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Soul Eater (ソウルイーター, Sōru Ītā) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by series creator, Atsushi Ōkubo. The series revolves around three teams consisting of a weapon user called a meister and (at least one) demon weapon, human beings that're capable of transforming into weapons. These attend a special school called Death Weapon Meister Academy, a school run by the Grim Reaper, with the goal of creating a death scythe by hunting both 99 evil human souls and one witch soul in that order.

The manga is published by Square Enix and was first released as three separate one-shots serialized in two Gangan Powered special editions and one Gangan Wing in 2003. The manga started regular serialization in Square Enix's Monthly Shōnen Gangan manga magazine from May 12, 2004 to August 12, 2013. The manga has been licensed for distribution in North America by Yen Press. The English translated version of Soul Eater is serialized in Yen Press' Yen Plus manga anthology magazine starting in July 2008, and the first manga volume was released in October 2009.

Plot[]

Development[]

After finishing B. Ichi, Okubo went on to create Soul Eater originally as a one-shot series (Prologue #1). Due to the reception, he later created two more one-shots (Prologue #2, Prologue #3). Gangan Comics then asked Ohkubo to create a series based off his one-shots, in which turn became prologues to his series.

In an interview with producer Atsushi Ohkubo, he stated that the series was greatly inspired by ideas from Tim Burton's animations, and by concepts from Harry Potter. Ohkubo also stated he made the hero (or heroine) of the series, Maka, a female to differ from the traditional male hero found in most Shonen manga. He also said the series' title, "Soul Eater", was intended to refer to the Asura and his desire to eat innocent souls, and not to the character, Soul.[1]

Media[]

Manga[]

Volume 01

Volume 1[]


Volume 02

Volume 2[]


Volume 03

Volume 3[]


Volume 04

Volume 4[]


Volume 05

Volume 5[]


Volume 06

Volume 6[]


Volume 07

Volume 7[]


Volume 08

Volume 8[]


Volume 09

Volume 9[]


Volume 10

Volume 10[]


Volume 11

Volume 11[]


Volume 12

Volume 12[]


Volume 13

Volume 13[]


Volume 14

Volume 14[]


Volume 15

Volume 15[]


Volume 16

Volume 16[]


Volume 17

Volume 17[]


Volume 18

Volume 18[]


Volume 19

Volume 19[]


Volume 20

Volume 20[]


Volume 21

Volume 21[]


Volume 22

Volume 22[]


Volume 23

Volume 23[]


Vol 24

Volume 24

Volume 24[]


Volume 25

Volume 25

Volume 25[]


Anime[]

Soul Eater Opening 2 HD - Title Card 2

Title card to the anime's second opening

A 51 episode anime adaptation was directed by Takuya Igarashi, and produced by Bones, Aniplex, Dentsu, Media Factory, and TV Tokyo; Bones and Aniplex were responsible for the animation and music production respectively.[2][3] The anime's scenario writer was Akatsuki Yamatoya who based the anime's story on Atsushi Okubo's original concept. Character design was headed by Yoshiyuki Ito, with overall art direction by Norifumi Nakamura.[2] The anime's conceptual design was done by Shinji Aramaki. Soul Eater is Bones' third anime series to run with 50-51 episodes, after 2003's Fullmetal Alchemist and 2005's Eureka Seven.

The anime was regularly broadcasted Mondays at 6:00 PM on TV Tokyo. The official Japanese website of the Soul Eater anime series announced that each episode would air in two different versions: the regular Monday 6:00  pm version and a Late-Night Soul Eater Late Show version, in which special footage was added at the start and end of the commercial break, and with new versions of the previews for the next episodes. The dual broadcast of this supernatural action series was billed as the "world's first evening and Late-Night resonance broadcast." The term "resonance" refers to a story concept in which the characters, such as the heroine Maka and her living Weapon partner Soul Eater, achieve maximum power by synchronizing their souls.[4] Masahiko Minami of Bones, Koji Taguchi of Square Enix, and Ryo Ohyama of Aniplex mentioned that they want to create a second Soul Eater anime after waiting and seeing how the story progresses.[5]

The Episodes started airing on April 7, 2008, on TV Tokyo, and two animated specials aired on May 29 and June 1, 2008.[6] The Episodes Also Aired at later Dates on TV Aichi, TV Hokkaido, TV Osaka, TV Setouchi, and TVQ Kyushu Broadcasting Co.[2] The final Episode Aired on March 30, 2009. The first DVD compilation volume was released on August 22, 2008 with the first three episodes. The second DVD compilation volume was released on September 25, 2008 with episodes four through seven. Each DVD volume will be released in monthly intervals.[7]

In the United States, the anime was licensed by Funimation, which released the series in four half-season DVD box sets starting with the first volume in February 2010.[8] On November 20, 2012, the Complete Series dub with all 51 Episodes WAS Released on DVD in the United States. A Blu Ray set was also released. On March 16, 2015, Funimation announced that a new Blu Ray Premium Edition with a 64-page full-color artbook would be released on June 30, 2015, the same day when Funimation Would release Limited Edition Blu Ray set of Soul Eater Not![9] All 51 subtitled Episodes Are available on Funimation's website, Along with the first Twenty-six Episodes Dubbed in English.

Episodes[]

Main article: Category:Soul Eater Episodes

Differences between anime and manga[]

Main article: Difference in the Soul Eater media In Soul Eater, the anime and manga deviate from one another after Episode 35. Additionally, various concepts were changed compared from the mange and range from minor such as anime-exclusive scenes to introducing completely new concepts such as the Kishin Egg, which replaces Shinigami's List from the manga.

Music[]

Video games[]

Soul Eater: Monotone Princess[]

Main article: Soul Eater: Monotone Princess The first Soul Eater-based video game was Soul Eater: Monotone Princess, an action-adventure game developed for the Wii by Square Enix with Bones and released on September 25, 2008 in Japan.[10] Featuring original characters such as Ponera and Grimoire, the story revolves around Death Weapon Meister Academy facing off against the aforementioned witch and the brainwashed servants the Paraponera Clan as she attempts to create a kishin.

Although non-canon, it follows the events of the Soul Eater anime storyline and seemingly takes place before the A Fight to the Death at the Anniversary Celebration arc.

Soul Eater: Medusa's Conspiracy[]

Main article: Soul Eater: Medusa's Conspiracy The second game produced was Soul Eater: Medusa's Conspiracy (also Soul Eater: Plot of Medusa), produced by Namco Bandai Games for the Nintendo DS and was released on October 23, 2008. Sharing similarities to Soul Eater: Monotone Princess, the game also follows the anime story line as Maka Albarn and her team (consisting of Black☆Star, Tsubaki, Death the Kid, Patty, Liz, Soul Eater) attempt to thwart the plans of Medusa and her cohorts in reviving Kishin Asura.

Soul Eater: Battle Resonance[]

Soul Eater x Soul Eater Not![]

Artbooks & other media[]

Spinoffs[]

The series has a spinoff known as Soul Eater Not!. According to Atsushi Ōkubo, the spinoff series takes place one year before the Prologues arc of Soul Eater.[11]

Reception[]

References[]

  1. Interview with Atsushi Okubo
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Soul Eater (TV). Anime News Network. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
  3. TV Tokyo: Soul Eater - Staff, Cast (Japanese). TV Tokyo. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
  4. Soul Eater to Air in Japan in Two Weekly Versions. Anime News Network (2008-02-12). Retrieved on 2008-04-17.
  5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_kcX93kY9s
  6. Two Soul Eater Anime Specials to Air in Japan. Anime News Network (2008-05-17). Retrieved on 2008-05-17.
  7. Goods section at the anime's official website (Japanese). Retrieved on 2008-06-02.
  8. FUNimation Adds Soul Eater Anime from Media Factory. Anime News Network (2008-12-31). Retrieved on 2008-12-31.
  9. Funimation: "Something Special is Coming for Soul Eater Superfans". Funimation. Retrieved on 2015-03-16.
  10. "Soul Eater: Monotone Princess Released Date and Price Confirmed!" (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. 2008-06-20. Retrieved 2008-06-21.
  11. Ōkubo acknowledges this fact on his Twitter account. Click here

External links[]

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