First Impressions / SOUL EATER

「お誘いふぁいてぃんぐ!」 (Osasoi Faitingu!)
“Invitation Fighting!”

Things finally got a bit fired up if you catch my drift! (BADPUN, SORRY)
Congratulations to everyone who’s finished their finals and good luck to those still studying!

Kim Diehl, Your Friendly Neighborhood Witch

As if the cut between Sid talking about just how serious a problem witches are for the DWMA straight to a depressed Kim wasn’t blunt enough, I never expected how easily Kim would get caught using her powers. Instead of blowing her cover doing something extraordinary like saving someone from turning into one of those insomniac Traitors, her sacrifices went down the tube to save a kind of stupid but awfully cute puppy.

If that last sentence sounded a bit mean, it’s because I find it hard to believe someone like Kim who’s been doing her best to alienate herself from others would make such a silly mistake. Sure it makes for the perfect moment for Jacqueline to finally confront the girl she has feelings for and make it clear that she’s there for her and not against her, but it just drives me crazy to see all of Kim’s sacrifices lose all their meaning so quickly. Maybe I expected a bit more from what I thought would be a “big” reveal? But in usual Takaii fashion, I can still see the light! Seeing how Jacqueline is the only one who happened to see Kim in the act, maybe there’ll be a bigger reveal somewhere down the line? Then again, I don’t know if I really want to see what happens should the entire DWMA figure out her true identity.

Anyways, I’m happy to see that shackles that were trailing behind Kim have been somewhat taken off. She’s an interesting character in my book and I hope that she gets some more screen time! That and with trouble brewing right around the corner, those healing hands of hers look like they’re going to come in real handy.

The Bad Guy (or Girl?) finally shows her face

Only showing up for literally a minute, the totally evil looking chick from the opening sequence finally shows her face. While she hasn’t revealed her name or what her intents are, I’m going to be honest and say that those yin-yang pupils of hers are pretty creepy when her eyes are wide open. Besides that, I don’t really have much to say since we have no idea why she’d attack the DWMA except for the fact that she’s a witch and witches typically tend to hate the DWMA.

Looking Ahead

YES! Nearly a month and a half in and it looks like Patty, Liz, and Kid are finally going to make their spectacular appearance! And judging by where in the timeline we’re currently at, we get to see Patty and Liz before they partnered up with Kid! Which you know, also means Kid should have a legitimate role in the series! And by association maybe this means Shinigami-sama himself may actually appear!? While time will only tell, I can’t wait for next week’s episode!

Or maybe Excalibur will show up and we’ll all have to stab our eyes and ears out.

Random Thoughts

  • Jacqueline is pretty kawaii.
  • Kim is also pretty kawaii when she doesn’t have her resting bitch face showing!
  • Best Line of the Episode — What am I going to do with the urge my right hand has to smack commoners?
  • Anya, I’m so sorry everyone is so mean to you q_q.
  • IF YOU’RE GOING TO SHOW THIS shot, MIGHT AS WELL PULL A KYOANI AND MAKE IT LOOK GOOD. COME ON BONES!

 

Preview

37 Comments

    1. Technically yes, Kid is the least experienced of the Meisters. Keep in mind though, he isn’t human, he’s a shinigami. He just flat out doesn’t need the same sort of basic training the other Meisters went through.

      Krono
      Reply

  6. Just a couple of notes.

    Kim got her cover blown in the Soul Eater manga, so this will not happen in Soul Eater Not.

    Liz and Patty were brought to Death City by Kid. Before that they lived in Brooklyn, and had been abusing their powers to commit crimes.

    I don’t know about Excalibur, but just wait for when Stein makes an appearance.

    turin
    Reply

    1. Guess I’m not the only one looking forward to Kid’s appearance. Share the love!

      Patty and Liz look like quite the delinquents.. here’s hoping they don’t do anything to hurt Anya.

      JayDrink
      Reply

  8. The thing about Kim… Most witches are pulled by what is known as the “sway of magic” which is essentially an instinct to cause destruction. The villainess mentioned it a little bit in this episode. Kim’s magic, however, regenerates and heals: the exact opposite of destruction, which has the side-effect of making her immune to the sway of magic. It’s her nature to heal, so she couldn’t leave the puppy there to die.

    If you’re waiting for drama when she gets outed to the rest of the school, you’ll have to go read the original Soul Eater manga, because it doesn’t happen in Soul Eater NOT. I only went and read it after watching the first episode of NOT, and I still found it worth reading, personally.

    On a completely different topic… Sure you’re not in love with Kim, Jackie. Sure you’re not. 😛

    Wanderer
    Reply

    1. Did we know about Kim’s secret in the original series? I haven’t read the manga and it’s been years since I saw Soul Eater, so I really can’t remember.

      JayDrink
      Reply

      1. Only in the manga. The Soul Eater anime diverged from the manga before the point where it was revealed. Which is unfortunate, because Kim started getting a much greater presence in the manga after the revelation than she had before it.

        Wanderer
        Reply

      2. Oh yeah, I completely forgot that the anime diverged from the manga. I’m sure several people have brought this up before, but an FMA:Brotherhood-style reboot would be nice.

        JayDrink
        Reply

  10. https://randomc.net/image/SOUL%20EATER/SOUL%20EATER%20NOT%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2002.jpg
    https://randomc.net/image/SOUL%20EATER/SOUL%20EATER%20NOT%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2006.jpg
    https://randomc.net/image/SOUL%20EATER/SOUL%20EATER%20NOT%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2012.jpg
    https://randomc.net/image/SOUL%20EATER/SOUL%20EATER%20NOT%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2026.jpg
    https://randomc.net/image/SOUL%20EATER/SOUL%20EATER%20NOT%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2030.jpg
    https://randomc.net/image/SOUL%20EATER/SOUL%20EATER%20NOT%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2034.jpg
    https://randomc.net/image/SOUL%20EATER/SOUL%20EATER%20NOT%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2036.jpg

    So much Kim.

    So much cuteness.

    She needs a show of her own.

    cruiser2710
    Reply

  13. I feel like this might be getting a little too spin-offy – spending more time showing the pasts of characters from Soul Eater than doing things with the new characters from NOT – but I can’t deny that I enjoyed the yurilicious stylings of Kim & Jacqueline :3 Kyuuun~!

    Stilts
    Reply

    1. from time to time, some anchors of time line with the old cast. Why not. but your are right, they should not forget how are the “Boss” in Soul Eater NOT, and thats not the Old Main cast from Soul Eater

      The mix here is important, to hold the current Fans of NOT and catch some old fans of Soul Eater to feed their curiosity how they was in the past

      Germanguy
      Reply

  14. I hated this episode.

    Not because of the yuri but because now it’s pretty obvious that as a side story, it’s atmosphere is going to completely drift away from Soul Eater and break off.

    I agree with Stilts. I remember someone said that people were failing to distinguish this as a side story and not the original material, but what’s the goddamn point of adding Soul Eater to the name if you don’t want to appeal to some of the fans of the original?!

    This anime so far is alienating me and my other anime site I frequent from the original Soul Eater that had over-the-top action and some spot-on comedy. Now I understand that as a slice-of-life and a side story, NOT! shouldn’t have this action. But, aha! This is where things get tricky! As a side story, can you appeal to new fans as well as the old?

    Not Soul Eater Not! Nuh-uh.

    I don’t drop anime because I like finishing it, but if I were some ordinary anime dude who watched this, I would have surely dropped it by now.

    Noragami!
    Reply

    1. (P.S.

      By agree with Stilts I mean it’s diverging from the original too much — I didn’t particularly enjoy the yuri. Not that I don’t like it in general but it felt incredibly out of place.)

      Noragami!
      Reply

    2. You can’t come in expecting it to be Soul Eater in any regard. I personally have just adopted the idea that this is a slice-of-life anime that coincidentally also takes place in a Shinigami training school with weapon and meister attendees. The overall atmosphere couldn’t be more apart though, so best to just stop the comparison there.

      If you can’t appreciate the much sillier dynamic of our trio of heroines and the general lack of import of the plot, you should probably just stop watching the series now. The cameos and any other reference to the original series are just unexpected bonuses.

      Monks
      Reply

      1. Yes, because the Soul Eater name clearly means the two series should be different.

        I already contemplated dropping it but I usually don’t drop which is a silly habit on my part.

        I guess I just don’t appreciate spin-offs. I expected SOME atmospheric similarity but screw me, right? It’s a spin off so it doesn’t matter. By that logic I know now to stay away from side stories forever because well why would they want to appeal to what the original series established right?

        …unless I’m getting the wrong impression?

        You see I don’t really get that logic and it’s nice to be blissful and enjoy this anime which is what I wish I could do but unfortunately I simply just can’t really appreciate this as you say. And I understand that this show SHOULD have some sort of its own personality, don’t get me wrong there. But it’s deviating so much, and to someone who was a big fan of the original wackiness, this is really urking.

        I hope I’m not coming off as condenscending (well maybe excluding my snarky statements). I’m not disregarding anyone’s opinion but…yeah. ‘Tis how I feel about this series.

        Noragami!
        Reply

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