Shameful Otaku Secret!

Witch Hunting Invocation?

Soul Eater began in earnest this week, with the real deal plot starting to kick in. And as it turns out, Shinigami-sama is kind of a dick.

This weeks new special attack: Maka Chop!

Recap

After a twisted sitcom morning featuring a guest appearance (in Soul’s bed) from Blair, Maka and Soul head to school to find that their teacher Sid is dead, Maka’s dad is filling in, and rumors abound that Sid has been turned into a zombie.

*bling*

Along with Black Star and Tsubaki, the pair are called in to see Shinigami-sama. Due to their poor performance, he gives the four students a remedial assignment: get rid of Zombie Sid. Actually, it’s more like an ultimatum. Get rid of Zombie Sid or be expelled.

It has been said, but killing a zombie created by Shibusen\'s most powerful weapon master is not an assignment that should probably be handed out to remedial students.

The fight takes up most of the episode, as this is an action show after all. Maka and Soul attempt to sync up their souls for a monster attack that bombs hard when Maka trips.

whoops

Black Star finally manages to capture Sid (and, unfortunately, Maka) in his special Trap Star maneuver.

all too effective

But not before he attacks Sid’s weak point for massive damage:

That’s... that’s his SOLAR PLEXUS!

I really hope that makes you think of this.

Anyway, someone’s pulling the strings behind Sid, and if you want to know how they got the information you’ll have to read the manga (here’s a hint: panties), but it ends up being Franken Stein, Maka’s dad’s former master before he hooked up with Maka’s mother.

A couple things

First, now that we’re into the meat and potatoes of what Soul Eater is about, the action and pacing are a little more typical for a shounen-style show. There are even broadcast announcements of attack names. It’s still far more entertaining, though, and the trick of making an attack seem indestructably awesome right before showing it fail miserably is still funny.

Oh, so we’re doing that now

The other thing is the key dissimilarity between the series and the manga: drawers. The subjects’s been covered, but this episode really drove it home because of the methods used to extract information from Sid in the manga. The Soul Eater comic is heavy on fanservice, which is why it made sense for a late-night version: the high action and wacky hijinks easily appeal to a younger audience, but why not increase the viewership with a Late Night Panty Bonus? Well, the late-night subbers I usually watch are delayed this week, so I still don’t know, but I’m doubting.

I’ll give you two guesses as to what this shot looks like in manga form. Cick the pic to find out.

It’s not a hinderance to my enjoyment of the show, not to mention I watch it with my wife who might not be that hip to Blair’s protruding nipples filling the screen all the time, but some of the bigger fans of the manga might be disappointed.

Death the Kid (End of the Prologue)

Soul Eater continues to be the highest concentrated dose of fun playing on television on either side of the Pacific right now, and I’m taking it with much joy and enthusiasm and all that jazz. I officially stopped worrying about Monday night’s — The best subbing seems to come out after the late show, and on the off chance one of these episodes turns out to actually be different in its “uncut” form, I’ll be all the better off.

Recap

The final character exposition concerns Death The Kid, who’s not an official weapon wielder student, but gets to do what he wants because he’s the spoiled spawn of Shinigami-sama himself. Rather than a single weapon, he’s working with a pair: two shiny pistols whose human forms are two cowboy-hat-wearing sisters, Patty and Liz.

You may laugh at Monk, but the reality of OCD is horrifying, right down to the inability to appreciate breasts.

Kid has it all: a powerful dad, leet skillz, two cute weapons, and… OCD. He claims that bilateral symmetry is the only truly pleasing aesthetic, but really he’s cripplingly compulsive to the point of leaving Patty and Liz on their own in a dark pyramid full of crazy mummies because he thinks the painting in his living room might be slightly crooked. Even they aren’t immune to his wrath: one is shorter, their hairstyles are different, and even their breasts don’t match.

Liz PUNCHU - her own version of Shinigami Choppu

Kid almost can’t even beat the symmetrical and dreaded Pharaoh who ate the target witch, until finally he exits the sarcophagus to reveal that he’s missing one eye. The lack of symmetry is too much for Kid, who blasts him to hell.

when your guns cock themselves, potential for silly gangsta grips becomes huge

Unfortunately, in the process the pyramid is destroyed, and as punishment, big poppa Shinigami confiscates the big pile of mummy souls they obtained.

Meanwhile Soul Eater and Blackstar roam around the school trying to discover who took the Pharaoh assignment. When they find out it’s Shinigami-sama’s son, and that he’s not even a student, needless to say their asses get a little chapped.

And now…

The real deal apparently begins. We have three pairs of Weapons and Weapon Technicians, all at a count of zero souls and all with varying types and degrees of inadequacy and idiocy. A lot of people have said that Death The Kid was their favorite character yet. I’m not certain about that. But he is pretty fun, in spite of being voiced by this season’s #2 most overused voice actor (and using a voice that resembles the season’s #1 most overused voice actor). And Patty is hilariously ditzy.

Do they really need the Kid at all?

Soul Eater in general continues to be fast-paced, goofy fun.

Black Star!

Second episode and BONES is kicking ass again. The preview from last week was a red herring of sorts: if you were disappointed by how it looked like it was going to be typical action bad-assery, don’t be. Turns out, Black Star is far more incompetent than week one’s Maka and Soul Eater.

Recap

Black Star is a death scythe technician, like Maka. His weapon is Tsubaki, played by Kaori Nazuka, known for the title role in Eureka Seven but still fresh in our minds as True Tears‘ Hiromi. She transforms into a pair of scythe blades connected by a chain, a smoke bomb, and a giant shuriken. Looks like Soul Eater got gypped, he only has one weapon form.

Black Star and Tsubaki are worse off than Maka and Soul — rather than having to start their quest for Kishin eggs over completely, they never really got off the ground in the first place. Probably because Black Star is a bit of an idiot, with a Napolean complex to boot. Fortunately for them, Al Capone and his 98-gangster army add up to just what they need.

Things get really bad when they go after their witch soul. The witch’s guardian proves to be a tough swordfighter, but when they meet Angela the witch herself, there’s the real dilemma: she’s just a kid.

What we’ve learned

Shinigami-sama has only one leg?

Can you dig it

Honestly, I thought the humor held up a little better in this episode than the first, and Black Star is certainly a likable moron. So far we have two fairly unique partnerships: where Maka and Soul seem very close and well-matched, Black Star and Tsubaki are a strange pairing. She’s a highly capable weapon who seems very professional, but she can’t keep a technician for long. He’s a cocky idiot who tries to peep on her in the bath, but he knows how to come through when the chips are down.

I don’t know what more to say that I didn’t say last week: this thing is on fire. Style, humor, action, high gloss, and now Hiromi? What, indeed, can I say.

Looks like next week will keep it up as well: Death The Kid is Shinigami-sama’s own son, and his weapon is a pair of big-breasted girls in funny (cowboy?) hats who transform into pistols. Lest we slip into a regular shallow action mire, there’s a twist: He’s incredibly OCD, even about his action poses. Should be great.

I’ll be on the lookout to see if Thursday’s version varies any from Monday’s. Last week there was really no difference except the preview, but there was no contest for whose subs were better. If you’re only interested in watching really quality subs, wait for Friday, because the ones that come out Tuesday (not gonna name names because that feels like smack-talk, these people do it for the love and we have to be thankful) are a little hard to get through.