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Messengers 2

 

Directed by Takuya Igarashi / Anime / Cert. 15

2 DVD – Manga Entertainment – Released 28 June 2010 – RRP £24.99.

Set at the Death Weapon Meister Academy, a school run by shinigami Lord Death to train meisters and their anthropomorphic weapons to fight the forces of evil, Studio Bones series Soul Eater is a shonen action-comedy with more than a touch of the gothic – think Bleach meets Shaman King meets A Nightmare Before Christmas.

The plot revolves around schoolgirl Maka, a badass bookworm out to collect the souls of 99 evil humans and one wicked witch with the aid of her too-cool-for-school scythe, Soul. The pair are soon joined on their adventures by loud-mouthed ninja Black Star and his easy-going weapon Tsubaki, and Death’s son, Death the Kid, whose deadly skill with twin handguns Liz and Patty is somewhat hampered by his crippling OCD.

While the majority of Soul Eater: Part One’s 13 episodes are given over to setting the scene and introducing the main characters, we also get acquainted with the season’s big bad, creepy school nurse and covert witch, Medusa. There’s also a well-developed and interesting support cast, including dissection obsessed scientist Dr. Stein; put-upon frog witch Eruka; zombie-ninja-teacher Sid Barett (no, seriously) and cat girl Blair, the curvaceous font of much of the show’s regular, if fairly mild, fan service.

Featuring shout-outs to classic horror movies, other anime series (egomaniac assassin Black Star has definitely taken Naruto’s correspondence course) and anything else that takes director Takuya Igarashi’s fancy, Soul Eater is certainly heavy on humour, but fortunately the jokes don’t come at the expense of the action. In fact, the fight scenes are a joy to watch – creative, smoothly animated and often surprisingly bloody.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Soul Eater is a looker; the show’s self-consciously cartoony aesthetic drips with gothic style, from the cutsey skulls and other memento mori that festoon the Academy to the crescent moon that hangs ominously over Death City, blood pouring from its leering mouth. Character design is top notch too – Maka, Soul and Co. may look a little abstract at first but they’re also wonderfully expressive.

Packed with gallows humour, slick action scenes and entertaining, horror-tinged storylines, Soul Eater is an unexpected delight; a shamelessly fun old school fighting series that bounds out of its corner fresh and full of tricks. Whether Studio Bones can keep up the pace throughout Soul Eater’s lengthy 51 episode run remains to be seen, but Part One gets the show off to a thumping good start.

Special features: English dub; Japanese audio with English subtitles; Episode 7 audio commentary; Soul Eater Late Show (13 episodes); textless opening and closing songs.

Dave Axbey

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