Soul Eater - Reviews

I watched the anime of Soul Eater about a year ago. I enjoyed it a lot, and thought it was a very solid, above-average, but slightly flawed anime series. I heard from one of my friends later that the manga source material of the series takes a much different turn about halfway through that ends with a much more satisfying ending, which interested me since I sort of felt the ending of the anime was a bit lackluster. So I read it and I am very glad I did.

There is so much more depth in manga, so many loose ends (I won't spoil anything) that kind of get ignored in the anime are tied quite beautifully here. There are also a ton more awesome characters we never see in the anime, such as Gopher and Noah, and many more emotional scenes and plot twists. Also there is much better character development, especially for the great Black Star. In the end I actually found Soul Eater to be quite touching, and I feel that the series can be viewed as somewhat of an allegory of growing up and the difficulties and triumpths involved in it. I would even go as far as to say it's a masterpiece. Now we just need a reboot of the anime and I'll be completely satisfied.

(Also I put a 10 for art, but I'm going just by how it was by the end. The art at the beginning is somewhat meh, but improves immensely throughout the series.)

Aku tak sangka manga dia lagi best dari anime. Anime dia pun best tapi taklah sehebat macam dalam manga dia. Manga dia kita boleh nampak trio kita Black Star, Maka dan Kid ada akan menjadi semakin kuat. Paling aku suka tengok Black Star dengan Maka punya development. Ending dia buat aku tak puas. Aku harap suatu hari nanti keluar sequal walaupun hal ini adalah sungguh mustahil. 

Review Manga:

Art style dia mula2 tak cantik sangat. Tapi lama2 kita boleh tengok author nya ada improvement art style.

Jalan cerita dia pun best. Mengisahkan tiga orang ni nak jadi kuat. Satu orang ni dia nak weapon nya jadi deathscyte. Satu budak lagi ni nak jadi kuat mengalahkan tuhan. Manakala lagi satu budak ni, dia nak teruskan power yang diturunkan dari ayahnya sendiri iaitu menjadi shinigami. Tapi musuh mereka membuat impian mereka sedikit susah untuk dicapai. 

Charater development. Macam aku cakap tadi. Trio pengguna senjata ini kita boleh nampak yang mereka akan semakin kuat. Diorang punya teamwork memang balanced masa kat ending nanti

This is, without a doubt, one of the 2 best mangas that I have ever read in my life.

The characters are engaging and even dynamic. Every one of them has something unique to them that they are known for, and they stick to that. It's not just to pull the reader in in the beginning, but it is kept constant and even plays pivotal roles in the storyline!

The art has a very comical feel to it most of the time, but it has a very versatile style. When there is cause for it, it has a very comical feel and adds to the humor. When the situation in the plot is moving more quickly, though, it also has a very real quality that draws the reader in.

I absolutely love this manga. <3<3<3

Death the Kid Forever!!!

Soul Eater is weird.

Part I - The Good

Soul Eater does an amazing job at introducing characters and showing their personalities. One thing that caught my attention was how the main message of Soul Eater is that balance is everything. No one is 100% good, nor 100% bad, people are much more complex than that. And I genuinely LOVED this part.

Most, if not all, of Soul Eater's characters have very obvious flaws and you still like them regardless.

Spirit is a cheating womanizer but he still does his best to be a good father and doesn't have a problem with admitting that he made several mistakes - and by doing them, he made Maka not trust him. He's aware of that and tries several times to change things and correct a few of his behaviors (not all of them, he still has flaws).

Maka has her own insecurities - It was so refreshing to see a main character that actually suffers from the pressure that you would expect them to have based on their abilities and positions. The pressure of being the daughter of two very powerful people and being Soul's partner - there were some insecurities that would come with those things and Maka suffers that. Multiple times she underestimates herself because of those insecurities.

Tsubaki and Black star also have their own flaws and their own stories. It's nice to see main characters that you can easily differentiate between them because they all have their own personalities, bias, and flaws.

Another amazing point is that Soul Eater has one of the healthiest relationships I've ever seen (even though there are some points that I'll talk about later on). Maka and Soul live together, are able to share a place without major problems. They respect each other privacy, show their affection towards each other in their own ways, respect each other boundaries and choices, and are always there to comfort each other. They fvck up every now and then - which is not only normal but expected as well when you're in a relationship with someone, regardless of the nature of the relationship, may it be friendship or a romantic relationship. Maka and Soul bring the best of each other and that is very cute to see.

Crona and Stein were another mind-blowing part this manga. Crona shows the amount of emotional, physical, and psychological damage that trauma can make on a person. I was genuinely cheering for them and loved to see the positive impact that having a support system can make in one's life. I was sad to see their final arc but kinda expected it. Disappointing, but not surprising.

Stein is a very particular case. I personally can't remember seeing another character that has violent tendencies being so human (would love to see more of it, actually). He makes a real effort not to actually hurt people he cares about. Yes, he made multiple mistakes but you can see through the story that he makes an effort to stay sane. His friends love him, even with his flaws (that everyone is aware of, and they try to help him while they still hold him accountable when he fvcks up). Watching him struggling to stay sane for the sake of the ones he loves and cares about was amazing - one of my absolute favorite parts. There are people who struggle with different mental illnesses and conditions that make their brains work in different ways and this story shows that they're human as well. That they're not villains because of this (while still making a point of holding someone you love accountable for their shitty actions). Stein being proud of his students and being admired back by his students was super wholesome and I loved that so much.

PART II - Neutral points

Do I love Death the Kid? Yes, a whole lot.

Even though his OCD is used as a joke multiple times, this manga still made me reflect on the struggles that people that suffer with OCD have and I'll be educating myself more on the subject because of it. I'm not sure if that was the goal in the manga,,,, but I still think it can make you understand more of the rituals, how OCD is serious and affect people's life. I was completely unaware of how OCD can make someone so uncomfortable and even physically sick.

PART III - The dumb points

The amount of sexualization of children in this manga is unreal, even on anime standards. Maka is 12/13 and at the beginning of the manga even during battles, there are multiple panty shots that are not only gross but so unnecessary??? By definition, Ecchi is about "playfully sexual actions. Used with the meaning of 'sexy', 'dirty' or 'naughty'" There is absolutely nothing sexy about a bunch of 13-year-olds????? Like, what's wrong with the team that made that? And it's not only Maka. Tsubaki is 16/17, Patty is 12, Liz is 16/17 and they all have multiple gross scenes as well. They're minors, Patty is a child for fvck's sake. And the whole Blair getting naked and getting on soul's lap even though he's like 14 or 15? JAIL. 

Also, even if the story is good the fanservice is so unnecessary. There were multiple times when a major fight is paused just so Blair could take her clothes off. After some time it gets not only repetitive but also annoying as hell. 

It would make much more sense if all of the ecchi parts of the story were made by adults only and without the presence of the minors in the story. 

PART IV - Bad points

I feel like most of the characters' issues were not fully explored because the author thought that he was doing a continuation? Like, some things were hushed and not fully explained. Maka's insecurities deserved more time and communication with Soul to be solved. The final arc was really underwhelming and that open ending was..... straight up disappointing. I felt like it build all that tension leading into a really big, epic fight and it didn't really delivered what was promised.

Overall I'm happy I finally sat down and read Soul Eater, even if I got disappointed in the end. I expected much more of a story that had the world-building, characters, and good motivations enough to be an amazing manga.

I hate when anime adaptations stray from really good manga. The characters were created with good backgrounds. I especially liked some of the panels of the characters because they were drawn in great detail. Key points were left out of the anime that left many loose ends.