Sexual frustration all over the place!
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Atsushi Ohkubo
Translation/Adaptation: Jack Wiedrick
What They Say
The enemy of my enemy is…still my enemy?! As the madness of the Kishin continues to threaten the world, Noah and Medusa race to find Asura and ally themselves with him. With Noah reliant on demon tools and Medusa on her experimental black blood, DWMA must devise ways to combat both evils while trying to seek and destroy Asura themselves!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
While things have been super serious for the DWMA staff and students for awhile, it’s not surprising to see the story take a break and let down it’s hair for a bit. Even the fights in this volume feel like playful skirmishes. It’s all just preparation for the main course, getting Kid back to his family and friends and out of Noah’s clutches.
Black*Star tries his luck against a new and improved Crona. Crona, whose sex is still up in the air and the story let’s you know it, has had his memories of being at the DWMA altered. That internal conflict is still there, compounded by Black*Star asking questions about loyalty which just trigger more denial and stronger counter attacks. The skirmish ends without a victor, with Crona being pulled back out of combat more confused than ever. It’s a good thing Maka wasn’t the one fighting, or things would have really gotten messy.
Back at the Academy, Shinigami-sama is trying to put together a plan to get back his son, but it involves finding some compliant witches with enough power to get the job done. What follows is a scene of debauchery instead of a strategic meeting, one the returning students just happen to walk into. Maka’s Dad might have had his heart in the right place, but his head certainly isn’t. Luckily, Eruka provides the talent they need to launch a full scale rescue mission inside the Book of Eibon.
Kid, to his credit, has been holding up well to his imprisonment and torture. At least he was until Gofer figures out his hang-up with symmetry. Gofer is still blaming Kid on all his problems and Kid ends up being thrown into the deepest, darkest corner of the Book of Eibon. What he finds imprisoned there is a terrifying force which invokes all of the Lovecraftian jargon that lurks underneath the wackier stuff going on in the series.
Maka and the rest of the gang make their witch aided-descent into the Book of Eibon, which is broken into a chapters representing the seven deadly sins. I find it awfully convenient that they are able to get to the book without actually having it directly in their possession, even if the reasoning is explained in some of the events leading up to this moment. I’m sure the gang didn’t really expect to be greeted by a seemingly friendly avatar of the table of contents that tells them where they need to go.
That’s when things get silly. The first chapter of the book is Lust, and quicker than you can say succubus the kids have all been gender swapped! If you ever wanted to know what a male Patty would look like, here you go. It’s actually really amusing as they not only get swapped but end up with an entire makeover. For a volume full of T&A jokes, this was the pinnacle of where all that pent up sexuality could possibly end up.
In Summary
There’s never a dull moment in Soul Eater. As fanservicey as it might be, I was secretly delighted at the gender switching. If that last line by Maka was a payout for the running boob jokes in this volume, it’s a small price to pay. The next volume looks to be equally busy for the cast, seeing that they needed two pages for the preview. Personally, I’m read for another brawl, and after what happens to Kid in the darkest recesses of the Book of Eibon I expect one.
Content Grade: B +
Art Grade: A –
Packaging Grade: B
Text/Translation Grade: B +
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: November 19th, 2013
MSRP: $11.99