Soul Eater Not! – 05
“It’s not like I wanted to be your partner or anything. B-baka!”
 For the second time in its 5 episodes, Soul Eater Not! follows up a boring episode with an exciting one. We got a ton of almost-but-not-quite yuri action through a cute and endearing side story that revealed a lot about some side characters while also pushing forward the overarching plot. And what action there is remains solid. |
That picture perfect backdrop was a dead giveaway. Also, that yuri thing.
What a fantastic episode this was. Easily the best one so far, and one of the best from any show this season. It all started with that action-packed cold open, which became obvious it was in a dream somewhere between that fall off the cliff and Kim pulling down Jacqueline for a kiss. Regardless of it being a dream, it had more of that well choreographed and drawn fighting that has been found in earlier episodes of the show. I’m so very glad to see that this Cute Girls Doing Cute Things spinoff is drawing from its shonen roots and isn’t being shy about bringing out the exciting action sequences.
And the CGDCT antics were both fun and meaningful this time, using a side story to let us know better some side characters while developing the main story as well and providing plenty of laughs along the way. Despite her denial at the end, I think it’s pretty clear Jacqueline is crushing on Kim very hard, and most of the episode was her receiving help from the other girls in seducing convincing Kim to become her partner. A lot of which didn’t make a whole lot of sense; I’m not sure being good at cooking their favorite dish or having great hair are traits to advertise when trying to convince someone to wield you as a weapon. Fitting for a different type of partnership, perhaps.
Oh Jacqui, way to let this picture perfect opportunity get away from you. You were supposed to pull her in for a kiss.
But those were cute anyway, thanks in part to the supporting roles of our trio of protagonists. Five episodes in I feel like I still don’t know these girls too well, but they’ve established their sets of quirks which haven’t grown old yet. There’s Anya unwittingly insulting commoners while trying to compliment Jacqueline’s hair, there’s Meme being casual about forgetting her birthday, there’s Tsugumi unilaterally dragging all her friends into a matchmaking mission. Not to mention Cana, whose personalized tarot cards haven’t failed to make me laugh. What do you know, in this CGDCT show, the things these cute girls are doing really are very cute.
Of course all of these plans backfire, and Jacqueline only gets close to Kim by finding out her big secret that she’s actually a witch, one who is ashamed of that fact and came to DWMA to escape from it. That explains her dream sequence cold open a couple episodes ago showing her being overtaken by a past version of herself. And it ties in nicely to the plot of DWMA fending off attacks from the “traitors,” which got expanded a bit this episode. Seems there’s a witch controlling things behind the scenes, brainwashing or controlling in some way regular everyday Joes to do her bidding. I have to imagine that if Kim doesn’t already have a relationship with that woman, she will soon.
I love how ridiculous this bedroom is, with Anya smacking the wooden doll over and over again after instinctively doing the same to Tsugumi, before the half-naked girl steps in. (click for stitch)
I do have to wonder if our three protagonists will ever really get the spot light. I feel they’ve been shying away from it in place of the supporting cast. I know their personality quirks, but who are they really? What drives them, what eats away at them, how did they get here, and what do they want? I feel like I know Anya the most out of the 3, and it’s still not much. While Meme remains an impenetrable, utterly thick, mystery. I don’t need their life stories, but at some point I’m starting to ask, Why are they our designated protagonists instead of someone like, say, Kim? Or maybe I just love Chiwa Saito too much. You know what, let’s just bring in Chiagi Omigawa Maka as the main character, and I’ll be happy.
More great official-looking forms at DWMA. I love the blood type “estimated from her personality.”
So Death City has its own currency that looks awfully similar to US currency. I wonder what the US treasury thinks about this.
About lvlln
A math/science geek and a self-dubbed cynical optimist. I don't care if it's deep, if it can make me feel something or laugh, it's fine in my book. @lvlln
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
They also adhere to Japanese public bathing practices, and specialize in Taiyaki..among other things. Odd, huh?
I was a big Kim/Jaqui fan from the original series, and felt it a crime they never did much with them then. Well, a crime can now be forgiven. I enjoyed this episode immensely.
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
Did you read the manga? The anime diverged from the manga before a certain event happened, and after that event Kim started getting a lot more screentime. “Screentime” being figurative, since it’s, you know, a manga. Still you should read it if you haven’t.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Nope. But that doesn’t mean I won’t! ::get’s on tablet, searchs with manag app::
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
There’s at least one Meme-centric chapter later in the manga, and earlier there’s a chapter about the three of them getting lost in the school together… but how well do they develop? I’m not sure. I think most of what we know of their characters comes across most in how they react to other characters in the series.
I’m also not sure how much of the slice of life stuff will actually make it as episodes. Since they’ve included the witch with a scorpion’s tail for her hair, one assumes they plan to have the plot go somewhere, so they’ll need to leave some space for that.
ANYway… I loved the Jackie x Kim stuff in this episode. No matter how much denial she may be in, Jackie’s feelings seem pretty clear. And it’s adorable.
POWUH: 700-799 and Parkouring Fanboy with 776 comments
I’m curious what made Jacqui say at the end that the feeling wasn’t love. Not unlike when Koyomi determines at the end of Nekomonogatari Black that love wasn’t what he felt for Hanekawa. It’s like, who are they kidding?
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Well, that is the grand elevated opinion of a teenager that thinks they know everything.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
So Jacqueline has the hots for Kim and almost scored a kiss. She could be in denial because she hasn’t acknowledged it as actual love for her.
For her to be so tight fisted about concealing her identity, I’m guessing Kim is from some prominent Witch family and they’re looking for her so she’s hiding where they least expect her to be.
I vaguely remember the first season so I need a refresher. What’s the difference between a witch and a meister? Don’t they both use magic somewhere along the line?
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
No. Meisters can use a number of supernatural techniques, but they aren’t magic by the Soul Eater universe’s definition. People are born as witches, and their souls are distinctly different from normal humans’.
Kim is hiding her identity because she has good reason to believe she’ll be murdered by everyone else in the school if it’s discovered that she’s a witch. Witches are automatically on Shinigami-sama’s list, to be killed and have their souls devoured on sight. Fighting witches and dealing with troubles they cause is one of the major things DWMA does.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
So the title “witch of the girls dorm” is more accurate than they knew when they gave it to Kim!
This was a great episode. If they do another spinoff of Soul Eater it should focus on Kim and Jaqui. There’s a lot of potential there–a witch battling her heritage and other witches. And I don’t think she’d be the only witch who’d refuse to be evil. I’m in the process of re-watching Soul Eater and I don’t think Angela would grow up to be evil. At least I hope not–she’s such a cute kid!
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
You should read the Soul Eater manga. Once Angela ends up in the custody of DWMA they discuss steps they can take to prevent her from falling prey to the sway of magic, so she won’t turn evil.
Apparently magic users in that universe are all prey to the sway of magic: that is to say that magic itself influences them towards causing destruction and chaos. It is instinctive behavior to them. The scorpion-haired witch in this episode mentioned it a bit. Kim, however, possesses magic that regenerates and heals, rather than destroys: so her nature is to fix things rather than destroy them. Because of that, she (and perhaps she alone) is immune to the sway of magic. That makes her something of an outcast in witch society. Not that they actually threw her out, but they look down on her and distrust her for not being bloodthirsty and wanting to destroy things, while she doesn’t like them very much either because they are bloodthirsty and want to destroy things, which goes against her basic nature.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Kim is the best! Man, that episode was adorable. I’m tempted to go back and watch the original again so I can keep an eye out for those two.
Hopefully they give the same spotlight treatment to the main cast now because, as you pointed out, we really don’t know much about them.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
I’m more than halfway through my re-watch and I haven’t spotted them yet. I’m getting rather impatient for them to show up.
POWUH: 700-799 and Parkouring Fanboy with 776 comments
I don’t even remember Jacqui in the original series, and I recall seeing Kim only a few times when other meisters got pulled in for bigger events, so whatever you see of them might be very little.
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
See Battle for Brew for their first appearance. Also, in the anime, perhaps their last, since the Soul Eater anime diverged from the manga before the events that caused them to start becoming more significant characters.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I remember them from the original anime series, but only because I thought it was hilarious that a lantern was called Jacqueline (Jack o lantern!). Maybe I’ll go for the manga instead to see what’s different.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
I was just watching last night. Their first appearance is in Ep. 31, which is several episodes before Battle for Brew starts. But they just walk through a couple episodes with just a line or two at most. Battle for Brew is when they have any significant presence. And Kim is Kim. They’re in the Artic and several characters are huddled around Jacqui warming their hands when Kim says, “I should have charged money.”