Jesus Christ you GW anime fans are hopeless. Unless you are a serious hobbyist that keeps up with 4chan.org or the infamous Sankaku Complex website, chances are you just aren't connected enough with global culture to "get" Soul Eater.
Created originally by Atsushi Okubo as a satirical response to the canonical shounen formula; Soul Eater presents a very basic and tried package that on the surface hides its intentions. Loaded heavily with symbolism and countless moments of self-loathing, Soul Eater assesses the current state of the shounen genre, and to a lesser extent, anime itself. The path that each story arc follows is matched closely to the Monomyth that permeates all societies and cultures across the globe, and at every landmark step we are introduced to a new kind of animal or animal trait (Frog, wolf, snake, spider).
Joseph Campbell would probably have a lot to say about this series, as the author has really done their homework. Immediately at the start of the series, there is a call to adventure. In order to complete the legendary death scythe, Maka and Soul must find just a single witch to mix with the kishin eggs that they have been collecting. Eggs are a universal symbol of birth and potential, and quickly we find that full potential can never be reached unless there is an overall completeness between society and culture. The kishin egg denotes society, in that there are many, but there is a single global unified culture that permeates boundries of every society. Every culture recognizes a magic man or woman, and the witch is that global culture symbol. I could honestly go on about how the appearance of new characters at each stage of the Monomyth story have a symbolic significance to that pivotal step, but my explanation would run on for 4-5 more paragraphs.
Those who regard to the animation job Studio Bones has done as "generic" need to understand what kind of features in anime makes a certain production unique. I hate to say this, but unless you are academically trained as an artist/historian or have watched hundreds of anime, you probably won't realize either that Soul Eater breaks traditional shounen boundaries in terms of its genre animation as well. It has lent itself to a pseudo tenebrist style, with extremely large amounts of contrast between light and dark, as well as an irrational and wild style of coloring in segments (primarily at night) that can almost be considered Fauvism. There is also an abrupt stylization of the Sky elements (clouds, sun, and moon) compared to a semi-normal representation of the Earth. The choice for this is actually an insider's play on life, death, and rebirth. The Earth has qualities of a repeating life cycle, while the sky is a symbol of rebirth. In this regard, the Bones animation team wants to emphasize these qualities in the sky as fleeting, but yet ever present forces of chaos (The kishin god which symbolizes madness and discord later escapes into the sky, earlier in the series he is imprisoned in the Earth, the domain of mankind.)
Is this good? I really don't know how to further continue my lecture without losing any of you GW folk. I often try to sit on the sidelines and smile as you go about your lives thinking you know anime, but this was just the last straw; I couldn't suppress my power level any further. Watch this show and keep in mind what the author is trying to tell us. Also pick up Joseph Campbell's book: "The Hero with a Thousand Faces," which I suggest you use it as a companion for this show. You'll learn a lot.
Anime the Kid signing out.
Last Edit: November 28, 2008, 05:39:39 am by The Magi
