Manga Review 01: Soul Eater

...a series with soul...

Warning: my reviewing style contains analysis that is based on my interpretation. Take it for a grain of salt; but if it intrigues you enough to read the manga, then I have done my job. ^_^

It's funny how Soul Eater will be the first review of this blog. I hardly tread in the shonen genre... but alas, I've most recently delved into this series and felt compelled to write a review about it.


Manga VS Anime

First off, I will be mostly speaking about the manga because it's the original form of this story. Although I haven't watched the anime to its entirety, I watched enough to see how much it diverges from the original.  Not only is the plot/ending different, but some of the characters are even tweaked. Overall, the anime is entertaining (music is great!) but it lacks the depth of the manga.


The Plot

Maka is a weapon meister, determined to turn her partner, a living scythe named Soul Eater, into a powerful death scythe — the ultimate weapon of Death himself! Charged with the task of collecting and devouring the tainted souls of ninety-nine humans and one witch, Maka and her fellow meisters strive to master their weapons as they face off against the bizarre and dangerous minions of the underworld. But the meisters’ own personal quirks may prove a bigger obstacle than any sultry enchantress!
-- From Yen Press

That's the description that I've seen circulating around the net, and although it may reveal the starting point of the story, it really doesn't reflect it as a whole.  Since this is a shonen piece, it obviously aims to "fight against evil" and "save the world", but I think it runs a little deeper than just that.  Notably, one of the driving points of the plot is the battle against insanity and inner demons.  Indeed the characters must fight corporeal villains, but there's an equal emphasis on coming to terms with themselves.

Ookubo's depiction of insanity is really to my liking.  It feels refreshing to see sketchy lines in a manga!

You can really see the contrast in drawing styles on this page.

Characters with ISSUES

Now, who doesn't love characters with problems? I sure in hell appreciate them in distress! lol.  Okay, maybe distress is pushing it a little, but a little angst never did any harm. ^_^  I think my favourite part of Soul Eater is the characters and their interactions.  They've got distinct personalities and it's nice to see how they progress throughout the series. 

There's a running theme with the leading (teenage) characters of the story: family issues.  You've got the broken home (Maka with her divorced parents), the orphans (Patty & Liz with their prostitute mother; Black*Star with his assassin clan), the sibling rivalry (Tsubaki and her evil bro), the pressure of lineage (Soul's affluent musician family; Kidd being a shinigami), and finally the plain-out abused (Chrona, no need to say more).  I find that this theme really brings depth to the characters and it affects their personality and how they may deal with a situation.  I can go in deeper analysis of certain characters (particularly Maka and Soul), but I shall refrain. ^_^ Bottom line is that Soul Eater contains decent characters and the author provides a good amount of information to let character analysis bloom.



Visual Delivery

I guess the last element that I'd like to outline is a fundamental one in manga: the drawings.  I have a soft spot for Ookubo's drawings... he's sometimes inconsistent with his style but I really like the surprise.  It may bother some readers, but I find it adds flavour.  By switching up the visuals, he pushes the reader into a different dimension. Here's my personal favourite:

Conclusion

For a shonen manga that needs to appeal to a general audience and must be marketable, it's quite a success.  Moreover, for it to keep integrity and depth, I really commend the mangaka.  It's not ground-breaking or totally over-the-top, but Soul Eater is a fun read and an overall balanced story.