Soul Eater

Soul Eater

Industry	Manga, anime, entertainment
Founded	June 24, 2003 (2003-06-24)
Founder	Atsushi Ohkubo
Area served	Worldwide
Products	Manga, anime, drama CD, video games, art book
Parent	Square Enix (manga publisher)

Soul Eater is a Japanese manga series created by Atsushi Ohkubo. The narrative unfolds at the "Death Weapon Meister Academy," focusing on three pairs of weapon meisters and their partners, who have the ability to transform into weapons. Their mission is to forge a "Death Scythe" for the academy's headmaster, Shinigami, by gathering the souls of 99 malevolent humans and one witch.

The manga originated from three one-shot chapters released by Square Enix in 2003, before commencing regular serialization in Monthly Shōnen Gangan from May 2004 until August 2013, ultimately compiled into 25 volumes. A 51-episode anime adaptation produced by Bones was broadcast on TV Tokyo between April 2008 and March 2009. The franchise further expanded to include a drama CD, an art book, three video games, and a spin-off manga titled Soul Eater Not!, serialized from 2011 through 2014.

In North America, the series was licensed by Yen Press, debuting in the Yen Plus anthology in July 2008, with the first volume published in October 2009. The anime adaptation was licensed by Funimation, now known as Crunchyroll.

By February 2022, over 20.4 million copies of the manga were in circulation. Both the manga and anime received acclaim for their unique Gothic aesthetic, often likened to Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, although some reviewers noted elements of fanservice and conventional tropes.

Setting

The story of Soul Eater takes place at the Death Weapon Meister Academy (DWMA), situated in the fictional Death City within Nevada, United States. This institution, overseen by Shinigami (Death), educates humans capable of transforming into weapons alongside their wielders, known as meisters. Prominent students include Maka Albarn paired with her scythe partner Soul Eater; assassin Black Star with his ninja weapon companion Tsubaki Nakatsukasa; and Shinigami’s son, Death the Kid, accompanied by twin pistols Liz and Patty Thompson. Their objective is for their weapon partners to absorb the souls of 99 evil humans plus one witch’s soul, thereby transforming into formidable "Death Scythes" serving Shinigami.

Plot

Maka and Soul confront the witch Medusa, who manipulates her offspring, Crona, meister of the demon sword Ragnarok, to gather innocent souls and evolve into a , an evil deity. Medusa’s faction launches an assault on DWMA aiming to resurrect Asura, the original kishin imprisoned beneath DWMA by Shinigami after nearly triggering worldwide insanity. Despite interventions by Maka, Black Star, and Death the Kid, Asura is revived and unleashes chaos following a brief clash with Shinigami. Medusa appears to be killed by meister and instructor Franken Stein, while Crona surrenders and joins DWMA.

Asura’s madness provokes Medusa’s sister Arachne to revive Arachnophobia, posing a threat to DWMA. In response, Shinigami summons Death Scythes globally to confront this menace. Medusa returns by inhabiting a young girl’s body and negotiates a temporary alliance with DWMA to eliminate Arachnophobia. The DWMA team infiltrates Arachnophobia’s headquarters; Maka defeats Arachne, but Medusa betrays them by taking over Arachne's body and brainwashing Crona. Meanwhile, Death the Kid is captured by Noah, an artificial being derived from the Book of Eibon. Utilizing Arachne’s soul, Maka upgrades Soul into a Death Scythe. Together with allies forming the new meister unit Spartoi, they rescue Death the Kid and defeat Noah.

Subsequently, Crona devastates a Russian city and eliminates its stationed Death Scythe before killing Medusa under her instigation and descending into madness. Following Shinigami’s orders to pursue Crona, Maka inadvertently detects Asura’s location on the moon. DWMA mounts an assault on the moon with assistance from witches after Death the Kid brokers an alliance. During combat, Crona absorbs Asura but loses control to him. Maka, Black Star, and Death the Kid restore Crona’s sanity and seal Asura on the moon using his blood; Crona remains as his guardian while Maka vows to rescue him in the future. Upon returning to Earth, Death the Kid succeeds Shinigami as leader and establishes peace with witches, pledging that Soul Evans will be the final Death Scythe.

Production

Following the completion of his debut manga series, B.Ichi, Atsushi Ohkubo created a one-shot named "Soul Eater," which was published in June 2003 by Gangan Powered. The strong enthusiasm from readers encouraged Ohkubo to develop two additional one-shots titled "Black Star" and "Death the Kid," released in September and November 2003 respectively. Their popularity prompted the editor at Gangan Comics to commission Ohkubo to expand these stories into a full-fledged series, which became the opening chapters of Soul Eater.

Ohkubo drew creative inspiration from the works of Tim Burton and the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling. To stand out from conventional male leads common in shōnen manga, he selected a female protagonist, Maka Albarn, and paired characters of different genders to emphasize gender balance. The title Soul Eater is derived from the antagonist Asura's quest to devour souls, rather than the character Soul "Eater" Evans. Ohkubo planned the storyline and elements such as the DWMA early on, prioritizing current events over flashbacks to sustain narrative momentum and allow creative flexibility.

Manga

Atsushi Ohkubo authored three one-shot chapters that were published by Square Enix. The stories "Soul Eater" and "Black Star" appeared in the summer and autumn issues of Gangan Powered (June 24 and September 22, 2003), while "Death the Kid" was featured in Gangan Wing on November 26, 2003. The complete Soul Eater manga began serialization in Square Enix's shōnen manga publication Monthly Shōnen Gangan on May 12, 2004, concluding after nine years on August 12, 2013. Square Enix collected its 113 chapters into 25 volumes under the Gangan Comics label between June 22, 2004, and December 12, 2013. A seventeen-volume collection called Soul Eater: The Perfect Edition was issued from July 12, 2019, through March 12, 2020.

The North American rights for the manga were licensed by Yen Press. It first appeared serialized in Yen Press' anthology Yen Plus beginning July 29, 2008. The inaugural English volume was released on October 27, 2009; the series concluded with its final volume on March 24, 2015. In July 2019, Square Enix announced the English-language launch of Soul Eater: The Perfect Edition, with the first volume published on July 28, 2020.

Ohkubo also created a spin-off titled Soul Eater Not!, which ran in Monthly Shōnen Gangan from January 12, 2011, until November 10, 2014. This series resulted in five volumes issued between September 22, 2011, and December 22, 2014. Yen Press acquired licensing for this spin-off in North America and released volumes from July 24, 2012, through August 4, 2015.

Drama CD

A drama CD named Soul Eater (Vol. 1): Special Social Studies Field Trip was launched by Square Enix on August 31, 2005. It came packaged with an art book and script booklet; among the voice cast for this CD, only Black Star's actress, Yumiko Kobayashi, reprised her role in the subsequent anime adaptation.

Anime

The anime adaptation, consisting of 51 episodes, was directed by Takuya Igarashi and produced through a collaboration between Bones, Aniplex, Dentsu, Media Factory, and TV Tokyo. Animation duties were managed by Bones, while Aniplex oversaw the music production. The narrative, penned by Akatsuki Yamatoya, drew upon Ohkubo's original concept. Yoshiyuki Ito was responsible for character design, Norifumi Nakamura handled art direction, and conceptual designs were crafted by Shinji Aramaki. This series was broadcast on TV Tokyo from April 7, 2008, until March 30, 2009, with two special episodes airing in May and June of 2008. It featured a unique dual broadcast format: a standard evening airing alongside a late-night "Soul Eater Late Show" that included exclusive footage—promoted as the "world’s first evening and late-night resonance broadcast," a nod to the series’ central theme of soul synchronization as a source of power.

Between August 2008 and August 2009, Media Factory issued thirteen DVD volumes. The show was later re-aired as Soul Eater: Repeat Show in September 2010, featuring updated opening and ending themes. Subsequently, Media Factory and Kadokawa Corporation combined two Blu-ray box sets into a single release on February 26, 2014.

In the North American market, Funimation secured licensing rights for the anime and released it across four DVD box sets covering half-seasons starting in February 2010. The series premiered on the Funimation Channel in September 2010 and was later broadcast on Adult Swim’s Toonami block from February 2013 through March 2014.

Video games

Three video games based on Soul Eater were developed. The first title, , is an action-adventure game for the Wii platform created by Square Enix in partnership with Bones; it launched in Japan on September 25, 2008. Original characters Ponera and Grimoire were designed by author Ohkubo—Ponera being the Monotone Princess and Grimoire appearing as Noah within the manga storyline. A soundtrack CD titled was offered as a pre-order incentive.

The second game, , is an action genre title developed by Namco Bandai Games for the Nintendo DS and released on October 23, 2008. Although developed separately from the Wii version, it shares similar gameplay elements featuring third-person hack-and-slash mechanics.

The third installment, , is a fighting game produced by Namco Bandai Games through BEC for PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable consoles; it debuted on January 29, 2009. Covering the plot of the first 24 episodes of the anime, this game allows players to train and battle as various characters while unlocking new costumes and items to enhance play.

Music

The anime includes six theme songs: two openings and four endings. The initial opening theme "Resonance" by T.M.Revolution accompanied episodes one through thirty, followed by "Papermoon" performed by Tommy heavenly6 from episode thirty-one onward. Ending themes are "I Wanna Be" by Stance Punks (episodes 1–13 and episode 51), "Style" by Kana Nishino (episodes 14–26), "Bakusō Yume Uta" by Diggy-Mo of Soul'd Out (episodes 27–39), and "Strength" by Abingdon Boys School (episodes 40–50). Upon rebroadcasting, two additional opening themes—"Counter Identity" by Unison Square Garden and "Ai ga Hoshii yo" by Shion Tsuji—and two ending themes—"Ao no Kaori" performed by Yui Makino and "Northern Lights" by How Merry Marry—were introduced.

Aniplex released character song maxi singles beginning with Chiaki Omigawa (Maka) and Kōki Uchiyama (Soul) on August 6, 2008. Following releases included Yumiko Kobayashi (Black Star) alongside Kaori Nazuka (Tsubaki) on September 3, 2008; then Mamoru Miyano (Kid), Akeno Watanabe (Liz), and Narumi Takahira (Patty) on October 1, 2008. Composer Taku Iwasaki created two anime soundtracks: Soul Eater Original Soundtrack 1 containing twenty tracks released August 27, 2008, and Soul Eater Original Soundtrack 2 with twenty-two tracks released March 18, 2009; both distributed by Aniplex. The theme song for the game Soul Eater: Monotone Princess is "Soul's Crossing," performed by T.M.Revolution and included on the "Resonance" single release.

Other media

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the series, an art exhibition will be held at Tokyo's Space Galleria from August 23 to September 23, 2024, followed by a showing at Osaka's Space Gratus between October 25 and November 25, 2024. Alongside the event announcement, a promotional video featuring voice actors Chiaki Omigawa and Koki Uchiyama, who bring Maka and Soul to life, was unveiled together with a teaser illustration.

Manga

In 2008, Soul Eater secured the seventh position among top-selling manga titles, moving over 3 million copies. By October 2012, total circulation had surpassed 13 million copies; this figure rose to 18.2 million globally by April 2018. Circulation continued to climb, reaching 19.6 million in July 2019 and exceeding 20.4 million by February 2022.

Danielle Leigh of Comic Book Resources commended the debut volume for its stylish artwork, likening Ohkubo's illustrations to those of Tim Burton, particularly praising its effective gothic motifs while noting drawbacks such as abundant fanservice and a somewhat repetitive artistic approach. Penny Kenny from Manga Life assigned a "B+" grade, appreciating the dynamic combat scenes and diverse art styles that ranged from influences similar to Blade of the Immortal to Burton-esque imagery. Julian Gnam of Otaku USA valued the interaction between weapons and meisters but regarded the storyline as conventional and fanservice-heavy, albeit approachable for casual audiences.

Chris Zimmerman at Comic Book Bin gave volume two a score of 7.5/10, highlighting inventive character designs and engaging action sequences but pointing out limited character growth and a predictable narrative framework. Shaenon Garrity of About.com rated the first two volumes 2 out of 5 stars, describing the setting as a "hyperkinetic Halloween" fusion drawing from series like Shaman King and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, yet criticized the characters as unremarkable and the plot as unfocused.

Nicholas Dupree from Anime News Network awarded a B+ to Soul Eater: The Perfect Edition, emphasizing its distinctive charm and Gothic style while remarking that some humor has not aged well and expressing concerns over excessive sexualized content.

Anime

The anime adaptation received acclaim for its unique Gothic style combined with high-energy execution. Casey Brienza of Anime News Network (ANN) highlighted its Burton-inspired visual elements as more polished compared to similar series such as D.Gray-man. Jacob Hope Chapman described it as "[d]ark yet vibrant, visually inventive, and explosively entertaining." James Brusuelas from Animation World Network praised it as an unapologetically enjoyable series that removes guilt from indulging in guilty pleasures.

The animation quality attracted significant praise. Holly Ellingwood of Active Anime remarked on its "zany yet eerie" atmosphere paired with consistently striking visuals, while Sandra Scholes admired its "dark humor within a Gothic framework," drawing parallels to D.Gray-man and Bleach, with artwork reminiscent of Gorillaz music videos. Chris Zimmerman at ComicBookBin gave it an "A−", lauding studio Bones for their cinematic approach and visually pleasing animation within genre norms. He later rated the Meister Collection Blu-ray set an A+ for successfully blending spectacular fight scenes with themes of camaraderie alongside superior production quality.

Reviewers also noted strong Western cultural influences throughout the series. Jason Green observed that its depiction of death gods channels the energetic style of Gurren Lagann rather than the somber tone of Death Note, featuring characters inspired by Western folklore figures like Jack the Ripper and elements akin to The Blair Witch Project. Paul Chapman highlighted how American horror motifs and diverse architectural styles were integrated into the narrative, describing the finale as competent but not groundbreaking. Serdar Yegulalp praised the climactic sequences for their "gloriously absurd large-scale action," evoking comparisons to both Gurren Lagann and Neon Genesis Evangelion.

The series was ranked sixth in Charles Solomon's list of top ten anime in the Los Angeles Times and included in Yegulalp's essential anime guide. Kara Dennison recommended it among Crunchyroll's selections for Halloween-themed anime, while Stephanie Donaldson and Jacki Jing (ANN) identified it as a title worthy of reboot consideration.

At the 12th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2008, Soul Eater received recognition as a Jury Recommended Work.