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Soul Eater
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Animation - 8.0 |
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Sound - 8.1 |
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Story - 7.5 |
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Character - 7.8 |
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Value - 7.8 |
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Enjoyment - 8.0 |
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Average - 7.9 |
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| Average |
8.0 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Soul Eater is an odd anime. A terrible introduction, crappy ending, yet the middle parts kept it afloat to make the entire series an actually good watch. And yet at the same time the middle parts weren't anything out of this world. How can this be? Not sure myself, which brings me to the very first point; Soul Eater is an odd anime. Aside from brilliant character relationships, Soul Eater does nothing that is spectacular, yet its brilliant combination of unique characters, steady character development, consistent story telling, and juicy battles all come together to create a fine well oiled machine that you'll never watch an anime that captures this unique feeling as much as Soul Eater does.
It's unfortunate that BONES had to handle the project so poorly. There are at least six completely pointless or boring episodes that do nothing to contribute to the main story at all. The first three episodes are introduction episodes introducing the three main heroes; Death the Kid, Black Star, and Maka. These three episodes were very lackadaisical that did a poor job of actually doing their job; introducing the characters. And then there are three other episodes that are complete and utter filler concerning an ego centric being named Excalibur. They're all pretty terrible and it comprises of 10% of the anime itself. If this was a 26 episode anime, that would be a quarter. 12 episodes, half. Unacceptable!
Good news is that once you get over that hurdle, the anime almost immediately becomes awesome. Other than character chemistry, Soul Eater doesn't stand out in any one particular area. Yet it does everything so equally well that it all comes together for an extremely entertaining and excellent watch. There are times where each of the three main characters are off doing their own personal assigned missions, but their missions are all related somehow, giving us a different perspective of the story at hand yet does a great job of handling the story. Although the characters are usually apart from each other, the main cast are textbook example of how to have great character chemistry. One of the more rewarding experiences during the anime was after a major battle, all of the characters were out playing basketball and just enjoying each others' company.
After a certain point, BONES pulls off what they did to Fullmetal Alchemist and create their own ending, except this time they did a pretty bad job of it. The mystery and anticipation that the anime did a great job of creating went into complete shambles with how the remaining twelve or so episodes ended. The only thing that kept the ending afloat is that the fights were very juicy and exciting to watch and there was at least some creativity and ohhh and aweeee moments here and there.
Though nonetheless, the ending felt like it didn't do the anime justice. Even without knowing what episodes were filler, you would be able to tell right away which ones were filler and which ones were canon. That's how unique the feeling is for Soul Eater. There isn't a shounen anime like it. Despite its wasted story, six dreadful and boring episodes, Soul Eater still remains a very enjoyable anime.
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1 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
7.8 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| the story is very good and generally interesting compared to alot thats out there at the moment
all the characters are distinct but not overly stereotyped. they have the initial face value and then later you get to know them alot better and why they have that face value.
the animation it's self was verry good, the fight seens where just great, you can tell the animators wanted them to look good. there where parts where the faces distorted to show madness which was a tad odd but suited at the same time
although it seemed cut short towards the end, if it followed the story through it would be on par with naruto and bleach easily. i'm hoping they come to their sences and carry on going.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
10.0 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Soul eater hits all my marks it's quite original, it's funny, it's action packed, and it's caracters all uniquely stand out.
Verry good anime.
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1 of 3 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
4.7 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
1 |
| Value |
3 |
| Enjoyment |
3 |
| Quoting mcg:
DO NOT skimp on it based on Last Exile's review. Everyone has different tastes as to which series are "enjoyable" or not, and it is quite obvious he prefers more sophisticated series.
Certainly everyone should approach any anime they see with an open mind, but I have a tendency to agree with Last Exile. One of the main reasons anime is popular outside of Japan is that the series tend of have complex, thorough plot lines. Soul eater certainly doesn't have this, and I would be very sad if other anime followed its example.
Soul eater actually has an interesting premise: there are "meisters" who are essentially ordinary people (except they're the standard shounen strength), and "weapons" who can transform into physical weapons that meisters (or other weapons) can use. Each meister is paired with one weapon. This might have lead to a very interesting relationship between weapons and meisters...except that the relationship was only explored at the most superficial level.
The story itself is quite simple. Bad guys come along, our main characters tend to be sent out to fight them. It felt kinda formulaic.
However, by far the worst thing about this anime was the characters. They couldn't even really be called characters...more like caricatures. Most of them were completely dominated by a single character trait, to the point where they were impossible to relate to. Therefore, I didn't really ever care what happened to them. Furthermore, some of the characters were downright annoying...I sometimes found myself hoping that something would happen to them to make them realize how ridiculous they really are.
On the other hand, the animation was interesting. At times, I felt the quirkiness of the animation style actually added something, especially in the more action-oriented scenes. At other times, though, I felt like it was chaotic and a little difficult to watch. Sound was actually quite good; I especially enjoyed the opening theme by TM Revolution, and the dark and weird background music often added to the mood, sometimes drawing me back when my mind wandered away from the screen.
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1 of 3 people found this review helpful.
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No
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| Average |
8.7 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| I've watched this anime many times and read the manga (The anime is better).
The anime is funny got good fight and overall is a great anime.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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mcg |
(2009-03-08 15:20:41) 2009-03-08 15:17:22 |
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| Average |
8.8 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Soul Eater was introduced to me by a friend after I found the winter season to be pretty disappointing.
Soul Eater is quite an enjoyable watch mainly for its laughs. As for its storyline... it isn't emphasized as much as I would like, but oh well. It still is satisfying, and I am a sucker for comedic series anyway!
The drawings are definitely abstract and may not cater to most people, but I definitely don't mind. Check out TTGL and FLCL for reference.
Overall the series is good in its own ways, and 10x more enjoyable than what the winter 2009 season offers, except for perhaps a few (Toradora, etc.).
I don't have time to complete a thorough review at the moment but I just wanted to point out that for potential viewers of this series, DO NOT skimp on it based on Last Exile's review. Everyone has different tastes as to which series are "enjoyable" or not, and it is quite obvious he prefers more sophisticated series. But then again, I'd love to point out that Geass R2 had its own fair share of flaws, which forces me to put the credibility of his ratings in question.
Anyways, to sum it up, definitely one of the better series of the 2008-09 year. Give it a try, you will NOT be disappointed. Too bad it is licensed... but try to get your hands on it somehow.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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No
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| Average |
9.0 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| I most definitely am amazed about this anime but still has so tragic flaws that need improvement. I would like to point out that the most serious thing that caught my eye the most was Maka's nose. lol i know its stupid and all but it looks so freaky that i was pretty amazed to see an nose drawn like that but overall this anime is good i would recommend it to people who like action anime but not too much of it.
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0 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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No
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| Average |
1.8 |
| Animation |
3 |
| Sound |
2 |
| Story |
2 |
| Character |
2 |
| Value |
1 |
| Enjoyment |
1 |
| Welcome to one of the main reasons modern anime has problems.
Simply, if I needed one word to describe this series, it would be 'generic'. But that just isn't enough. It's more like 'generic to the power of cliche multiplied by frustratingly mind-numbing'.
The premise - there was once an entity, 'Kishin', that almost destroyed the world. To keep it dormant, Shinigami-sama (no, he is the complete opposite of Death Note shinigamis) founded the Shibusen. All students are required to make a Death Scythe by consuming 99 souls that became eggs of Kishin and 1 soul of a witch. Blair and Soul have fulfilled their 99 eggs requirement but stuff up the witch part, causing them to start from scratch. Their attempt to get the 100 souls all over again follows, along with that of Black Star.
But here's the underlying problem to this series. It's boring...very much so. Yes, I know this is a series that it meant to be more light-hearted and not to be taken seriously. But for a series to still be good on that premise means the humour and action has to be good. It just isn't. The cliches of meandering dialog that just ramble on and on while you sit there going 'Anyone with a brain in their head would have smashed you senseless while you were ranting!' - and I honestly thought nothing could do it more than Dragonball Z. Soul Eater is guilty of it and then some. As for the dialog itself - it falls under three categories - meandering machismo, endless ecchi or flapping fail. The guys love to rant and posture - they really do. The amount of ecchi comments about Blair's lack of breast development, her sleazy fail of a father, Soul's perverted nature and his ability to make a random situation ever so more perverted - it grows old fast. Very fast. There is just too much dialog, it isn't funny and it is so reminiscent of styles from every other shounen series from the last decade - it's just so very frustrating and insulting. As for the action - when there actually is any *cough* - it is short, spoofish andpoorly executed. At least other shounen series had decent action in between the rants - but Soul Eater fails at providing a decent battle.
The story is so wafer thin but honestly, it's a shounen series, so the proper fleshing of a story isn't really to be expected. But even so, most series will actually get some development going - even the ones which are currently past 300 episodes and still going. But Soul Eater doesn't even do that. 10 episodes later, you barely know more than you did after the first episode. The characters are just shallow and not appealing. Blair is the pick of a bad lot - you could almost feel sorry enough to care simply because she's surrounded by idiots, but the fact she is given a jailbait physique and made to be made fun of doesn't allow that. Hardly an ideal heroine. Soul means well enough to help her but his excessive lechering and his machismo prevent him from being likeable either. Black Star acts like someone who drank too much red cordial and will never get down from that high. Shinigami-sama is something out of a show you'd show a two year old - high pitched, sugary and looks like a complete goof. Blair's father is just made of pure fail, to give a damn about him is just not worth the effort. Frankenstein is twisted and sly but neither funny or enthralling. The music is mere rock drivel, the animation is average with wispy outlines and very dull colours.
So then what is Soul Eater supposed to be? My best guess would be cheap thrills and cheap laughs with a wafer thin story and an equally thin cast. I see people I know get easily amused by this and laugh enough to keep watching. But whether they actually care about anything that happens or anyone in the series seems to care about the characters seems to not be an issue at all. Which makes me wonder again - what is the point of this series?
So in the end, Soul Eater is just light fluff to watch when you're brain dead after a long grind at work. But that relies on being funny and having some decent action. It fails at both those requirements. So spare your brain and ignore this cliche of a cliche of a series.
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3 of 8 people found this review helpful.
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rx22 |
(2008-12-11 17:51:07) 2008-12-11 05:38:10 |
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| Average |
10.0 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| a superb, must-see anime, It,s the best anime from all anime released in 2008 that I've seen! Definitely recommend for anyone who likes intense fighting scenes in anime as there's plenty of them!
In the end, I've realized only one bad thing about this anime - the more you watch it, the more you realize that it's gonna end one day, and you really don't wanna anime of this great to end!
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2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
9.8 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Ok ok just to say from the start i signed up to this site just to review this anime and i got to say that im surprised that no one reviewed this show. I literally finished all available 25 episodes in one day. But any ways lets go to the review!
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4 of 4 people found this review helpful.
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