Snapshots: Soul Eater April 7
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Crazy shounen action comedy with dazzling animation in Soul Eater (ソウルイーター), TV Tokyo’s new Monday show at 18:00 JST.
Starting with three short arcs in 2003 to preface the main storyline that went into weekly publication in 2004, Ookubo Atsushi’s shounen manga is currently at 11 volumes. Bones‘ animated production will be led by Igarashi Takuya, who’s already directed their popular Ouran High School Host Club. Slightly more worrisome is the inclusion of Yamatoya Akatsuki on screenplay duty, because we all loathe his abysmal To Love-ru, but he’s also fiddled with Konjiki no Gash Bell, so maybe it’ll be alright.
In order to battle evil Kishin (fierce gods), Shinigami-sama (aka Grim Reaper) has founded the Shinigami Buki Shokunin Senmon Gakkou (Grim Reaper Weapon and Artisan Vocational School) - Shibusen for short - in the middle of his hometown Death City in Nevada, USA. Er. Its purpose is to produce mighty Death Scythe weapons for Shinigama’s use, which is done through a process of feeding the weapon 99 evil souls plus one witch soul, which transforms it into something much more powerful. These Weapons, however, are a somewhat modified race of humanoids, who can morph into lethal shapes at will. To help them fight, they (mostly) need the help of an Artisan to wield them, and the show’s plot follows three such pairs. The first episode introduces us to the first couple, the Weapon Soul (Eater) and his Artisan ladyfriend Maka (Albahn), and they’re having a bit of trouble getting that final witch soul. Subsequent episodes seem to deal with the Nakatsukasa Tsubaki (Weapon) / Black Star (Artisan) pair, while the third and final couple isn’t so much a couple as a threesome, with sisters Liz and Patty Thompson (Weapons) and Death The Kid (Artisan).
I’m always wrong, but this really looks like HD to me, and the animation is so good I nearly swooned. Especially the OP, which is just awe-inspiring. The design is also so distinct that it will paint your entire room with its blazing style, simply bursting out of the TV. The music is similarly impressive, composed by master craftsman Iwasaki Taku, whom you already know from Gurren-Lagann. So far, so good! And this is where it all comes crumbling down: voice talent. For some baffling reason, they picked a complete debutant to play the main character Maka, someone named Omigawa Chiaki. I hate to say it, but her acting is just so poor that it makes me want to mute the TV; quite possibly the worst voicework I’ve ever heard. I’d link her profile, but both her blog and agency seem to have gone up in flames, so maybe I’m not the only one disappointed. Luckily, her co-star Uchiyama Kouki as Soul sounds decent, having dubbed several movies and played Roxas in Kingdom Hearts before moving on to make this his proper debut in anime. The rest of the cast is top-notch, with Koyama Rikiya (Takamura in Hajime no Ippo) making a very unusual performance as Shinigami-sama, and other characters are voiced by Nazuka Kaori (Hiromi in True Tears), Miyano Mamoru (Setsuna in Gundam 00), and Ookawa Tooru (Roy Mustang in Fullmetal Alchemist), to name a few.
I’m left with a split impression after watching this first episode of Soul Eater. Partly, I’m stunned by the fantastic visuals and music, but at the same time, I’m not entirely overwhelmed by the plot and setting. It could certainly turn out to be an entertaining ride, but I’ll need some more time with the characters to make my final decision. Then there’s that atrocious voice actress for Maka - if she figures extensively in later episodes, without showing noticeable improvement, I’d rather wait for an English dub, despite despising them so much.
In a strange move by the companies involved, Soul Eater will be broadcast twice every week, first this regular version on Monday evenings, and then a late show version on Thursday nights at 26:15 JST. There’s not too much information on what the difference will be, but I remember seeing something about additional content, which I presume means more blood/gore, and possibly less censorship in the form of floating soap dispensers covering breasts and buttocks.
Edit: For those of you who asked about the OP/ED, here’s the OP and here’s the ED, MediaFire links.
Edit 2: It turns out the late show is exactly the same, with nothing interesting added at all. It just has a few repeated scenes (exactly the same as the Monday evening version), and a longer next episode preview after the ED sequence. Don’t bother.
SmackyCat at 2:50 pm on April 7th, 2008
I thought she sounded ok but Soul and black star sounded a little weird though
also its Airing again at 2am, anyone know if there is gonna be any differance between the 6pm one and the 2am one?
Taihi at 3:01 pm on April 7th, 2008
…
i find nothing wrong with the voices. too much wax in your ears?
anyways, i love the OP song. T.M.R ftw!
MaccaSvenne at 3:03 pm on April 7th, 2008
@SmackyCat
The official Soul Eater anime website has previously announced that there will be extra/special footage in the later airing. I don’t know anything about the extent and content of the extra material though.
E_I at 3:13 pm on April 7th, 2008
I don’t think the voice is that bad. There are much worse, like the trap in H20–that voice can slice steel. *shudders*
Kanna at 3:17 pm on April 7th, 2008
My ears… my ears…
But to be fair, the show is great if muted at the right spots.
tako at 3:31 pm on April 7th, 2008
I’ll wait for the s..s but has Tsubaki already appeared?
ShinSenshi at 3:34 pm on April 7th, 2008
Better than Hentai VAs that sometimes get like 60 year old women voicing high school age girls…
Anotheronebitesthedust at 3:56 pm on April 7th, 2008
souleater => onepiece/bleachkiller
maincharvoice => Earbleeding - i dont need sound - i just read the lip-syn ^^ (no not really)
Ivy at 4:04 pm on April 7th, 2008
I’m guessing Omni isn’t picking this up then?
Reikalover at 4:07 pm on April 7th, 2008
Is this the “normal” broadcast version or the “special” broadcast version that adds new scenes and is practically uncut?
This shot is very ambiguous to know whether is censored or mildly censored: http://randomc.animeblogger.net/image/Snapshots/soul-eater-1h.jpg
darkkosmos at 4:09 pm on April 7th, 2008
The voice acting isn’t half bad but English dubs will be worse.
random Dude at 4:13 pm on April 7th, 2008
Honestly, Omni should fire this Patrik guy. I’m starting to dislike RandomC cause of this dumbass of a so called blogger.
drgnwing0 at 4:14 pm on April 7th, 2008
Reminds me of Shamen King for some reason.
Jin at 4:17 pm on April 7th, 2008
I think Maka’s voice is just one of those voices you’ll get used to after awhile. Her acting will progress and get better throughout the rest of the series. Personally, I think it’s kind of cute. As for the actual show, I’m impressed with the animation. The fighting scenes are awesome.
Anonymous at 4:28 pm on April 7th, 2008
or she could just stay bad.
that having been said, i don’t see whats so ear bleeding about her. she can’t convey emotion worth crap and generally wasn’t good, but she wasn’t ear bleeding.
frankly her perf was just dull, if i had to find a descriptor.
Sadmask at 4:34 pm on April 7th, 2008
@drgnwing0
Character designs?
az0k at 4:34 pm on April 7th, 2008
Everyone, go easy on the new guy.
Patrik at 5:02 pm on April 7th, 2008
Wait, what? Now you’re grumpy because I’m posting a perfectly valid complaint about poor acting? It’s obvious to anyone with ears.
Anyway, I’m not “the new guy”. I’ve been posting these snapshots for nearly a year. Most people seem to have misunderstood the concept of “snapshots”, however, as they’re just here to cover the very first episode of any new anime show that Omni is too busy to handle on his own. I never blog more episodes, and all I’m looking to do is raise awareness of what’s on TV in Japan at the moment.
Since this is a blog, and I have no intention of being a faceless robot, I also include my impressions, which means the posts will be biased in whichever direction I find fitting for the series in question. Enjoy!
Kovski at 5:08 pm on April 7th, 2008
“#
random Dude at 4:13 pm on April 7th, 2008
Honestly, Omni should fire this Patrik guy. I’m starting to dislike RandomC cause of this dumbass of a so called blogger.”
Dumbass? more like you are sir, with comments like that we won’t miss you, it would be great if you leaved i don’t really think RandomC want ppl like you visitng this site.
And what Patrik is saying is so true, i watched some of the raw just to see how horrible it was and wow… it sure was like Patrik said, it was annoyin and really over done. And also this is a shounen anime ofc. based on the first ep one can’t really tell much about either plot or how fun it will be. So you guys whining about that point, can leave right away imo. i can totally agree with Patrik on this one.
Patrik is a good blogger and usually say’s stuff that is spot on and if you guys don’t like it, bugger off.
Good as always Snapshot Patrik!
Sadmask at 5:10 pm on April 7th, 2008
So… any idea how many episodes?