Soul Eatin Mondays – week 18

I like how the challenge takes into account my doormatty nature which makes it difficult for me to label anything as “bad”. Least Favorite allows you to say it was great just the least great….Anyways – this scene was meh.

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 Least Favorite Scene

The Kishin fight.

The entire series had been leading up to this one fight, tension had reached a fevered peak and we were all ready for this EPIC fight. We could see that there wasn’t not enough time remaining in the last episode for any kind of epilogue, so this final confrontation would be serving as the ending for the entire series. Get the popcorn guys.

We have all our favorites in play. All three young Meister’s and their weapons stand before the unknowable horror of the Kishin, ready to unleash hail and highwater. With such a consistently beautiful and expertly animated series, the visual feast is bound to be nothing short of delectable.

And then…

This is how the world ends, not with a bang but with a whimper.

Look it’s not that the fight itself is that bad but it’s really humdrum for what it was supposed to be. Kid and BlackStar are dispatched laughably (and somewhat inexplicably) quickly, so that their presence is rendered absolutely moot. In fact, it would have been better, in my opinion, had they not been there. Their respective fights, short as they were, were still a waste of time and the encounter brought up all sorts of questions that the show would never be able to answer. (Kid’s power up scene was fun but again completely useless).

The fight with Maka was a little better but visually not as stunning as her previous encounters, with Crona for example. Or as most of the other fights the show had offered up to that point. All the battles with Medusa, BlackStar’s rivalry with Mifune or even the previous appearance of the Kishin were all more visually impressive and emotionally tense. Basically, the entire fight was anticlimactic.

Which is bad enough as it is…But to in effect end the entire show on that fight is just not right. It seemed lazy. The ending of the series is a huge departure from the manga. I haven’t looked into it so I’m not sure if this is one of those cases where the manga simply wasn’t finished yet (if so maybe we’ll get a remake!!!) or if there was some type of executive decision made/ lack of resources. In any case, this is a great show that deserved a much better ending.

Suggested drink:  The End is Nigh

• Every time it looks like the good guys won – take a sip
• Every time the fight looks like an RPG – take a sip
• Every time a meister suddenly discovers a new power – take a sip
• Every time you wonder why they don’t just all attack at once – take a sip
• Every time the Kishin is just OP – take a sip
• Every time you feel let down – finish your drink