Soul Eater: The Midpoint Check!

Here we are, at the closest thing we can get to a midpoint for Soul Eater, and my internal thoughts upon the first half of Soul Eater bear much resemblance to the gnashings and thrashings and occasional screams of abject terror of the newly-released Kishin:

It’s not by Edvard Munch, but it will have to suffice. Unbearable agony of being indeed.

It’s not a clear-cut matter of “Soul Eater is awesome” or “Soul Eater is terrible” (this kind of polarized debate seems to be reserved for certain other series at the moment). It’s not even a matter of “I love Soul Eater” or “I hate Soul Eater”. In a psuedo-Zen statement (that, quite possibly, is entirely fabricated by my own self-defeating brain), Soul Eater just is.

On an episode-by=episode basis, Soul Eater has, very rarely, pulled out an actually bad, or at least unentertaining, episode–and, yes, I did not skip the two Excalibur episodes, since they were hilarious if only to see Takehito Koyasu have entirely too much fun being as annoying as he possibly can be (his glee is almost tangible, I think). In fact, there have been some downright amazing episodes, both for their sheer comic value and for their sheer dramatic value. And the overall thematic structure of the series remains intact and present throughout the series

And, yet, somehow, through some mysterious force of nature as yet unbeknownst to me, when I sit back at episode 24 and look back at the past half-year, the continuing sequence of episodes of consistently good quality is somehow less than the sum of its parts. Indeed, one of the first thoughts to cross my mind upon finishing 24 was “Why didn’t this happen ten episodes ago?” since, given the amount of actual plot we’ve seemed to have, that would be a much better place for it.

I chalk this up to the almost inconsistent nature of Soul Eater itself. Somewhere in the delicate balance between being comedic and being dramatic, Soul Eater has the ability to excel at both, but also seems to be incapable of working the two into a synesthetic whole. As far as entertainment value goes, it’s a great series–but, possibly, my desire for “something more” from the BONES 10th Anniversary Series is being left wanting. My latent inability to truly “get” shounen series on a general level (as opposed to a case-by-case level, which is where I operate) is also probably manifesting itself as well.

Negativity aside, episode-by-episode, I am still entertained by Soul Eater, which is exactly what it, as televised entertainment, wants to do to me, so I can’t really fault it for that. And this latest sequence of events–the battles underground to prevent the awakening of the Kishin–are much, much closer to what I was expecting when I started the series. The comedy/drama balance in recent episodes, too, has been much better. As things for Our Intrepid Heroes look down, Soul Eater as a series is looking up. I may be wavering and faulting now, but if the series keeps itself roughly along the same lines as it has been the past six or so episodes, then it’s highly likely that I’ll simply have to dismiss the above as a simple case of “slow start.”

Soul Eater: One Is The Loneliest Number (NUMBAAAH!)

Yes, I know that the next two lines of the song are “TWOOOOOOOOOOOOO can be as bad as one / It’s the loneliest number since the number one” which will completely go against what I liked about this episode but I didn’t want to drag a hokey old Toy Story reference out again and I couldn’t think of anything better that didn’t also involve Mortal Kombat and I really didn’t want to title it after Mortal Kombat so there.

Anyway, I watched Soul Eater 21 earlier today, and then almost immediately thereafter (I was still basking in the warm afterglow) had to rush to work early for crazed insanity (dear potential library patrons: if the library is closed for any reason, please do not put your books in the book drop, as you will most likely not be assessed a fine for a book due on a day a library is closed, expectedly or unexpectedly. Your librarians will thank you immensely. Also bring them homemade chocolate cake) for the next four hours, and, well, here I am, later on in the day, writing this post. Good thing I wanted to let 21 sink in me a bit before I wrote something about it, though!

I wasn’t actually going to write anything on Soul Eater until this under-Shibusen arc had concluded, but it’s gone on longer than I expected it to, so I decided to wait for the next major moment to come around before spilling my thoughts on it again. 21 was, uh, that moment.

I don’t think I’m being overly hyperbolic (for once! How dare I?) in stating that, thus far, 21 (and, for solidarity’s sake, 20 as an essential compaion piece) has probably been Soul Eater’s best episode to date. I was, of cousre, highly skeptical/cautious about the series at its onset. That initial skepticism has fallen away over the course of the series, which I’ve doggedly stuck to for reasons which shifted and morphed over time. I am glad I did, because, for one thing, I’ve discovered that the biggest hurdle for me to clear with these kinds of series (there isn’t a word I can use to describe them, really) seems to be the “set-up” phase, especially a series where everyone praises the series right out of the gate. Whatever the hook is that catches other people instantly takes a good deal more time to grab me in the same way, and sometimes it never really does. This, I think, leaves me with an alienated feeling for the early phases, where I feel less enthuastic about a series than other people around me (a feeling it seems I rarely feel), making me somewhat unwilling to go with the series until it catches me, which is when I see its appeal. It has happened a good number of times (Fullmetal Alchemist and Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann did it), so it’s not an insurmountable hurdle, but it can be a daunting and yet richly rewarding hurdle if cleared successfully.

PATTY IS MOTIVATING ME TO GET ON WITH IT, SO HERE’S SOME HOPEFULLY MORE-INSIGHTFUL-THAN-PLAIN-OLD-SUMMARY-BUT-POSSIBLY-NOT FOR YOU PATTY

20/21 seem to have been a sort of mid-series “culmination” of the resonance problems plaguing Maka and Soul. In 20, for instance, we see them resonating their soul’s wavelengths and actually using the Witchhunter effectively, even if it doesn’t actually accomplish anything. The end result is, of course, Maka discovering Soul’s special relationship with the devious jazz-loving imp in his head, and, essentially, asking him to give in to the temptation so that Maka can resonate with Krona’s soul and figure out what’s going on there. This, of course, results in Crazy As Hell Maka, which amused me greatly (I loved how even Krona looked terrified of her new-found insanity, especially when she tries to devour his head). Of course, even though Maka was quite insane on the inside, she was perfectly sane in the internal, soul-based world while questing for, and finding, Krona’s soul, and entering it.

Krona’s world is a giant desert where he stays alone and refuses to answer his own questions. Maka, of course, on a mission to free Krona of his own internal despair, comes in, breaks the circle he imprisons himself in to avoid the horrors of a world where no one cares about him, and then pops back out into the real world (courtesy of Soul, dragging her out of the abyss of insanity) where she completely ignores his rampaging berserker madness to simply hug him and point out that she cares. Cue tearful scene, cue altered ED sequence that drives me even closer to tears than it did before. I mean, seriously–that ED sequence was brilliant, and I almost cried, which I haven’t properly done to anime in a while. Even if the rest of this post is total bullshit, this isn’t.

I don’t know that the Krona thing needs much more highlighting–that part of 21 is effectively self-explanatory, or at least that summary above is self-explanatory, I think, and if it’s not, surely someone else has pointed it out better than I did! What does merit pointing out, though, is the odd nature of Soul and Maka’s relationship. Maka and Soul may, on the exterior, not really get along well, but 20/21 proved that, when the time is right, the two of them can cooperate (however grudgingly) and resonate just as clearly as everyone else can. Maka clearly trusts Soul with her own sanity, if she’s willing to command him to give in to temptation and send the two of them on the fast track to insanity. Soul doesn’t seem to believe her faith in him, but concedes and does an amazing job of not only holding back the waves of insanity , but also in breaking free of its bonds and pulling Maka back out of insanity. The two may have trouble getting along in daily life, to the point of yelling and book chopping, but there is a bond, and it’s there when the situation is dire enough. Amusingly, Soul, after a perfect moment of synchonization and mutual trust, starts to question Maka barely seconds later when she sets him aside to befriend Krona (and not in the Nanoha sense, which would have required Soul Eater anyway), but quickly realizes what she wanted to accomplish and relaxes. Whether or not they return to business as usual from here on out is a mystery, but I doubt their more casual relationship problems are solved, but, for the moment at least, they (and we) know that, in the thick of a terrible situation, they can count on each other, and that might make their everyday relationship a bit better.

And, if not, well, Maka can just elope with Krona and suck on his head some more. Soul can get with Blair and everyone will be happily ever after

Soul Eater: Good Resonance, Bad Resonance

Death the Kid understands my pain in trying to write this post.

For whatever ineffable reason, I have found it extraordinarily hard to actually sit down and write things about Soul Eater. I really don’t know why this is. It’s not because I hate the series–I like it, it’s a ton of fun, especially 10/11 and 14 (for entirely different aspects of the word “fun”), I enjoy watching it, and I really can’t think of anything it’s really doing wrong that would merit this. It might not be giving enough material for a post in the vein of previous posts, and, not wanting to flood the otakuhedron with any more senseless, aimless posts than I already have (read: most of them), but that’s not because such elements aren’t there–10/11 masterfully demonstrated the strengths of the series, and I honestly want more episodes like that. (I haven’t watched 16 as I write this, by the way, and I’m really hoping for 15/16 to be for Death the Kid and Patty/Liz what 10/11 was for Black Star and Tsubaki)

The strength of the series, and the direction it’s taking, lies in the concept of the resonance between the meister and the weapon. (I don’t even know how many times this has been said) When it comes to Black Star and Tsubaki, for instance, they have a high rate of resonance–partially because they honestly really do trust each other with their lives. Black Star is, of course, an annoying git (a lovably annoying git, but an annoying git nonetheless), and Tsubaki is annoyed and aggravated by him at times near constantly, but–and here’s the thing–she understands him. Part of Black Star’s personality is due to his family’s past as a cadre of feared, evil assassins, and he’s trying to overcompensate for past wrongs by shouting a lot and being really dumb. And Tsubaki understands this. Way back in the second  episode, we had the infamous accidently-peeking-into-bath scene with Black Star who (unsurprisingly) does not really seem to understand that when peeping in on a girl, however unintentionally, it is not the wisest thing in the world to scream really loudly. Tsubaki instantly chastises him–not for peeping, mind, but for screaming. It might be that she harbors a secret desire for Black Star deep in her heart (the doujin author’s route), but more likely (and less of an indication that your mind is in the gutter) is that she doesn’t get mad at him for peeping because she understands him so well that she was fully aware that he wouldn’t do something like this on purpose for his own titillation. In a sense, they’re probably the most idealistic couple-like group in Soul Eater–for a relationship to last, there must be mutual understanding and mutual acceptance between the two.

By contrast to the mutual faith of Black Star and Tsubaki stands Maka and Soul Eater, who seem to be plagued by their own shortcomings. They both realize that their shortcomings are their own, but, at the same time, they also take out their own frustrations with themselves on each other. I’m not even entirely sure that both of them know that they both feel too weak to be of use to the other–remember the “resonance training”? They were told to tell the other person’s worst weakness to each other, but they argued and bickered instead–not because they don’t like each other, but because both feels inadequate, and thinks that the other is just waiting for them to catch up. It’s a difficult situation that they’re both handling differently–Maka by beating herself up over such things as letting Soul Eater take a blow to protect her, Soul Eater by, well, making a deal with a jazz-loving imp-thing that exists in his head, as a result of contact with Ragnarok. They both want to be strong, but rather than grow strong together (as Tsubaki and Black Star seem to have) they’re trying to go about it independent of each other, which is the very opposite of what “resonance” means, hence why they aren’t very good at it.

Death the Kid and Patty/Liz…well, I don’t know yet, nor can I make a guess. I’m hoping it’s in 16 or shortly thereafter, but I’m pretty sure it’s coming.

I do think that, if I had to fault Soul Eater on one thing, it would simply be that it’s trying to spread itself too thin (at the moment, anyway). That might be because I haven’t really watched/read One Piece or something similar, though. It’s very good at being a hilarious comedy, and it’s very good at the characterization and general dramatic storytelling that I’d expect from a good shounen anime, or a good anime period. I’m just not sure the balance is right, as it may be shooting itself in the foot by being too silly, and inviting consideration of it as just a silly wacky show, which would mean missing out on the dramatically important elements. I think I can make this claim, since even the act of writing this post required a shift from “oh Soul Eater, you so silly and wacky” to a more “normal” mode of thought for me. Which shouldn’t be that hard, really. And for all I know, as the series progresses, it will get progressively more dramatic. Or more comedic. Or something.

One last note on resonance: it is seriously the best-produced T.M.Revolution song ever. I didn’t like his material in the SEED franchise too terribly much, and I’m not a big fan of abignon boys school, but, man, resonance is awesome.

Soul Eater: Blood Is An Excellent Plot Thickener

Tears work, too, kind of, but they dry too fast, and leave a salty residue. Not that crying is a bad thing, mind you.

I’ve been cryptically silent on Soul Eater for a while, and it’s not because I wasn’t enjoying it–because I was–but I just didn’t quite feel like there was much to write about in the previous episodes other than “Hey, Death the Kid is pretty funny and awesome!” and “Black Star is an idiot!” and “Stein is wicked cool!”, which are all true statements, but not quite what I had in mind. I watched 8 with the intent of actually writing something on it, and it seems to have rewarded that effort.

First, there’s now (finally) some kind of aim to the series, other than “collect a bunch of souls and power up”. The series seemed to lack direction before (which isn’t really something many shounen series don’t do; I’ve always had problems getting into these kinds of series, even though once I do get into them I enjoy them immensely), but now we have a clear antagonist in the form of Medusa (bonus points for placing her at Shibusen as a nurse and having her console Maka before giving Mandatory Evil Grin, I didn’t quite expect that) and what will probably be an important twist in the plot: the contamination/poisoning of Soul with the blood of the demon sword. I’m not entirely sure where this will take us from here on out, and I’m extremely hesitant to try and create a fictional rest-of-the-series that won’t actually jibe well with what the rest of the series actually is. I’m farily confident that BONES has a clever plan for Soul Eater, given that they’re giving it 10th Anniversary series status; it seems fairly unlikely that they’d pick a series for a 10th Anniversary and then spend 51 episodes going nowhere, so I know they’ve got something up their sleeve. I’m not expecting a clone of Fullmetal Alchemist (their other 51 episode series), especially considering that Soul Eater isn’t directed by Mizushima Seiji, but I see tantalizing hints in this episode (especially the latter half) that could turn Soul Eater into a quite impressive series in its own right. I have no idea what the manga is like, and I’m intentionally not reading it, as I don’t think that reading it would be a good indicator for where the series is going from here on out, as I’m fairly certain that the anime will diverge from the manga at some point or another.

Urg.

Also interesting is that I’m pretty sure Maka’s VA has improved since the first episode, or else I’ve just grown accustomed to her voice. I never really disliked it, as I found it rather refreshing to have Maka look like she does and then not be voiced fairly typically (i.e. slightly cute). There was, of course, general outcry over this on 2ch(an) with hordes of people calling for her to be fired (she wasn’t), presumably because she wasn’t cutesy enough for them. Or something. And I figured she’d improve, as anyone who’s seen Full Moon o Sagashite would know. It has a similar problem, in that they hired Myco, a singer, to do regular voice work for Mitsuki, and I distinctly remember that, for the first 3-8 episodes, Mitsuki sounded fairly scratchy and amaturish (which kind of worked with her character, since she did have throat cancer after all), but that soon went away as she got better at the job, although it was pretty clear they hired her to voice simply because she was doing the songs as well.

Tangent aside, here’s something else that’s struck me: some of the characters, such as Maka, lack pupils. I’m not entirely sure why this is, but it just strikes me as weird. Some characters clearly have pupils, and some clearly don’t. It’s certainly not as visually unappealing as the other great pupilless character in anime, Hyuguu Hinata, but I am wondering whether it’s just a strange stylistic concern, or whether there’s a plot element to go along with it. Time will tell!

I think there were some more things to talk about here, such as Maka having delicious angst (or something) over her own inability to do anything (note: I like angst, since it’s ridiculously unrealistic to expect that a person/character should never have some kind of emotional issue, as if everyone doesn’t have their own self-doubts and private agonies), which seems to spell out some delicious character development for her. I can only hope the same is in store for the rest of our Intrepid Heroes, but they haven’t dropped those hints. Yet.

Soul Eater: OCD Symmetry & Patty’s Perfection

Oh, Patty, I knew you would be amazing just by glancing at your design.

Death the Kid is amazingly awesome. I think every person on the planet had OCD in some form or another, so there’s no way you can’t tell me that you didn’t see elements of yourself in him, Personally, I don’t have the ridiculous devotion to symmetry; although the concept is certainly biologically pleasing, there’s a certain kind of beauty in asymmetry with good composition. I have more issues with making sure that I don’t step on cracks or tiles of the incorrect color (watching me walk must be a laugh riot at times), so I certainly understand the need for things to be just so, or else you aren’t happy. It’s a primate thing, I think.

The absolute highlight of the episode, though, was the Thompson sisters, Patty and Liz. Mostly Patty. Oh god, Patty. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the “cute-yet-lovably-airheaded” type in anime, and she bowled me over wholeheartedly. Her seiyuu also seems to be new to the business, like Maka’s: I like Takahira Narumi’s voice better than Omigawa Chiaki’s (Maka), but I really don’t have an issue with Maka’s voice as she seems to be less about squeaky cuteness and more about raging power. All that screaming would give anyone a harsh voice, wouldn’t you agree? That and Chiaki’s originally a stage actress, so she’s not as trained in voice acting. I find Maka’s voice fits her character, and most of the hatred probably comes from people desiring a voice more like Patty’s than what they got.

Not only is Patty cuter than a button that has a picture of a kitten on it, but she’s dangerous. I think the single best scene of the entire episiode (and the series thus far), in terms of “you did NOT just do that” action was when they did the mid-air role swap. Patty jumps, transforms into a gun, while Liz goes from gun to human form, grabs gun-Patty, and blasts the mummy. The sheer creativity of that move shows that perhaps Death the Kid, for all the raging passion he exhibits when confronted with assymetry, would probably be useless without Patty and Liz (See, it’s that reversal of standard shounen gender roles again!). It’s also fun to note that it’s Patty who comes up with this move. Yes, air-headed Patty. With adorable poofy jean shorts.

The three prologues of the main characters have done an excellent job in setting up the characters of the series in a way which clearly defines who these characters are. It’s amazing how much detail they crammed into these three episodes, while keeping up the comedy aspect. It’s that comedy aspect that I think helps define these characters and makes them likable and memorable this early on, as humor is the best way to implant something in the human mind. Sometimes, I watch a series and can’t remember the names of characters until 4-5 episodes later, and even then, I’ll forget minor characters easily. Maybe it’s just the high volume of discussion about the series I’ve been seeing, but I have zero trouble remembering these characters’ names, despite only hearing them a couple of times each. When names and faces of characters stick this well, someone’s doing their job right.

I have no idea where Soul Eater is going now (the preview offers no clues); they may branch from the manga early and develop an anime-specific storyline, they may follow the manga until they run out and then do same, or maybe they’ll dispense with a plot altogether and just be manic fun for 51 episodes. The last one is the least appealing, but as long as the series stays this consistently entertaining I’ll stick with it. And it’s a 10th anniversary series for BONES, which is an extra incentive to see what’s up with it. But one never knows with these things.

Soul Eater: Maka, Black Star, and Gender Representation in Shounen Manga

This scene, I think, sums up Black Star better than anything else. Best (?) assassin ever.

I did actually like this episode much more than the first one, for whatever strange reason. I think it sank in over the week as I thought about it and started to really like it. I should probably stop panicking when there’s this super awesome gotta see it series premeire and I’m not as blown away by the first episode as everyone else is because, well, this always happens. Every time. I should just give up and watch whatever.

At any rate, from this episode and the snippet of Death the Kid at the end of the episode, Soul Eater is proving to have an extremely likable cast. Black Star and Tsubaki are quite the dynamic duo, with the former being comically incompetent and the latter being mildly tolerant of the former’s comic incompetence. Tsubaki probably knows she could do better than pair with Black Star, as Maka pointed out–she’s evidently a very good Weapon–but she sticks by him out of affection. I have seen it hypothesized that Tsubaki actually wants Black Star to peep in on her bathing, due to the fact that she’s not embarassed at all but is merely concerned that he isn’t hiding his presence. The cliff bath scene, though, was brilliant in every way: the long zoom in on Black Star screaming at the top of his lungs followed by cut to commerical was genius. For the most part, Black Star is incompetent, although he does have a few tricks up his sleeve.

And that’s part of why I’m liking Soul Eater more, actually: it’s breaking gender stereotypes in shounen manga/anime. As pointed out last time, the major protagonist for this series is Maka, who is a girl. This is a shounen series. It’s almost like it’s some bizarre twisted offspring of the moe phenonmenon, as if the logic went thusly: “Boys like cute girls, and boys like beating things up, so let’s have a cute girl who beats things up! Surefire hit!”

But that’s not quite all. What interests me is how the male and female characters are portrayed. In the Maka/Soul Eater pair, Maka is the Technician and Soul Eater is the Weapon. The obvious implicaton there is that Maka, the girl, is in charge, and Soul Eater, the guy, is the second fiddle. I’m not really well-read on shounen series, but it strikes me as unusual that, for the main characters, they’d choose such a relationship dynamic. What’s being done here isn’t just a simply ploy to get boys to read both for cute girls and punching things, as they could have stuck to the simple, commonplace shounen formula of male protagonist and female support, wherein the former gets all the glory and the latter is shafted throughout the entire run and serves mostly as eye candy.

Seemingly in rebuttal to this is the fact that the other two sets of main characters, Black Star/Tsubaki and Death the Kid/Patty/Liz, are in the more standard male-dominant relationship, with the females reduced to supporting roles. Or are they? It’s clear from episode 2 that Black Star is totally incompetent, and Tsubaki, if not in charge, has more than a mere supporting role. We don’t know much about Death the Kid yet, except for that small (and hilarious) snippet at the end, where he’s overly picky about how far to the right Patty is standing. As in Black Star’s case, it’s not exactly overly casting him as a badass who’s going to kick ass and take names. We haven’t seen his prologue yet, though, so we don’t really know what he’s all about, so I’ll address that next week.

Granted, in the case of Black Star, this subversion of shounen standards is clearly done to generate laughs, which it certainly does, but even a subversion done for humorous purposes can have lasting impact. If a humorous subversion goes over well, as Soul Eater’s certainly is, what’s to stop a more serious subversion from going over well? If my theory above is corrent and the decision to make Maka the main character and portray her as strong and not weak was consciously done as a result of the moe phenomenon, then it’s further proof that, like it or not, moe is changing anime, and, in many cases, for the better. It’s nice to see a once-lambassted (still is, but it’s getting less common, I think) concept start to bear positive fruit.

In conclusion, I guess I should say that now I’m a fan of Soul Eater. I’m glad it’s a year-long series, as I’m eager to find out what’s going to happen, and it will be a grand year indeed.

Soul Eater: Shounen With a Female Lead? What Is Going On?

And a cute one at that!

Before I even begin, I’m going to make it clear: I’m not really one for shounen action series, and I really can’t tell you why this is. I’ve certainly liked quite a few well enough, but they just don’t stick with me as series that really impressed me. It probably stems from my dislike of pure action movies, which is another thing in addition to shounen that everyone else likes except me. It’s the case for many, but not all, shounen series that they eschew the brand of complexity I enjoy in favor of pure outrageous over-the-top style. So, with that in mind, I’ll just make the point clear: Soul Eater is good, even great, shounen, based on this first episode, but whether or not it’ll be something I will enjoy isn’t fully determined yet.

The whole stylistic flair the series has going for it is clearly evident. Soul Eater almost smacks the viewer upside the head with how cool and stylish it is. I mean, the moon literally has a face, and blood is dripping from its teeth. Why, I don’t know, but it’s there. The concept of weapons also able to assume a human form, and the resulting visuals, were also a joy to behold. I can’t fault the series for much of anything at this point, really–this episode starts off strong and charges forward, propelled in part by its own style.

And the humor was quite well-done as well; Maka’s father is a laugh riot (the scene with him in the hostess parlour with his hostesses talking gossip about him while he’s sitting in frtont of them was my favorite moment in episode 1. Well, that, and him telling Soul Eater to fondle his daughter. The humor is, of course, part of the overall style of the series, and my only complaint is that the series started out “serious” and then became light and goofy. It’s kind of uneven, but if the series sticks with a mostly light mood, even in the midst of the undoubtedly coming drama (the series is, after all, 51 episodes long), or, at least, handles the delicate balancing act between serious and silly well (The director is Igarashi Takaya, who did Ouran, so I think we’ll be perfectly fine in that regard, excepting writer wonkiness on the part of Yamatoya Amatsuki, who did same for Gintama, so at least he can be funny and be good at it), then this series will be perfectly fine.

There isn’t really much else for me to say about the series at the moment–sometimes shounen shows take several episodes for me to become acclimated to their style (as was the case for Gurren-Lagann, another shounen first episode I didn’t care that much for, and I ended up loving the series, so…) so I don’t plan on dropping this series after one episode with a dismissive sniff, but neither am I terribly jonesing for the next episode. I’ll stick with it for at least three and probably closer to ten episodes, though, and if it turns out that I end up liking it more than I am now, you’ll hear from me again on the matter. I can most assuredly say, though, that my lack of enthuasiam for the series rests entirely on my shoulders, and is not a fault with the series, as it is as good an example of shounen as I’ve seen. Usually, once I get into the groove of a shounen series, I end up really liking it in the end. I hope that this is the case for Soul Eater, but I’ll have to wait and see.