Soul Eater

[NM]

Awesome episode. Just seeing everyone break through Medusa's first line of defense was great (Kid's and Black Star's being my favorite). And Shinigami-sama looked badass all those years ago. Wonder if we'll ever get to see the other warriors from Shinigami-sama's group. I'm betting they all have deathscythes by now.

Also, I guess Maka's dad has another form of being a deathscythe? The blades weren't there like before when Stein fought Chrona and Ragnarok.

This and Macross Frontier are really neck and neck for my favorite shows of the season.

Soul Eater has already won it for me. And not just for the season, definitely another one to add to my all-time favorites.

[Ryllharu]

Didn't Maka say earlier on the entire purpose of Shibusen was to raise weapons to the level of "death scythe" so that the would be used by Shinigami-sama? I'm guessing by definition that they can only be called "death scythes" if they are going to be used by Shinigami himself.

That's not to say weapons of equivalent power (or greater) are not weilded by other people (Excalibur being one such weapon....theoretically/historically) don't exist, but Death Scythe seems more like a title rather than a particular level of strength. After all, Death Scythe's name used to be Spirit or something like that (Stein has called him it at least once).

I didn't get far enough in the manga to see if she does show up, but I wonder what technicians like Maka's mother do after they raise a weapon up to the level of Death Scythe. I also really wonder what she looks like.

[Kraco]

Didn't Maka say earlier on the entire purpose of Shibusen was to raise weapons to the level of "death scythe" so that the would be used by Shinigami-sama?

I reckon that statement was either a mistake by the mangaka or a slightly loose explanation. The latter case might mean Shinigami-sama would decide what is to be done with the weapons once they have reached the death scythe status. Kind of like at a military academy you eventually get an assignment somewhere in some base. Otherwise it would make no sense a dude who can't even leave the town would hoard weapons - especially weapons that are also people who would with 100% certainty get bored if they see no action and whose lives would be wasted rotting there.

Besides, it's just strange all the pairs would be broken. Maybe the pairs are usually sent to different places in the world to hunt down villains once they have graduated.

[Ryllharu]

The only pair we know about for sure would be Maka's mother and Death Scythe. Of course, they are the worst possible example, as they got divorced...

So our view is really skewed with that. While it does not change the fact that Death Scythe (Spirit) is Shinigami's personal weapon, I supose it would not necessarily mean that the pairs usually separate. Perhaps they also mix and match, but that would only make sense for a transmutive Weapon like Tsubaki.

Still, we haven't seen Maka's mother at all, so I'm guessing with what Death Scythe was saying in this eps, that the others like him and ace technicians like Maka's mother are around the world killing villains as you say...so then who is she using?

I have to say that the introduction of Death Scythe was perfectly handled. They raise the music up, cut the camera angles, and send the tension skyrocketting. All the viewers (including myself, since I forgot about it) think that Medusa is about to show up...and it's Maka's perverted father. I definitely laughed aloud for that. That, and Chrona/Ragnarok's gross incompetence despite Medusa's confidence in them. They barely even noticed Kidd going by.

[ChaosK]

Well, Spirit said he's the only Deathscythe currently in Death City and even said he wouldn't be able to face the other Deathscythes if he let the Kishin be reborn. I'm guessing that when one reaches the level of a Deathscythe, they can be used by any high level technician as they would be proficient at managing their own soul wavelengths. The anime mentioned earlier that Sid was a three-star technician. Although we don't know what the highest level is, we can assume that technicians have levels of proficiency as well and I would guess that the other Deathscythes are with people of that level and can be wielded if necessary. For example, I'm sure Stein could wield any type of weapon even if he is a scythe technician, he could probably wield Liz and Patty if he wanted to.

[KoKo37]

Tadashi - Episode 20

[Kraco]

This series is awesome. The demon within in Soul Eater is 1000% more interesting than in Naruto, that's for sure, as well. It's also nice how I keep liking Medusa despite her being quite a ruthless villain.

Sanity is handicapped harshly in this series, though.

[Ryllharu]

Medusa is one of the most likable villains, period.

Way to channel Twin Peaks though. The author has definitely seen the series, as evidenced by all the scenes in Soul's head.

I also like how the motivation to become a Kishin (demon god) all revolves around fear. The Kishin was afraid of everything according to Shinigami, and apparently, so was chibi-Chrona. Now the devil inside Soul's head, some aspect of the Black Blood, says the exact same thing. Fear, fear, fear. Fear makes you weak, and the response to completely giving in to that fear is to lose your sanity. A very nice touch.

There was one fundamental difference in the manga that really makes this episode lose points.

Chibi-chan, Chrona's pet, was not a fire breathing dragon in the manga. That makes it an object of fear, something Chrona was too scared to face. Be afraid and alone, or kill what you're afraid of. A radically different version of the plot point from the original version.
Maybe it will appear in the next episode, though I doubt it. In any case, consider yourself warned.

[ Nope, Chrona's Chibi-chan was not a little black dragon.
It was a harmless, white, fluffy, bunny. ]
[thumbnail elimated for those who do not wish to see it]

That changes the entire feeling of the scene.

[xtallography]

I like how they've given the black blood a voice (and body) inside of Soul. It definitely adds to the dynamic and makes it easier to see the battle within to keep ones own sanity versus having the power to defeat an enemy by going absolutely insane. I thought it was rather amusing that Maka was all about having Soul lead in the dance but the decisions were all ultimately hers. The downside in the ep for me was Maka turning into some babbling idiot for the time being. I understand that's the black blood taking over but an unfortunate side effect none the less.

This series keeps getting better and better as it goes along.

[oyabun]

Its definitely much more interesting than Naruto/Bleach combined. You've got a demon imp dancing some jazz. How cool can you get?

[NM]

The whole thing with sanity is just awesome in SE. It was so twisted at the end seeing the black blood take over Maka...I loved it. Although I was surprised to see that Maka actually wanted to use the power of the black blood. Fighting against her fear is what made her stronger (and she even heard the whole conversation about fear with Soul and the demon imp).

Looks like only Soul is trying his hardest to resist. I hope he can bring her back since everyone else is already occupied with someone (really looking forward to Black Star and Kid team up).

And Jiraiya's voice for the demon imp inside Soul was a perfect choice. Can't wait for the next episode! This series is just brilliant.

[Ryllharu]

[Full disclosure: I have read the manga (though not all that far beyond this), and these are my thoughts on the events when I read it and now augmented in light of seeing it animated.]


In Response to NM's post:

I'm thinking the difference between Maka and Chrona here is entirely based on their partners. Black blood, and Shinigami-sama's explanation about The Kishin, is all based on giving into your fear. The technician gets so afraid, that they withdraw themselves and in a completely panicked state, go berserk until whatever subject of their fear is destroyed.

While Chrona's fear is amplified by Ragnarok (as we saw, s\he is as afraid of him beating her\his up as s\he is of everything else), Maka is putting all of her faith behind Soul to get her out of this safely. While Chrona is dominated, Maka leaving her life in someone else's hands. Though I have to say it is a little strange that the black blood that was inside of Soul is now also inside of Maka. Soul Resonance must be something far beyond a mental joining...since it also supports fluids exchange

As a side note, while it looked like Chrona's constant, "I don't know how to deal with X..." was some part of social ineptitude, it may acutally be his\her way of saying how afraid of it s\he is.


Kidd and BlackStar team ups were not very effective the last time we saw them. It should make for a few good laughs, especially since one or both of them will be facing off against Free, the casually-inept werewolf.

[Kraco]

The definite depth of madness:

Episode 21 - Tadashi




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An interesting episode. Well, ending a fight with the "let's be friends instead" approach can go either way: down to a disaster or offer a smooth and believable way. I deem it depends heavily on the setting which one is more likely. In this particular case, considering how troubled and unstable Krona was, it's safe to say it was totally believable plus offered a way to end the fight despite the power difference (between Krona and a sane Maka). After all, it's not like Krona as such was enjoying the fight or fighting for any solid ambition or goal of her own. She probably fought because that was the easiest way out for her.

In any case, the next ep should offer a different kind of fight with no mahou shoujo endings...

[Inazuma]

Do NOT watch the preview, massive spoiler included !

[NeoBear]

ya know im not to happy about that i mean i have seen this befor, " ha ha i killed thousands but i was misunderstood and never had anybody love me and now that you have opened my eyes i regret it all and want to change please forgive all my sins "...

[Kraco]

ya know im not to happy about that i mean i have seen this befor, " ha ha i killed thousands but i was misunderstood and never had anybody love me and now that you have opened my eyes i regret it all and want to change please forgive all my sins "...

She wasn't sane. What did you expect?

For Soul and Maka this was best that could happen because they could end the fight they weren't supposed to win in a very timely manner.

[Ryllharu]

An interesting episode. Well, ending a fight with the "let's be friends instead" approach can go either way: down to a disaster or offer a smooth and believable way. I deem it depends heavily on the setting which one is more likely. In this particular case, considering how troubled and unstable Krona was, it's safe to say it was totally believable plus offered a way to end the fight despite the power difference (between Krona and a sane Maka). After all, it's not like Krona as such was enjoying the fight or fighting for any solid ambition or goal of her own. She probably fought because that was the easiest way out for her.

In any case, the next ep should offer a different kind of fight with no mahou shoujo endings...

This was definitely one of those occasions where the only way to achieve victory was Mahou Shoujo style (the standard kind, not the Nanoha way).

We saw before with Kidd that the more frightened Chrona gets, the more insane she becomes, and then that raises her power. She may be an incomplete kishin, but fighting her only makes her worse. Maka was right in figuring that the only way to stop Chrona was to comfort her. I'm pretty much in total agreement with the idea that killing became the easiest way out for her.

BlackStar and Tsubaki certainly could have hurt her, but that wouldn't achieve a whole lot since he isn't nearly as capable as Stein is at it. At worst, it would have been a repeat of the demonic ghost ship.

Chibi-Chrona was so cute~

[Inazuma]

After Episode 6 I just couldn't wait to see what Kid could do. I think that Episode 22 Is going to get us lots of combat fanservice.

[oyabun]

Where the hell did Maka got the book for the Maka chop? And wait Crona's a girl?

[Ryllharu]

Chrona's gender has never been specified thus far. I'm just tired of not being able to use pronouns. I've always thought Chrona was a girl though.

Some of the shots of Chrona's face in this episode made her look like a boy. It's supposed to be very ambiguous.