Soul Eater 2nd Review!
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Ahh yes, summertime. The season when it?s REALLY FREAKING HOT OUT. Especially where I am. And all those little offspring of the strange anime critter have just begun to hit puberty and start chewing up all your furniture. And while most of them, as punishment, will be left out in a cardboard box at the edge of my lawn that says ?free critters? on it, the one that I like enough to bother keeping around and training to fetch my slippers and sick people is the highly popular ?Soul Eater?. And good news everyone, it got its shots and the tests are back, and it is NOT infected with First Episode Syndrome, though I will have to put down this metaphor.
First and foremost, before I continue, I?m going to assume that you have seen my previous review of Soul Eater?s first episode, and if not, then go do that. Now. Seriously, I hate repeating myself. I?ll wait, just go??..alright, ya back? Good, let?s roll. The Soul Eater anime has now gotten up to 13 episodes and the manga is up to 48 chapters, which I have watched and read all of and because you all asked for it am ready to tell you about?.again. And since I have no need to reiterate the premise, let?s get straight over to the characters:
Now then, Maka-Chan (GLOMP). I will tell you right now that I like this character more than I?ve liken an anime character in a long time. She?s a she, she?s intelligent, she?s respectable and she?s not afraid to KICK. YOUR. ASS. Now as for her voice, I now know that the Seiyuu for the character (Chiaki Omigawa) is new to the voice acting business, which allows her a slice of slack, but I have to admit that Maka?s voice is?well it?s growing on me?a lot. Not flawlessly, mind you, as there are still times when the Seiyuu?s inexperience is made clear, like whenever she tries to say ?Black Star?, it just doesn?t come out right. But if this character actually existed I would totally give her a cookie just for being awesome, and not one of those pansy regular cookies, either. I mean one of those giant, pizza-sized ones I make for special occasions.
As for her partner Soul, I also must admit that I like him a lot more than I thought I would, since while he?s not exactly a gentleman, he is much less thickheaded and obnoxious than most characters with his kind of hair usually are, and of course he?s a nice guy in the end, zippidy do dah.
Speaking of thickheaded and obnoxious, though, we come to the ninja boy ?Black Star?, and??god I just wanna hit this kid. Everything I feel about Maka I DON?T feel for ?BS? here, and I definitely have to re-locate the prize for being Naruto-esque to him. I cannot stand characters that are cocky and arrogant and never shut up, and Black Star is the living embodiment of that. And while I do understand that he is clearly supposed to be a comic-relief character, I still just don?t like the brat. Granted he does redeem himself just a bit in episode 11, but it?s not enough to change my mind. And while his pitiable partner Tsubaki does start off with a lot of automatic points for being a ninja chick, she?s gradually losing them for being so wishy-washy and embodying the stereotype Japanese fetish of a premade housewife. And while I can certainly appreciate being shy and cute, frankly I like my female characters to have some balls. But since she doesn?t, and Black Star is a dick, I just don?t care for this team.
Third on the list is the kid in the tux, whose name is, of all things, Kidd. Death the Kidd, in fact. And while the upside-down handguns thing still annoys me, I now know that he is the son of Shinigami-sama, and he also has obsessive-compulsive disorder and is obsessed with symmetry. This aspect makes him an interesting character to me, not so much because he has it, but because I DO. And when I say I have a touch of the OCD, I don?t mean it the way most people seem to, which is that they get uncomfortable when there?s a knife stuck in their temple, I mean it really used to take me about 10 minutes to tie my shoes because I had to get the laces exactly even. Not anymore, granted, but I didn?t stop caring, I just got better at doing it. Anyhow, he?s a decent character, and while I suppose I could be offended by his antics, I?m not. If anything I find them slightly more amusing because I understand the compulsion, though he still needs to start holding his guns right. Oh, yeah, and his two partners, Liz and Patty Thompson, though they?re more like his cheerleaders. They?re there, but they?re mostly comic relief and out of all 7 mains they get easily the least development (plus half of Patty?s script it silly laughing).
As for the rest of the cast, Shinigami is still amusingly unfrightening (though I?m not sure why his voice temporarily changed in episode 4), Maka?s Dad is still a douche, Blair Witch is still a completely unnecessary fanservice character who should?ve never been seen again after episode 1 and before you think dirty things about her remember she?s actually a cat, you bestiality bastard. Blair can begone and procreate upon her own being, that surreptitious tart (translation: go f**k yourself, whore). There?s also Chrona, the possessed, possibly hermaphrodite emo kid with the screaming sword Ragnarok. As well as the friendliest mad scientist you?ve ever met, Dr. Franken Stein (har har). And when it comes to Frankie here, I love this guy. He?s kinda silly, but in a fun way and he?s still cool for being an extremely powerful nerd, plus his ?swivel chair fu?? PRICELESS. There?s also the show?s current big villain, the witch Medusa, who as you might expect likes snakes, since all the witches in Soul Eater appear to be animal-themed. Medusa is more or less Soul Eater?s equivalent to Orochimaru from Naruto: just keep the snakes and badness, switch ?ninja? for ?witch? and subtract all the unsettling Michael Jackson similarities, and there you go. Medusa also gets high scores for being a powerful witch in an anime who remains fully clad and is portrayed as being effectively EVIL instead of just bitchy and liking S&M. She?s a quality villain, and one of much more entertaining ones I?ve seen in a while. Don?t ask me why I enjoy her so much, I know she?s evil, but I??just?do (EVIL GLOMP).
Anyway, on to the production, the animation has thankfully remained a few notches above normal, which does make the show more fun to watch, and I still stick to my catch phrase of the art style being ?sadistically goofy?, since the show has enough silly skull faces all over it to rival Dr. Wily?s wet dream. The voice acting may have a few quirks to it, but overall is pretty solid, and the soundtrack (which I want), is very well done and shows a lot of range on the composer?s part. It has a lot of very quick, catchy tunes that pick you right up into the action, not to mention some of the least intruding lyrics I?ve ever heard, but it also has some equally good tracks for suspense, various drama, that sense of unsettling creepiness and of course, humor. I also have to say that I really like the work that the director does directing this show, he knows just where to put the music, where to put the bursts of good animation, the imaginary camera angles, and I must thank him for removing the vast majority of the lame fanservice that was in the manga version, which totally didn?t need to be there. Granted there are still a few bits of it lingering around in the anime, but not nearly as much as the book, which several times when reading I wanted to slap my forehead in frustration at my own gender?s immaturity and slap Atsushi Okubo?s forehead with a hammer (he?s the author). Not that the manga?s bad, mind you, it?s alright, but in comparison to the anime you can clearly see some of the things they decided to fix (like the manga?s total lack of an opening battle), and this is another rare case of me finding the anime to be not just better but in fact clearly superior to the manga. Because it seems what happened with this one is the producers said ?Y?know what? This manga?s got a good idea going, but it could be better, so let?s make an anime of it and MAKE it better?. Which is what they SHOULD do, instead of the usual ?Hey here?s a good manga, let?s make a kind of decent anime out of it?. Though the story of Soul Eater?s manga is unfinished and clearly going to exceed the 51-episode limit that?s been scheduled, but the good news is it doesn?t seem like it?ll be by that much and it?ll be interesting to see how the production of the anime decides to bring it to an end.
Now, as much as I admit I like this show, if I?m to consider myself a legitimate reviewer I still have to keep my reviewing pants on and try to point out some criticisms. There ARE a few recycled animations to be noticed and some of the dialogue is very awkward and doesn?t really make any sense, like when Patty and Liz converse about exploding eyeballs and when Chrona keeps talking about the ?door opening inward?, so there are a few follies on the manga-ka?s writing ability to be seen. But in the end this show has proved to be very entertaining and worth the time I?ve spent watching it, and it definitely fills out its role as an action show, since in almost every single episode somebody is fighting somebody else, so action lovers will not be disappointed. The art makes it look a bit younger-aimed than it really is, and there?s some decent humor to be found in it. Admittedly the story isn?t really anything to brag about, but the bottom line is that I find Soul Eater to be very fun and entertaining to watch, and it has some very enjoyable characters, so while I wouldn?t say it?s rocking my world, it is pleasantly wiggling it??Y?know, like a massage chair.
First and foremost, before I continue, I?m going to assume that you have seen my previous review of Soul Eater?s first episode, and if not, then go do that. Now. Seriously, I hate repeating myself. I?ll wait, just go??..alright, ya back? Good, let?s roll. The Soul Eater anime has now gotten up to 13 episodes and the manga is up to 48 chapters, which I have watched and read all of and because you all asked for it am ready to tell you about?.again. And since I have no need to reiterate the premise, let?s get straight over to the characters:
Now then, Maka-Chan (GLOMP). I will tell you right now that I like this character more than I?ve liken an anime character in a long time. She?s a she, she?s intelligent, she?s respectable and she?s not afraid to KICK. YOUR. ASS. Now as for her voice, I now know that the Seiyuu for the character (Chiaki Omigawa) is new to the voice acting business, which allows her a slice of slack, but I have to admit that Maka?s voice is?well it?s growing on me?a lot. Not flawlessly, mind you, as there are still times when the Seiyuu?s inexperience is made clear, like whenever she tries to say ?Black Star?, it just doesn?t come out right. But if this character actually existed I would totally give her a cookie just for being awesome, and not one of those pansy regular cookies, either. I mean one of those giant, pizza-sized ones I make for special occasions.
As for her partner Soul, I also must admit that I like him a lot more than I thought I would, since while he?s not exactly a gentleman, he is much less thickheaded and obnoxious than most characters with his kind of hair usually are, and of course he?s a nice guy in the end, zippidy do dah.
Speaking of thickheaded and obnoxious, though, we come to the ninja boy ?Black Star?, and??god I just wanna hit this kid. Everything I feel about Maka I DON?T feel for ?BS? here, and I definitely have to re-locate the prize for being Naruto-esque to him. I cannot stand characters that are cocky and arrogant and never shut up, and Black Star is the living embodiment of that. And while I do understand that he is clearly supposed to be a comic-relief character, I still just don?t like the brat. Granted he does redeem himself just a bit in episode 11, but it?s not enough to change my mind. And while his pitiable partner Tsubaki does start off with a lot of automatic points for being a ninja chick, she?s gradually losing them for being so wishy-washy and embodying the stereotype Japanese fetish of a premade housewife. And while I can certainly appreciate being shy and cute, frankly I like my female characters to have some balls. But since she doesn?t, and Black Star is a dick, I just don?t care for this team.
Third on the list is the kid in the tux, whose name is, of all things, Kidd. Death the Kidd, in fact. And while the upside-down handguns thing still annoys me, I now know that he is the son of Shinigami-sama, and he also has obsessive-compulsive disorder and is obsessed with symmetry. This aspect makes him an interesting character to me, not so much because he has it, but because I DO. And when I say I have a touch of the OCD, I don?t mean it the way most people seem to, which is that they get uncomfortable when there?s a knife stuck in their temple, I mean it really used to take me about 10 minutes to tie my shoes because I had to get the laces exactly even. Not anymore, granted, but I didn?t stop caring, I just got better at doing it. Anyhow, he?s a decent character, and while I suppose I could be offended by his antics, I?m not. If anything I find them slightly more amusing because I understand the compulsion, though he still needs to start holding his guns right. Oh, yeah, and his two partners, Liz and Patty Thompson, though they?re more like his cheerleaders. They?re there, but they?re mostly comic relief and out of all 7 mains they get easily the least development (plus half of Patty?s script it silly laughing).
As for the rest of the cast, Shinigami is still amusingly unfrightening (though I?m not sure why his voice temporarily changed in episode 4), Maka?s Dad is still a douche, Blair Witch is still a completely unnecessary fanservice character who should?ve never been seen again after episode 1 and before you think dirty things about her remember she?s actually a cat, you bestiality bastard. Blair can begone and procreate upon her own being, that surreptitious tart (translation: go f**k yourself, whore). There?s also Chrona, the possessed, possibly hermaphrodite emo kid with the screaming sword Ragnarok. As well as the friendliest mad scientist you?ve ever met, Dr. Franken Stein (har har). And when it comes to Frankie here, I love this guy. He?s kinda silly, but in a fun way and he?s still cool for being an extremely powerful nerd, plus his ?swivel chair fu?? PRICELESS. There?s also the show?s current big villain, the witch Medusa, who as you might expect likes snakes, since all the witches in Soul Eater appear to be animal-themed. Medusa is more or less Soul Eater?s equivalent to Orochimaru from Naruto: just keep the snakes and badness, switch ?ninja? for ?witch? and subtract all the unsettling Michael Jackson similarities, and there you go. Medusa also gets high scores for being a powerful witch in an anime who remains fully clad and is portrayed as being effectively EVIL instead of just bitchy and liking S&M. She?s a quality villain, and one of much more entertaining ones I?ve seen in a while. Don?t ask me why I enjoy her so much, I know she?s evil, but I??just?do (EVIL GLOMP).
Anyway, on to the production, the animation has thankfully remained a few notches above normal, which does make the show more fun to watch, and I still stick to my catch phrase of the art style being ?sadistically goofy?, since the show has enough silly skull faces all over it to rival Dr. Wily?s wet dream. The voice acting may have a few quirks to it, but overall is pretty solid, and the soundtrack (which I want), is very well done and shows a lot of range on the composer?s part. It has a lot of very quick, catchy tunes that pick you right up into the action, not to mention some of the least intruding lyrics I?ve ever heard, but it also has some equally good tracks for suspense, various drama, that sense of unsettling creepiness and of course, humor. I also have to say that I really like the work that the director does directing this show, he knows just where to put the music, where to put the bursts of good animation, the imaginary camera angles, and I must thank him for removing the vast majority of the lame fanservice that was in the manga version, which totally didn?t need to be there. Granted there are still a few bits of it lingering around in the anime, but not nearly as much as the book, which several times when reading I wanted to slap my forehead in frustration at my own gender?s immaturity and slap Atsushi Okubo?s forehead with a hammer (he?s the author). Not that the manga?s bad, mind you, it?s alright, but in comparison to the anime you can clearly see some of the things they decided to fix (like the manga?s total lack of an opening battle), and this is another rare case of me finding the anime to be not just better but in fact clearly superior to the manga. Because it seems what happened with this one is the producers said ?Y?know what? This manga?s got a good idea going, but it could be better, so let?s make an anime of it and MAKE it better?. Which is what they SHOULD do, instead of the usual ?Hey here?s a good manga, let?s make a kind of decent anime out of it?. Though the story of Soul Eater?s manga is unfinished and clearly going to exceed the 51-episode limit that?s been scheduled, but the good news is it doesn?t seem like it?ll be by that much and it?ll be interesting to see how the production of the anime decides to bring it to an end.
Now, as much as I admit I like this show, if I?m to consider myself a legitimate reviewer I still have to keep my reviewing pants on and try to point out some criticisms. There ARE a few recycled animations to be noticed and some of the dialogue is very awkward and doesn?t really make any sense, like when Patty and Liz converse about exploding eyeballs and when Chrona keeps talking about the ?door opening inward?, so there are a few follies on the manga-ka?s writing ability to be seen. But in the end this show has proved to be very entertaining and worth the time I?ve spent watching it, and it definitely fills out its role as an action show, since in almost every single episode somebody is fighting somebody else, so action lovers will not be disappointed. The art makes it look a bit younger-aimed than it really is, and there?s some decent humor to be found in it. Admittedly the story isn?t really anything to brag about, but the bottom line is that I find Soul Eater to be very fun and entertaining to watch, and it has some very enjoyable characters, so while I wouldn?t say it?s rocking my world, it is pleasantly wiggling it??Y?know, like a massage chair.