Soul Eater: The Complete Series

Maka is a Meister and Soul is her Weapon. As students at the Grim Reaper's Death Weapon Meister Academy, their study habits couldn't be more different. But in battle against the supernatural forces of evil, they're a freakin' lethal team. That's when Soul transforms - literally - into a razor-sharp scythe, and every defeated wicked soul he sucks down makes him more deadly. That's when Maka unleashes the merciless slayer within, wielding her partner and dropping monsters. Seriously. Monsters. Like the witches, werewolves, and zombies that lurk in the shadows and feed on the souls of the innocent. Every freakish ghoul Maka and Soul take out strengthens their bond, and fighting alongside their fellow Meister/Weapon classmates, Maka and Soul are the world's last line of defense against evil. Based on the manga by Atsushi Ookubo, the fantasy-adventure Soul Eater (2008) takes place at the Death Weapon Meister Academy, a school run by the Grim Reaper to create pairs of fighters, one of whom transforms into a weapon wielded by a partner called a "Meister." Soul, who always wants to look cool, turns into a scythe that the diligent Maka uses; infinitely patient Tsubaki becomes a variety of weapons for motor-mouth assassin Black Star. They're joined by the Grim Reaper's powerful but addled son Death the Kid, who has a neurotic fixation on the principle of symmetry, and his twin guns, the Thompson Sisters. Despite their many foibles, all three partnerships command impressive powers. Assigned to capture the souls of evil beings who could foster the creation of a terrible demon known as the Kishin, they battle witches, golems, and other evil creatures. Having created an appealing and engagingly nutty cast, the filmmakers can't always figure out what to do with them. At times, the tone feels too silly, then it suddenly becomes needlessly violent. The witch Medusa's abuse of her neurotic son Crona is disturbing, but her menace is undercut by Eruka, the idiotic frog-witch who serves her. The mixture of freewheeling slapstick, imaginative designs, and supernatural adventures in Soul Eater may remind viewers of Fairy Tail and Gurren Lagann, but the artists push the visuals even further. The designs of Soul and Black Star are essentially jagged collections of angles; the lumpy-looking sun and moon leer woozily from the sky, as if they just lurched back from a prolonged binge. Professor Franken Stein, who constantly adjusts the large screw in his skull, looks like he was haphazardly sewn together from spare parts, as do all his accessories, including his bento box. Soul Eater builds to a suitably flamboyant if very talky climax, as the main characters face off against the reborn Kishin. Maka discovers that, like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, she has always had powers she was unaware of. It's a very entertaining series, but the viewer is left with the nagging suspicion that stronger writing could have made it even better. (Rated TV 14: violence, violence against women and children, grotesque imagery, brief nudity, risqué humor, potentially offensive religious imagery, alcohol and tobacco use) --Charles Solomon

(1. Resonance of the Soul Eater, Becoming a Death Scythe? 2. I'm Definitely a Star! The Extremely Big Man, Revealed Here? 3. Becoming the Perfect Boy? Death the Kid's Magnificent Mission? 4. Witch Hunting Invocation!? Heart Throbbing Graveyard Supplementary Class Lessons, 5. Soul's Form: Strongest Meister Stein's Entrance, 6. Freshman Gossip! Lots of Memories of Kid's First Attendance at Shibusen? 7. Black Blood of Terror: The Weapon Within Crona? 8. Witch Medusa: Great Evil Possessing One's Soul? 9. Holy Legendary Sword: Kid and Black Star's Big Adventure? 10. Demon Blade Masamune: Torn Dependant Soul, Singing Heart's Rain? 11. Tsubaki, the Camellia: What Lies Beyond Sadness? 12. Courage That Is Not Lost to Fear: Albarn's One Large Determination? 13. Man's Demon Eyes--Soul and Maka, the Gap of the Soul's Wavelength? 14. (Super) Written Test: Heart-Throbbing, Trembling, Nervous, Lies? 15. Black Dragon That Eats Souls: Cowardly Liz and Her Pleasant Companions? 16. Clash on the Ghost Ship! A Hell Inside My Head! 17. Legend of the Holy Sword 2: Drink, Hit, Buy, Virtue? 18. The Nightmare of Festival's Eve: And the Curtain Rises? 19. Underground Battle Begins: Bust Through Medusa's Vector Arrow? 20. The Resonance Battle of Black Blood: Facing Fear, the Small Soul's Big Struggle? 21. Reach, Soul of Mine: The Thirst of the Heart Inside Unbearable Solitude? 22. Seal's Shrine: The Trap Left by the Immortal Man? 23. Dead or Alive! The Brink Between Resurrection and Spellbound? 24. Battle of the Gods: Death City's Crisis of Destruction? 25. Death Scythes Summoned! Preventing Papa's Personnel Changes!? 26. Delightful and Shy School's Entry Experience! Shibusen's in the Midst of a New Life Fair's Aid? 27. 800 Years of Murderous Intent: A Witch's Descending Heresy? 28. Sword Saint Rises: A Sweet or a Salty Taste? 29. Medusa's Revival! Spider and Snake, Fate's Reunion? 30. Red Hot's Runaway Express! The Demon Tool Left Behind by the Great Demon Guru? 31. Drying Happiness: To Whom Do You Shed Tears in the Moonlight Shine? 32. Holy Legendary Sword 3: Shibusen's Gang Leader Tale? 33. Resonance Chain: Playing the Soul's Melodies? 34. BREW Contest! Clash, Shibusen vs. Arachnophobia? 35. Mosquito's Storm! Old Days World's Time Limit Is 10 Minutes? 36. Release, Seven People's Resonance Chain! Concert of Creation and Destruction? 37. A Great Detective's First Case: Shibusen's Secret Exposed by Kid? 38. Bloodshed Temptation: The Big Man's Uncontrollable Irritation? 39. Crona's Escape: Show Me Your Smile, Please? 40. Cut the Cards: Medusa Surrenders to Shibusen? 41. Winding and Sliding: The Dancing Doctor, A New World? 42. Charge! Baba Yaga's Castle: Why Is Everything Suddenly So Unclear? 43. The Last Demon Tool: The Weaponless Kid's Impossible Mission? 44. Coward Crona's Determination: For You, Who Are Always by My Side? 45. Demonslayer's Wavelength: Fierce Attack, Hatred of the Demon Hunter? 46. Bravery? Bloodshed? Decisive Battle, Mifune vs. Black Star? 47. The Miracle of Overturning a Table in Anger: Our Death City's Robot? 48. The Weapon (Deathscythe) Shinigami-sama Had: Towards Uncertainty, Filled with Darkness? 49. Asura's Awakening: The Arrival of the World's End? 50. Sink or Swirl?! The Man Who Exceed God? 51. The Password Is Courage!)