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A single [[drama CD]] was produced on August 31, 2005 which came bundled with an [[art book]]. An [[anime]] adaptation produced by [[Bones (studio)|Bones]] first aired on [[TV Tokyo]] in Japan on April 7, 2008, and contained 51 episodes; [[Funimation Entertainment|Funimation]] licensed the anime series for North American distribution. An [[Action-adventure game|action-adventure]] [[video game]] by Square Enix for the [[Wii]] was released in September 2008, and an [[action game|action]] video game for the [[Nintendo DS]] was released in October 2008. Another action game was released in January 2009 on the [[PlayStation 2]] and [[PlayStation Portable]].
A single [[drama CD]] was produced on August 31, 2005 which came bundled with an [[art book]]. An [[anime]] adaptation produced by [[Bones (studio)|Bones]] first aired on [[TV Tokyo]] in Japan on April 7, 2008, and contained 51 episodes; [[Funimation Entertainment|Funimation]] licensed the anime series for North American distribution. An [[Action-adventure game|action-adventure]] [[video game]] by Square Enix for the [[Wii]] was released in September 2008, and an [[action game|action]] video game for the [[Nintendo DS]] was released in October 2008. Another action game was released in January 2009 on the [[PlayStation 2]] and [[PlayStation Portable]].

==Plot==
[[Image:Shibusen.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Death Weapon Meister Academy.]]
{{see also|List of Soul Eater characters}}
In ''Soul Eater'', {{Nihongo|meister|職人|shokunin}} [[List of Soul Eater characters#Maka|Maka Albarn]] and her weapon partner [[List of Soul Eater characters#Soul Eater|Soul Eater]] are students at the {{Nihongo|Death Weapon Meister Academy|死神武器職人専門学校|Shinigami Buki Shokunin Senmon Gakkō}}—{{Nihongo|DWMA|死武専|''Shibusen''}} or simply the Academy for short—located in the fictional Death City,<ref name="story">{{citeweb|url=http://www.souleater.tv/story/index.html|title=Story section at anime's official website|accessdate=2008-04-20|language=Japanese}}</ref> in [[Nevada]], [[United States]]. The school has many other students including [[List of Soul Eater characters#Black Star|Black Star]] with his weapon partner [[List of Soul Eater characters#Tsubaki|Tsubaki]], and [[List of Soul Eater characters#Death the Kid|Death the Kid]] with his weapon partners (who are sisters) [[List of Soul Eater characters#Liz and Patty|Liz and Patty]]. The school is run by [[List of Soul Eater characters#Shinigami|Shinigami]], [[Grim Reaper|Death]] himself, as a training facility for weapons and the human wielders of those weapons, the meisters.<ref name="story"/> Maka's goal, along with the other meisters, is to have their weapons defeat and absorb the souls of 99 evil humans and one [[Witchcraft|witch]], which will dramatically increase the power of the given weapon and turn them into death scythes, weapons capable of being used by ''[[shinigami]]''.<ref name="story"/> In the universe of ''Soul Eater'', [[witch]]es are powerful beings and the natural enemies of DWMA, as almost all of them have a destructive nature and desire chaos.

Shortly after the start of ''Soul Eater'', Maka and Soul Eater face off against the forces of the witch [[List of Soul Eater characters#Medusa|Medusa]], who forces her child, the meister [[List of Soul Eater characters#Crona|Crona]] and Crona's weapon [[List of Soul Eater characters#Ragnarok|Ragnarok]], to collect non-evil human souls to transform Crona into a {{Nihongo|''kishin''|鬼神}}, an evil demon god. Medusa and her cohorts attack the DWMA on the eve of the festival commemorating its founding with the intention of reviving [[List of Soul Eater characters#Asura|Asura]], the first ''kishin'' who nearly plunged the entire world into madness before being sealed beneath the DWMA by Shinigami. Despite the combined efforts of Maka, Black Star, and Death the Kid, Medusa's group successfully revives Asura, who leaves to spread chaos around the world after a brief battle with Shinigami. However, Medusa is seemingly killed by the meister and DWMA teacher [[List of Soul Eater characters#Franken Stein|Franken Stein]] in the process, while Crona surrenders to the DWMA and goes on to enroll there and befriend Maka.

As a result of Asura's spreading madness, Medusa's older sister [[List of Soul Eater characters#Arachne|Arachne]] comes out of hiding after 800 years. Arachne reforms her organization Arachnophobia, which poses itself as a serious threat to the DWMA. The DWMA calls in the death scythes around the world to aide in the fight against Arachnophobia. During this time, Medusa resurfaces with her soul in the body of a young girl, and forms a truce with the DWMA so they can annihilate the threat of Arachnophobia together. The DWMA students and Medusa's entourage infiltrate Arachnophobia's headquarters where Maka defeats Arachne, only for Medusa to betray the DWMA, possessing Arachne's body and brainwashing Crona into rejoining her. Meanwhile, Death the Kid is captured by Noah, an enemy posing as the former meister [[List of Soul Eater characters#Eibon|Eibon]]. Following this, the meister unit Spartoi is formed at the DWMA to take down Noah, and Maka finally succeeds in turning Soul Eater into a death scythe.

===Differences in the anime adaptation===
The [[anime]] series faithfully adapts the plot of the manga until after the DWMA's first major battle against Arachnophobia, upon which it deviates from the original plot considerably. After giving the DWMA information on Arachnophobia, Medusa takes advantage of Stein's increasing madness to lure him away with her. The DWMA manage to bring back Stein, and Maka defeats Medusa. Meanwhile, Arachne finds and forms an alliance with Asura, intending to spread his madness across the world. In the ensuing confrontation between the DWMA and Arachnophobia, Shinigami and Asura resume their fight, which ends with Asura defeating Shinigami, turning on Arachne and eating her soul. In the final battle, Maka, Black Star, and Death the Kid defeat Asura, and the world returns to normal.


==Development==
==Development==

Revision as of 09:02, 21 June 2010

Soul Eater
Cover of Soul Eater volume 1 featuring Maka (right), Soul (bottom-left) and Blair (top-left).
ソウルイーター
(Sōru Ītā)
GenreAction, Adventure, Comedy, Supernatural
Manga
Written byAtsushi Okubo
Published byGangan Comics
English publisherUnited States Canada Yen Press
MagazineMonthly Shōnen Gangan
English magazineUnited States Yen Plus
DemographicShōnen
Original runJune 24, 2003 – present
Volumes16 (List of volumes)
Anime
Directed byTakuya Igarashi
StudioBones
Released April 7, 2008 – March 30, 2009
Game
Soul Eater: Monotone Princess
DeveloperSquare Enix
PublisherSquare Enix
GenreAction-adventure game
PlatformWii
ReleasedSeptember 25, 2008
Game
Soul Eater: Plot of Medusa
DeveloperNamco Bandai Games
PublisherNamco Bandai Games
GenreAction game
PlatformNintendo DS
ReleasedOctober 23, 2008
Game
Soul Eater: Battle Resonance
DeveloperNamco Bandai Games
PublisherNamco Bandai Games
GenreFighting game
PlatformPS2, PSP
ReleasedJanuary 29, 2009

Soul Eater (ソウルイーター, Sōru Ītā) is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Atsushi Okubo. Set at the "Death Weapon Meister Academy," the series revolves around three teams consisting of a weapon meister and (at least one) human weapon. Trying to make the latter a "death scythe" and thus fit for use by the academy's headmaster, Shinigami, they must collect the souls of 99 evil humans and one witch, in that order or they will have to restart all over again. The manga is published by Square Enix and was first released as three separate one-shots serialized in two Gangan Powered special editions and one Gangan Wing issue between June 24 and November 26, 2003. The manga started regular serialization in Square Enix's Monthly Shōnen Gangan manga magazine on May 12, 2004. The first bound volume was released by Square Enix under their Gangan Comics imprint on June 22, 2004 in Japan, and as of February 2010, sixteen volumes have been released. The manga has been licensed for distribution in North America by Yen Press. The English translated version of Soul Eater is serialized in Yen Press' Yen Plus manga anthology magazine starting on July 29, 2008, and the first manga volume was released on October 27, 2009.

A single drama CD was produced on August 31, 2005 which came bundled with an art book. An anime adaptation produced by Bones first aired on TV Tokyo in Japan on April 7, 2008, and contained 51 episodes; Funimation licensed the anime series for North American distribution. An action-adventure video game by Square Enix for the Wii was released in September 2008, and an action video game for the Nintendo DS was released in October 2008. Another action game was released in January 2009 on the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable.

Development

After the end of his first manga series, B.Ichi, Atsushi Okubo created a one-shot story called "Soul Eater" published in Monthly Shōnen Gangan. Japanese readers were so fascinated by it that Okubo created two other one-shots called "Black Star" and "Death The Kid". The results were high and the editor Gangan Comics asked Atsushi Okubo to create a series from his one-shots that became the introduction chapters to the final manga series Soul Eater.[citation needed]

Atsushi Okubo reveals that he creates the main characters by inspiring from his personality; like the dunce for Black Star, the order for Death The Kid or the fun for Patty. Other characters like protagonists and antagonists are created from his imagination and also from his previous favorite manga, like the sun and the moon smiling over Death City are inspired from his favorite manga Dr. Slump because it used many nonliving objects as if they were humans. Unlike many shōnen manga, Soul Eater's main character is a teenage girl, Maka Albarn, because Okubo felt that readers would be more interested than with a male character. The background and design of Death City, the main town where the characters are living, is mainly inspired from Tim Burton and David Lynch films.[citation needed]

Media

Manga

See also: List of Soul Eater chapters

Soul Eater began as a manga series written and illustrated by Atsushi Okubo. The manga initially began as three separate one-shots serialized between June 24, 2003 and November 26, 2003 across two manga magazines published by Square Enix: first in the summer 2003 special edition of Gangan Powered,[1] followed by the autumn 2003 special edition of the same magazine, and finally in Gangan Wing. The manga started regular serialization in Square Enix's Monthly Shōnen Gangan manga magazine on May 12, 2004. The first bound volume was released by Square Enix under their Gangan Comics imprint on June 22, 2004 in Japan, and as of February 22, 2010, sixteen volumes have been released.[2] The manga has been licensed by Yen Press for distribution in English in North America. The manga was initially serialized in Yen Press' Yen Plus anthology magazine, the first issue of which went on sale on July 29, 2008.[3] The first English volume of the manga was sold on October 27, 2009; the second was released on February 23, 2010.[4]

Drama CD

A drama CD was released on August 31, 2005 by Square Enix entitled Soul Eater (Vol. 1): Special Social Studies Field Trip (ソウルイーター(Vol.1)特別社会科見学, Sōru Ītā (Vol. 1) Tokubetsu Shakaika Kengaku).[2] The CD came bundled with an art book and a script of the CD dialogue. Of the cast used for the drama CD, only Black Star's voice actress Yumiko Kobayashi was retained for the anime voice cast.

Anime

See also: List of Soul Eater episodes

A 51 episode anime adaptation was directed by Takuya Igarashi, and produced by Bones, Aniplex, Dentsu, Media Factory, and TV Tokyo; Bones and Aniplex were responsible for the animation and music production respectively.[5][6] The anime's scenario writer was Akatsuki Yamatoya who based the anime's story on Atsushi Okubo original concept. Character design was headed by Yoshiyuki Ito, with overall art direction by Norifumi Nakamura.[5] The anime's conceptual design was done by Shinji Aramaki. The episodes started airing on April 7, 2008 on TV Tokyo, and two animated specials aired on May 29 and June 1, 2008.[7] The episodes also aired at later dates on TV Aichi, TV Hokkaido, TV Osaka, TV Setouchi, and TVQ Kyushu Broadcasting Co.[5] The final episode aired on March 30, 2009. The first DVD compilation volume was released on August 22, 2008 with the first three episodes. The second DVD compilation volume was released on September 25, 2008 with episodes four through seven. Each DVD volume will be released in monthly intervals.[8] The anime was licensed by Funimation and will be releasing the series in four half-season DVD box sets starting with the first volume in February 2010.[9] All 51 subtitled episodes are available on Funimation's website, along with the first thirteen episodes dubbed in English. Soul Eater is Bones' third anime series to run with 50-51 episodes, after 2003's Fullmetal Alchemist and 2005's Eureka Seven.

The anime was regularly broadcast Mondays at 6:00 pm on TV Tokyo. The official Japanese website of the Soul Eater anime series announced that each episode will air in two different versions: the regular Monday 6:00 p.m. version and a late-night "Soul Eater Late Show" version. Special footage was added at the start and end of the commercial break; the next episode preview was also different from the regular version. The dual broadcast of this supernatural action series was being billed as the "world's first evening and late-night resonance broadcast". The "resonance" term refers to a story concept in which the characters, such as the heroine Maka and her living weapon partner Soul Eater, achieve maximum power by synchronizing their souls.[10] MTV Portugal premiered Soul Eater on February 1, 2010.[11] In the Philippines, Soul Eater aired in a Tagalog version over the cable channel Hero TV which will last from April to June 2010.

References

  1. ^ "Summer 2003 issue of Gangan Powered" (in Japanese). Square Enix. Retrieved 2008-04-20.
  2. ^ a b "Books section at manga's official website" (in Japanese). Square Enix. Retrieved 2008-04-20.
  3. ^ "Yen Press Announces Titles to Run in Anthology Mag". Anime News Network. 2008-04-19. Retrieved 2008-04-19.
  4. ^ "Soul Eater manga English volumes". Yen Press. Retrieved 2008-08-11.
  5. ^ a b c "Soul Eater (TV)". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
  6. ^ "TV Tokyo: Soul Eater - Staff, Cast" (in Japanese). TV Tokyo. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
  7. ^ "Two Soul Eater Anime Specials to Air in Japan". Anime News Network. 2008-05-17. Retrieved 2008-05-17.
  8. ^ "Goods section at the anime's official website" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2008-06-02.
  9. ^ "FUNimation Adds Soul Eater Anime from Media Factory". Anime News Network. 2008-12-31. Retrieved 2008-12-31.
  10. ^ "Soul Eater to Air in Japan in Two Weekly Versions". Anime News Network. 2008-02-12. Retrieved 2008-04-17.
  11. ^ "Soul Eater Episodios" (in Portuguese). MTV Portugal. Retrieved February 7, 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)

External links

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