Soul Eater – Chapter 90

This ship holds all the answers.

We’re just now starting up the journey to fight the Kishin on the moon (those of you who aren’t caught up with the manga think that’s a joke, don’t you?). Everyone, save Maka and Soul, is gathering together to invade his lair and put a stop to this madness once and for all. The characters involved all have this sense of impending doom, to the point where several of them have written their wills in the likely event that something bad happens along the way. And personally, I can’t help but wonder how this arc is going to turn out, since I’m fairly certain that before the end, someone we like is going to die.

The characters had gone on a lot of life-threatening adventures, but this was the first time anyone had really considered the possibility of dying during the mission. It says a lot when they’d previously gone after Arachne and Noah without worrying like this. The mood has gotten rather dark lately, which suggests to me that this is where we’re finally going to see the death of a major character (BJ wasn’t that major, and I’m fairly certain Medusa isn’t dead yet).

Of the characters going on this trip, the only ones I know won’t die are Black Star, Tsubake, and Kidd. These characters still have a lot to do in the story, and Black Star and Tsubake are so interconnected, I don’t think the story can kill one and keep the other in proper shape. Liz or Patty I suppose I could see dying, since they’ve been having difficulty staying relevant, but even with the two writing their wills this chapter, the odds are still miniscule. I highly doubt the series will kill off one of the child characters at this point, anyway.

The character I can most easily visualize dying in this story arc is Spirit Albarn, Maka’s dad. The relationships between the adults and the children seem to suggest a passing of the torch, of sorts, particularly with Maka and Kidd. And Maka has recently been through a lot, both in terms of ability and emotional turmoil. Soul became a Death Scythe, she started mastering her soul wavelength, and then the encounter with Giriko shock her up badly. Currently, though, she doesn’t seem as affected by this as she could be, apart from being closer with Soul. The story hasn’t focused on her as much lately, so she likely did grow more than we’ve seen so far, but it’s also possible that she’s hit the emotional wall, and something major needs to happen to get her past it. And then, after all that, her father goes off on a dangerous mission, seemingly giving her one last goodbye beforehand. It’s not hard to see the possible foreshadowing here.

Of course all of this could just be me, or the series is pulling some sort of red herring with that last scene with Maka and Spirit. Still, I’m fairly sure we’re going to lose someone soon, and if I were a betting man, I know who I’d be putting money on.