer elevation with the city itself.
  • During Asura and Death's fight in Episode 24, after Asura charges through Death, Death does not regenerate his body. In Chapter 22, the missing part of Death's body grows back immediately after the attack.

Trivia[]

  • The scene in which Asura screams at Eruka closely resembles a scene from the music video to the 1997 drum and bass song "Come to Daddy" by the British electronic musician Aphex Twin.
  • Although not formally introduced to her, Death the Kid refers to Eruka by her name, likely from hearing Free and Medusa refer to her as such.
  • Asura flicks Kid's forehead, leaving behind a third Kishin eye. As Kid already resembles Asura, the third eye makes the shinigami look more like the Kishin, perhaps inadvertently foreshadowing the reveal in the manga that Kid and Asura are siblings. As well, the flick to the forehead is similar to physical tormenting that older siblings are known to inflict upon younger siblings.
  • The song that plays as Liz, Patty, Tsubaki, and Soul tends to their meisters is titled "Soulmates," a song suitable to demonstrate the weapons' devotion to their partners.
  • At the beginning of this story arc, when Sid used Forced Burial to allow Stein and the students to escape, the meisters landed on their feet while the weapons fell onto their backsides, a fact recognized by Soul. In this episode's last moments, it is the weapons who are left standing on their feet in most cases, tending to their unconscious meisters who cannot stand on their own feet.
  • When Soul remembers Stein's warning about the Kishin, the scientist is dressed in his sweater and his lab coat, whereas when Stein actually gave this warning to Soul and the other students, the scientist was wearing instead his formal party attire.
  • In the preview for the next episode, Asura enjoys the breath of fresh air he is enjoying upon being freed from Death City. Maka asks what Asura intends to do now that he is free, what he wanted to do when he was sealed, what he did for fun as a child, what his hobbies are, what his special skills are, and what his dream is. But his answer to each question is the same: "Stretch." Maka then asks how one moves an injured person, and Asura answers, "A stretcher."

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