Product Details

• Actors: Micah Solusod, Laura Bailey, Brittney Karbowski, Jamie Marchi
• Directors: Zach Bolton
• Format: Widescreen, Color, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), Japanese (Stereo)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Funimation Prod
• DVD Release Date: February 9, 2010
• Run Time: 315 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002Y0KRES
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,884 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Soul Eater: Part One" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The comedy-fantasy Soul Eater (2008) takes place at the Death Weapon Meister Academy, a school run by the Grim Reaper to create pairs of fighters, one of whom transforms into a weapon wielded by a partner called a "Meister." Too-cool-for-school Soul turns into a scythe that fussy Maka uses; infinitely patient Tsubaki becomes a variety of weapons for motor-mouth assassin Black Star. The quartet must collect the souls of evil humans that could become the terrible demons called Kishin. They're joined by the Grim Reaper's powerful but addled son Death the Kid, who worships the principle of symmetry. The machinations of the evil witch Medusa balance the nuttiness with a serious threat. The mixture of freewheeling silliness, imaginative designs, and supernatural adventures may remind viewers of Gurren Lagann, but the artists push the visuals even further. The designs of Soul and Black Star are essentially collections of angles; the lumpy-looking sun and moon leer woozily from the sky as if they were just back from a prolonged binge. Not surprisingly, Professor Franken Stein looks like he was haphazardly sewn together from spare parts, but so do all his accessories, including his bento box. Otaku have eagerly awaited the American debut of Soul Eater, and the series has all the elements of a cross-Pacific hit. (Rated TV 14: violence, violence against women, risqué humor, nudity, alcohol and tobacco use) --Charles Solomon

Product Description

Maka is a Meister and Soul is her Weapon. As students at the Grim Reaper’s Death Weapon Meister Academy, their study habits couldn’t be more different. But in battle against the supernatural forces of evil, they’re a freakin’ lethal team.

That’s when Soul transforms – literally – into a razor-sharp scythe, and every defeated wicked soul he sucks down makes him more deadly. That’s when Maka unleashes the merciless slayer within, wielding her partner and dropping monsters. Seriously. Monsters. Like the witches, werewolves, and zombies that lurk in the shadows and feed on the souls of the innocent. Every freakish ghoul Maka and Soul take out strengthens their bond, and fighting alongside their fellow Meister/Weapon classmates, Maka and Soul are the world’s last line of defense against evil.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Your soul is mine, December 1, 2009

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Soul Eater: Part One (DVD)

"A sound soul dwells within a sound mind and a sound body." If a soul becomes evil, it has the potential to turn into a demonic kishin -- which is when the meisters and their shapeshifting weapon/partners come in. "Soul Eater Part 1" is a solid beginning to a well-written, deliciously Halloweeny fantasy series, with solid writing and a twisty-turny subplot that promises to get even better with time.

The meisters of the DWMA work for Lord Death to keep the world from being overrun with kishin -- they get rid of evil souls, kill monsters, battle witches, and try to collect souls so that their weapon/partners can become Death Scythes. Among their number are Maka and her scythe Soul Eater, narcissistic ninja Black Star and Tsubaki, and Death's OCD son Death the Kid and his twin pistols Patty and Liz.

But nabbing the right combination of evil souls isn't their only problem: they have to grapple with zombies and mad scientists, the legendary sword Excalibur, a vengeful werewolf, and the demon blade Masamune (who also happens to be Tsubaki's brother). And there's a traitor in the DWMA's ranks -- a cruel witch who inflicts heinous magical experiments on those around her. When Soul is wounded in a battle against her kid, he's infected by a substance called "black blood," which threatens his sanity and bond with Maka.

"Soul Eater" is a series that looks kind of... well, cartoonish. Think bug-eyed trees, big grinning sun and moon, cats in pointy hats, and an academy apparently built out of skulls and candles. All it needs is some vampires. Fortunately, there's substance under all the Halloween kitsch -- "Soul Eater Part 1" is a solid dark fantasy story that becomes outright brilliant in the last few episodes.

The series starts out a bit fluffy, but once the characters have been introduced, the writers spin up a good balance of action, a hint of romance, and plenty of comedy ("Why are you standing up there yelling like an idiot?" Soul asks Black Star, who was trying to sneak up on them). And it dips into darker territory from time to time, with gruesome injuries, nightmare worlds, a tombstone-swinging zombie, and a witch whose magical snakes can actually make your body explode. What's more, Soul finds himself tempted to sacrifice his mind for power.

It also has a strangely endearing cast, who are usually odd couples. There's uptight Maka and laid-back Soul, who bicker and snipe but clearly care deeply for one another; Black Star is annoying at first (he makes Naruto look sedate), but turns out to be deeper and more complex than his narcissistic rantings would suggest, and the mild-mannered Tsubaki is a sweet foil to him. Death the Kid rounds out the cast nicely -- he's violently OCD (and I mean that literally), and obsessed with symmetry in everything. Don't mention his hair.

The voice actors also deserve a shout-out -- Laura Bailey, Monica Rial, Vic Mignogna and John Swasey all do excellent jobs as their characters, and Todd Haberkorn is utterly brilliant ("I'm a pig! A louse! I deserve to die!"). And relative newbie Micah Solusod (who sounds eerily like Johnny Yong Bosch) is perfect as the titular character.

This solid, kitschy-horror series starts off a bit frothy, but soon achieves a brilliant balance of light and darkness -- and the end of "Soul Eater Part 1" hints that future episodes will be even better.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Great Anime For All Of Us To Own, February 16, 2010

By 

Rich "xman" (CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Soul Eater: Part One (DVD)

This series was a nice mix of Bleach, Full Metal Alchemist, and Naruto both with the action and comedy in the series. The characters are all great giving a nice mix of bravado, hilarity, seriousness, and loyalty to their teammates and each other when teams are paired up or join forces to complete a mission. The characters you meet in this first set are Maka a feisty young female Meister(Fighter and true human of the two person team), Soul her young male partner and weapon as he turns into a scythe for Maka to fight with in their missions, Black Star a young boy assassin in training, Tsubaki Black Star's slightly older female partner and also his weapon to help him, and finally Death the kid the son of lord death and his two female partners Patty and Liz Thompson who transform into twin pistols for him to fight with. All these characters attend lord death's school for young students to train them to retrieve keshin egg souls before they mature into true keshin, the series shows us that certain souls that have turned evil become keshin eggs that feed on other human souls to become more powerful and after a situation of when a keshin was born caused such calamity that lord death now tries to make certain such a situation will never happen again. The show also shows that when a weapon consumes a hundred keshin souls and a witch soul that the weapon will evolve into a true death scythe weapon becoming vastly more powerful than the weapons currently are at now. The animation is a nice touch seeming to be a mixture of cowboy Bebop and Full metal alchemist and the voice cast for the Japanese and English actors/actresses was great another plus for Funimation for their choice of cast. The extras aren't really much but for the price and the entertainment of the series I think most people will overlook that. So for fans of Full metal alchemist, Naruto or Cowboy Bebop here's another entertaining series to try out for your anime library..

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Series Where Its Journey Is Better Than Its Destination, August 30, 2010

By 

The Pes "Deerhoads" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Soul Eater: Part One (DVD)

Soul Eater sits in a special place amongst current anime. It gives us a world that isn't terribly original, but it handles it in a way that seems fresh. It gives us exceptionally predictable character types, that in the end you come to like and believe in. It gives us an ending that, unfortunately, disappoints much to the chagrin of the excellence that preceded it. Yes, definitely there are great things to like about this anime, and even with a cliché ending, the work as a whole will leave you happy and refreshed that there still hope for this genre.

I won't go into too much detail about the plot itself, as many other reviewers have stated that above, and you could always look at the show notes for a brief summary. What I think would be good to note is the great things that this series does. Primarily, the best thing about Soul Eater is the characters. Yes, they do follow some standard character types that we've all seen before (Black Star could easily have been replaced by Naruto) yet at the end of the show, you feel like you can connect with them in some level and you wind up rooting for all of them.

Each of the main characters, Maka, Black Star, Soul, Kid, Crona--all have a distinct charm, a presence that makes you like them in the end. Yes, as I said, Black Star is a direct clone to Naruto, at least initially, and at the beginning of the show I told myself I would dreadfully dislike this character. However, give credit to the source material because by the end I ended up liking him the most out of the bunch. In fact, I think I can't say I disliked any single character. Even potentially obnoxious Excalibur became eagerly anticipated whenever he showed up to give some comic relief.
The story itself is also to be commended. Even though we get the usual here, the teens with incredible powers, and a foe that certainly wields the power for world destruction, the story uses these elements in a fresh take. There are chinks in the armor, mind you, and I won't say that you won't roll your eyes in a few places, but the overall storyline is satisfying.

The only problem here is the ending.

Here is a transcript of what the head writer of the show had to say to the director when dealing with the ending of the show:

Director: Head Writer, we need an ending to this show.
Head Writer: Hmmmm, we should use `predictable Japanese anime ending A' for the end piece.
Director: BAKA! We used that for our last series. How about `predictable Japanese anime ending B'? We haven't used that for a while?
Head Writer: BAKA! That's too predicatable!
Director: BAKA! What do you suppose we do?
Head Writer: Let's just use `Ending A'. I don't think people will notice.
Director: BAKA!
Head Writer: BAKA!

And scene...

Well, at least they tried...

Truth be told, the ending could have been different, but it falls to the same trap that this genre has created for itself. If you've seen shows of this epic nature, you understand what the ending might be like without any utterance of what happens. And yes, it fails to surprise. The disappointment lies in the fact of the ambiguity and abstract nature that the storyline concludes and how nothing is ever truly explained in a clear fashion. You're left there to interpret the logic on your own. Weather this is a cause of a cultural gap, or the insistence of a Japanese audience that has different sensibilities to endings; it still fails to elevate itself from what every other anime in the genre has done for their endings.

You'll have to wait for some other series to break that mold.

And yet, I can't say that the ride wasn't worth it. In the end, the positives outweigh the negatives. The comedic touch, the wonderful and different art style, the soundtrack, all of these little things that give life to the series is what ultimately drives you to keep going until the end. You'll be drawn in when you first see the battle between Maka and Soul vs. Jack the Ripper. It gave me chills when I witness the battle between Black Star and Mifune for the first time. I laughed when Kid couldn't handle the awkward Death statues in a passage way. And Excalibur was a treat in and of itself.

The little things matter. Those same little things are the meaningful pieces to a great experience. You won't regret watching this show, but just disregard the ending and you'll have a wonderful time.