Soul
Eater, Vol 1
Author: Atsushi Ohkubo
Publisher: Yen Press
American
release date: April 22, 2014
Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/manga/paranormal/208 pages
Overall Personal Rating: ★★★
Maka is a scythemeister and a
student at DWMA—Death Weapon Meister Academy. Her partner is a living scythe
named Soul Eater. Maka’s goal is to make him into a death scythe worthy of
being used by Death himself. In order to do this, Soul must consume 99 souls
and one witch. Easier said than done. Currently, Death (also known as
Shinigami-sama) is using Death Scythe as his current weapon. Death Scythe also
happens to be Maka’s father, who is constantly yelling at Soul, warning him not
to touch his little girl. When he isn’t busy being a major horn dog, that is.
Despite his many protestations of love for his daughter, Maka spurns him, which
reduces him to tears. Soul already has his 99 souls, all he needs is the witch.
They find a witch by the name of Blair, so now the battle is on!
Black Star is a shadow weapon
meister who wields a demon shadow weapon called Tsubaki. So far, he has
collected zero souls, mostly because he is an egocentric loud-mouth who can’t
seem to keep from announcing his presence and his intentions even in situations
that require stealth and silence. When Shinigami-sama tells them there is a
special way to become Death’s weapon without absorbing the souls of 99 humans
and one witch, Black Star wants to know more. This way involves humans who are
stronger than normal humans. And there is such a human, named Mifune, who is
nearby. He is the bodyguard for a witch named Angela. That’s all Black Star
needs to hear. Off they go! Does he have what it takes to defeat Mifune and
absorb Angela’s soul?
Shinigami-sama has a son, Death
the Kid. He wields two weapons, a pair of demon twin guns who are sisters,
Patty and Liz. Death’s biggest problem is his unswerving need for symmetry. If
something is asymmetrical, it throws him off his game and he becomes obsessed
with making it right. His own hair distresses him because he has three white
streaks on one side that are not on the other. As a shinigami, Death the Kid
doesn’t need to collect souls, but he wants to make his own weapon with his own
two hands. Because he uses two weapons, that means he needs to collect twice
the number of souls. He asks his father if he knows anywhere he can get a large
amount of souls. Shinigami-sama sends him to the pyramid Anubis in Egypt, where
a necromancer witch is creating a large number of mummies. Will he be able to
find the souls he needs and defeat the witch, or will his need for symmetry disrupt
his plans?
The first day of school! Maka is
excited and goes to wake Soul, only to find him in a distasteful position! When
she finally gets him to school, they speculate about who their new home room
teacher will be as the previous one was killed. To Maka’s dismay, the new
teacher turns out to be Death Scythe! From the beginning, he is very upsetting
to his daughter, like when he announces he’ll only take attendance for the
ladies. Luckily for Maka and Soul, their presence is requested by the Shinigami-sama,
so they leave the classroom. They run into Black Star and Tsubaki, who have
also been summoned. Can this be a special assignment for them? Or is it
something a lot worse?
I loved the first volume of Soul Eater. The characters are
interesting and the artwork is really cool. Maka’s father, Death Scythe, is
pretty cute even if he can’t stop perving on all the girls.
I like Death the Kid, even though he’s a little strange. There are a lot of
strange people in this world, though, to be honest. We meet another one at the
end of the volume, and learn what his relationship to Death Scythe is.
I like the artwork, especially the
color pictures of the moon. I would say my only real complaint is the amount of
fanservice in just one volume. By which I mean lots of boobage. Which is great
if you’re into that, not so much if you aren’t. I just tend to ignore it and
move on. I am also watching the anime, which left me a little confused, which
is why I decided to read the manga too. That makes the anime clearer.
This story has a great deal of
humor and a lot of soul – no pun intended. I recommend this for teenagers and
adults alike. I look forward to reading volume 2.
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