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Divergence.
So last night, Soul Eater officially deviated from the manga for the first time. Which means that we're gearing up for an anime-original storyline and ending. Which, you know, duh - did anyone not see this coming?
Okay, so, knee-jerk reactions:
1. It looks like they're going to cut out the Clown arc. Which, to be honest, I'm kind of okay with. I mean, there are plusses and minuses. Here's how it works out in my head:
+ Let's be honest. In terms of Soul/Maka development, the Clown storyline really isn't all that different than what happened when Soul first saved Maka from the black blood. In fact, it was kind of repetitive.
+ The end of the Brew battle is a perfectly dramatically appropriate moment for Maka and Soul to get their Demon Hunter power-up. They don't need to go through another big battle to do so. The Big Moment when Soul played the piano works out fine, story-wise. Soul's piano-playing was an excellent set-up for an awesome power-up anyway.
- But, on the other hand, the Clown itself was FUCKING AWESOME and I'm sad to see it go.
- Likewise with Blair's Crowning Moment of Awesome.
- "Listen to the sound you make" was an unbelievably beautiful moment, and yes, I'm sad to see that one go too.
+ But, on the other hand, I'm sure that Bones will make up for it by inserting some more original Soul/Maka moments in the storyline from now on. They may even incorporate "listen to the sound that you make" somewhere else down the line.
2. You know, I'm glad that Bones is going to conclude the anime with a real ending. It would be nice if they could just contract for more episodes and give us a more faithful adaptation of the manga, but I don't see that happening. It didn't happen for Fullmetal Alchemist, and it won't happen for Soul Eater. (Unless the upcoming FMA sequel is going to try to be more faithful to the manga...? I don't know, but the interviews that I've been reading have all discussed how the creators want to play around more in the anime-specific world that they've created, so I kind of doubt it.) But let's face it, the storyline that Ohkubo is developing in the manga right now is MASSIVE. There are a million subplots being juggled in the air, several major mysteries that have yet to be solved, and just waaaay too much material in general for Bones to possibly be able to cover it all in 51 episodes. Frankly, I'd much rather watch an anime series with an original ending, than watch an anime series that just peters off into an unresolved mess (*cough*KareKano*cough*).
Bones is smart to start cutting out material. There's plenty more that they could probably cut, too, and still be able to create a coherent, satisfying ending. Frankly I wouldn't be surprised to see the whole Lines of Sanzu thing get cut. At this point it's extraneous. Something else will probably happen to "conclude" Kid's story arc. Etc.
I'm sure that Asura will figure prominently in the anime's conclusion, since he plays such a huge role in the opening credits. And, to be fair, that makes the most sense story-wise. Ohkubo can keep Asura in play as merely a background threat for as long as he wants to, in the manga. But in the anime, viewers are going to want to see at least some sort of final confrontation with Asura, whether it ends in his defeat... or not.
3. Well, I dunno about you, but I'm excited! I'm really, really curious to see how Bones is going to develop their ending, present their own answers to Ohkubo's mysteries, and neatly tie up all of the loose ends in a satisfying way. And I have faith that they can do so. Hell, I liked the anime-original storyline in Fullmetal Alchemist, even though it was completely different from the direction that the manga took. If anybody can wrap up Soul Eater in a satisfying way, Bones can.
Okay, so, knee-jerk reactions:
1. It looks like they're going to cut out the Clown arc. Which, to be honest, I'm kind of okay with. I mean, there are plusses and minuses. Here's how it works out in my head:
+ Let's be honest. In terms of Soul/Maka development, the Clown storyline really isn't all that different than what happened when Soul first saved Maka from the black blood. In fact, it was kind of repetitive.
+ The end of the Brew battle is a perfectly dramatically appropriate moment for Maka and Soul to get their Demon Hunter power-up. They don't need to go through another big battle to do so. The Big Moment when Soul played the piano works out fine, story-wise. Soul's piano-playing was an excellent set-up for an awesome power-up anyway.
- But, on the other hand, the Clown itself was FUCKING AWESOME and I'm sad to see it go.
- Likewise with Blair's Crowning Moment of Awesome.
- "Listen to the sound you make" was an unbelievably beautiful moment, and yes, I'm sad to see that one go too.
+ But, on the other hand, I'm sure that Bones will make up for it by inserting some more original Soul/Maka moments in the storyline from now on. They may even incorporate "listen to the sound that you make" somewhere else down the line.
2. You know, I'm glad that Bones is going to conclude the anime with a real ending. It would be nice if they could just contract for more episodes and give us a more faithful adaptation of the manga, but I don't see that happening. It didn't happen for Fullmetal Alchemist, and it won't happen for Soul Eater. (Unless the upcoming FMA sequel is going to try to be more faithful to the manga...? I don't know, but the interviews that I've been reading have all discussed how the creators want to play around more in the anime-specific world that they've created, so I kind of doubt it.) But let's face it, the storyline that Ohkubo is developing in the manga right now is MASSIVE. There are a million subplots being juggled in the air, several major mysteries that have yet to be solved, and just waaaay too much material in general for Bones to possibly be able to cover it all in 51 episodes. Frankly, I'd much rather watch an anime series with an original ending, than watch an anime series that just peters off into an unresolved mess (*cough*KareKano*cough*).
Bones is smart to start cutting out material. There's plenty more that they could probably cut, too, and still be able to create a coherent, satisfying ending. Frankly I wouldn't be surprised to see the whole Lines of Sanzu thing get cut. At this point it's extraneous. Something else will probably happen to "conclude" Kid's story arc. Etc.
I'm sure that Asura will figure prominently in the anime's conclusion, since he plays such a huge role in the opening credits. And, to be fair, that makes the most sense story-wise. Ohkubo can keep Asura in play as merely a background threat for as long as he wants to, in the manga. But in the anime, viewers are going to want to see at least some sort of final confrontation with Asura, whether it ends in his defeat... or not.
3. Well, I dunno about you, but I'm excited! I'm really, really curious to see how Bones is going to develop their ending, present their own answers to Ohkubo's mysteries, and neatly tie up all of the loose ends in a satisfying way. And I have faith that they can do so. Hell, I liked the anime-original storyline in Fullmetal Alchemist, even though it was completely different from the direction that the manga took. If anybody can wrap up Soul Eater in a satisfying way, Bones can.
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If Maka wants to train the use of the Demon Hunter without making Soul suffer from insanity they might want to train that move (maybe seen in the next ep preview), so the "courage" bit can be used as a way to maximize efficiency of using DH.
Also, it looks like it will be a mix of manga and anime only now. I LOVE IT that Mos got a massive beating, and the fact his head regenerated a body can make us see his vampire self. It also seems that some subplots will get more attention, like Crona's, Stein's, Kid's. Also, did Maka talk about the "courage" bit during the "charging" of DH (morever WHAT did she say, I'm curious).
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Other then that! I think Bones is doing a pretty bad-ass job with Soul Eater. We are about 15 episodes away from an ending!!! I am curious as to what they do!!
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Despite all that, I really did dig stuff in this episode like Maka finally getting some more satisfying battle finales. I've been waiting for her to fight like this since episode 1, and not rely on help on friendship or whatever to complete overpower the opponent. Although, I guess the others did help but still Maka was definitely the leader here.
Soul's piano playing is surprisingly bad!XDD
Or atleast, that's not what I expected the bgm to sound like at all. I was expecting something smoother and more jazzy sounding, but maybe that wouldn't have fit the franticness of the battle?
As long as they actually take the remaining episodes and focus them ALL into a final anime-only arc it could turn out fantastic! The Yuyu Hakusho ending felt much more complete and satisfying in the anime than the manga which could happen here as long as Bones doesnt screw around and do a few more Excalibur specials or stuff like, episodes about Kilik going to a candy store or something. You can't go wrong with pandering to what the fans want to see as far as development, so it'd be cool to see some bold character development that we may never see in the actual manga(I'm obviously talking about the SoulXMaka stuff. :)).
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Way I see it, we're headed for a Maka-as-Ichigo "no one else can beat the Big Bad" ending. Sorry, Kidd and Black*Star fans...
@Keiichi chan: I wouldn't mind seeing a "Kilik goes to the candy store" filler if well done. This series' secondary characters are unexpectedly interesting, with Kilik and Ox-kun particularly full of win and awesome.