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「女子寮あらかると!」 (Joshiryou A Ra Karuto!)
“Girl’s Dorm a la Carte!”
After the awesome fight scene that ended last week’s episode, this week’s takes a more subtle approach and brings the focus back to everyday life in Death Vegas and just how difficult it is to live on your own.
Everyday Life at the DWMA
Something that I really enjoy about this spinoff is how it gives us a glimpse at what life is like for a student at the DWMA that aren’t tasked with the responsibility of being in the EAT or Especially Advanced Talent class. Now, I know that SOUL EATER has set a precedence of being a high octane show full of corny one-liners but when you think about it a majority of the student body is probably a part of the NOT (Normally Overcome Target) class which would make Maka and her group the odd ones out!
Anyways, I think I can totally get behind this whole “slice-of-life” kind of direction it seems we’re going toward. It’s a bit different in the sense that instead of just watching cute girls do cute things; we have each main character trying to overcome some obstacle that will hopefully lead to them being an even stronger person by the end of it. While I talked a bit about Tsugumi and her coming-of-age issues last week, I want to take some time to talk about our little princess Miss Hepburn.
From Ojou-sama to Regular Shoujo
Anya Hepburn would normally be a character that I would feel completely indifferent about. She’s the typical classy tsundere who comes from the aristocratic world and has that strange infatuation with anything involving the working class. But in credit to the themes that this show is trying to highlight, I for some reason can’t help but empathize with her! Just like how Tsugumi trying to manage the wealth of responsibilities that come with independence, it really feels like Anya is trying to grow as a person by widening her view on the world. Unlike Tsugumi who can’t seem to get a grasp of the big picture until its too late, Anya is like her foil that is trying to discover the joys of the small but important things in life. Jospehine~
Looking Ahead
Two episodes in and I feel pretty good about the show as a whole. Yes, I can understand that people who wanted SOUL EATER S2 are probably going to be slightly disappointed with the lack of epic fight scenes but this isn’t a sequel. It’s a side story that predates everything from the original and I think it’s doing a great job at trying to tell the story of the other 99% that make up the DWMA.
If I were curious about anything, I’d have to ask just what the heck are Clay and Akane up to? Maybe it was because I was super tired when I watched the episode, but it sounds like they’re trying to act as our main trio’s bodyguards. Which begs the question, why would they even need bodyguards?
Preview
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Josephine would make a great barricade for the door at night so “Mary-san” could get some sleep…
Tsugumi’s line of sight there at the end.
They are bodyguards for “hime-sama.” Funimation translated that plurally, but I’m pretty sure it’s just intended to be a single person. Only one of the girls seems like a princess, after all, and if you pay close attention they’ve been hiding in the background in every scene she’s been in since episode one (aside from when she’s in the dorms, or on the way to the dorms… hard for guys to sneak in there).
Now the question is. who of this 3 Girls are the Hime-sama?
Perhaps She is only a High noble, and not a Hime-sama.
My bet is this “forget all things fast”. because there where many Maids or butlers that took care of all needs… and boobies… 🙂
Nah, it’s Anya.
If you watch the beginning of episode 1 again, the two are clearly watching over her at the airport and Clay tries to intervene when the taxi driver speaks to her.
Good eyes you have.. I oversaw this little detail… thank you
Kondo-san, what are you doing in my Soul Eater?
Meme’s drunken fist or sleeping fist (lol) was pretty damn epic.
Well, perhaps i can call me Lucky. Because i dont saw the Soul Eater Animation. So i can enjoy this without any regrest i think.
I find it good, and progress is good too.
Oh and i found 2 Eater eggs they build in…
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misery_%28film%29
2. Rock Lee, even Unconscious his Body can fight. I think i saw this in a Naruto Anime, but cant find it now
From what I have seen of the manga, while you can enjoy this without seeing/reading Soul Eater, there are a number of things that will go over your head. For example, why it is pretty funny that the Witch of the Girls Dorm turns out to be Kim.
i dont saw the Animation of Soul Eater, but i followed the manga. Not every chapter. but enough to get a grip of this “chaos”
I guess the “NOT” in the Title is very appropriate. If it would just said 2 instead of NOT, i would probably just Rage Quitting this Anime, judging from the pictures.
Can i actually enjoy this Soul Eater, if i saw the Original (even though the 2nd Half was just meh…)or is it too early too tell?
This is the problem with pretty much every spin-off ever made, really. People judge it for not being exactly the same as the original series, instead of enjoying it for what it truly is: a completely different show that just happens to take place in the same universe. I for one think Soul Eater Not is really entertaining the way it is, but if they were to throw in a few action scenes every now and then, that’d just be an added bonus.
And I gotta say, like you Takaii, I’m also usually indifferent towards characters like Anya.. Personally I don’t see the appeal of tsundere characters. Or well, I mean I get it, and it can be cute, but there’s a point where it passes tsundere and just goes straight into being a “mean person”. But for whatever reason, I really like Anya. She’s definitely my favourite out of the trio, the more screentime she gets the more I’ll enjoy this show.
I feel like Anya is different because the distance from “tsun” to “dere” is a lot less than the average, if that makes any sense. Most of them will snap and act like an idiot, then a while later realize they were dumb and hopefully try to fix the damage. Here, Anya sees right away when the reaction isn’t what she wanted, then she jumps right at her mistake in a regretful frenzy the instant she makes it. She doesn’t wallow, she just acts, and the result is damn adorable! Imagine what would have happened with other tsundere characters if they were this decisive and honest… *head explodes with cute*
It also helps that she’s a lot more transparent about it than most of her kind, and her peers are sharp enough to pick up on it quickly. It turns into more of a quirk that way, especially when the show doesn’t try to make up some misunderstanding revolving around her tsun.
Very good point about the spin-off aspect; same setting does not same story make.
Oh i forgotten a important thing..
Please someone answer me, the shape of a “weapon”. in this cas for Anya it is a Halberd. But if the other Master would summon her, would it be handcuffs or so? It looks like she is a close combat Fighter
Oh and did we saw Maka and Death Scythe, before they done the “100 kill” mistake? 🙂
if they put in from time to time some cross sections with the other MC’s (from the 1st Anime). It would be nice, and an Anchor for old Fans to get a grip of the time line
they must not give them Lines to speak (budget cost of seijus). but perhaps some Party where they appear and other MC of the current Anime, talk about them, and what they done and so..
The shape of the Weapon is based on the Weapon, not the Meister. Tsugumi will always be a halberd, Soul with always be a scythe.
As for when this is compared to the original, it’s a while before the start of Soul Eater. Kid isn’t partnered up with Liz and Patty yet since in the OP they’re still in their gangster stage, and they were together for at least a few months when we first saw them in Soul Eater.
Thank you
So Kim is a bitch, is will be a bitch, Patti will be a bitch… are every character carried over from the manga besides Maka going to just be a bitch to the new characters here!?
Don’t worry, nobody can stay bitchy to these girls for long.
I just wanted to take a moment and thank you for all your high quality pics of Soul Eater and Soul Eater NOT!.
I’m in the weird position of loving the Soul Eater animes but hating their mangas. I go so far as to say I prefer the anime ending of Soul Eater, dangling plot threads and all. These first two episodes of NOT are a huge improvement over the source material so far.
So. … to all of you (and me) who never kept up with the SOUL EATER manga and therefore had no idea that Kim is a witch? Yeah, that’s one example of how this show’s gonna make you a bit confused.
This is set before all of the rest of the Soul Eater series, so nobody else knows that bit of information about her either. It’s a self-referential joke. Eternal Feather calls her a witch because of her behavior, not because she knows anything about her.
Sleep-…… battling. …. I gotta admit, I do not think I ever seen that in media before.
This show is not as bad as everyone made it out to be. I’m enjoying it for what it is.
This is NOT! the good old action packed Soul Eater – but if you’re into slice of life of the cute girls, this is the right treat.
My take is Clay and Akane were hired to protect anya (and by extension her roommates)
Meme forgetting the order before it was finished was pure gold. Will Meme the Forgetful
become an internet meme?
Anya as princess trying hard to widen her world was really cute too.
And Tsugumi is just an average every(wo)man thrust suddenly into new and unusual environment.
I’m more surprised the dorm supervisor wasn’t the witch. I guess people who’ve lived there are okay with a psycho managing their dorms, provided they don’t look like any characters from Miss Misery’s favorite book. And I loved Kana’s tarot style insults on Anya. Also anyone else noticed the Maka+Soul cameo? Show Spoiler ▼
I know it was only temporary, but watching the 5 of them work at the cafe was…i don’t know, fun. All of them (at least the girls) looked like they were genuinely enjoying their time there (more over Anya).
Well, a Princess that break out of her boring Golden Birdcage. Interact with someone outside the Mansion, real “common people”. Smell the real World, get a taste of it..
A Girl, that want to strife the “High Society” Handcuffs off. She even sell her Family crest. She will regret this someday. But right now the “spring of her new Life” outshines all negative things
But….
Her Battle training was a good idea, dont you think?
That Endless Waltz reference.
That Kim is a bitch. Taking her entire weekly allowance like that.
Other the other hand, Anya is so damn cute! Especially in that waitress outfit.
They didn’t show it here, but Kim actually has a very specific reason for acting like that, and it has nothing to do with wanting the money, or with deliberately bullying, for that matter.
Kim is a character from the original Soul Eater, moreso the manga than the anime. People who knew her from there would be shocked (like I was) to see that she once acted like this.
I loved that Misery reference. For a side story that has nothing to do with the main plot, Soul Eater Not! is really entertaining.