Waking Dead

Bones doing a shounen fighting anime? With character designs straight out of Disgaea? That would be Soul Eater, the latest of this season’s anime shows to hit my download list.

Soul Eaters are weapons that can exist in human form, tasked with gathering up the souls of demons; in this anime, humans that have gone bad. Each Soul Eater has a Meister in control of it, and the pair must work together to rid the world of said demons, because demons are evil and stuff. The first episode follows the pairing of Maka and her scythe, in human form a young gentleman not too dissimilar to Damon Alban’s Gorillaz character*. Maka’s dad is also a scythe – a Death Scythe – and her Soul Eater is desperate to become one… if he eats 99 souls, he too can become a Death Scythe.

So far, so predictable. What really works in this show, however, is Bones’ usual flair for combat. The camera zips around the scene as though it were a true 3D space, and the same hand-held motion present in previous shows like Samurai Champloo and the legendary Cowboy Bebop really adds to the action. The plot itself is pretty thin on the ground, but the characterisation is interesting. I like the idea of pairing off characters like this, even if in weapon-form the Soul Eaters appear to contribute very little.

There are three such pairings that the show will focus on and, interestingly enough, each of the first three episodes will focus on one of the pairs. Maka and her scythe are fun to watch, with the scythe trying to be a “cool man” at all times. This obviously sets up most of the comedy scenes in the first episode, particularly when he’s introduced to the witch Blair.

Speaking of comedy, its actually quite funny. Although I was more interested in the action, I did LOL at least a few times during the show. From the episode preview, the next pairing will potentially be a bit more serious, but probably not too serious – it is a shounen show after all. As far as bad points go I’d have to point out the wafer-thin story; you’re likely to get a more detailed plot in your average top-shelf magazine. But that’s not really as much of a critiscism as it may seem; shows like this can work without a really strong story as long as the action is well-paced and the characters are interesting.

Soul Eater is ultimately going to rest on the success of its fight scenes. From this initial episode, it’s certainly going to be worth sticking with until at least episode four.

*Probably no connection, but Maka’s surname is Alban. Perhaps one of the creators is a Gorillaz fan?