Soul Eater Manga Discussion

[lmd_84]

Yes, I'd considered that too (also, Kid likes 8, and there were 8 warriors and now 8 Death Scythes who are area heads - I think there are many more who aren't that rank, such as Soul).

It would be a rather bleak outlook for the series, because Okubo is hardly going to advocate the heroes having an unfeeling commander out only to impose his idea of order. It wouldn't work well with his simple friendship/courage/teamwork message. Plus I simply prefer the idea of Shinigami having been more ruthless and changed over time.

(Which, to take your interpretation would also fit in; he changed not because he became more attached to humans and friendly towards them, but because doing so enabled him to keep things neat and tidy.)

[Repelsteeltju]

Originally Posted by lmd_84

Yes, I'd considered that too (also, Kid likes 8, and there were 8 warriors and now 8 Death Scythes who are area heads - I think there are many more who aren't that rank, such as Soul).

It would be a rather bleak outlook for the series, because Okubo is hardly going to advocate the heroes having an unfeeling commander out only to impose his idea of order. It wouldn't work well with his simple friendship/courage/teamwork message. Plus I simply prefer the idea of Shinigami having been more ruthless and changed over time.

(Which, to take your interpretation would also fit in; he changed not because he became more attached to humans and friendly towards them, but because doing so enabled him to keep things neat and tidy.)

Actually, Soul might have Death Scythe rank. As he mentioned that Maka now has access to books in the Shibusen library that are only accessible to Death Scythes and senior meisters, well he only mentioned that she could take the book of Eibon now. But that practically means the same thing. I think that since Europe had 2 area heads, Maka was targeted for assassination by Noah and Soul being inexperienced led to the formation of Spartoi rather than giving Soul Justin's area to protect. Then again this is just another assumption on my part...

I can't see Shinigami becoming an antagonist. That just wouldn't work for obvious reasons. I dunno what I'd like for Shinigami's role to be in the upcoming events. I doubt even Atsushi has even decided on that yet. I know he has the end worked out and all. But he said that he doesn't even know how Shinigami looks underneath his mask. If I'd have to decide right now it would be Shinigami passing his power unto Kid, which results in Shinigami's death and/or their unification and at a later time the subjugation of the witches, or at least an end to their apparent war.

Then again looking at Kid there are and can be more important things than his obsession (OCD), Shinigami changing for a ruthless 'Great Old One' into a loving principal of a school isn't that far fetched.

[Orangejellosphere]

I also think it's likely that Shinigami changed from caring only for order to a more friendly and passionate leader. He shows forgiveness, which definitely contrasts with old Shinigami's rather blunt, "I'LL KILL YOU AS SOON AS I SEE YOU!!" at the time of Arachne's dispersal. Maybe he'd still sort of prefer to have stricter order? He definitely doesn't like when the order is disrupted but he doesn't let it get in the way of what he knows to be the greater cause. He knew getting mad at Sid, Death Scythe, and Marie wouldn't help when all they did was prove Stein guilty as well as provide a lead for Kid's whereabouts. When Maka broke the rules, Shinigami-sama seemed slightly annoyed that he couldn't enforce his rules. He knew that Maka would be important in the upcoming mission, so he let it slide for now.

[Repelsteeltju]

I doubt Shinigami actually forgave anyone... Other than maybe Kim and Angela but they did nothing against him, his organization or humans in general. They were forced to work for Arachne but didn't really do anything deserving of punishment (or death) other than being born (as witches). Those other witches at Shibusen atm are being held captive and are being forced to cooperate in 'salvaging' xD Kid, Shinigami's son. Imo none of this has anything to do with Shinigami forgiving anyone. He might pardon Lisa and Alisa though, since they didn't really do anything … useful.

The circumstances with Arachne were kinda different. For one we have no idea what she actually did to piss Shinigami off ... other than creating the first human weapon(s) and waging war with him. She did have some kind of connection with Eibon. As she got her hands on his book and BREW and Eibon was seen on the same island. Coincidence? I think not.

Due to Shinigami not talking very much and wearing a mask all the time. It's hard to asses what he's thinking and how he feels about stuff. But I agree that Shinigami seemed somewhat annoyed that he couldn't punish Maka.

[lmd_84]

So far as the Death Scythe thing goes, I think with the number of people potentially working for Shibusen (there's at least one other campus, and we've seen only one group of one class of originally low-ranked teenagers) there are possibly more Death Scythes around than those eight who are area heads.

Then again, we've had a very selective view of Shibusen so far (those who are pupils or are teachers/people in charge) so maybe the level really is so hard to attain that so few ever make it. We know people have died trying.

Shinigami's taking advantage of Maka's abilities here as he was in Baba Yaga castle; he also profited from having Arachne dead. The difference being he didn't want Maka dead too. Then who would find Asura? This time, its better for him to leave off any punishment until afterwards, when he's got what he wanted.

Shinigami is very hard to pin down, nigh impossible from what little we know in canon. I think Okubo is unlikely to turn around and tell us he's a baddie, it just doesn't feel to me as if it would fit with his themes - he needs to have one extreme of order and chaos so to play with both of them, and Shinigami (and so Kid) represents the former.

One point that Shinigami and Kid do agree on is the state of human souls. They're not happy with people doing as they please with them. Kid states this to Nidhogg and later to Mosquito, and Shinigami says it to Asura.

With that in mind, I think Arachne using human and witches souls for experiments would have been quite enough on its for Shinigami (perhaps even nowadays) to decide he wanted her out of the way.

[Repelsteeltju]

To be honest I doubt the the Death Scythes could just ignore Shinigami's call (when Asura resurrected) if they where easy to come by. Sure there might be some more powerful weapons, but I doubt they are working for Shibusen, not now at least. A few of those might be former Shibusen employs/students though. Isn't Justin's spot open right now, since he sorta defected to Noah's side.

We did see the men in black who where supposedly two star meisters (those pleople we saw arresting Lisa and Alisa). And the (disposable) soldiers we saw fighting Arachne's people. But other than that we've really seen very little of Shibusen. I wonder if we are ever gonna see Shibusen facilities outside Death City.

Other than people obeying his rules. What does Shinigami have to gain from killing people who are messing with human Souls? I doubt he does it because he has moral objections and I don't see how that would make the world a more orderly place. To me that doesn't really make sense. Unless Shinigami knows something about what happens to souls if they are left alone long enough (they vanish right?). Then again maybe he's afraid that someone who has eaten enough souls and thus has gained a lot of power will be able to kill him or something. A fairly common theme in fiction nowadays is the killing of immortals and humanity coming on top or something, after all...

[lmd_84]

I doubt we're going to see more of Shibusen outside of what we've already seen. We're told its a worldwide organisation, which makes me think it has a similarly large membership of a variety of skills and ages. It isn't just a school, afterall.

If Shinigami sees people other than himself/his followers handling human souls as in itself disorderly, then he gains order (as he sees it) from getting rid of such people.

Alternatively, souls grant power to those who can consume them so Shinigami's rules on what happens to them might be to do with preventing his enemies getting the upper hand. But I think there's possibly more to it than just practicality for Shibusen's mission - Kid associated it with the 'realm of the gods' and insisted Mosquito had no place interfering.

Though, if Kid is anything to go by, there's nothing to say Shinigami's own idea of order is anything remotely sensible. -_-

[Orangejellosphere]

I think Shinigami is in charge because he protects the souls of humans. He tries to maintain some form of order, but that mostly means everybody goes by his laws or else.
Shibusen is pretty much the world government, right? They have branches everywhere. Shinigami's main goals were preventing another Kishin from arising and putting evil humans on his list as to administer the death penalty. Because of Asura's resurrection and Medusa's plotting, Shibusen has had to deal with Arachne in addition to Asura and Medusa. I wonder what Noah's relation to Shibusen is besides just Kid's captor.

[ellifeedn]

I'm not sure if anyone has wondered this, but how do you suppose Kid would turn out if he were in the Lust chapter?

[Kotobasuu]

A perfectly symmetrical girl.

Duh.

[Sol Falling]

Yeah, but beyond that though? Anybody got any ideas? I was thinking maybe an 'hourglass' figure, lol (y'know; a 'figure eight').

[Repelsteeltju]

Well we arleady have a genderbended Kid. Who cares if she's not cannon. She's still cute.

Spoiler for Death the Girl:

I forgot to mention we've seen parts of the Asia branch of Shibusen as well. It would be neat if the kids would go to another branch of Shibusen, for whatever reason, just so we can see whats different. At the very least I expect to see the remaining Death Scythes. I hate to bring it up. But Shounen manga tend to show characters early on and formally introduce them later. If they don't the audience will whine that showcasing and hyping those characters was pointless.

Why would Shinigami see it as disorderly for anyone other than his subordinates to handle human souls? What makes them special to him? Btw I recall Spirit saying something about 'pure' souls giving the individual that consumes them more power (which also explains Mifune's soul being worth 100 normal ones, his soul was stated to be highly pure). Then again that just might be 'Great Old Ones' related. It would be nice to hear some more out of the moth of a 'listed' normal human.

Then again it could also simply mean that Shinigami wants to prevent the birth of another Kishin. Kishin = Disorder (at least in Shinigami's mind) and eating very large quantities of souls turns one into a Kishin.

I totally think that Shinigami's idea of order will/should be wacky at the very least. It won't be anything sensible. Thats for shure. ^_^

I see Shibusen more as a worldwide police force (rather then a world government). A worldwide police force that may or may not be able to travel through time and or dimensions. x'D

[Orangejellosphere]

Several groups of students went to a Shibusen alternative campus in the chapter Duel Arts. I doubt Death City is the only place where meisters and weapons are trained by Shibusen.

[kari-no-sugata]

Chapter 73 is out in RAW...

[Kotobasuu]

Spoiler for 73:

Blair. Hot damn.

[Slayerx]

Chapter 73 is out

Spoiler for 73:

So place your bets people!
Who IS the horniest of the shibusen students?!
Judging by the end of the chapter, Maka might be the most pure minded of the group
Ah ya that made me lol... but not as much as thinking about the possibility of someone entering the lust and not changing gender; you know what that would mean

Though i think i'm gonna place my bet on... Liz...
No real reason, but i feel like, out of the least obvious suspects she would invoke the funniest reaction out of everyone


And i was a little freakout by how they chopped off the pig's arm, cooked it, and ate it right there... I know he's a pig, but man that just seem cannibalistic

And it seems like Kidd is going nuts...
This could be the start of Kidd as a villain
I can't help but think that maybe what's happening to Kidd might be what happened to Justin as we still don't know why he's chosen to serve Noah

Originally Posted by Repelsteeltju

To be honest I doubt the the Death Scythes could just ignore Shinigami's call (when Asura resurrected) if they where easy to come by. Sure there might be some more powerful weapons, but I doubt they are working for Shibusen, not now at least. A few of those might be former Shibusen employs/students though. Isn't Justin's spot open right now, since he sorta defected to Noah's side.

Well it seems they can...
I mean the bear mask guy for instance took his good sweet time responding to the call
Seems like they are working in other parts of the world

As it stands there are 9 Death scythes... Death sycthe, Justin, Marie, Yumi, Soul, Tezca, and 3 unknowns

We did see the men in black who where supposedly two star meisters (those pleople we saw arresting Lisa and Alisa). And the (disposable) soldiers we saw fighting Arachne's people. But other than that we've really seen very little of Shibusen. I wonder if we are ever gonna see Shibusen facilities outside Death City.

This is actually something that has greatly annoyed me about soul eater... the serious lack of details on the structure of Shibusen...
Like who were those soldiers? Are they also meisters? if so why don't they seem to have weapons like the students? what have the students, why weren't more of them taking part in the battles?
And what about the teachers at the school... Why do they have teachers who are weapons but have not yet become death scythes themselves? should they not also be training to become death scythes? Are we to believe that a pair of teenagers like Maka and Soul were able to make a death scythe (not once but twice if you include the screw up in chapter 1) but there are adults who still struggle to earn enough kishin eggs? Hell thinking about Maka's success i can only wonder why their aren't more death sycthe's as she makes it look easy to collect the 99 kishin eggs...

There are possible explanations we can speculate on, but it annoys me that the author has not made these things clear himself... it makes me question how much he's really thought about the world around soul eater as opposed to just what we see

Other than people obeying his rules. What does Shinigami have to gain from killing people who are messing with human Souls? I doubt he does it because he has moral objections and I don't see how that would make the world a more orderly place. To me that doesn't really make sense. Unless Shinigami knows something about what happens to souls if they are left alone long enough (they vanish right?). Then again maybe he's afraid that someone who has eaten enough souls and thus has gained a lot of power will be able to kill him or something. A fairly common theme in fiction nowadays is the killing of immortals and humanity coming on top or something, after all...

First off, i don't see why you would question Shimigami having moral objections to the kishins... they are killing people and devouring their souls, what he is doing is essentially forming a specialized police force to deal with them... how does that not make sense? don't you think they should be stopped?

Second of all, if i recall correctly, devouring human souls is how Asura was created... the other reason they hunt down kishins aside from them being evil creatures that devour souls is because dleaving them unchecked might result in the creation of another asura

[kitten320]

Saw translated chapter...
Oh man... male Blair sure looks aweasome 0_o
I wish we could see more of her like that.


And man, it will be funny to find out who is the biggest pervert
If to think about it, Blare should be most perverted one but... that would be too obviouse.

It looks like our shy Tsubaki is a pervert, why else would she worry so much?

[Tsuyoshi]

Originally Posted by Slayerx

Chapter 73 is out

So place your bets people!
Who IS the horniest of the shibusen students?!
Judging by the end of the chapter, Maka might be the most pure minded of the group
Ah ya that made me lol... but not as much as thinking about the possibility of someone entering the lust and not changing gender; you know what that would mean

Though i think i'm gonna place my bet on... Liz...
No real reason, but i feel like, out of the least obvious suspects she would invoke the funniest reaction out of everyone

I'm actually placing my bet on Tsubaki. Just look at his expression when Black*Star was rubbing her chest on him (you c wut I did thar? ). And how worried he was about being found out as the biggest perv xD Maka sure as hell isn't it, considering she's already switched back.

Originally Posted by Slayerx

And i was a little freakout by how they chopped off the pig's arm, cooked it, and ate it right there... I know he's a pig, but man that just seem cannibalistic

Same here. I guess that's the result of the insanity affecting them. By the looks of it, it's quite obvious who're most addicted to food in Spartoi Black*Star was no surprise in this instance.

Originally Posted by Slayerx

And it seems like Kidd is going nuts...
This could be the start of Kidd as a villain
I can't help but think that maybe what's happening to Kidd might be what happened to Justin as we still don't know why he's chosen to serve Noah

That probably is what happened, but I think there's still a chance to pull him out of insanity. In the beginning of the chapter, the black mass says it was just a fragment of his insanity rather than the full package. In any case, his new outfit is seriously kickass, and I have to admit that his logic isn't flawed either. I think Kidd has become really dangerous now though. I wonder how the others are gonna deal with him now, especially Liz and Patty.

[palpatin]

I could imagine Patty using a well-known method for fixing Kid:
An emotionally charged badass punch in the face to wake him up :B

And although I kinda expected it, the

Spoiler for kickass-moment:

"FUCK IT! We're eating you!"

moment, it cracked me up XD

[Repelsteeltju]

So as I pray grant me, wall of text!

Originally Posted by Slayerx

Chapter 73 is out

Spoiler for 73:

So place your bets people!
Who IS the horniest of the shibusen students?!
Judging by the end of the chapter, Maka might be the most pure minded of the group
Ah ya that made me lol... but not as much as thinking about the possibility of someone entering the lust and not changing gender; you know what that would mean


Though i think i'm gonna place my bet on... Liz...
No real reason, but i feel like, out of the least obvious suspects she would invoke the funniest reaction out of everyone


And i was a little freakout by how they chopped off the pig's arm, cooked it, and ate it right there... I know he's a pig, but man that just seem cannibalistic

And it seems like Kidd is going nuts...
This could be the start of Kidd as a villain
I can't help but think that maybe what's happening to Kidd might be what happened to Justin as we still don't know why he's chosen to serve Noah

Well it seems they can...
I mean the bear mask guy for instance took his good sweet time responding to the call
Seems like they are working in other parts of the world

As it stands there are 9 Death scythes... Death sycthe, Justin, Marie, Yumi, Soul, Tezca, and 3 unknowns


This is actually something that has greatly annoyed me about soul eater... the serious lack of details on the structure of Shibusen...
Like who were those soldiers? Are they also meisters? if so why don't they seem to have weapons like the students? what have the students, why weren't more of them taking part in the battles?
And what about the teachers at the school... Why do they have teachers who are weapons but have not yet become death scythes themselves? should they not also be training to become death scythes? Are we to believe that a pair of teenagers like Maka and Soul were able to make a death scythe (not once but twice if you include the screw up in chapter 1) but there are adults who still struggle to earn enough kishin eggs? Hell thinking about Maka's success i can only wonder why their aren't more death sycthe's as she makes it look easy to collect the 99 kishin eggs...

There are possible explanations we can speculate on, but it annoys me that the author has not made these things clear himself... it makes me question how much he's really thought about the world around soul eater as opposed to just what we see


First off, i don't see why you would question Shimigami having moral objections to the kishins... they are killing people and devouring their souls, what he is doing is essentially forming a specialized police force to deal with them... how does that not make sense? don't you think they should be stopped?


Second of all, if i recall correctly, devouring human souls is how Asura was created... the other reason they hunt down kishins aside from them being evil creatures that devour souls is because dleaving them unchecked might result in the creation of another asura

ABOUT THE LATEST CHAPTER.

I'm putting my money on Tsubaki in the horniest Spartoi member contest. Just because it would be the obvious thing to do. But Liz is a close second, since she's been seen flirting with guys on numerous occasions throughout the manga.

Seeing Black Star, Patti and Kirikou go at that pig seemed funny at the time. At the time... Thinking back about it, even though the pig thing was practically asking to be eaten, it was still utterly disgusting and not to mention disturbing. I wouldn't call it cannibalism, since it was a pig and not a human but … it still seems you know, wrong to kill a sentient creature like that just because it says it'll taste good.

I like the connection, between order and death. Death = Order. I heard Atsushi got it from Sanskrit mythology. But lets just hope that Shini doesn't share this idea and that Kid's friends knock some sense into him or something. But those are worries for the future.

ABOUT THE REST OF THE QUOTED POST.

What I meant was. If it would be easy to replace a Death Scythe. They couldn't get away with the things they get away with. IMO it would make most sense if Shibusen currently has 8 Death Scythe(s) (ranked) weapons. Not counting Justin since he's not with Shibusen anymore.

The reason Nygus is not a Death Scythe would probably be that they can't stand up to a witch (She and Sid would probably be able to take Eruka out, but I'm not 100% sure about a Mizune) or they don't feel like not taking a soul wen they have a number close to 99 or they can't find a suitable candidate.. There's also the issue that pure souls grant more power (remember Mifune) and as a result maybe they simply took out to much strong souls. But they might just not have the free time.

Regardless of my random speculations. It's sorta annoying not to have anything about this from Atsushi.

There is no such thing as 'Kishins' in the manga. There is only one Kishin and that's Asura who has done nothing morally questionable to date (excluding things he did in the anime or in the back story we have of him). Though his wavelength is said to make anyone near him insane and his presence reawakened witches who were in slumber (Like Arachne). The people Shinigami has his students (who are only children) and employes kill, are simply judged evil by Shinigami and thus are put on a list of people who's soul students are allowed to take. As shown in the case of Mifune, the people on Shini's list can sometimes have questionable circumstances. His 'police force' also devours souls (though to be fair most of the people killed by shibusen were either bad guys from movies or faceless minions) and Shinigami is the personification of Order. Not of goodwill, butterflies, cute bunnies and happiness. What he wants doesn't necessarily have to be pure good, depending how much he cares about order and the lives of his protectees, which are not only humans by the way. For example (were)wolves are protected wen their numbers dwindle and hunted if Shinigami feels they become a threat to humans. I quote: “Shibusen... The rules created by Shinigami create evil and persecute us”, Free's words not mine. The words of Grand Fisher, Free and the Dutchman make you doubt the 'justice' in Shinigami's rule.

To be fair Asura wasn't 'normal' or maybe not even human to begin with. We have no idea how the great old ones came to be. As far as we know humans can't eat their weapons and use them to eat souls. Crona failing to become a Kishin even after the massive amount of souls (s)he had Ragnarok consume, might be proof of this. But there's no way to tell for sure.

Originally Posted by kitten320

Saw translated chapter...
Oh man... male Blair sure looks aweasome 0_o
I wish we could see more of her like that.
Blair looks like a male stripper, sure (s)he looks badass. But you know...

And man, it will be funny to find out who is the biggest pervert
If to think about it, Blare should be most perverted one but... that would be too obviouse.
I doubt Blair is perverted. Lust seemed to have very little effect on her and imo she just flits with all the people she flits with for laughs. x'D
It looks like our shy Tsubaki is a pervert, why else would she worry so much?
Tsubaki always so introverted, I never would have guessed that she thought that way. It's always the quiet ones I tell ya