Soul Eater/Headscratchers

"So Maka is a solemn young man...Soul is a bossy little princess...Black*Star is a naive girl...and Tsubaki's getting pushed around by Black*Star, same as ever, huh?"
 * If Death the Kid is so bothered by his asymmetrical hair, why doesn't he just dye it? or shave it all off? there's plenty he could to make it symmetrical.
 * With the hair dye- Kid said that he tried it once, but because his body is that of a Shinigami and therefore he can't be affected by toxins or other chemicals, it rejects the dye. The shaving though...Let's just say that fan girls wouldn't be pleased.
 * What about a hat? I wouldn't think it would be so hard to get or make a hat (of even a headband) would fit his style and hide his difficult hair.
 * A hat or headband would hide the problem, but wouldn't alter the filthy, disgusting asymmetry lurking underneath. Kid couldn't live with a lie of that magnitude.
 * About the shaving, I think there's several problems. If he went bald, he'd have to make sure every hair was out. If he simply buzzed his hair down, he'd likely want every strand to be the exact same length. And then there's the final issue of the growth rate of each individual hair... hair doesn't always grow out even.
 * So I'll admit that I only watched the anime and haven't read the manga, but am I the only one who thinks that Maka's father comes off as the better parent than her mother? Her father is always there and is constantly offering his support and love while her mom is constantly MIA. Maka's feelings toward her whole situation are completely understandable, but I'm starting to wonder if everything I brought up was supposed to be the whole point all along...
 * So Kid's favorite number is eight, right? Because it's symmetrical horizontally and vertically? But if you don't write it a certain way, it's only symmetrical vertically. Zero, however, is always symmetrical horizontally AND vertically. And if you write it as a perfect circle, it has INFINITE lines of symmetry. Also, there is no way to divide it unevenly. So... why isn't zero his favorite number?
 * I doubt this is accurate in any way, but it might be due to symbolism. Beyond any possible symobolism of the number 8 (I've got nothing), turn it sideways. It looks like the symbol for infinity. He IS a shinigami, he has the potential to gain godlike (infinite) power...
 * In ancient times, Japanese considered 8 to be a holy number. In regards to Astrology in the Middle Ages, 8 was the number of "unmoving" stars in the sky, and symbolized the perfectioning of incoming planetary energy. So I guess you could look at 8 as a holy number that represents perfectionism. Of course this might be just a coincidence. And this is probably entirely unrelated to anything, but the Norse God, Odin is often called a Death God and a "leader of souls", and he rides upon an eight legged horse. It's also possible that Kid didn't consider 0 to be an actual number (at one point in history, many people didn't).
 * I don't get why people have problems with the anime ending, calling it an Ass Pull. If I remember correctly, "Fear = Madness, and Courage = Antithesis of Fear" was set up as a theme as early as the fourth episode. The only semi viable justification I've heard so far was that Maka killing Asura alone subverted the themes of trust and friendship that seemed more appropriate to the show, but I think that Maka being completely on her own and still fighting was part of what made the ending so powerful.
 * It's because friendship is one of the biggest themes in Soul Eater. The entire series has Character Development moments that are crucial and the anime ending throws that all away for Maka to punch the Kishin in the face. Worst of all is that she does it alone. Not even using Soul for a good three-fourths of the fight.
 * Walking. Castle. WTF?
 * That was a Crazy Awesome scene.
 * No, that was a major WTF.
 * Heck, even the characters were gobsmacked when they saw it, pretty blatantly Refuge in Cool.
 * I thought it was very Miyazaki.
 * How else do you storm a BABA YAGA's castle? Baba Yaga lives in a hut on chicken legs, so attaking her dwelling on an animated dwelling place seems reasonable to me.
 * Why the hell does Death the Kid hold his guns (aka Liz and Patty), upside down? I mean, I know that Kid is a bit nuts but they'd be just as symmetrical the normal way around.
 * I always figured because the thumb and little finger of the hand resemble a gun more than the standard hold. It also shows him as a bit "alien", a born shinigami as opposed to the other humans.
 * Seeing as the Rule of Cool runs rampant in Soul Eater, I'd generally chalk this up to it as well. Alternatively, it could just be that his little fingers are unusually more dexterous than his index fingers. Or possibly it could have something to do with Liz and Patty's upward orientation during soul resonance. Or hey! Maybe because Kid is so obsessed with perfection, he intends to have each of his fingers be exactly as dexterous as the rest and he's just now at the point of training his little fingers to be this way.
 * It's also humanly impossible, since a human pinky hasn't got enough muscles to pull of the trigger, and doesn't look all that cool, but Kid is a shinigami, maybe he feels more comfortable this way?
 * Incorrect. It is not only very possible, but also a more recent version of "gangsta style" shooting. Death the Kid is not the only person who does this, so it's really just a question of why the hell someone thought it would be good in the first place.
 * The credit for the hands-down best theory (according to the Rule of Funny anyway)that I've seen so far goes to the writer of a fanfic called Soul Food. Said theory is that "in [Liz and Patty's] transformed forms, the handles and triggers of their guns comprised of certain sensitive parts of their body, and Death the Kid was only too aware of this fact every time he picked them up. Holding the guns upside down was his downright weird albeit very Death the Kid-ish way of retaining some sort of dignity."
 * That don't really square with him grabbing boob in his first episode.
 * One: he was having a symmetry snit at the time, the fact that they were boobs was secondary to the fact that they didn't match. Two: use a bit more imagination regarding exactly what's meant by "certain sensitive parts of their body".
 * What's more, when he's not having a breakdown over symmetry, he's extremely modest, blushing and trying to walk away when he see's his weapon's tied up in the pharaoh's bandages, which were pulling at some of their clothes in... revealing ways.
 * It was said that the bullets shot out of the guns are spirit energy or something along those lines. So maybe simply using his pinkies put the least strain on his energy.
 * Most likely it is because he uses them as tonfa during hand to hand fights.
 * That would be the most accurate. On one page of volume 8 (160 I think.) Kid hits an enemy with the barrel of Liz or Patty while firing a bullet as the contact was made. So he modifies his strikes with gunfire.
 * Has Okubo forgotten Maka has a mother? We know barely anything about the woman who appears to have had a significant influence on Maka's attitude (wants to be a great Scythe Technician...like her mother; wants to be top of the class...like her mother). Originally, I thought she was being saved for a big revelation of some sort, but as the manga continues I'm starting to think the author's just ignoring Kami Albarn's existence: somewhere, presumably doing * something* considering she has sole custody of Maka. Just a pretty conspicuous absence, I thought.
 * I just figured that Maka's mum was staying as far away from Spirit as humanly possible. After all, we all know what he's like. Her telling him that it was over probably triggered the greatest round of begging, grovelling and him following her around like a kicked puppy in history. Can't blame her for getting sick of it.
 * Alternatively, Okubo doesn't really have any plans regarding Maka's mother and just had her being divorced from 'Scythe because it was a justification for an Missing Mom that was less subject to angst and emotional upset then having her be dead.
 * In the anime, it's stated that Maka's mother is currently traveling the globe and that Maka often doesn't know where she is.
 * Which fits with the 'staying far, far away from 'Scythe' theory.
 * Why aren't we allowed to know Crona's gender? I need to know if it's a trap or not.
 * I have sneaking suspicion that the writer hasn't actually made their mind up in that department.
 * Medusa calls Crona her daughter thus ending the debate.
 * Not really, since the use of the word 'daughter' was actually just a guess by the translator. According to people who can read Japanese the original term would be more accurately translated as 'child'.
 * Witches have only been shown to be women, and Crona has a witch's soul. Add 1 and 1.
 * It has never been seen, either in the manga or anime, that Crona has a witch's soul. Where did you get that?
 * When Medusa turned up at the Witches Assembly, doesn't Eruka point out that she shouldn't have Crona with her because the child isn't a witch?
 * If I recall correctly (and assuming that the person who posted the info wasn't making it up), Okubo has actually stated that he neither knows or cares what Chrona's gender is. My suspicions appear to have been correct.
 * That would explain the fact that you still can't tell here.
 * So he doesn't care that fans are going crazy about it? Aw man. Just a guess, but I always feel like the quirks and events that happen to Crona (at least in the anime) are better suited for a male character. Can't explain it, it just seems to work better. But then again, Soul Eater isn't exactly a normal series.
 * What you could probably say is that Crona isn't supposed to have a gender. Crona's gender isn't important. If anything, you might assume that Crona was created artificially and thus literally doesn't have a gender and anything teasing it is just a throw-away joke.
 * At the beginning of in the anime, Sid told his men that  Forgetful of BONES, or am I missing something?
 * I thought that it was Soul Perception.
 * It was Soul Perception that didn't work. At least, for no-one except Maka who could still sense Marie and Stein after they'd entered the vortex. Soul Resonance wasn't affected.
 * The initial confusion comes from the fact that Soul Resonance DIDN'T work inside the vortex itself. And perception outside. Hence the need for Soul to transmit his wavelength through sound instead of just resonating.
 * If that were so, Stein wouldn't have been able to resonate with Marie, and thus, won't have been affected by the madness of Medusa's snake.
 * Why is Excalibur going to California in particular?
 * Hollywood, baby!
 * Disneyland, actually
 * So was Sid turned into a zombie for the sole purpose to make it look like he had gone evil? They guy went zombie for a single class? Why?
 * It's explained that he was actually killed, and he was brought back to help teach classes and such. It's not so much he came back for one class as that the fact he was turned into a zombie made that class easier to teach.
 * All the characters in Soul Eater have to be nutty in some way. Sid wasn't an interesting enough character when he was alive, so he was made a zombie.
 * On a related note, who did kill Sid, and why?
 * In the mission where the kids capture him, Sid claims Stein killed him. If true, it may have been the consequence of an experiment gone wrong or, this being Franken, he was trying to create a zombie. Shinigami lets Franken get away with some Ax Crazy stuff because he's an asset so long as he's not too dangerous, and having a dead member of staff still able to teach would have been considered a bonus. Alternatively, Sid died in a mission and was brought back by Stein's Mad Science and Shinigami turned a blind eye to something which presumably upsets his life/death balance (having people go from death to life rather than just vice-versa seems...disorderly).
 * I thought someone mentioned Sid dying after having an accident that involved the Statue of Liberty. My guess: Sid tried to take down a kishin egg guy on top of the statue with a crazy badass flying attack- and he lands head first on one of the spikes on Lady Liberty's crown. That would explain the great big friggin' HOLE in his forehead.
 * It's Death the Kid, Not Death the Kidd. Why do people spell it with two d's?
 * Rule of Cool.
 * Really? Kidd just sounds off. Besides, Death THE KID.
 * Because Kidd is the real life spelling of the name. That's why they call him Kidd-kun, not by his family name of Death. In English parlance he is Kidd Death.
 * It is? But the name's pronounced as 'Death the Kid' in a way that sounds as though it's meant to be an English-language name, in the same way 'Soul Eater Evans' or 'Spirit Albarn' are. For that reason, I can't quite see Death as a surname, not when it's explicitly used as another name for Shinigami himself. Personally, I go for the The Trope Kid explanation, combined with the boy getting his dad's name.
 * I'm pretty sure Word of God said that he picked it for the cowboy motif. Cowgirls, guns, get it?
 * Does that mean Kid has Super OCD AND a cowboy fetish!?!?!? Holy shnikes.....
 * Okay, here's the deal. Shinigami-sama's actual name is "Death", as seen by his signature. Kid's name is both written and pronounced in English as "Death The Kid", making him both The Trope Kid and Death Junior. They do not have a surname. Furthermore, in the most recent chapter of the manga, Kid is referred to as "a fragment of the death god", and it's mentioned that all of the warriors who worked with/for Shinigami-sama in the past (and Shinigami-sama himself) are Eldritch Gods. So Kid has no mother, and is most likely the next incarnation of Death, slowly coming into his powers and maturing. When he reaches the peak of his powers and abilities, the current Death will cease to be, and Kid will become Death and create his own fragment "Death the Kid", or "Death the Third" if he continues to call himself Kid.
 * Except for the fact that the majority of that is being said by, well, a definite Eldritch Abomination who seems to have its own plans for Kid, so the truth of any of that (except for Shinigami-sama's actual name being Death, which is actually what's used when we do see his name in English--for example, every single time we see his signature) is...look, if an Eldritch Abomination told me I was...my given gender, I'd be sticking a hand down my pants to check my anatomy. Kid, however, never was particularly Genre Savvy.
 * Actually, let's go for the simplest explanation: the word 'kid' gets written in katakana as 'kiddo.' As a name, it's actually spelled both Kid and Kidd; in this case, though, the confirmed official spelling is 'Kid as in the Pirate Captain.'
 * Death the Kid is meant to go with the cowboy theme. It's a reference to Billy the Kid.
 * Shinigami doesn't seem too worried about letting Angela stay at Shibusen (It takes all of one page of dialogue to convince him). Does this mean that Mifune, one of the coolest characters in the series, essentially died for nothing? That's just depressing.
 * Originally, Black Star and Tsubaki went after Mifune to get his soul, which was worth 99 normal souls. Whether or not they actually got it seems unclear.
 * Holy SHIT you're right...
 * As far as I can tell, he evaporated, soul and all.
 * Ever mentioned to someone that you're, say, a Christian, or a Virgin, or something like that, and had them look at you like you're about to bring down THE WRATH on them, and they promptly get defensive? Not that everyone who isn't one of these things does this, and not that it's never justified, but given Okubo's use of religious references, and Kim and Jacqueline's experience, I'm wondering if Okubo isn't intentionally referencing the tragedy that can occur when people who have loose affiliations with 'bad guys' assume that the good guys are just destroying 'impurity.' Maybe in that context, Mifune's death is MEANT to be depressing.
 * Mifune didn't exactly die for nothing. He died for two (equally depressing) reasons that I'm aware of:
 * 1) Arachnopobia had his only real weakness and made oblique threats to destroying said weakness should he refuse to destroy their enemies. So his choices were to suffer his death or Angela's. He chose the former.
 * 2) Say what you will, but he DID seem interested in fighting Black Star to the death. Possibly just to leave Angela in the hands of someone who cares. Or maybe he wanted to die knowing he fell under the best.
 * Only made more depressing when compared to the anime, where Mifune WANTS to work for Arachnophobia because they'll create a world where Angela can be safe AND gets a Defeat Means Friendship ending. It's a copout that just emphasizes how much better Ohkubo's actual work is. Talk about Just Bugs Me.
 * Soul got white hair and red eyes. Is he albino??
 * Yes.
 * Maybe he's Ishvalan.
 * Why does Kid use stances for fighting which are so asymmetrical?
 * Rule of Cool, also he cannot see himself xD
 * While we're on the subject, what the hell is he doing with the "Stance of Sin" he sometimes pulls? When he did it just before fighting Chrona he had one of the weapons pointed away and the other aimed at his foot! I've never even seen a real firearm in my life and I know that's stupid.
 * I have. Is his foot evil and deserving being shot? (One of the basic rules of firearms safety: never point a loaded weapon at something you don't want to shoot.) Wait. His foot is not symmetrical, so yeah, Kid probably would feel that way. And then shoot himself in the other foot, so they'll match...
 * He holds them at weird angles so he can use them to deflect attacks.
 * Also, how can he wear that Shinigami costume? The cloak's wiggly extremities didn't look very symmetrical to me.
 * He seems to make exceptions when it comes to being a death god/his dad. Anyone else dressed like that would induce a freakout and
 * Why is it, in the recent two chapters, that everyone is now wearing a school uniform when there didn't seem to be a need for them previously?
 * They're in Spartoi now. They need to be recognized as badass officials from now on.
 * What is with Ookubo and ambiguously gendered people? Is this Gopher person a girl or a guy, because I really can't tell.
 * Play TGWTG's game of Guess Their Gender.
 * How the hell was the goal of the series achieved so quickly?! Soul's already a Death Scythe! But, then I guess it's now about the rest of the characters attaining that goal and them getting used to the new power-up...
 * Quickly?! This is a goddamn monthly manga. It took 5 YEARS to get to this point, not to mention there's still the Big Bad to deal with! He wasn't loose at the pilot.
 * Plot Tumors. First there's weapon kids looking for power ups. Then black blood, then demon god, etc.
 * Though it got re-enforced in a recent chapter, the 'making a Death Scythe' goal has pretty much taken a backseat, as the introduction of Asura and the repercussions of his resurrection has given the series a much wider context than it had originally. One thing I liked about how Soul became a Death Scythe was how it wasn't given this massive fanfare; we got that sense of closure and a goal met, but immediately went on to what happens next. And the 'next' is about protecting the world from Kishin and witches (as Spirit tells Maka and Soul), not getting the top grade in the school, which is what being a Death Scythe has been pretty much treated as (come on, as a reward for passing an exam? That was totally Stein trying to get the class to pay attention) for a while. Hopefully now we will see what this previously kind of vague goal (named, but not explored) actually involves.
 * Sid was the one who raised Black Star, right? From when he was a little baby. So why did Black Star not seem to give a crap that he died and was turned into a zombie? Heck, he barely seemed to recognize him at first! (I'd also complain about how rude he was to his father-figure, but he calls the frickin' God of Death "Your Reaperness" and actively pisses off his son just so they can fight. He's not polite to anybody.)
 * Maybe that's the point. Black Star is a HUGE Jerkass.
 * Perhaps the author hadn't decided on their relationship at that point, or didn't care that Black Star was such a prat to the man who raised him. Either way, the times Black Star shows genuine sensitivity to anything are few and far between. It bugs me too in retrospect, but unfortunately it fits with Black Star being a complete jerk.
 * Why is the way Asura is defeated in the anime considered such a wall banger?
 * Some seem to argue it's bad because it was "just a punch" to what is an in-universe god, and so are missing the courage aspect in favour of 'power levels' and the like. Me, I dislike it because although the courage side works, the teamwork aspect of the meister and Weapon partnership gets dispensed with. It kind of comes across that Maka is the * only* thing that matters and everything else, including Soul, is just sidelined to help her along. Probably other, better, reasons than that for seeing it as a Wall Banger, but it just didn't ring true for this troper when looking at the other themes in the series.
 * Stein's catchphrase is "I'll dissect you!" but he doesn't actually dissect things... he vivisects them, because they're still alive when he cuts them open. They're usually conscious, too. Not a huge deal, especially since most people don't know or care about the difference between vivisection and dissection anyway, but... it just BUGS me...
 * Is there even a word for vivisection in Japanese? Maybe there isn't one, so they use dissection as a catch-all?
 * There is. Seitaikaibou, to be exact. Dissection is just Kaibou.
 * Oh, Stein does kill his subjects when he studies them... but only for a little while. Then he brings them back. Don't believe me? Just ask Sid.
 * How the heck do people get around? I mean like around the world around. For example, we know Death City is in Nevada. Maka and Soul first met Crona in Italy. And Spirit and Stein are just chillin at Shibusen in the middle of that first chapter, but suddenly are in Italy just in time to be Big Damn Heroes at the beginning of the next. Things like this happen multiple times. I get that the answer to anything in this series is Rule of Cool, but gosh darn it, I need logistics for fanfiction purposes.
 * My only theory is that Lord Death/Shinigami-sama can use mirrors to move things from place to place by going though it, including people, as well as for communication.
 * Wait, Death City is in Nevada?
 * Huge desert around Death City, Spirit is the Death Scythe of North America and he's in Death City. Even if that wasn't ever mentioned, Nevada would be one of the few spots it could be.
 * I dunno about that; Death Valley would make a lot of sense...
 * It was mentioned.
 * When Kid and Patti got separated from Liz, why didn't Kid just maintain symmetry by holding his one remaining gun with two hands?
 * Because it's been established he has problems?
 * Because even when holding a gun two-handed, you aren't perfectly symmetrical. One hand has to be over the other, only one finger can hold the trigger, etc.
 * What I want to know is, why didn't Kid just fight him bare handed?
 * Just who was Ragnarok before being melted into black blood?
 * Ragnarox was (and still is) a demon sword, a weapon partner (like Soul) that has absorbed multitudes of human souls (unlike Soul). Being melted down into Black Blood just made him a liquid weapon.
 * In the latest chapter does anyone think Liz looks like Zoro?
 * You speak as if it's a bad thing.
 * So wait...if Tsubaki absorbed Mifune's soul, which is worth 99 souls...what happened to the soul of Masamune, the very first one she absorbed? Wouldn't that be 100 Kishin souls? Actually, was it even established that Mifune's soul was worth 99 Kishin souls and not 99 human souls? As far as I'm concerned, he never actually consumed human souls which is basically what creates a Kishin. Therefore, if Tsubaki had actually absorbed Mifune's soul, wouldn't that technically make her a Kishin?
 * In the manga there's no such thing as Kishin's souls or Kishin's eggs, they are anime only. This is one of the things that make the manga a little more of a Crapsack World, the idea seems to be that is okay to eat someone's soul if said someone is a criminal; Mifune previously worked with The Mafia, so maybe this made him a target of the Shibusen. Also, he didn't seem to leave a soul behind.
 * Maybe Anti-Villain and Kishen Souls are lumped together in the same category?
 * The anime says its the souls of 99 'evil humans', the manga defines the targets according to a list of Shinigami's. We're not told in detail in either version why Mifune counted as a target, only that he did so. It may be because he was protecting Angela, or because of his previous actions. Assuming Tsubaki did take Mifune's soul (which she surely would not have done if she was not allowed to), then she has at least 100 including that of Masamune. Which means she's made the same mistake that Soul did (the 100th soul wasn't a witch's), except under very different circumstances. (Two souls the girl's taken and both were total Tear Jerkers. The lady doesn't get a break!).
 * Did Tsubaki even absorb Mifune's soul? I just remember him disappearing into flower petals.
 * I'd wager she just couldn't stand absorbing his soul because of the history Black Star and Tsubaki had with Mifune, in addition to the avoidable tragedy of the whole situation.
 * When Kid was running around inside the ghost ship Niddhog, when the spirit shot at them and damaged the ship, wasn't he hurting himself? after all, there was the whole "I am this ship as this ship is me" or whatever, as well as later on when Chrona cut the ship in half, the spirit's head, hat included, was cut in half as well.
 * The spirit probably did hurt himself, but the damage is so little that it does not show on the spirit's body. Getting cut in half is much more obvious than getting shot in the foot. Besides, why would you care about a small injury when you have Lord Death's son trying to kill you?
 * So apparently Marie can cure madness by touching somebody (in the anime at least) but waits until Stein goes completely howling mad to use it, in combat, against his will, as he tries to kill her. Where the hell was this ability the entire time Stein was losing his marbles over the course of ten episodes? It doesn't seem to be that difficult. Its not a Dangerous Forbidden Technique, theres not even any sucking in lines required to charge it up. She just kind of palms him and he's fine again. So what, was Marie just using the madness as an excuse to keep Stein to herself?
 * Because of the snake Medusa had Chrona infect her with. Presumably if it made Stein go crazy from using souls resonance it would also counteract Marie's healing wavelength.
 * In the same fight its explained that genie hunter only cuts evil, but both times its used its shown tearing a swathe through just about every (non-child) surface it touches. Were those stone columns just real bastards or something?
 * Maybe it's a not a case of hurting evil but not harming the innocent (thus inert matter isn't "judged" in anyway and gets destroyed by default. Or maybe the geometry was evil. It was Medusa's hideout and it was pretty crazy archetecture after all...
 * Rule of Cool, the main way to answer ALMOST any question in Soul Eater.
 * That wasn't canon anyway, it was part of the Gecko Ending.
 * Of course the stone columns were evil. Just ask Kid, the symmetry was horrendous, not counting the designs on them. The stone was lucky Kid wasn't there, or else there would be nothing left.
 * It has been said numerous times that only weapons could eat souls. However, just as often it has shown non-weapons eating souls as well. for example, Al Capone's gang was shown eating human souls, and it's highly unlikely that all 99 of them are weapons. so what bugs me is that I can't tell which one of those are correct.
 * This Troper doesn't recall it ever saying only Weapons can eat souls. When did it say that?
 * Kilik said it when Lord Death/Shinigami was telling everyone about Asura being under the school.
 * I always thought the issue was that Kishin (and presumably, Kishin Eggs) ate human souls and spread evil; that's why weapons evolved to eat them. So anyone who eats a human soul becomes Kishinish, including Al Capone.
 * Well, weapons didn't evolve, Arachne created them because apparently she shares her sister's love of experimenting with stuff. As far as I can tell, technically anyone can eat a soul, but if it's a human soul and you eat enough you become a Kishin. Asura was the first person to do this. I assume that the Eight Warriors or whatever were organized before that to defend the world from witches and werewolves and stuff. And well yeah you all know the rest.
 * But weapons can become Kishins too, can't they? I remember Patty asking in the ghost ship if they could take the souls because no one was using them, and Kid rhetorically asked if she wanted to become a Kishin.
 * Eat good humans' souls, become a Kishin no matter what you are. Eat the souls of those on their way of becoming a Kishin while being a weapon, be on your way of becoming a Death Scythe.
 * If bodies disappear after death no matter what they were killed by (it happens with Mifune's swords so it can't, say, be an effect exclusive to Weapons) then how did Shibusen know how BJ was killed? And what happened to Mizune's soul when she was killed by Medusa? The soul wasn't shown at all. (Though in that case it would be reasonable to assume Medusa simply destroyed the soul along with the rest of the mouse witch. Getting rid of the evidence, perhaps.)
 * All of Mizune was eaten, soul included. For BJ, he died in the middle of Death City, someone with Soul Perception would have noticed his soul suddenly disappearing without a trace.
 * Even if soul perception explains how they knew BJ was dead it does not answer how, if his body disappeared like all the rest and his soul was taken by his killer, they knew how he was killed.
 * Presumably, Justin ate it. As for why his body didn't disappear, it may be getting too much mention here, but this is probably just another thing that's gonna have to fall under Rule of Cool.
 * For that matter, just how was Sid brought back as a zombie if his body disappeared upon death?
 * Okay, I've got one. Gender ambiguity aside, how the HELL is Crona EVER going to be in a relationship if s/he's stuck with Ragnorok forever? I'm sorry but the Squick is just too potent too ignore, not to mention sad.
 * Well, best way around that is that separating them again hasn't been ruled out in canon. If Stein can turn Sid into a zombie then one can imagine he can figure out a way for Ragnarok to inhabit a new body. But, yes, terribly squicky and sad for Crona.
 * That's debatable. I'm pretty sure I heard somewhere that Ragnorok is Chrona's blood now (hence the 'bloody needles' attack we see in their debut). The story so far is that the Demon Sword was smelted down, mixed into Chrona's bloodstream, and they cannot be separated. So it seems that no matter what gender Chrona turns out to be, any sex s/he has in the future will wind up an unavoidable threesome.
 * Well, it's not totally a bad thing. As long as Ragnarok shuts up and doesn't do anything (there have been moments when he did), then it won't totally suck. In theory.
 * Why does Death City have its own currency? It's apparently a city in Nevada. In the first episode, you can see Spirit handing the worker at the bar money that's ambiguously a separate currency for Death City.
 * It's probably all of North America that has the same currency, not just Death City. after all, we don't see money used elsewhere else in the series, so it might be true.
 * Everyone calls Black* Star a parody of Naruto. This wouldn't bug me if it weren't for the fact that A) They have virtually nothing in common after everything's said and done and B) Not once has this been hinted at beyond having Black* Star suck as a ninja, and that in itself was the joke. Why, fandom? Why?
 * Its because his personality is a heavily flanderised version of Naruto's. He's loud to the point where it inhibits his stealth abilities. His being a Highly-Visible Ninja is portrayed as a disadvantage. Naruto's extremly lofty goals have been exagerated into Black* Star's massive ego. His highly energetic personality has been exagerated to the point where only someone like Tsubaki could stand to work with him. Not to mention his ego is the source of his power, essentially parodying every Hot Blooded character ever created (including Naruto). Oh, and there's also Word of God on the matter IIRC.
 * Would it be too much to ask where and when he said this?
 * I'd like to ask this as well considering that contrary to western fandom belief Naruto does not have an original personality. He is the typical shounen hero, his character in and of itself is a part trope that has been in existence long before his creation. Not only that but Naruto genuinely is a horrible ninja, however Black*Star isn't even an ninja he's an assassin and refers to himself as such, and when Black*Star feels like it he is actually a good assassin. Also motivations are different, unlike Naruto Black*Star genuinely wants to be strong and to be recognized as such. Loneliness is not Black*Star's main motivation. I've also never heard word of god stating that Black*Star was based off of Naruto.
 * Maka is a Mary Sue. I like her too guys, but it's time to be honest with ourselves! She's got a special soul, she's got soul perception, she's half weapon, she has an exorcism wavelength, she's the top of her class, she's the child of a Death Scythe and she can do wildly advanced techniques! I get that it's hard to keep up with fan-favorites like Stein and Death the Kid, but I feel like Okubo is trying to give her all this shiny stuff to make us like her more, when honestly, I just can't relate to her at all. But wait really Just Bugs Me is that NO ONE is willing to acknowledge this! Yes, she's funny, she's badass, but she's also a SUE.
 * Half of that is from the Gecko Ending anime only. In the much better manga, she's not half weapon. She is not the only one with soul perception, Death the Kid also had it, and Bj had soul perception that was even stronger than Maka's. The main wildly advanced technique was Kishin hunter, again from the Gecko Ending anime. Demon hunter is the other one and I can't argue with that other than it's a shonen manga run by Rule of Cool.
 * Let's be fair. The anime doesn't have the Grigori thing. Note that the anime ending has Maka defeating Asura by a method, that, as she points out, anyone could have used in theory. It's also only fair to note that in both versions, Kid is more "special" than she is.
 * Maka's presentation is perhaps par the course for the 'main' character of a shounen series, but it's understandable some find it grating. Even taking into account which traits fit the manga, she still has a glaring number of advantages over her human peers, ones which arguably are being setup to make the method of Asura's defeat a foregone conclusion - never mind the centuries of history, the friggin' Eldritch Abominations involved, he'll be killed by a plucky girl who's won the super-power lottery in her generation. It'd be unfair to suggest she's in Boring Invincible Hero territory - her very human concerns are appealing even if Okubo's tendency for flamboyance over her achievements is not, but I'd say he needs to watch it. There's a limit on how far entertaining Rule of Cool can compensate for an overly predictable ending/character.
 * Just because Maka has special advantages and powers that other characters don't have is not enough to make her a true Mary Sue. You know who else has super special powers? Everyone else in this series. Looking at characters such as Black*Star and Kid, Maka is actually below average powers-wise, only being able to complete the original series goal because she is determined, intelligent and hardworking. Personality-wise she isn't a Mary Sue either. She's a fairly well-balanced character, with flaws that actually hinder her and lead other characters to react adversely to her. Storyline-wise she has faced numerous defeats and her one big win (against Arachne) was only possible because of Arachne's weakened sake. Having special powers + being a girl =/= Mary Sue, contrary to popular belief.
 * Going off of the person above and the person below: Black*Star is the only one of them who can fight without a weapon, gets away with his obnoxious behaviour with little to no reprimanding by adults or his own partner, and in the anime, really is the reason why their group Soul Resonance isn't working - but it gets blamed on Maka anyway; although he gets called a Naruto parody, no one calls him a Gary Stu. Tsubaki is easily the sweetest character in the cast, has been stated that, because of her agreeable personality, could work with anybody, never has a bad moment, and absorbed the demon soul of her brother; no one calls her a Mary Sue. Death the Kid is a future Shinigami, gets kidnapped and several chapters are spent going after and saving him, he gets to fight with two weapons, and has a huge fanbase; no one calls him a Gary Stu. Maka is simply the "Good Girl" of the group (think Hermione from Harry Potter; she plays dirty if absolutely necessary but places a lot of emphasis on practice/studying and is naturally a very talented witch), she doesn't think better of herself, but she does have issues with trust, wrath, and envy that keep her from being perceived as perfect. And outside of her father, not one character treats her like she is. Soul even frequently reminds her of her faults, which is part of his own faulty personality (again, no one calls him a Gary Stu). Not to mention that Maka isn't the only person who can fly, use soul perception, or has a griori soul.
 * Also, just mentioning that the whole special Grigori soul arc seems more to me like a parody of tropes associated with overpowered Mary Sues. I mean, Maka discovers that she has this special soul, becomes incredibly obsessed with becoming an angel and her skills actually suffer because of it. Then someone else appears with the exact same soul type as her and instead of it being a major Big Bad or an incredibly powerful ally, it turns out to be the lackey of the current Big Bad who mainly exists for comic relief! The only way she is able to defeat Gopher is because she stops trying to create pretty but ultimately useless wings and accepts that a more practical approach is needed.
 * Nice way of putting the Sue/Magical Girl aspects, but the advantages Maka has (only confirmed by the grigori soul explanation) over magic and insanity-driven enemies, are still there. But bearing a possibly parody in mind, it'd be interesting to see where it goes. Especially when apparently she's won through her latest fight with Giriko not with 'grigori soul-ness' but...courage. Which, granted, arguably replaces one issue with another.....
 * It's not as though she's the only one with advantages over insanity - Black*Star was able to withstand Arachne's insanity just by standing up and grinning goofily, but no one accuses him of being a Gary Stu. A character can have ridiculous powers and not be a Sue. In the context of the series, Maka doesn't even have ridiculous powers. She is allowed to have powers that other characters don't, that does not make her a Sue.
 * Even if she IS a Sue, does actually it matter? You said it yourself that you like her anyway.
 * Sorry to sound harsh here, but would you still say Maka was a Mary Sue if she were a guy? People are much quicker to slap this label on a female character than a male, which isn't to say that the Sue tag isn't legit, but really, let's look at the facts; 1) She's the main character, 2) She has insane powers (not unlike the rest of the cast), 3) She saves the day, 4) Her parents are a Death Sythe and a damn good meister. One person mentioned that they couldn't relate to her, but really, we can't all relate to every protagonist in a given story. Let's be real, how many of us have befriended an androgynous child of a b witch, kicked a kishin's ass, and had the ability to sense souls? It's a shonen for God's sakes!
 * I don't think Maka is a Sue; I see Maka as a inspiration to Shonen heroes of all genders and types; this is a young girl who is not only willing and able to go to hell and back through sheer determination and those incredibly-large titanium balls she has (or breasts, as the case may be), but also do it with a real sense of compassion and understanding when dealing with her friends and enemies-such as Crona. She works incredibly hard, and pushes herself farther than any other person in the series. Which is exactly why the Soul Resonance Linking training bugs me so much; the basic idea requires Maka to essentially deal with the fact that Black*Star is stronger than her and therefore be receptive to his power overwhelming hers. This strikes me as a number of Unfortunate Implications which boil down to Maka being weak spiritually and being forced to acknowledge it; The very idea of her character is that she makes up for it in strength, and is an inspiration because of it. That she can push through and overwhelm the notion of power with her great strength of will. If we're supposed to accept that Maka is supposed to be the weaker in power, than people would compare her fights and, upon replacing her with any other Meister and Weapon duo, they might be a far greater fit. It feels like we're dialing back the strides she made to keep her in the back and out of harm's way; that's not what I want from Maka. She's a good person and a strong Determinator who is very loyal and so much more; she shouldn't have to admit that she's weaker.
 * I agree with the above assertion that being female certainly makes it easier for a character to be labeled a Mary Sue. However, Maka has been given flaws that aren't meant to be endearing, unlike your typical Mary Sue. She lets the things that Black Star says get to her, loses her cool and reacts in an immature way. This is something that makes sense for someone her age, and her reacting the way she did actually set them back in training. If she were a Mary Sue, then her losing her temper with Black Star would either be played for laughs, rationalized, or simply ignored, with Maka coming out smelling like a rose. The fact that her reaction was adressed as being a bad thing completely debunks the notion that she's a Mary Sue.
 * Demon hunter dammit, not genie hunter! (Sorry, It Just Bugs Me)
 * There are too many demons in manga/anime already. Genies are more unique.
 * True, there isn't enough use of the word "genie" in anime.
 * Also, isn't one of the word 'Genie's origins with the word 'Djinni' which DOES mean 'Demon'?
 * Not quite. The origin of the word "Genie" is from the Arabic "jinn"/"djinn", but in Islam (which is where they're from), the jinn are one of three sentient races of creatures, the others being humans and angels. Jinni aren't demons at all, they're just some dudes who exist in a world parallel to our own; there are good jinni and bad jinni, just like there are good and bad people. Also, wikipedia tells me that "jinn" roughly translates into "the hidden", not "demon".
 * Am I the only one here who thinks  was an Ass Pull on Okhubo's part?
 * "A sound soul dwells within a sound mind and a sound body." With his lifestyle and anger issues...
 * In the anime, in the third episode, was there really a point for the bits where the Pharaoh tried to do the ancient Egyptian version of tentacle rape? Feels a bit like a Big Lipped Alligator Moment.
 * It actually makes sense; the episode was about introducing Kid and his quirks, and what better way to establish his relationship and reinforce his Super OCD than show his reaction to walking in on them.
 * It didn't seem like a reaction only he would have though.
 * I rather thought it was because Okhubo started the first three chapters with a fanservice obsession. I mean, the Anime actually toned it down to something rather more tasteful. (in the manga the girl's shirts had boob windows like Power Girl) Of course, this got better as the series progressed, but remember that in ch 1 you had Bubble-Bath!Blair, in ch 2 you had Form-Fitting Wardrobe!Tsukbaki, and in ch 3 you had Egyptian Naughty Tentacles!Liz-and-Patty.
 * I guess that would also explain why only girls were naked when in weapon form at first.
 * Why is Noah considered a pedo rapist? Giriko, I understand, but as far as I've read (up to chapt. 77 at this point) Noah's done horrible things to Kid obviously but I haven't seen him do that. Is this just Fanon or is there a genuine reason to call Chris Hansen instead of an Amber Alert?
 * It's pretty much just fanon, but one could read some subtext into him taking very good care of his collection ...
 * What exactly is the deal with the Academy's regular soldiers? They appear in a bit of a Big Damn Heroes moment with Sid in episode 30 of the anime, are a large part of the whole battle for Brew in 34-36, I guess appear in the form of the guys in black suits in episode 40, and now in the worldwide operations that begin in episode 42 (I'm at 43, no spoilers please). It makes sense that Death would have a standing army, but these guys seem to be nothing but the stereotypical Redshirt Army. They have guns in ep. 30, but after that seem only to carry melee weapons, though the same could be said for the Arachnaphobia mooks. But that's what bugs me: What's the point of deploying all these guys if all they do is clash on equal terms with enemy mooks and then get killed in bunches by Elite Mooks (by which I mostly mean Golems) or notable individual characters like Giriko. Inevitably the main characters then step in and kick ass, which makes me wonder why they (the meisters) don't just work without such backup. Or at lest give the poor guys guns on all missions! I know it's not exactly a realistic series, but somehow I came to expect better. (Note: I have not read the manga...does that have more clarification?).
 * The reverse could be said or arachnophobia's Mooks. Armies are made of soldier, not heroes, it's reasonable to assume there were skirmshes where neither side's elite mooks got involved. Plus they seemed to have a mixture of weapons in the BREW episodes, so it's possible that they're meisters as well, just weaker ones. Another point; the soldiers with Sid were specifically stated to be based in the region, IIRC so it's possible only they were issued guns (or had a large amount of weapon bloodline soldiers who could turn into them).
 * It might not make sense from a "story" point of view, but that was kind of an all-chips-in battle. Having little effect on the outcome isn't the same as having no outcome; with the world at stake, should they have told all those guys not to bother showing up?
 * When Death calls over all the Deathscythes, the only people who seem to be capable of wielding them are him and Stein, where are their partners? For that matter, where are all the two and three star meisters?
 * True, it makes no sense that they turned up without even any reference at all to those who might be able to wield them. Presumably if they're usually separated around the globe they have a meister partner they usually work with (whether their original or not, for e.g Spirit's had three for various reasons). While we're shown that Weapons can work effectively on their own, it's also demonstrated many times that it's much more effective to have a meister wielding them. With all the holes in Shibusen's structure, this is just one of them. It's a global organisation, yet we're told only of the top levels of it with barely any reference to the rest, whether that's the 'non-elite' students or the regular members who aren't three-star rank. A recognition of a bit more...middle ground and organisation wouldn't go amiss. It really wouldn't take much, and if anything it could easily be used to the advantage of the main cast - illustrating in what way they're the 'elite group Shibusen brats- Spartoi'.
 * I was literally at my fridge when this popped into my head but, remember when Maka and Soul fought Crona for the first time and Soul got infected with black blood? Why wasn't Stein infected as well? Soul got sliced with a sword, yes, but if I remember correctly, Stein got stabbed by  the blood itself via "Bloody Needle". And I can't imagine Stein being able to fight off the insanity better than Soul. So, what gives?
 * Well Soul's wound pretty much bisected his chest and took him out of the fight, it's fair to assume it was a lot deeper than anything Stein recieved. Plus Ragnorak's sword form is made of black blood as well so there's no difference in that area. In fact given the smaller size of the droplets that become needles it's quite probable that it would have to stay solid to be effective (and thus be less likely to infect someone), while the sword, being large, wouldn't suffer for having part of it remain an easily transmitted liquid (in fact, maybe it keeps itself sharp by constantly reforming its edge, which would explain how a deep wound from it would infect Soul). On the other hand, this could explain some of Stein's mental degeneration (maybe he's already sufficently powerful, to the point where it doesn't make any noticable difference) or perhaps his unique wavelength cancels it out (it did quite a good job of forcefully making Chrona's blood reject him after all).
 * Was this just in the anime, or the manga too?
 * Everything that happened before BREW in the anime happened in the manga.
 * The revealing costume Maka's wearing in one of the recent colour pages. Firstly, the Weapon she's holding is her father - when excluding fanon there is little to suggest...that and plenty to indicate Spirit is a decent, well-meaning father if a philandering twit. Secondly, this is on or round about the same chapter Giriko estimates Maka's about 14 and attempts to rape her anyway, after claiming he decided not to wait ten years (referring back to his comment back when he ran into her during the Baba Yaga arc). I know this mangaka likes his fanservice but this is especially out of order. Just NO!
 * IIRC, the outfit is a send-up to Black Rock Shooter. It's probably because Soul's color scheme as a scythe doesn't really fit the shoutout and Spirit's, being all black, does. It's a little difficult but I think the mangaka doesn't mean for us to think about it too hard.
 * I love Soul, I really do. But doesn't anyone think he is being a little sulky and rude in the recent chapters? Like the time where he was goes right out and say that Maka is weak? (But maybe I'm wrong or he has a reason.)
 * Except that he hasn't been? Not an unwarranted amount, anyway. Are you talking about when he gets mad at Maka during the initial fight with the fake Giricco? That can be explained by the fact that he's just had all his perceived inadequacies shoved in his face by an image of his older brother, Maka had just tried to break up with him without explaining why, Giricco had just tried to rape then kill his best friend and then Maka is so bogged down by her insecurities that she can't fight, getting her almost killed in the process, all in the space of two chapters (both manga-wise and Eibon-wise). He's very clearly frustrated by his weakness and his inability to fight, since he is pretty much useless without Maka and scared that she's going to get hurt, so he expresses this through anger, I guess. I'm not really sure what you mean about him telling Maka she's weak. If anything it's the opposite, with Maka throwing herself a little pity party in Sloth and telling him that he doesn't deserve her because she's too weak. Soul does look pretty angry in chapter 80, though, but I guess that's probably because he and Maka are being forced to stay in the fight instead of finding somewhere safe to hide even though they are both seriously injured.
 * Soul never calls Maka weak at any point in time of the manga. He occasionally accuses her of being insane, but for him that's a weird way to show affection. This isn't exactly the first time Maka's ever freaked out about her own self-perceived weakness, but so far it is the most inconvenient time. As pointed out above, Giriko wants to rape and murder her. Not only is Maka clearly his best friend (besides Black*Star, Soul doesn't really seem to be friendly toward anyone else, nor does he display a tenth of the same amount of loyalty), but if she gets killed, Spirit would blame Soul, and Soul would blame himself for being unable to protect her. Soul already has Black Blood in him, imagine just how batshit insane he'd go if Maka killed, especially if he blamed himself for her death. They're already on an extraordinarily dangerous mission, trying to save a friend of theirs from a creep and from going insane and destroying the world. At that moment three people (Giriko, Medusa, and Gopher) want Maka dead, he's pretty much useless without her, he's feeling guilty from the previous chapter where Wes implies that the only reason he's with Maka to begin with is so that he can feel better about himself, he's probably embarrassed and confused from the chapter of Lust, they just got separated from their friends, and more than likely he's worried because 1) Maka didn't tell him what she saw in the Envy chapter and 2) again, as pointed out above, she just tried to break up with him for no reason whatsoever. I think he's more than justified to be upset with her, especially since we all know Maka would have a shit fit if he did the same.
 * When Maka gets over her Sloth, Soul accepts her apology without even needing her to say it and spends the rest of the arc holding her or holding her hand.
 * How do Kid and the sisters become friends with the rest of the group? I mean, they were fighting with Black*Star and Soul in one chapter then they all become good friends after that? In one of the recent chapters, when they threaten Maka, he goes freakin' crazy-- which is awesome -- but still makes me rather confused. And yes, they have a whole arc on saving him, but it didn't all seem like they were very distressed (except for Liz and Patti). It's like Kid, just him, is out of the loop here.
 * Because they put up a good fight?
 * Fair point. While there's a distinct lack of detail in how the group became friends (it's only indicated that Black Star and Tsubaki have known Soul and Maka for some time), it's quite possible that sharing classes and taking on similar missions could have led them to become acquainted over time. We do see them spending time together outside of class, such as the basketball game. The business with Kid's reaction to Maka being threatened does stick out rather more for me, though. It sounds so personal that it's the sort of thing you'd expect to be supported with some previous interaction. But Kid and Maka have had nothing of the sort. A couple of cute moments ("It's a monkey! *high-five*), but nothing significant. It's not just out of place for the stoic character whose emotional reactions are usually limited to 'symmetry' rather than 'threatened mates', it's out of line with what we've seen of Maka and Kid's relationship. Definitely an odd moment. Awesome to see Kid get angry, but it just doesn't fit.
 * I've only seen the anime, I don't read the manga, and maybe my question is answered there, but...is it ever made clear exactly what's up with Maka's gloves? It seems to be pretty clear by now that she only wears them when wielding Soul (and the fact that she has occasionally taken them off in battle like when she first befriends Crona during the whole arc where Asura is initially freed, or the fact that they suffered from battle damage a few times, both suggest that the animators were aware they were there and they weren't just a random part of her outfit), but why is that? Is there something dangerous about Soul's shaft?
 * I've been part of a color guard. Twirling a rifle/flag gives you calluses. That's probably what the gloves are there for.
 * Oh. That makes perfect sense. Now I feel kind of stupid for assuming there was something more unusual to it.
 * I don't know, I seen her wear the gloves without weapon!Soul many times...
 * Then why doesn't Stein wear gloves when he's using Death Scythe?
 * Well Dr. Stein is already a hand to hand combatant, so he doesn't need gloves because his hands are already tough enough/protected on their own (this would also explain why Black*Star wears the fingerless sort, he's not got as many callouses and scars to toughen his hands up and he prefers to go all out with his blows, thus needs to protect his knuckles but rarely spins anything in his hands, so there's no need to protect his fingers).
 * In the anime ending, what exactly happened when Maka defeated Asura? So Maka has bravery and...for some reason that kills him? I'm very confused here.
 * You and everyone else.
 * Because he IS fear. So what gets rid of fear? Courage. It's like he was a living fire and she punched him with water. Kind of.
 * What gets me is not so much as the 'victory through bravery' shounen ending which I kinda-sorta hoped we wouldn't get but was resigned to anyway, but the implication that not being brave makes you somehow deficient and in Asura's case less than human. Serious Business, I know, but way to screw up an aesop.
 * He's not literally the embodiment or fear, though. He's just a crazy guy who got really powerful.
 * Animeverse only. In the manga, he seems to be an Anthropomorphic Personification of extreme/mad terror that got so out of hand he killed some of his peers and got imprisoned by another, Death. If so then he's only doing what's natural, as it were, and the 'Asura's fear led to evil because he lacks courage' explanation can't really stand. Not if Shinigami's answer.
 * Okay, I keep hearing that Soul Eater is like Bleach. Why? I have read/watched both and unless it's just the weapons that are alive... and... can upgrade (Shikai = Resonance, Bankai = Death Scythe / Demon hunter-ish level attacks)... and kill evil souls (Hollows Kishin eggs)... and... have upgraded versions of said... you know what? nevermind. I answered my own question.
 * We're glad we could help.
 * The short answer is that it's a Shonen show. With all The Heartless and Power Levels you'd expect to be involved.
 * They're both about people (Miesters/Soul Reapers) who encounter souls and collect/send those souls with the use of a weapon that can come to life. There's also the fact that they go through special schooling to do this. Then there's the fact that they both have Mad Scientists. And Cat Women causing nosebleeds to teenaged boys. And it really doesn't help that Maka and Ichigo both have magical daddys and absent moms.
 * People give the Gecko Ending all the bad names in the book just because it's different from the manga. Yes it's different but that doesn't automatically make it bad. It provides a new experience. Tropes Are Not Bad and neither are different storylines.
 * I liked the Gecko Ending, except for the last 5 minutes. Killing the Kishin with a Courage Punch is when I started hating it.
 * I didn't mind the Courage Punch so much, because I viewed it as only working because Maka was freaking out Ashura with her refusal to give in to pain. What annoyed me about the Gecko Ending was the horrible, horrible treatment of Medusa and Arachne. Seriously? Medusa can only think of using a vector arrow as a sword whereas in earlier episodes she had been seen using them to much greater effect against Stein? Arachne suddenly decides that Ashura is totally A-OK and able to be trusted, then ends up getting eaten in one of the most anti-climactic scenes ever? It did not do two of the best villains justice.
 * First, it's not really less arbitrary than just saying "oh, now our guys are stronger than the bad guy now". Second, I think it works really well- he might have been arbitrarily strong, but had an equally crippling mental problem; he was afraid of Everything. Maka didn't get a new super-punch, but it's also not like anyone could have punched the guy to the same effect. She faced the most dangerous thing in existence without fear, and it literally shattered his worldview.
 * To a lesser extent, he also might have been operating under the assumption that what everyone basically wants is to not die, so anything he did to make that happen was justified under "if they could do it, they would". Maka demonstrably had other priorities, which meant he didn't have the same moral carte blanch he assumed he did.
 * I dislike the Ending, but then Bones series always have great starts, meh endings, so it was stupid of me for expecting better ending. Story wise, they manage to wrap most, if not all loose threads. But Soul Eater is not renowned for its story to begin with. Soul Eater's strong point is its actions and in the last 10 episodes, action scenes play out more like Bleach than Soul Eater. Everyone is suddenly incompetent-there are many casualties because characters are too busy staring at the wall for minutes instead of paying attention at their enemies. Gone are the fast-furious-stylish actions from the first 40 or so episodes, and instead Bones makes uninspiring slash-parry-slash-parry tango like how actions are done in Bleach. Characters chat on and on during action scenes instead of fighting properly. I actually fell asleep during these "action scenes". In short, the Ending has no charm that Soul Eater first 40 and so episodes exude. And don't get me started with how they butcher Kishin's personality.
 * A few things about Mosquito - but first, I'll axplain a bit: His current form is a tiny old guy... who was a  100 years ago ("wnen I was at my toughest!").   ("when I was at my swiftest!"). At all those times, he has a giant schnoz. However, he was a powerful vampire butler... who looks completely normal (but still "at my most numerous!"). His form from 800 years ago ("at my most MAGNIFICENT!") is some sort of freakish humanoid (with, again, a beakish nose). Hear's what bugs me:
 * 1) What the heck is up with the wierd changes in appearance? the only one that makes sense is the old wizened one (he is over 800 years old). So what's up with this?
 * 2) Why don't we get to see him fight as his "most magnificent" form? Why? WHY?! (or the forms from other years?)
 * A couple hypothesi to my own questions: 1) the author wanted to use both the Bishounen Line trope (400 year ago form) and the One-Winged Angel trope (the 800 years ago form). 2) The author wanted to keep the battle from being too long, and wanted to imploy the Worf Effect to show Noah's power. It still bugs me though.
 * Not sure about the massive form, but 'dracula' and 'mosquito' recall blood-sucking creatures fictitious or otherwise. The "I was legion!" is very similar to one in the Bible from a man possessed by many demons...though the many bats thing could just be a Hellsing Shoutout? And without seeing the page again I can't be sure, but the mention of the final form having a beakish nose reminds me of an annotation for Terry Pratchett's 'Carpe Jugulum' - "The beaked, hunched figure that Vlad calls 'a distant ancestor' is a reference to the stryx, a creature from Roman mythology that stabbed and drank blood through its beak."
 * Kid activating the second Sanzu Line and
 * One of the few good things I can say about the arc is that it leaves plenty to be used elsewhere. The Lovecratian premise was pretty neat and very SE-like in context. It's just the execution is so rubbish you have to wonder it wasn't meant as a joke. And with
 * Maka's comeback in the Giriko fight being a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the moment when she realises she needs to have trust in Soul as her Weapon in order to fight effectively is a legitimate and consistent use of the prevalent theme of trust and cooperation in the series. On the other, her change of heart comes about not through any acknowledgement of her own skills in the face of the Book playing on her weaknesses, but through Maka's acceptance that she needs to trust Soul in order to fight. There's something not right in the Book's fairly reasonable indications of Maka's insecurities - how well she knows Soul, how much of her skill as a meister is down to her own skill - were dismissed by an emphasis on her relationship with Soul, rather than by Maka acknowledging her own strengths - determined, smart, and thoughtful when it counts. *Some* acknowledgement of Maka's own achievements wouldn't have gone amiss. Otherwise it somewhat gives the impression that the Book was right; Maka really does rely on Soul. Unintentional, one assumes (such dependence does not fit with Maka's characterisation as the Heroine), but still.
 * Personally I took it as not meaning that she must entirely rely on Soul, but that it's okay for her to do so occasionally.
 * True. Leads me to another conclusion about that fight. The last time Soul got slashed across the chest, by Crona, he felt right down, understandably. That occurred because Maka could not bring herself to use Soul to defend when she knew he'd get cut in two (he was already bleeding in Weapon form). This time, against Giriko, Soul gets cut in a similar manner but continues to fight to defend his meister. Maka's realisation that, as you put it, it's okay to rely on him sometimes shows that in part she's getting past what happened in Italy - they are strong and courageous enough to work together, and protect one another. Now, it doesn't quite fit because Maka's hesitation against Crona was less about not trusting Soul's ability than knowing he couldn't stand up to Ragnarok unscathed, but I wonder if there are some parallels there.
 * I've only seen a few episodes of the anime, but I'm curious. Is it ever explained what, exactly, is the nature of the souls we see people collecting and eating? Are these actually supposed to be one's everlasting immortal soul? Is it that person's consciousness and life experiences distilled into a little glowing ball? Or is it more of a power-up, like in video games where enemies drop health when killed? It it's the former then it's kind of depressing that we're watching so many individuals get erased from existence, doomed to oblivion.
 * I'm pretty sure they are actual souls. However, I don't think they're getting erased from existence. The souls don't seem to be digested by whoever eats them, the person just keeps them contained and draws power from them. There is one incident where someone had all the souls they had eaten confiscated by Shinigami, so presumably anyone whose soul gets eaten could still be released and then continue on to whatever afterlife there is like normal.
 * More than once in fact (Kid in his first episode, Chrona after their Heel Face Turn).
 * The souls on the ghost ship were still ghosts, so presumably they're the person's actual soul.
 * Keep in mind that they're working for Death. You know, the Grim Reaper. Harvesting souls is his job, and the natural order of things. That's just what happens when people die in this Verse. Also, there's nothing that says they never get reincarnated or sent to an afterlife later or something.
 * If Kid was created after Asura was sealed so Shinigami could prevent the same thing happening to himself, then how old is Death the Kid? He acts and looks like a teenager (more-or-less) yet it doesn't seem right that Shinigami waited centuries before splitting up his soul. Unless he waited for a point when Shibusen was a strong enough force to maintain order in the world (as Mosquito describes it) so that his weaker, younger 'self' would not be put at as much risk than it would if Kid were created around the same time when Asura was imprisoned. As the patchy timeline tells us, a lot of bad stuff was going on at that time.
 * Okay, here's one: understanding that Chrona's gender was never confirmed in canon, I noticed that some fans tend to make a call of 'one or the other,' so to speak. I'm fine with that, and it's one thing to assume, say, that Chrona is a girl, but when the Fan Dumb wants to pretend that their opinion is basically on par with canon, then I have a problem. I can't stand when fans will try to tell my they know that Chrona's a boy, or she's a girl...whatever. Having a pre-conceived assumption is one thing, but your word is just as good as mine on this one. I just think of him as a boy, but I know there's no canonical evidence for it, and so I don't correct anyone who refers to Chrona as "she".
 * Personally, I'm bothered by the lack of love for intersex Crona.
 * But I don't know how to deal with figuring out pronouns for that!
 * Why has Black*Star not collected any souls at all at the beginning of the series? I'm assuming that he's been doing this for as long as Soul and Maka, which means that he has had plenty of time. Even considering the fact that he generally ignores his (considerable) skills as an assasin, he's still an incredible combatant. Even if he's never assasinated a target before, I can't see him losing to someone like Jack the Ripper, who, by my understanding, was an above average evil soul/kishin egg.
 * His debut and early chapters establish that Black Star's problem is his ego and his approach. He overestimates his own ability and disregards that of his opponent, as shown when he fights Mifune for the first time. His approach to the mafia-types and to hunting down Masamune (until Tsubaki corrects him on both) is to rush in loudly. His mindset is as much a hindrance as it is an advantage, something which no amount of raw talent could entirely compensate for. I got the impression that what happened with the mafia people, if not Mifune, was just one more failed mission for Black Star and Tsubaki; he ran into the same problems over and again, and it took meeting Mifune (and Masamune) for him to get out of that rut. If that's the case, than he could easily have been doing it for the same amount of time as Maka and simply not gotten anywhere.
 * Am I the only one who wonders just how bad that poem was? In a way, I almost care less about Chrona's gender at this point...to think that Black*Star, Maka, Marie...Sid...all got that depressed from just reading it, (if you take into account what some of these people have dealt with in their lives, that's saying a lot), it had to be pretty dark. This is one of the reasons I can't stand Medusa, actually.
 * Actually, Sid never read it, he was just moping for some unknown reason, I think. And you're right, that is scary.
 * You mean Sid didn't even have to read that poem and he still got depressed?!
 * What kind of show was Rachel watching? They'd just repeat the same sentence over and over again? Some kind of educational program with a weird method?
 * How in the HOLY HELL is Medusa not in complete monster? She meets all of the qualifications! She not only spent an entire lifetime abusing her own child, she decides S/he is useless at the drop of a hat, tried to unleash a monster that just wants to kill everything and eat all human souls, released a two hundred year old murderer, drove Dr. Stein insane, and killed a five year old girl. It's needless to say that I have....problems....with Medusa.
 * I've only seen the anime, but in that one it wasn't her that drove Stein mad, but Asura's revival did. And the little girl . But if you think she deserves to be in that category, go put her there.
 * Sorry, I should rephrase. I meant how is not listed on her character page? It's pretty jarring not to see it there.
 * ......Go put it there?
 * Liz's comment after girl!Black*Star starts rubbing her boobs all over male!Tsubaki: Am I the only one confused?
 * Liz's comment after girl!Black*Star starts rubbing her boobs all over male!Tsubaki: Am I the only one confused?


 * Patti seems to be implying that she's simply being sarcastic, but it sounds more like Liz is Lampshading something, but I can't figure out what. Maka can be grouchy but is usually cheerful, optimistic and friendly. Soul usually is grouchy and finds Maka to be grouchy. Those two characteristics could more be who Liz thinks they're supposed to resemble. But Tsubkai isn't exactly pushed around by Black*Star. She goes along with what he wants because that's just how her personality is, but she's perfectly capable of reprimanding him when she feels like it. She's also never shown as being naive. Black*Star, though a Large Ham and the type to act before he thinks, is also never shown to be naive, nor is he pushed around by Tsubaki. Any thoughts on what Liz meant?
 * The Lust chapter was shown to affect personality as well as appearance, so naturally they would not act themselves. I think it may be some kind of exaggerated pointer to how they'd attract their love interest. Maka being solemn, and mostly looking like herself with shorter hair, could show how she is not interested in dating. Black Star has no idea about romantic relationships, hence naive. Soul's a bit tricky, but I'd say that once someone caught his attention, he'd be very persistent about it. The thing with Tsubaki getting "pushed around" is actually a pun in Japanese, both referring to way she is wielded as a weapon and how she goes along with Black Star's egoism. It's just not a perfect translation.
 * I guess I was more confused. I originally thought she meant that's how their love interests would behave (hence the Shipper On Deck theory), but the way she phrased it confused me a lot. It wouldn't exactly be unlike Liz to suggest things like that... I'm also confused - they're supposed to change according to what attracts them in a member of the opposite sex. So like Black*Star has huge boobs, Tsubaki's all muscly, Maka's still skinny but has shorter hair, and Soul for some reason is flat. I just assumed that since their voices changed, their personalities did as well, since Soul was upset about Maka getting a nosebleed when he's normally all laidback and can't seem to really bother with anyone (I can't see him doing any different for a girl he likes) like Maka was in boy!form and...okay that's confusing enough but why didn't their hair or skin colours change? I guess it also leaves no room for bisexuals or homosexuals...
 * A question about the Fanon on this site: Why does someone keep insisting that all weapon/meister relationships could be viewed as an Official Couple, Canon, Ship Tease, etc. when text, Subtext, anime, manga, and anything that actually is Canon only supports Soul/Maka, Black*Star/Tsubaki, and possibly Maka/Crona? There is absolutely nothing to suggest that Harvar and Ox, Kilik and/or Pot of Fire and/or Pot of Thunder, Kim and Jackie, Spirit and Lord Death, Kid and Patti and/or Liz, or Sid and Nygus (though admittedly, this troper likes the idea) has even the slightest hint of Ship Tease? If you squint really hard, you might be able to find a small tidbit of Marie/Stein, but seriously: this is a No Hugging, No Kissing-type manga. The only pairing that is an Official Couple as of yet is Kim/Ox. When upset, Tsubaki will act endearingly towards Black*Star, and she is the only person he's willing to behave for. Crona refers to Maka as being the only person who loved him. Increasingly recently (as pointed out on Wikia) Soul and Maka have been holding hands (or otherwise touching) and blushing around one another. Once Stein was comforting to Marie. That's it. So how, exactly, can you infer that any other pairings besides Black*Star/Tsubaki, Soul/Maka, and/or Crona/Maka would be in the least way Canon? Am I the only person bothered by this?
 * I'm not particularly bothered, except for Kilik and his weapons. But, I think it's since they match as weapon and meister, it's not hard to imagine them fitting as a couple.
 * Soul Eater Not makes room for a Jaqueline/Kim pairing, or at least Jaqueline feeling atracted towards Kim.
 * Even in Soul Eater proper Jaqueline and Kim held hands at least once.
 * It has been shown that Sid helped kill off Black Star's clan, then took Black Star back to Shibusen and apparently raised him as his surrogate father. The problem: Sid states in the manga that he is 26 years old. Stretching it, the youngest age Black Star could reasonably be is 13. This makes Sid, at oldest, 13 when he rescued him. He definitely didn't look that young in the flashback.
 * In the manga he was apparently lying when he said he was 26- he could really be over thirty for all we know.
 * Okay, there's one thing that bothers me. Why are the witches evil? I'm only maybe 30 episodes into the anime but this bothers me. So, we have a group of all female magic users. Yes, there are a few bad eggs like Medusa and Arachne, but then again the only reason Eruka helped Medusa was because she was threatened and Mizune only helped because she was tricked. Also, with the existence of Angela, it's implied that witches are born and not made, like Kishin, and that they're not born evil, either. If Lord Death was really concerned about the Complete Monster witches like Medusa, he probably could have taken advantage of the fractious nature of witches to have them turn against each other. But, instead, he sanctions genocide of them because they're required to make a death scythe. Death scythes are only shown to be useful on limited occasions where an extremely powerful weapon is needed, and yet this is the goal of all of the weapons in his academy, and from the looks of it, it's a pretty big school, and he's apparently been doing this for hundreds of years! A lot of their anger at Lord Death seems entirely justified, so why is he justified in killing them again?
 * I've only seen the anime, but it seems that most witches aren't evil. I'm not sure why Lord Death wants people to hunt them.
 * Being a witch isn't in itself justification for Shibusen to hunt someone; Death has a list of targets. The manga claims that witches almost exclusively Always Chaotic Evil due to their magic being driven by 'the way of destruction' and (mostly) can only be used to destroy. Eruka delights in it, Medusa ignores all authority in order to follow her desires, and Arachne...did her own thing (incidentally the Gorgon sisters are distrusted even amongst witches; Medusa for abandoning the Assembly, and Arache is dubbed 'The Heretic' for creating the Weapons). Problems arise when we get people like  If anything, Shibusen's stance could be why the Witches Assembly has done nothing yet - they genuinely can't afford to act rashly because they'd have all of Death's followers after them.
 * Here's one: Is Crona, like, cold-blooded? I mean, I doubt that Black Blood is exactly like normal blood except for the fact that it can harden. Can Crona give off... warmth? Or is s/he like a snake? (Well, considering hir mother...)
 * On a side note, if Crona's blood is black, shouldn't s/he blush gray?
 * On a somewhat-related note, Sid is shown bleeding several times, including a Nosebleed. If he's a zombie shouldn't he not have blood at all?
 * Are we EVER going to hear from Kami or whatever Maka's mom's name is? Seriously, we're ass-deep in the story at this point and we haven't heard hide nor hair from her YET. She made Spirit a Death Scythe for crying out loud so there's no question that she's powerful and they could certainly use her help on the Moon. And yet, nothing. Why? The anime has many problems but even they acknowledge Kami's effect on her daughter (she never physically shows up there either but she has regular correspondence with Maka and one of her postcards plays a part in the finale.).
 * In the Lust chapter of the Book of Eibon, you change depending on what you find attractive in the opposite sex. So what happens if a gay person goes into the book?
 * Not a clue but someone should write fanfic about it.
 * It expressly says that you perform a gender swap in the Lust chapter. If you are gay then I guess you would turn into a manly woman or an effeminate man.
 * We know that Giriko is eight hundred years old. Assuming that Soul Eater takes place from 2000 - 2010ish, that would mean that he was born in the thirteenth century. That being the case: How exactly is he a chainsaw?
 * My theory is that originally he was something more akin to a woodcutter's axe or a hand saw. But as the generations (of himself) passed, he used his enchanting skills to change and "upgrade" his weapon form alongside improving technology.