"Shinigami-chop!"

Now, there is something I have to tell you about the popular manga/anime "Soul Eater" before you continue reading the post. The main character is a girl. Now hold it, before you start reflecting on typical female manga/anime protagonists (hysterical, crying and irrational damsels they be), "Maka Albarn" the lead in this production does not echo this unfortunate stereotype. If you're still shying away, then screw you, you don't deserve her or the series...

A collage of the character gallery, as seen in the video game "Soul Eater - Battle of Resonance".

In the concept of Soul Eater, you'll find a concept, remarkably similar to other popular shounen manga. I think one will specifically come to mind, but let's not delve on that. In the universe of Soul Eater, there is an academy where the Grim Reaper has settled down in his reaping ways to begin educating a younger generation into what are called Soul Reapers. A Soul Reaper is basically a role that consist of two people; A "Meister" and a "Weapon". Previously mentioned Maka Albarn is a Meister while her partner "Soul Eater" (yes, that is his name) is her weapon, a big-ass scythe. They are accompanied by two other pairings of partners who are both incredibly likable and lovable but I'll leave it to yourselves to explore their personalities when, as I'm sure you will, explore the series yourself. All students of the academy need to reap 99 evil souls and then the sould of a Witch, and when this has been been done, their weapon will evolve into a "Deathscythe" which is apparently something everyone wants. However, this is not the original reason why the academy was created, but rather to watch and guard against the resurrection of the "Demon God Asura". Who's penchant is fear, a concept that is deeply explored in both the manga and anime and in quite interesting ways.

Extended cast as seen in the anime.

Enough exposition. The reason why you should watch this show is threefold:

1. The characters - Maka Albarn is not my only favourite character. The two other main protagonists "Black Star" and "Death the Kid" (actual names) are both quirky, lovable and interesting. Though it needs to be mentioned straight off that they get more character development in the manga. Again, there is a very colorful extended cast as well. My personal favourite here is "Dr Stein", a character I can only describe as a mash-up of Kakashi from Naruto were he crossbred with a latent schizophrenic. I don't feel I need to re-iterate my point about Maka Albarn here.

2. The relationships -  As you might have guessed, with what the concept of the show is (Meisters + Weapons = Two People), alot of the show revolve around the relationships between the characters and working or non-working combinations of Meisters and their Weapons. But the series goes on to explore and make you interested in the other relationships beyond these simple pairings. Be they there for the sake of a simple laugh or to wrench those heart-muscles of yours.

3. The Action - It might not be as technical like Naruto's and it might not contain as much build-up a One Piece or Bleach. But god damn if it's not among some of the best looking action sequences I've seen in an anime. Simply because it's so fluid in the animation and so stylishly designed.

Now, with all this said. It needs to be mentioned that the Manga and Anime branch off in different directions after a while. The Anime does suffer a slight "hiccup" because of this, but I still feel they manage to pull of a perfectly acceptable ending to the series (which continues in the still ongoing manga). What I mean by this is that the ending is by no means bad, but as I mentioned above, some characters have their development stunted near where some aspects start to become more interesting. This is especially sad for one of the later antagonists and the two tertiary protagonists Black Star and Death the Kid. However, you'll still come away feeling like you got a good sense of closure and exposure to the show's character gallery. The manga looks wrong from the beginning, but Atsushi Okubo (creator) picks up more style as it goes on. Where action is concerned, I'd still recommend the anime before the manga, which is by no means a critique against the manga.

This has dragged on long enough. Soul Eater is for those that have felt starved of strong female leads, enjoy stylish action, interesting and quirky characters and a setting that while still evidently shounen, contains more of that "dark" touch. Enjoy.