Soul Eater Manga Discussion

[BelovedSong]

it seems that only soul has his clothes on when they're in weapon form, the girls...look at jackie
http://i29.tinypic.com/28qyxoy.jpg

and harvar hadn't his clothes in the baba yaga arc

if i remember well, i think that at first, or at least in some chapters, soul was also naked, but now he has his clothes on

i have never thought too much on it lol maybe they chose to be naked or not...?

about gopher, i like the theory of the worm thingy, it seems very possible, they have similar weird eyes...
http://i25.tinypic.com/33l2jyo.jpg
and maybe his devotion for noah is because is his creation...?

[Reincarnated]

-_-" from my view Soul's not naked is a minor problem. Or maybe he's the only one having his clothes because he's the main character? (lol kidding)
(I notice Soul get taller than Maka now. Or is it just me?)

well most people got iritatte because there's no Kid/Chrona/Medusa/etc ... maybe?
While I'm a big fan of Maka , it's not a problem for me XD

[DragoZERO]

When I watched the anime Soul had his clothes on while the other weapons did not. And what did the other weapons have in common with each other and not with Soul? They're girls.

[Spongefan1]

^ I noticed that too, what's up with that? I don't wanna say possible sexism but I'm pretty sure everyone is thinking it, so I'm going to say it anyway-- Sexism?? *le gasp* :o

I don't think it's because of the Death Scythe or the whole main character thing that Soul isn't naked anymore since:

1. The other Death Scythe were all naked. What makes Soul so special?
2. He is clearly clothed here, before he became a DS.
3. He was naked the whole time before this... these people need to stop confusing us and start stripping.. NAOW.

(Oh god, we've been talking about nekkid teenagers for a while already.. :/)

[Cub-Sama]

I don't like Maka's wings and her whole obsession with being an angel I mean she is apparently an angel whilst Soul is a twisted guy with an imp in his head doesnt seem like a good match up if you ask me. I like the whole sharp wings better also if they used that they would be able to cut whilst flying.

But I don't mind the wings on the last page, one more question how is she going to fight and if Soul can control his form now wouldnt it make sense to wrap the stick around her arm so they could fight and put the wings on her back.

Kind of like Sephiroth's wings

[Tsuyoshi]

Originally Posted by Cub-Sama

I don't like Maka's wings and her whole obsession with being an angel I mean she is apparently an angel whilst Soul is a twisted guy with an imp in his head doesnt seem like a good match up if you ask me. I like the whole sharp wings better also if they used that they would be able to cut whilst flying.

But I don't mind the wings on the last page, one more question how is she going to fight and if Soul can control his form now wouldnt it make sense to wrap the stick around her arm so they could fight and put the wings on her back.

Kind of like Sephiroth's wings

Hmmm, well we haven't actually seen anything yet in my opinion. Soul is a Death Scythe now, so I'm pretty sure those wings aren't the only thing he's got to show now. Before, the only things Maka had were the Witch Hunter and Demon Hunter when performing the Soul Resonance. I imagine now that Soul's a Death Scythe, there's no doubt they'll have a lot more in store for us than that. Even the new Phoneix Wings, as I call them, haven't really impressed me as much as the Demon Hunter.

[Kirvee]

@Sponge: No, it couldn't be sexism. Because I can clearly remember that other male weapons have been naked too. Maybe he's foreshadowing something by making Soul the only clothed one?

[JunkKitty]

@cub-sama: I trust Okubo wouldn't put Maka into this "angel" situation in this fight if he didn't have some idea of how she'd fight like that Just cuz we don't know what his plan is yet doesn't mean he doesn't have one.

I admit his pulling out the actual "angel" concept just emphasized the already existing contrast between (honest, direct) Maka and (deceptive, sneaky) Soul, it felt a little *too* obvious. The angel+demon pair is a commonly used stereotype but at least he isn't setting it up or playing it out like it usually does.
-

For the naked Weapon thing, er.. Hahaha, I had typed up a little on why I think it's unimportant but I just realized it might be possible that we started seeing Soul clothed only after he got the black blood. Maybe the presence of the oni makes him feel modest

edit: but maybe not since he's clothed in their fight with Sid. I go back to thinking it's unimportant since it looks like the only reason the weapons can be seen in human form inside their weapon form is for our benefit. Unless it comes up in story I'm going to assume Okubo has decided to handle it however he wants. There are plenty of panels that would have required some cheesy and annoying censoring method if he hadn't drawn Soul with clothes, since we see so much of him like that. Mist worked with Tsubaki cuz she'd be sexy in a barrel and we don't see her like that often. Oh, and SE is a boy's manga.

But if you are the type to insist on getting deep with intended meanings, maybe is some psychological device to reinforce Soul being a hidden personality type. Maybe Soul's usually too cool and stylish to be willing to be nude. Though he has had a few scenes like that. Maybe he's just more important than the others.

[Kirvee]

@Junk: That's a good idea you have there about the psychological thing. But fyi, very few things in manga are there without a reason. Everything that happens in a manga happens for a reason. Everything from the way panels are layed out to expressions and even stuff in the background. Everything is important, even seemingly little things like that.

Just because it's a shounen does not mean it has to follow the "oh, let's put a naked chick in here because boys like that stuff" way of doing things. I know plenty of shounen who don't do this, and the ones who do usually have it happen so that there is a reason behind it (like Alice in PH stripping because she was 1) drunk and 2) felt hot).

Kay, rant over.

[I'monaboat]

Is it just me or have these kids aged since the start of the series?

[JunkKitty]

Originally Posted by Kirvee

Everything from the way panels are layed out to expressions and even stuff in the background. Everything is important, even seemingly little things like that.

I usually agree on this because everything is drawn, but something pretty much every fandom does is over-analyze and look for meanings in things the creator just did because it had to be done.
It's also not the same as a mistake just because fandom wants there to be a meaning to some inconsistency.

BTW, I don't care much for the psych idea; being secretive fits Soul's profile but he has been naked in some fights. So... eh, it's also not like he's never been naked.

So there may be a story reason, or it might just be a production reason. IMO, things like this aren't worth the time spent on them unless there's some inside-the-story clue it's important. So I really can't think of anything in the story suggesting this is worth the trouble. And I'm totally the over-analyzing type and have to get sucked into this type of talk! And I'll be re-reading the chaps again when I get time and make sure I notice when/who/where ppl are naked or not

[Tsuyoshi]

There might be another reason. The reason Soul has clothes wheras everyone else doesn't is probably because Soul's "soul" and that of his technician don't go along perfectly. Like Stein said, Soul and Maka aren't exactly perfectly compatible like Black*Star and Tsubaki, or Kidd, Liz and Patty. And during that fight, Soul had his clothes on. Maka and Soul also were very unsynchronized during their fight with Free, and Soul had his clothes on just then as well while all the others didn't. And one more example is when Black*Star tried fighting Kidd with Soul. We all know how that went and I think Soul had his clothes on then as well. Soul and Maka, too, run into the greatest amount of disagreements compared to other weapons and their technicians, so it's probably due to the fact that Soul and Maka get along slightly less than everyone else.

[Orangejellosphere]

@Freedan
If we see Soul without clothes in his weapon form after Soul and Maka have come to more of an agreement (as they did right at the end of Chapter 64) then I'd say your theory is the most likely. Unless we see a difference, I think I'll dismiss it as unimportant until then.
I also think the characters have aged a bit. Many of the characters look quite different from themselves in the introductory chapter. It's not easy to say how old most of them are, even the students. We know Killik (or at least his skin) is 13 in Operation Seize Baba Yaga's Castle.* I find it pretty likely that the other students could be fairly older in age. I'm only guessing, but I don't think Shibusen divides classes into grade based on age. Some characters seem like they could easily be in their late teens.
*The artifact soldier that could read Killik's moves said something about Killik's skin age being 13.

[Tsuyoshi]

Originally Posted by Orangejellosphere

@Freedan
If we see Soul without clothes in his weapon form after Soul and Maka have come to more of an agreement (as they did right at the end of Chapter 64) then I'd say your theory is the most likely. Unless we see a difference, I think I'll dismiss it as unimportant until then.
I also think the characters have aged a bit. Many of the characters look quite different from themselves in the introductory chapter. It's not easy to say how old most of them are, even the students. We know Killik (or at least his skin) is 13 in Operation Seize Baba Yaga's Castle.* I find it pretty likely that the other students could be fairly older in age. I'm only guessing, but I don't think Shibusen divides classes into grade based on age. Some characters seem like they could easily be in their late teens.
*The artifact soldier that could read Killik's moves said something about Killik's skin age being 13.

Yeah, I'm only judging things from what we've already seen, but like you said, I could easily be wrong. I'm not denying it could just be a mistake.

As to the aging factor, notice that Black*Star and Tsubaki are the same height now in chapter 62.

[Kirvee]

@Freedan: I like that theory! We'll see if it's right next month.

And yeah, I agree with the aging thing. Black Star was 13 at some point earlier in the manga, so I would assume he's like 14 now? And Maka was supposedly the same age as Black Star (he said so at some point) so I guess she's 14 now too. Tsubaki always looks like she's 16 or 17, Soul no clue but he definitely looks older now.

[animekritik]

Yes, Freedan's theory sounds great. Although the notion that Soul appears clothed in weapon form because of the black blood is very appealing too, coz it reminds one of how Adam and Eve's contact with the devil was what made them ashamed of their bodies and start wearing clothes... Both could be right..

[I'monaboat]

I think Tsubaki's also the same age as them, maybe only 15 or so, but she is very well developed.

[BelovedSong]

I also noticed that they're growing up! the difference between Maka and Soul wasn't very remarkable at first, but now Soul is clearly taller than Maka and BS is as tall as Patti is (I think that Patti was taller than him at first). I would love to see a more mature Kid!

About the ages, I have always thought that Liz and Tsubaki were way older than the rest of the gang, maybe 17-18, while the rest of them were 13-14-15 years old except Patti (16-17). As Orangejellosphere said, Kilik was 13 in the Baba Yaga Arc but since Shibusen hasn't apparently a clear criterion to distribute the students during class we can't be sure about the others (except that BS and Maka have the same age).

[Kirvee]

This is where a character guide would be AWESOME.

[Sno-Oki]

Originally Posted by BelovedSong

I would love to see a more mature Kid!

I think it would be absolutely adorable, and very funny if when Kid came back, he was taller. *squeals over the thought of a gangly Kid*