Soul Eater Not! - Spinoff Manga Discussion

[CrowKenobi]

Soul Eater manga-ka Atsushi Ohkubo has started a spin-off manga titled Soul Eater Not! in the Monthly Shōnen Gangan magazine beginning January 12, 2011.

As of the first chapter, the story (apparently set before Soul Eater itself starts) follows young weapon, Tsugumi Harudori as she first enters Death Weapon Meister Academy (DWMA).

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[Glader]

I just read the first chapter... I can't say I'm impressed.. But are they going to stop making new chapters of Soul Eater??

[nenena2]

Originally Posted by CrowKenobi

Tsugumi Halberd

Tsugumi Harudori.

Can we just nip "Tsugumi Halberd" in the bud right now, before it starts getting spread around like "Crona Makenshi" or "Kami" or any of the other epic mistranslations?

Harudori is a pun on "halberd" if you squint ("haru" = spring, "harudori" = "spring bird," halberd = "harubaado" in Japanese which sounds like "haru bird") but that still doesn't make her name Halberd. It's Harudori.

[kitten320]

Why would the author start a new series version?

[D-Gold]

So I am guessing this takes place before soul eater vol 1

Spoiler for because...:

Sid is alive.

[Repelsteeltju]

Warning: there is a freaking huge post incoming.
Repel's random notes:


That huge stairway … I don't think that I have seen it before. I mean; of course I've seen a few huge stairways in Death City's landscape but iirc none of them actually lead to Shibusen. They just stop high in the sky, don't they? Regardless, seeing it reminded me of this song called Stairway to Heaven, and Tsugumi's 'In love, with love' reminded me of another song. And Free's no future tatoo reminds me of The Sex Pistols' song called “God Save the Queen” but I'm starting to go off track.

Still I can't help but wonder if Atsushi is sponsored by DC. *Is looking at the pannel of Kirikou about meisters getting sponsored*

Seeing Maka in her old, superior, trench coat was nice. As where the cameos that Kirikou, Black Star, Sid, Medusa and Shinigami had.

I also liked that Tsugumi styled her hair like Maka's.

The fact that Shibusen (old habits die hard) collects taxes from the entire world has made me even more suspicious of Shinigami. I know the only sure tings in this world are death and taxes but I never thought that Atsushi would combine the two.

The 'high class' girl reminded me of Soul as a girl, in The Lust Chapter of the Salvage arc, but I wonder if she knows that only relatively strong people can have hair that long when in battle ... because, you know, it works in you opponent's advantage. Dresses don't work so well neither and her 'Gopher'ish face was lulzy. :<

I was amazed that nobody seemed to have any trouble wielding a weapon despite never having matched soul wavelengths with one before, which seemed a little odd to me, but thinking back the only ones who had failed to resonate where Soul and Black Star, and Maka and Soul after an argument. Yeah, I don't think that just anyone should just be able to wield and resonate with every weapon. The only person who should be able to do that is Stein (imo).

Sid looks way better as a living person than he does as a dead one.

Maka and Black Star completely stole the show for me. Anytime they appeared on screen I was like: Gawd they are awesome! They are both younger than Tsugumi too, both where about 13 yrs when Soul Eater started. I did miss Soul (and Tsubaki a little too) since Maka came to school without him, does that mean she has yet to make him her's?

If so Soul Eater N OT! might take place before Death Scythe and his wife had a divorce; meaning we could maybe sneak a peek at Maka's missing mom.

Tsugumi's weapon form kinda looks like a scythe. I guess old habits die hard for Atsushi as well.

[Mr. DJ]

"I can transform everything except my head!"

lolz indeed

[immblueversion]

Originally Posted by Repelsteeltju

Seeing Maka in her old, superior, trench coat was nice. As where the cameos that Kirikou, Black Star, Sid, Medusa and Shinigami had.

Well, more a like fleeting mention of Medusa, but I see what you mean.

Originally Posted by Repelsteeltju

Tsugumi's weapon form kinda looks like a scythe. I guess old habits die hard for Atsushi as well.

Well, here's a fun fact:

The kanji for her weapon form's name is spelled 鎌槍, which is normally read as "kamayari," a specific kind of Japanese weapon. Its name literally means "scythe spear." However, in this case, the furigana (the kana written above or next to kanji) is ハルバード (harubaado), or "halberd," which is in fact a little different from a kamayari. Of course, that's just another habit for Atsushi: writing kanji with transliterated English furigana that usually means something slightly different from the kanji in question.

[Orangejellosphere]

Originally Posted by Repelsteeltju

Warning: there is a freaking huge post incoming.
Repel's random notes:


That huge stairway … I don't think that I have seen it before. I mean; of course I've seen a few huge stairways in Death City's landscape but iirc none of them actually lead to Shibusen. They just stop high in the sky, don't they? Regardless, seeing it reminded me of this song called Stairway to Heaven, and Tsugumi's 'In love, with love' reminded me of another song. And Free's no future tatoo reminds me of The Sex Pistols' song called “God Save the Queen” but I'm starting to go off track.

Still I can't help but wonder if Atsushi is sponsored by DC. *Is looking at the pannel of Kirikou about meisters getting sponsored*

Seeing Maka in her old, superior, trench coat was nice. As where the cameos that Kirikou, Black Star, Sid, Medusa and Shinigami had.

I also liked that Tsugumi styled her hair like Maka's.

The fact that Shibusen (old habits die hard) collects taxes from the entire world has made me even more suspicious of Shinigami. I know the only sure tings in this world are death and taxes but I never thought that Atsushi would combine the two.

The 'high class' girl reminded me of Soul as a girl, in The Lust Chapter of the Salvage arc, but I wonder if she knows that only relatively strong people can have hair that long when in battle ... because, you know, it works in you opponent's advantage. Dresses don't work so well neither and her 'Gopher'ish face was lulzy. :<

I was amazed that nobody seemed to have any trouble wielding a weapon despite never having matched soul wavelengths with one before, which seemed a little odd to me, but thinking back the only ones who had failed to resonate where Soul and Black Star, and Maka and Soul after an argument. Yeah, I don't think that just anyone should just be able to wield and resonate with every weapon. The only person who should be able to do that is Stein (imo).

Sid looks way better as a living person than he does as a dead one.

Maka and Black Star completely stole the show for me. Anytime they appeared on screen I was like: Gawd they are awesome! They are both younger than Tsugumi too, both where about 13 yrs when Soul Eater started. I did miss Soul (and Tsubaki a little too) since Maka came to school without him, does that mean she has yet to make him her's?

If so Soul Eater NOT! might take place before Death Scythe and his wife had a divorce; meaning we could maybe sneak a peek at Maka's missing mom.

Tsugumi's weapon form kinda looks like a scythe. I guess old habits die hard for Atsushi as well.

Orange's random responses and impressions:

Kirikou also mentioned that being sponsored was to help rebuild the country. I smell a good backstory.

I like the Spartoi uniform better than Maka's trenchcoat, (just look at my avatar) but regardless I also absolutely loved seeing some old faces. Black*Star and Maka and everybody were just perfect. I think the new characters have a lot of potential, too, but more on that later. I swear Ohkubo is a genius. Yes, sponsored by Death City.

Shibusen protects world order and national/global defense is a public good. I don't think its fishy but I'm surprised I hadn't thought about it until now.

I think Anya just might be a relative of Soul. Second cousins or something like that.

Tsugumi referred to Maka or Black*Star as a senior. I think Ohkubo's mathematical inconsistencies could be intentional so you can imagine the Soul Eater characters as a few different ages. If they're older than Tsugumi and Tsugumi is 14 without a doubt, I guess Maka's class is older than previous evidence has indicated.

As of now I'm thinking of Soul Eater NOT! as between the prologue and chapter 1 of Soul Eater. SE NOT! runs "alongside" Soul Eater... does that mean they're next to each other in the magazine or that chapter 1 of SE NOT! corresponds roughly with the state of things during chapter 1 of Soul Eater? Anyway, I think Spirit already divorced Maka's mom.

So I'm looking forward to this a lot. I think we need better shorthands for Soul Eater and Soul Eater NOT!. For next chapter I'm hoping for more on the new characters. I particularly like how concepts like Shibusen and weapons are being re-introduced. I didn't really think there were classes full of ordinary students in other countries. With the new student perspective, I think we'll get to see a satisfying bit of the structure of the Soul Eater world and Shibusen and everything.

[nenena2]

Originally Posted by Orangejellosphere

Tsugumi referred to Maka or Black*Star as a senior. I think Ohkubo's mathematical inconsistencies could be intentional so you can imagine the Soul Eater characters as a few different ages. If they're older than Tsugumi and Tsugumi is 14 without a doubt, I guess Maka's class is older than previous evidence has indicated.

(Oh man I hate to be the person in this thread only contributing ARGH THAT IS A BAD TRANSLATION but errrrr yeah that is a bad translation!)

Tsugumi called Maka and BS her "senpai" which has nothing to do with age, it only means that they're her seniors in the sense that they've been at Shibusen longer. Tsugumi could very well be older than Maka and still call Maka her "senpai."

Stein calls Spirit his "senpai" too, even though Spirit is younger.

Also just a general comment: Since when did it become acceptable to call Ohkubo "Atsushi"? FYI it's incredibly rude in Japanese to be referring to a professional author by his given name, and it's generally not acceptable in English either.

There's a reason why nobody calls Tite Kubo "Tite" or Masashi Kishimoto "Masashi." That ain't cool (unless you're trying to be deliberately derisive!).

[ellifeedn]

^ Is refering to someone by their full name acceptable?

Anyway, I hope we can see more unique kinds of weapons that students can transform (even partially ) into. But one thing bothers me: how did they know she was a weapon? She said she never transformed before coming to Shibusen.

[nenena2]

Originally Posted by ellifeedn

^ Is refering to someone by their full name acceptable?

Yes. (Why wouldn't it be?) But if you want to shorten things, the convention in both English and Japanese is just to use the author's surname. Ohkubo, Kubo, Tezuka, Takeuchi, etc.

[Orangejellosphere]

Originally Posted by nenena2

(Oh man I hate to be the person in this thread only contributing ARGH THAT IS A BAD TRANSLATION but errrrr yeah that is a bad translation!)

Tsugumi called Maka and BS her "senpai" which has nothing to do with age, it only means that they're her seniors in the sense that they've been at Shibusen longer. Tsugumi could very well be older than Maka and still call Maka her "senpai."

Stein calls Spirit his "senpai" too, even though Spirit is younger.

Thanks!
I don't think there will be a very structured way of referring to grade level at Shibusen. If any information along these lines is revealed, it'll probably be in SE Not.

How do we think the new chapter will start? I hope there's not too much of a timelapse between the events immediately surrounding the informal freshman familiarization with Sid and the start of chapter 2. Surely there's still a bit more to reveal on the first day (and evening) of school? Starting Chapter 2 in her dorm on the following morning would work fine. Judging from Ohkubo's style as we've seen it in B. Ichi and Soul Eater, there will probably be a small timelapse. Anything could happen.

[darkchibi07]

Chapter 2 is out! I'm liking the direction this is going!

http://i17.mangareader.net/soul-eate...ot-1974457.jpg

[Repelsteeltju]

Yeah lol, our main characters are actually Bullies, Geeks and Aloof Idols. The addition of dorms and pocket money was nice . . . but SE Not doesn't seem like it's going to be a (real) fighting manga pretty soon. Though what's her name's sleepfighting was pretty cool. The Soul Eater regulars just keep stealing the show for me in every pannel they appear on.

[Ravenblitz]

Tsugumi, she's a Japanese but her surname/weapon is not... but i like it haha especially the Ojou-sama Meister who wants to see Peasts err Common People

[Slayerx]

So either Kim was jokingly called a "witch" before she was revealed to be an actual witch or this chapter confirms that this is indeed an alternate reality kind of deal. Also kim has something of an unexpected dark side

[Rag]

So this means we get to see Maka's mother finally?

[Om Nerabdator]

im looking forward to the next chapter ^^
Im honestly loving this manga and i have high hopes about where this is going

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by Slayerx

So either Kim was jokingly called a "witch" before she was revealed to be an actual witch or this chapter confirms that this is indeed an alternate reality kind of deal. Also kim has something of an unexpected dark side

Yeah I'd assume that she was just called that and ironically it matched her actual identity. Her money focus is a pretty scary thing if you get sucked up in it and thus have nothing.

Anyways a good second chapter in getting them into the dorms. Clearly both of the meister girls have fighting potential. Though not sure how strong the one girl would be when actually awake. Think Anya might be a better fit since Halberd being the responsible one of a pair might be scary.