Soul Eater COMING TO TOONAMI FINALLY

[krule274]

So yeah, I've actually just been reading the English releases and I'm up to volume 8 now. I take it things don't get much better, because I'm not too terribly impressed thus far.

I mean if you're honestly reading by english release then you aren't going anywhere man. Seriously, get going.~
http://www.mangareader.net/157/soul-eater.html

[Big_Bad_Lith]

So yeah, I've actually just been reading the English releases and I'm up to volume 8 now. I take it things don't get much better, because I'm not too terribly impressed thus far.

If underground trains bursting out of the sand, Mifune doing things with swords I've never seen before, Stein cutting Medusa in half, Giriko being a living chainsaw, Excalibur doing anything he does, the Kishin's escape, and all the other insane/badass/hilarious/freaky things that happen didn't impress you, then yeah. This manga isn't for you. Which is a damn shame, because it's all fucking awesome imo.

[Nobodyman]

If underground trains bursting out of the sand, Mifune doing things with swords I've never seen before, Stein cutting Medusa in half, Giriko being a living chainsaw, Excalibur doing anything he does, the Kishin's escape, and all the other insane/badass/hilarious/freaky things that happen didn't impress you, then yeah. This manga isn't for you. Which is a damn shame, because it's all fucking awesome imo.

Cool visuals is one thing, but I find myself having trouble getting invested in the characters. I guess a big part of it is that I really don't understand why most of them are doing what they're doing. From what I gather, they all have the same motivation of "I want to for a deep relationship with my weapon so that when it consumes x amount of souls it can leave me to become Death's weapon."

...........Uh...what?

Also, a lot of the battles just seem kind of random and pointless.

[kouch_lee]

If underground trains bursting out of the sand

That was kick-ass, and one of my favorite action scenes in the manga.

Mifune doing things with swords I've never seen before

Mifune's fighting style was nuts, BUT he was such a bland, unremarcable character. Even his design was blandness incarnate. . .

The rest I won't comment cause the didn't leave an impact in me. I can't feel the characters, and a lot of the "deep conflicting emotions" feel rather hollow to me. Oh, and the whole "inside the weird book arc", don't even remember the name, was really bad, IMHO. And that face-off between Kid and Blackstar. . .Nope. Didn't feel a thing.

And while we're at it, I was somewhat surprised that after Maka/Soul upgraded to a freaking Death Scythe, she is still considered really weak, at least compared to Blackstar or Kid. And Kid I can't handle, but Blackstar is a completely different matter. Again, his fighting style is beautiful to watch, but his character is irritating.

Keep in mind, all of this is an opinion. I still respect this manga for some parts of it, as I said, some of its art, when it has the most personality, originality and uniqueness it's just insane to see. And some of the action scenes are a delight, too. But overall, I felt slightly disappointed for a manga I had such great expectations for. . .

Still, I will finnish it, not like Bleach, Naruto or Fairy Tail which I abandoned. (I read the ocasional Naruto chapter and facepalm at its epicly enormously BAD art).

[Refii]

Cool visuals is one thing, but I find myself having trouble getting invested in the characters. I guess a big part of it is that I really don't understand why most of them are doing what they're doing. From what I gather, they all have the same motivation of "I want to for a deep relationship with my weapon so that when it consumes x amount of souls it can leave me to become Death's weapon."

...........Uh...what?

Also, a lot of the battles just seem kind of random and pointless.

Why does everything characters do need a reason? Why can't you enjoy a manga about a bunch of awesome soldiers acting out orders.

[Nobodyman]

Why does everything characters do need a reason? Why can't you enjoy a manga about a bunch of awesome soldiers acting out orders.

Aaaaaaaaaand shut up.

[Thousand Lion-chan]

Characters...kinda need a motivation to get the audience to care about them. It's the personel conflict that characters go through and how they overcome the obstacles they face to accomplish their goal what makes characters interesting and make you want to root for them.

It's fine to just have this character with some cool powers and interesting personality at first but ultimately, you need to put in some sort of motivation to create some depth or he'll end up just being a character of all style and no substance.

[Hiroy]

Isn't the main motivation maintaining/keeping balance and peace at the academy? While training young souls users to take the helm when they become as older, stronger and trusty enough? I always thought that was the whole point of Soul Eater. Teaching young ones discipline in a world surrounded by evil intentions and inner madness. It's like a school life manga in a different setting with a completely unique "Halloween" theme.

Just my two cents. I never really once thought the characters were lacking purpose.

[gotta<3OP]

If you don't understand their motivations, Re-read the manga.
I actually like this manga because the motivations are not flat out handed to us. They're not stated. But they're implicit.
They didn't join Shibusen to do X (actually this is better explained in ",not"), it's the only school for weapons and meisters. And they go there as you would go to harvard if you liked a course in harvard. Not because your father is sick and you need to find the plant x that only exists in the room 6938 of harvard. They're simply students, doing what they're asked. You are asked to have a good average. They're asked to collect 100 souls.
The manga would suck if it was just that. It happens that the students collecting 100 souls have interesting personalities, and the character development is sweet.

But I have difficulties finding the plot any good when I'm reading this monthly... But once I was like "meh, only read from where the anime left, gonna read this all in one go!" and then, I was like... "O.O THIS IS REALLY AWESOME, DAMN". But 6 or 7 months later, I'm already finding it "meh" again. But THAT ART. That Art. That fucking Art (at this point I get reminded of City vs Sporting... go SCP!)... It's amazing. That face in the end... amazing. And I just love Steins design. The whole art is simply "madness" in art form. Awesome.

[Big_Bad_Lith]

I actually really like the characters. The 7 main leads are all handled really well in terms of screen time and importance to the plot, and really bounce off each other well. And no, they don't all have a "dream" that they've stated outright, but they all have directions they want to go and distinct personalities. The second trio of pairs, not so much, I'll admit.

You know, It actually makes me think of what Naruto could have been like if the "ninja school" had been handled correctly. The kids and teachers get sent on different missions, in different groupings, and kick ass.

Also, I like how villains are handled. Though you get the 1-on-1 fights, the villain group is rarely completely killed off after one go. Medusa's group actually WON the Christmas Eve battle, there were multiple encounters with Arachnophobia, and Giriko survived to be in Noah's gang, of which Noah and Justin are still kicking. Well, except not Justin anymore. Also, except for this Moon arc, the villains were all well established beforehand, with plenty of build up for each one. And Medusa is one of my favorite villains ever. It says something about the impression she's left that even though we saw her get killed, and heard from multiple characters that she's dead, I still don't believe it.

ah, I don't mean to make a big rant about how much I like this manga, as if there's a big force against me. I just, really like this manga. Though it has gone downhill since the Salvage arc, I will admit. I'm hoping for some crazy madness art, and some finale-worthy fights, followed by mass weddings.

[Nekketsu]

http://www.mangareader.net/soul-eater/97

The last pages... nostalgia FTW!

[Aldrich]

To me this manga is worth reading just for the art

It's what Bleach tries to be and miserably fails to be

[mcdreamy]

Spoiler:

Using Soul Protect huh...that's actually pretty smart...They should have thought of stalling the madness with that a long time ago lol.

[kouch_lee]

One thing I never understood: If Soul became a Death Scythe, and seeing how DS are all so powerful. . .

. . .How come Maka and Soul are so weak?

[Nekketsu]

One thing I never understood: If Soul became a Death Scythe, and seeing how DS are all so powerful. . .

. . .How come Maka and Soul are so weak?

Death Scythe =/= Elite Death Scythe with years of experience behind. You just can't compare Soul with the likes of Justin or Marie among others.

[kouch_lee]

Yes, but considering they're the main characters (or so I thought), they are like a million light years away from Kid or Black Star. Maybe that's the point, that they're more oriented towards "special abilities" than fighting, but it feels weird to me.

[Nekketsu]

If you wanna recall what happens whenever Maka & Soul engage in melee, check Salvage arc.

[Mr. Goldenweeks]

So, when Stein tapped Marie's stomach, was he implying she's pregnant with his kid?
http://www.mangareader.net/soul-eater/97/9

[Big_Bad_Lith]

hmm... it seems like he's trying to fist-bump her stomach, if anything. Wasn't fist-bumps something that B.J. liked to do? maybe it's some sort of callback to that?

I guess I feel like if Okubo wanted to imply she was preggers, it would be a little bit more obvious.


Also, dat spread where they all put on their bands was so sick and classic Soul Eater, I love it.

[MDL]

Also, dat spread where they all put on their bands was so sick and classic Soul Eater, I love it.

same here, totally loved it.

as some people were saying earlier, i love the art style of this series so much at times.