DVD Corner

Soul Eater- The Meister Collection and Weapon Collection Blu-ray Reviews

“Soul Eater” never quite lives up to its potential.

Picking up where episode 13 left off, “The Meister Collection” digs into episodes 14-26 of “Soul Eater” which explores the further adventures of Meisters Maka, Black Star, and Kid. This set contains stories about a school test, an Excalibur sword, a school party, a golem, an evil spirit controlling a ship named Nidhogg, fights against Crona, Medusa trying to revive Kishin, Asura’s black blood, a witch named Eruka, a werewolf named Free, Death Scythes Marie, Yumi, and Justin.

In “The Weapon Collection” (which collects the remaining episodes 27-51), viewers can expect to see stories about a witch, Mosquito, Medusa and her snake, a train, a student named Hero, a Brew weapon, an Asura and Arachne alliance, a giant robot city, a big battle against Asura, Death Weapon Meister Academy vs. Arachnophobia battles, Crona, a scientist named Stein, a samurai named Mifune, and a wizard named Eibon.

After a somewhat slow start to “The Meister Collection,” the second half of the set picks up the pace with some truly epic and visually stunning battles (namely against Crona) as well as some major game changing moments which lead into “The Weapon Collection”.

Unlike the first 13 episodes which seemed to take their sweet time, there’s a real sense of urgency in episodes 14-26 which makes it more engaging. It doesn’t hurt that the central story arc comes into play here as the major villain of the series comes into play.

One would think the fast paced excitement would carry over into episodes 27-51, but alas, the story stumbles in the end. Perhaps I was expecting the story to go a different route, but the series never really grabbed me in the back end. The writers seemed more concerned with fanservice, dopey humor, blaring rock music, and seemingly endless fights. Granted, there’s real scope, creativity, and fluidity to the action, but there should be more to the series than mere fights.

I think the biggest issue I have with the series as a whole is that it doesn’t feel complete. I felt like there were a lot more stories to tell in Death City and in the Academy. The story that we got seemed like a rushed mess that merely pandered to the audience by offering up loads of over-the-top action sequences.

Summary: Some anime fans may love “Soul Eater,” but I was personally let down by the story. Feel free to check it out and decide for yourself.

Video/Audio:

The widescreen 1080p picture quality is so good you can see the imperfections in the animation. The real highlight here is the colors which truly shine in hi-def. This is the only way to watch the show as far as I’m concerned.

Both sets contain English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0. The English track really packs a punch in terms of the sound f/x and action. In fact, I had to turn it down a tad because the action really blares forth. The English dub, however, is merely so-so. The Japanese tracks lack that impressive 5.1 action, but the voice work is clearly superior here.

“The Meister Collection” Extras:

* Trailers for “Evangelion 2.22,” “Eden Of The East- The King Of Eden,” “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood,” “Rideback,” “Hero Tales,” “Dragon Ball Z Kai,” “Darker Than Black,” “D.Gray-Man,” “Black Butler,” “El Cazador De La Bruja,” and “Soul Eater.”

* Commentary on episode 7 and 23 by voice actors, and a voice actress. The English ADR also appears on the episode e7 commentary. The tracks are laid back, but ultimately pointless.

* 1 textless opening song and 3 textless closing songs.

* A whopping 26 episodes of the “Soul Eater Late Show” which are basically weird random clips.

“The Weapon Collection” Extras:
* Trailers for “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood,” “Baka And Test,” “Yu Yu Hakusho,” “Noir,” “Peacemaker,” “FLCL,” “Eden Of The East,” “Spice And Wolf,” “One Piece,” “RideBack,” and Funimation.com
* Commentary on episode 30 by 2 voice actresses and one voice actor. A typical pointless track with lots of yammering on about opinions of the show.
* Commentary on episode 44 by 3 voice actresses. See above.
* 2 textless opening songs and 2 textless closing songs.
* Episodes 28-51 of the “Late Show” which features random clips/jokes.

December 14, 2011 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | Soul Eater- The Meister Collection Blu-ray Review, Soul Eater: The Weapon Collection Blu-ray Review