Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Soul Eater Not!: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 14, 2015

It might not have been that good of an idea to put the “not” in Soul Eater Not!, for it may lead some viewers to come to the conclusion that this anime is in fact the antithesis of the wild and wacky and extremely enjoyable Soul Eater: Complete Series (also available in separate sets as Soul Eater: The Meister Collection and Soul Eater: The Weapon Collection). Soul Eater may have had its share of narrative hiccups, but it was so delightfully over the top from a design aesthetic standpoint that ultimately any niggling issues with plot and character fell by the wayside. As it turns out, that “not” is, well, not a negative per se, but instead refers to the class to which a bunch of incoming students to the DWMA belong. Among those is Tsugumi Harudori, a sweet young girl who, in the series’ quasi-prologue, discovers she’s a weapon (in Soul Eater’s vernacular) when she trips on the family dog and her leg transforms into a blade that knifes itself into a wall and keeps her from injuring herself. Tsugumi is understandably shaken by the experience, and that’s an emotion she has to get used as she’s shipped off to America to attend the DWMA. The NOT class features a gaggle of newcomers to the weapon and meister scenario, and several of them are unsure of what exactly their powers are and how in fact to channel them appropriately. The school setting probably gives Soul Eater Not! a bit more of a shōnen feel than its progenitor, a feeling that is perhaps made more prevalent by the at times lighter tone this follow up tends to exploit.

Soul Eater Not! wastes little time in introducing its trio of focal characters. Along with the somewhat shy if enthusiastic Tsugumi Harudori, there’s the extremely forgetful if sweet Meme Tatane and the decidedly curmudgeonly Anya Hepburn, an upper crust girl who is looking on her stint at DWMA as a chance to interact with mere “commoners” (as she repeatedly refers to everyone else). These three “types” are shown giving different (if appropriate to their characters) responses as early as them getting off the plane and deciding what form of transit they’re going to use to get into Death City and, ultimately, their new school home.

It turns out that both Meme and Anya are meisters (as opposed to weapons—for an overview of some of the concepts in this series, please see our Soul Eater: The Meister Collection Blu-ray review), and Tsugumi soon finds herself in the middle of a somewhat uncomfortable “three way.” Most of the early going in Soul Eater Not! details the girls getting to know each other as they matriculate into the day to day grind of DWMA. Speaking of grind, they also end up working at Death City’s version of an iconic coffee house franchise, herein titled Deathbucks.

Soul Eater Not! is basically a prequel to the main title (though it should be noted that Maka and Soul Eater himself make cameo appearances). This entry is lacking some of the outré elements of its progenitor, however, and tends to play as a somewhat more traditional feeling anime as a result. There are clearly defined characters here and some appealing situations, but overall this outing lacks some of the manic energy and just flat out weirdness of the first entry, and may strike some as unreasonably tame in comparison.

While each episode can function as a standalone entry, there is an overall arc to the series, one which ultimately involves some skirmishes between the NOT class and the EAT class (the class of the original Soul Eater enterprise). While the dramatic momentum of the series builds decently over the long haul, the show probably actually does better in its small depictions of the interactions between the three focal girls. Anyone who ever went to boarding school, or maybe even to a summer camp, will recognize some of the emotional issues Tsugumi in particular has to face, and that element tends to anchor this show in an effective manner that perhaps helps to countermand some of its more staid and traditional takes on its subject matter.

Soul Eater Not!: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Soul Eater Not! is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is a somewhat more reserved anime than Soul Eater from a design aesthetic, though it still indulges in some of the cool proto-3D CGI effects as its progenitor when it tools around the environs of Death City. Character designs are decent, with the girls' eye colors popping really nicely. Line detail is sharp and generally consistent, but on the whole this series has a somewhat softer look than the first Soul Eater. The palette is often quite sumptuous, exploiting hues in a huge gamut of ranges.

Soul Eater Not!: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Soul Eater Not! features an English dub in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and the original Japanese track in Dolby TrueHD 2.0. FUNimation is continuing its "guess which way we authored our discs this time?" strategy by making the included English subtitles optional, accessible on either the Japanese or English language track (which is my personal preference, so thank you, FUNimation). The 5.1 iteration is suitably boisterous, especially once the meisters and weapons start working together, and the series' playful score is also well rendered and spread through the rear and side channels quite effectively. Dialogue is also presented cleanly and is always well prioritized. Both tracks offer excellent fidelity and wide dynamic range, with the dynamic range edge obviously going to the surround mix.

Soul Eater Not!: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One:

• Episode 5 Commentary features Zach Bolton, Caitlin Glass and Jad Saxton.


• Episode 9 Commentary features Chris George, Bryn Apprill, Alexis Tipton and Lindsay Seidel.

Disc Two:

• Soul Eater Whoops! (1080p; 8:24) features gaffes by the voice actors.


• Commercial Collection (1080i; 2:04)


• Textless Opening Song "Monochrome" (1080p; 1:32)


• Textless Closing Song "Yugure Happy Go" (1080p; 1:32)


• U.S. Trailer (1080p; 1:46)

Soul Eater Not!: Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Like a meister with a big sledgehammer weapon, the original Soul Eater decended from the heavens and gave me a good old fashioned thwack up the side of my critical head, leaving me dazed but impressed. This prequel doesn't have quite the manic intensity of its "parent," and in fact tends to settle into more traditional shōnen tropes quite a bit of the time, but its three focal characters are quite winning, and the series offers good action and character development. It may "not" be Soul Eater, but Soul Eater Not!, when taken on its own smaller scale terms, provides considerable enjoyment. Technical merits are generally excellent, and Soul Eater Not! comes Recommended.