Blog Archives
Soul Eater – The Gathering Storm
With Maka and crew finally making their way to the moon, Kidd’s team returning after meeting up with the society of witches, Crona having traveled here to find the Kishin, and Excalibur doing something somewhere, the conditions of this arc are quickly turning into something very much like a final battle. I knew this whole encounter on the moon would be very important in the grand scheme of things, but since Maka and Crona were away from that battle, it was difficult to imagine this as anything conclusive. Now things are slowly resembling a scenario I’ve seen several times before at the ends of shonen, which is where every available character gathers in one location to brawl until one side runs out of guys. Read the rest of this entry
Catching Up on Things – Seven Posts in One
So my exams for this year have finally ended, and now I’m free from all that stuff for another few months. Now all I have to worry about is my GPA and work and my website and countless other things. I suppose this is what being an adult means. Well at least I can be an adult and still enjoy manga the way I do. Since I’ve had difficulty talking about the most recent manga chapters lately, I thought I would make a post briefly discussing the things I might have blogged about had I not been busy. These won’t be as long as my normal posts, but I thought I should do a little catching up regardless.
One Piece – Caesar Clown’s Playhouse
Enemies in One Piece tend to fall all over the morality scale, from honorable soldiers like Smoker to professional killers like Rob Lucci to complete sadists like Moria. What I found interesting about Caesar Clown (aside from the name, of course) is that he’s managed to convince people he’s much more honorable and less insane than he really is. Listening to Brownbeard talk about him, you would almost think he was a decent guy with a passionate love for science. Of course one look at him shows that he’s every bit as insane and sadistic as the term “passionate love for science” would imply. This series used to tiptoe around the use of drugs and WMDs, which makes Clown’s behaviour feel all the more extreme and cruel. I honestly think all of Luffy’s training will have been worth it just so we can see him punch this guy in the face properly. Read the rest of this entry
Soul Eater – Chapter 93
I think I mentioned this on Twitter, but seriously, whose idea was it to bring Stein this close to the largest source of concentrated madness in existence? That’s just a natural disaster waiting to happen.
I’m very concerned for what’s been happening with Stein lately. He’s always seemed like a ticking time bomb, and it looks like that’s about to go off any moment now, assuming it hasn’t already. What I’m really concerned about, though, is not so much the effect it will have on the other characters so much as what it will mean for the current large battle. Right now we have half the main cast fighting the Kishin’s soldiers, one or two of the high-ranking clowns and Justin Law, and we haven’t even reached the Kishin itself yet. Where does an out of control Stein fit into all this? Read the rest of this entry
Soul Eater – Chapter 90
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. Read the rest of this entry
Soul Eater – Chapter 89
Soul Eater is one of the few series where I’m genuinely confused as to what direction it’s headed. Of those, it may be the only series where I don’t feel that’s a bad thing. Normally, being that confused about where a series is moving means the writer may be just as confused as you, but I don’t get that feeling here. A lot has been going on lately, with the Book of Eibon and Crona both on the loose, and now we’re getting information about the Kishin after who-knows-how-long since his release.
What really threw me, though, was where he was hiding all this time. I always expected he was in a cave somewhere, sitting around while everyone went insane. But he’s been hiding on the MOON?! The big, smiling thing that’s been one of the most identifiable images from the series all this time? That…that I was not expecting. It honestly got a chuckle out of me. I’m not sure how the anime went, but I’m pretty sure it didn’t do THAT.
It’s a little odd how things are progressing, though. I thought that after the last arc and the recent chapters, the story was going to focus more on Crona. Maybe it still will, but it looks like things shifted over to the Kishin in this chapter. Maka and Soul use their soul wavelength to look for Crona and suddenly, the Kishin is there. Now, while they’re still looking for him/her, everyone else is focused on the bigger threat, which feels a little sudden after all this time with next to no new information. After all, wouldn’t you think the Kishin would be the last enemy you’d focus on?
This poses an interesting question, though: will the Kishin really be the last boss? With everything that’s been happening, someone usurping his position isn’t out of the question. After all, we all thought Medusa would come after Crona, and look what happened there (though I’m sure Medusa is still alive, otherwise what would be the point of taking Arachne’s body?). And what is the Book of Eibon up to? I’m honestly not sure, but I have a feeling more surprises are waiting in the next few chapters that may help us answer these questions. This is what I’ve slowly started to appreciate about the manga: you never really know what’s going to happen.