Soul Eatin Mondays – week 17

This one took me a while, I was really hesitating between two. You guys know what I do when the rules say I have to pick just one, but I want two – I cheat!

1. Your Favorite Teen Meister
2. Your Least Favorite Teen Meister
3. Your Favorite Teen Weapon
4. Your Least Favorite Teen Weapon
5. Your Favorite Adult Meister
6. Your Least Favorite Adult Meister
7. Your favorite Adult Weapon
8. Your Least favorite Adult Weapon
9. Your Favorite Witch
10. Your Least Favorite Witch
11. Your Favorite Class
12. Your Favorite Outfit
13. Your Favorite Pairing
14. Your Least Favorite Pairing
15. Your Favorite Crack Pairing
16. Your Least Favorite Crack Pairing
17. Your Favorite Scene
18. Your Least Favorite Scene
19. Crossover
20. Your Favorite Opening
21. Your Least Favorite Opening
22. Your Favorite Ending
23. Your Least Favorite Ending
24. SYMMETRY!
25. Moon or Sun?
26. Fool! / BAKA!
27. Lord Death
28. If You Met Your All Time Favorite Character
29. Chibi Time?
30. A Message To Atsushi Ohkubo

Your Favorite Scene

If there’s a theme to this week’s challenge post, is I like when the men in Maka’s life, live up to her expectations (or rather to mine).

 One of the first scenes that drew me to this series came right away in episode 1. I was already pretty taken by the gorgeous and stylish design and I was following along pretty carelessly as Maka and Soul hunted down a witch to brutally murder her without any particular reason other than it could make Soul level up…. I’ve been watching anime for a while – my brain just went meh – less weird than mafia hitman bay – moving right along.

 Then, first we got Blair just soaking us in fan service (still peachy) and we get a sharp tonal change from the happy-go-lucky adventuring to Maka’s apparent childhood trauma which has led to deep-seated trust issues with men. Of course, Soul chooses that exact moment to start thinking with his lower brain.

I remember thinking, well it’s a pretty show but if it’s going to be that obvious about everything I don’t see how we can stretch this out for the 20+ episodes. And Soul’s apparent heel turn lasted quite a while. I don’t mind when a hero turns traitor, in fact when done right, I think it can be one of the most captivating plot devices out there. But when the heel turn comes before you’ve had any chance to form an emotional bound with the character it really gets striped of any and all visceral impact. I was a little disappointed.

And then – PSYCH! Now at this point none of us really know Soul and he has those stupid shark teeth and all, so we were probably taking everything at face value. In hindsight of course, he may be a normal young man with normal young man urges but Soul would never betray Maka, or really anyone, for a nice…figure. The only reason Maka herself fell for it even for a second was due to her own hang ups and the fact that Soul was a little hurt by that is adorable.

 At this point, I was like alright show – I’m listening…

***ok This is the first time I’ve seen the dub and….it takes some getting use to…***

The second scene is of course with Spirit. He’s a bit of a scene stealer in general so his appearances tend to be memorable but this one takes the cake.

 The entire show repeatedly insists on Maka and Spirit’s fractured relationship. It was a pretty impressive feat to make Spirit so utterly likable and yet still make Maka’s cold treatment of him completely understandable. Basically, Spirit is going to have to work incredibly hard to earn Maka’s trust back and to his credit he seems more than willing to put in the effort.

 This said, we are catching up with them at a point in their relationship where Spirit still has a debt to pay so we see him constantly bending over backwards for his one and only little girl only to be rebuffed at very turn. But when his efforts do get rewarded, man does he show his appreciation.

 In the latter half of the series, Maka seems finally ready to at least think of Spirit as a father and shows this slight softening in attitude by asking him to accompany her while shopping. It’s a tiny gesture and a request most people would find tiresome, but Spirit reacts as if it’s the best day of his life. And he probably thinks it is.

His awkward, goofy, unabashed love for his daughter is one of the most endearing features of the entire show and that’s why this scene is a standout.

So creating a drinking game based only on two scenes was a bit of a challenge. Mayhaps some artistic licenses were taken…

Suggested drink:  the Goodman

• Every time Soul sticks up for Maka – take a sip
• Every time Spirit wants t make Maka happy – take a sip
• Every time Soul or Spirit worry about Maka – take a sip
• Every time Soul thinks Maka is too uptight – take a sip
• Every time Spirit acts like a father – take a sip
• Every time Maka appreciates it – finish your drink