First Impressions / SOUL EATER

Summary:

With the big test only three days away, Maka is fervently preparing in hopes of beating a boy named Ox who was at the top of the class the previous year. She’s further motivated by the fact that her mother was at the top of her class and by how supposedly the top person will be able to make a death scythe. Black*Star is trying to study as well, but he punishes himself too much for not knowing the material. He eventually gives up and tries to sneak into Stein’s home to steal the test instead, however he quickly gets caught. Death the Kid, on the other hand, just doesn’t feel a need to study. Each of the Meister’s weapons also prepares for the test, but with varying amounts of success. When the big day finally arrives, a bloodied up Black*Star is hung on the chalkboard as an example to the entire class. Despite this, Soul chooses to use the cheat sheets that he’s hidden in his clothes, and he’s promptly caught by Sid. Sid forgives him this time after stripping him of his clothes, and while this gives Soul another chance, he meets the challenge by trying to peek at what Kid – who’s sitting on his right – is writing. Soul is not caught this time, however cheating off of Kid doesn’t help because Kid has spent all of the time so far trying to write his name perfectly on the paper. When he accidentally rips the paper trying to erase an imperfection, Kid overreacts and faints.

Unfortunately for Soul, the person on his left is Patty, and she’s been scribbling on the test papers with crayons, eventually constructing a paper giraffe out of them. Soul’s final hope is when he notices Black*Star writing something in blood on the blackboard, and he assumes that these are the answers that Black*Star saw when he tried to steal the test. What it turns out to be, however, is just Black*Star’s own signature, and the test ends poorly for Soul. In the aftermath, Maka finds out that she did indeed get first place over Ox. Soul placed 108th, and neither Black*Star nor Death the Kid even placed. Done with studying, Maka cleans her room and finds an old photo album with pictures of her father holding her back when she was young, giving her fond memories of how he had read picture books to her. As it turns out, her father currently wants to buy her a book to celebrate her success on the test, and he asks Blair to find out what book and buy it with the money that he provides. Blair ends up spending the money on some skimpy lingerie though and gives that to Maka as a present from her father, leaving Maka to think that her father is a pervert trying to make her into a slut.

ED Sequence

ED: 「Style.」 by 西野カナ (Nishino Kana)
Watch the ED!: Mirror 1, Mirror 2, Streaming

My immediate reaction to the new ED was “Wow, I like the song, but this is completely the opposite of I Wanna Be. It doesn’t fit SOUL EATER.” But then I remembered how other shounen series like – Bleach – operate with their OPs and EDs, often showing characters in more casual settings, and it didn’t seem so odd anymore.

Preview

Well, unless doing poorly (or well) on the test has pretty dire consequences, this was pretty clearly a comedy episode with no big relevance to the main story. It’s good for some laughs and reinforces what he already know about the characters: Maka is a hard worker, Kid is too perfectionist for his own good, Black*Star is just plain stupid sometimes. Now that’s not a bad thing, and neither is a break every now and then between all the action, but at the same time, the episode didn’t feel absolutely necessary to watch. Next week, however, looks to be more relevant with Kid going up against Chrona on a boat. At the very least, I’m excited to see Kid finally get to fight again.

34 Comments

  2. I wonder if next episode will cover both of the Kokuryu chapters, like the Free episode. Or perhaps they’ll only do half of the second chapter, and take care of the Medusa scene and the party in the same episode.

    Tryptomine
    Reply

  5. Kanako: Show Spoiler ▼

    there’s no way they can do the next chapter without going two episodes. the only reason they were able to get away with it with Free, is bacause it’s just one big fight scene.

    v1cious
    Reply

  14. No, you’re mistaken Omni.

    This is the first time the secondary characters join the main cast. Later on, you’ll know why (yay Ox-kun!).

    -Izaak, Lord of the Lotus Clan.

    Izaak
    Reply

  15. This chapter in the manga was as funny as hell.I totally cracked up when I saw the giraffe! (Amazingly,the giraffe happened to worth something too……)

    I feel bad for Maka’s father thought. He might be an idiot but he really love his daughter.

    Kaitune
    Reply

  17. Everyone has their own way of doing things. Black Star is far better at physical activities than anything mental. Though he did try to study which is more than I would have expected. Missed out on home cooked food by Tsubaki to try and steal a test….yeah he’s really an idiot.

    Soul tried his own cheating method, Kid couldn’t do anything, the sisters didn’t have great success either, and really only Tsubaki did average on the test. Maka’s super studying got her the top honours and just shows where everyone fits on the mental chart.

    At any rate a damn funny episode :).

    FlareKnight
    Reply

  19. Favourite (or at least, most memorable, since there’s just too many to count) scenes:
    * Kid tearing his paper and getting KO’ed
    * The fight between a girl and her giraffe
    * Maka’s dad and his “Ma~ka~” at the end of the episode.

    Hilarious episode. And the new ED with Maka in a walk/jog cycle was really cute.

    42-42-564
    Reply

  21. Speaking of EDs, I was wondering if anyone knew about the previous Soul eater ED. I can swear that the huge monster at the end with red hair and claws was in a cartoon I use to watch. It has been bugging the heck out of me. Please someone tell me that I am not imagining this. Is it familiar to anyone else?

    Morhea
    Reply

  23. Hello,

    I am an intern at Random House, Inc and we are looking for girls ages 13- 18 to form a focus group on manga, for our upcoming 2009 X-men manga book. The book is really cool, trust me I was flipping through the manuscript and I’m not even the target audience! Any girls interested please submit your e-mail address (which will be kept confidential) to xmenshojomanga@gmail.com, we will then send you an invite to our new social network where you will be able to view a few pages of the book, some products and accessories that my fellow interns have come up with to sell with the book, pre-order the book as well as chat with other girls around your age! Please contact us as soon as possible but before July 31,2008 since that is the date we have to present this online market to our advisors! THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH and please spread the word!

    stasha j
    Reply

  29. ED: “It doesn’t fit Soul Eater…” Well, I think the approach they were going with the ending was “Maka” specifically. I could see that song in her MP3 player and I think it fits her personality very well.

    Ally
    Reply

  34. These comedic episodes always make me feel weird, but it does explore more of the world of these characters when nothing’s happening. I suppose you have to find the right time to place it in the order of the episodes. But the opening dream was a total laugh riot once I got wise, and for once, Blair added something to the plot without just looking like cheesecake.

    I STRANGELY loved the ending. I have no idea why. It sort of expresses Maka’s character, as reminds me of how genuine the decision to pit the protagonists as a girl was, amidst a very boy-oriented, edgy, gory shonen. Plus, she looked damn cute in that close-up!

    starss
    Reply

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