Soul Eater

Soul Eater (ソウルイーター, Sōru Ītā) is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Atsushi Okubo. The manga is published by Square Enix and was first released as three separate one-shots serialized in two Gangan Powered special editions and one Gangan Wing issue between June 24 and November 26, 2003. The manga started regular serialization in Square Enix's Monthly Shōnen Ganganon May 12, 2004. The first bound volume was released by Square Enix under their Gangan Comics imprint on June 22, 2004 in Japan, and as of October 2008, thirteen volumes have been released. The manga has been licensed for distribution in North America by Yen Press. The English translated version of Soul Eater is serialized in Yen Press' Yen Plus manga anthology magazine starting on July 29, 2008, and the first manga volume will be released in October 2009.

A single drama CD was produced on August 31, 2005 which came bundled with an art book. An anime adaptation produced by Bones first aired on TV Tokyo in Japan on April 7, 2008, and is set to contain fifty-one episodes. An Action-adventure video game by Square Enix for the Wii was released in September 2008, and an action video game for the Nintendo DS was released in October 2008. Another action game will be released in January 2009 on the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable. Set in the "Death Weapon Meister Academy", the series revolves around three groups which consist of a weapon meister and (at least one) human weapon. Trying to make the latter a "Death Scythe" and thus fit for use by a shinigami, they must collect the souls of ninety-nine evil humans and one witch.

Plot:
Soul Eater primarily revolves around students classified as meisters (職人, shokunin) at DWMA.

Techniques:
In Soul Eater, the characters can use certain techniques during battle that revolve around a given person's "soul wavelength", which, as the name implies, is the wavelength of one's soul. By using their soul wavelengths, a meister and his or her weapon can pull off a more powerful attack by performing a "soul echo" which matches their soul wavelengths. When the soul echo is used to its maximum level, it becomes known as a "soul resonance" which allows the partners to use high-class attacks. These include the "witch hunt", which causes the given weapon to grow and cut through the air for long range attacks; the "sorcerer hunt", otherwise known as the "witch hunting's witch hunt" which is a more powerful version of the witch hunt attack; a stronger version of the witch hunt known as the "demon hunt"; and the "protective spirit body", which creates a large shield for defense against attacks by fusing the soul wavelengths of the partners. A powerful, and rare technique known as the "soul purge" enables the user to send his or her own soul wavelength through one of their hands to directly damage the opponent's body; when using both hands, which deals twice as much damage, the technique is known as the "double soul purge twin lance". A stronger form of the soul purge is known as the "soul menace". Other techniques include the "soul feedback" which is used to find the presence of others, or the "soul protection" which is a magical barrier used by witches to hide their soul wavelength from others allowing them to blend in with normal humans.

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Media:

Manga:
Soul Eater began as a manga series written and illustrated by Atsushi Okubo. The manga initially began as three separate one-shots serialized between June 24, 2003 and November 26, 2003 across two manga magazines published by Square Enix: first in the summer 2003 special edition of Gangan Powered, followed by the autumn 2003 special edition of the same magazine, and finally in Gangan Wing. The manga started regular serialization in Square Enix's Monthly Shōnen Gangan manga magazine on May 12, 2004. The first bound volume was released by Square Enix under their Gangan Comics imprint on June 22, 2004 in Japan, and as of September 18, 2009, fifteen volumes have been released. The manga has been licensed by Yen Press for distribution in English in North America. The manga was initially serialized in Yen Press' Yen Plus anthology magazine, the first issue of which went on sale on July 29, 2008. The first English volume of the manga was sold on October 31, 2009.

Drama CD:
A drama CD was released on August 31, 2005 by Square Enix entitled Soul Eater (Vol. 1): Special Social Studies Field Trip (ソウルイーター（Vol.1）特別社会科見学, Sōru Ītā (Vol. 1) Tokubetsu Shakaika Kengaku).[1]. The CD came bundled with an art book and a Screenplay|script of the CD dialogue. Of the cast used for the drama CD, only Black Star's voice actress Yumiko Kobayashi was retained for the anime voice cast.

Anime:
A 51 episode anime adaptation was directed by Takuya Igarashi, and produced by Bones, Aniplex, Dentsu, Media Factory, and TV Tokyo; Bones and Aniplex were responsible for the animation and music production respectively. The anime's scenario writer was Akatsuki Yamatoya who based the anime's story on Atsushi Okubo original concept. Character design was headed by Yoshiyuki Ito, with overall art direction by Norifumi Nakamura. The anime's conceptual design was done by Shinji Aramaki. The episodes started airing on April 7, 2008 on TV Tokyo, and two animated specials aired on May 29 and June 1, 2008. The episodes also aired at later dates on TV Aichi, TV Hokkaido, TV Osaka, TV Setouchi, and TVQ Kyushu Broadcasting Co. The final episode aired on March 30, 2009. The first DVD compilation volume was released on August 22, 2008 with the first three episodes. The second DVD compilation volume was released on September 25, 2008 with episodes four through seven. Each DVD volume will be released in monthly intervals. The anime was licensed by Funimation and will be releasing the series in four half-season DVD box sets starting with the first volume in 2010. Soul Eater is Bones' third anime series to run with 50-51 episodes, after 2003's Fullmetal Alchemist and 2005's Eureka Seven.

The anime was regularly broadcast Mondays at 6:00 pm on TV Tokyo. The official Japanese website of the Soul Eater anime series announced that each episode will air in two different versions: the regular Monday 6:00 p.m. version and a late-night "Soul Eater Late Show" version. Special footage was added at the start and end of the commercial break; the next episode preview was also different from the regular version. The dual broadcast of this supernatural action series was being billed as the "world's first evening and late-night resonance broadcast". The "resonance" term refers to a story concept in which the characters, such as the heroine Maka and her living weapon partner Soul Eater, achieve maximum power by synchronizing their souls.

Video Games:
Soul Eater: Monotone Princess (ソウルイーター モノトーン プリンセス, Sōru Ītā Monotōn Purinsesu) is an action-adventure video game exclusively for the Wii and developed by Square Enix with Bones was released on September 25, 2008[2] in Japan only. Grimoire (グリモア, Gurimoa) and Ponera (ポネラ, Ponera) are two original playable characters exclusive for the game designed by the author, Atsushi Okubo. Ponera is the Monotone Princess and Grimoire is known as Eibon in the manga. Template:Nihongo is an action game produced by Namco Bandai for the DS and was released on October 23, 2008.[3] Soul Eater: Battle Resonance (ソウルイーター バトルレゾナンス, Sōru Ītā Batoru Rezonansu) is another action game produced by Namco Bandai Games for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable and was released on January 29, 2009.

Music:
Six pieces of theme music are used for the episodes; two opening themes and four closing themes. The first opening theme is "Resonance" by T.M.Revolution for the first thirty episodes, and the single was released on June 11, 2008. The second opening theme is "Papermoon" by Tommy heavenly from episode thirty-one onwards; the single was released on December 10, 2008 by DefStar Records. The first closing theme is "I Wanna Be" by Stance Punks for the first thirteen episodes, and the fifty-first episode; the single was released on June 4, 2008. The second closing theme is "Style" by Kana Nishino from episode fourteen to twenty-six; the single was released on August 13, 2008 by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. The third closing theme is "Bakusō Yume Uta" by Soul'd Out's Diggy-Mo from episode twenty-seven to thirty-nine; the single was released on November 26, 2008 by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. The final closing theme is "Strength" by Abingdon Boys School from episode forty through episode fifty; the single was released on February 25, 2009.

The first character song maxi single sung by Chiaki Omigawa (Maka) and Kōki Uchiyama (Soul) was released on August 6, 2008 by Aniplex. The second single by Yumiko Kobayashi (Black Star) and Kaori Nazuka (Tsubaki) was released on September 3, 2008, and the third single by Mamoru Miyano (Kid), Akeno Watanabe (Liz), and Narumi Takahira (Patti) was released on October 1, 2008. Two original soundtracks for the anime were released by Aniplex on August 27, 2008 and March 18, 2009. The theme song for Soul Eater: Monotone Princess is "Soul's Crossing" sung by T.M.Revolution, and is included on the "Resonance" single. Two original soundtracks for the anime were released on August 27, 2008 and March 18, 2009 by Aniplex.