Resonance of the Soul – Will Soul Eater Become a Death Scythe?

Remedial Class Arc

Resonance of the Soul – Will Soul Eater Become a Death Scythe? - 魂の共鳴 〜ソウル=イーター、デスサイズになる?〜 (Tamashii no Kyōmei 〜Sōru Ītā, Desu Saizu ni Naru?〜)

With 99 evil souls consumed, Soul just needs to defeat a witch to become a Death Scythe. He and Maka make their move against Blair – but a pointy hat doesn’t always mean witch!

Summary

Opening Theme-

"resonance" by T.M.Revolution

" A sound 'soul' dwells within a sound mind and a sound body. "

Death City

It is a dark night in Death City. In the streets below, Jack the Ripper is hunting his next target, a lone woman. He strikes before she can react, easily killing her with the long blades attached to his fingers. As the woman dies her soul emerges from her body. Jack takes the glowing blue soul and eagerly devours it.

As he stands over the dead woman eating her soul, another woman stumbles upon the scene. Disturbed by what she sees, she screams and begins to run away. Seeing another opportunity for a fresh soul, Jack hurries after the woman. The much faster and powerful Jack quickly makes up the distance between him and the woman. He effortlessly knocks her to the ground and stands over her triumphantly.

Before Jack is able to kill the woman, he is interrupted by two figures standing at the top of the stairs next to him. The duo, Maka Albarn and Soul Evans, have found their target and prepare to dispatch him. Soul quickly transforms into a large black and red scythe, which Maka wields as she prepares to fight the demonic Jack the Ripper.

Maka and Soul Fight Jack the Ripper

The confused woman uses this opportunity to flee the area. With his meal gone, Jack turns his attention to the duo at the top of the stairs. With greater speed than it would appear he is capable of, he runs towards the top of the stairs and launches an attack at Maka. Maka skillfully dodges and deflects all of his attacks. Despite being unable to hit her, Jack continues undaunted.

Soon Maka moves to the offensive. She pushes forward and begins to attack Jack in earnest. Jack is unable to cope with Maka’s skilled attacks and he quickly succumbs to her assault. As Soul slices through Jack’s body it quickly deforms and is replaced by a glowing red soul. Transforming back to his human form, Soul enthusiastically takes the tainted soul and eats it in one bite.

Calling Shinigami-sama

Maka congratulates Soul on collecting his 99 soul. She explains that they only need one more, the soul of a witch, and Soul will be able to finally become a true Death Scythe. She excitedly tells Soul that she will contact Shinigami and tell him of the results. She hurries on ahead and stands before the window of a nearby store. After breathing on the pane, she uses her finger to enter Shinigami’s phone number, 42-42-564.

After a moment, the window shimmers and Shinigami appears on the glass. He greets the pair and congratulates them on their recent acquisition. He tells them that they only need one more soul, that of a witch, and they will be done with their task. He is careful to warn them that it must be the soul of a witch. If it is anything else, they will have to start over from the beginning and recollect all 100 souls once more.

Some time later, Maka and Soul hear of a witch living nearby. They decide that this is their opportunity to catch their final soul and turn Soul into a true Death Scythe. With no other information on their target, they head towards the site to prepare for their final battle.

Once they reach the house, which is shaped like a large carved pumpkin, Soul is impatiently urging Maka to hurry. He is eager to collect his final soul. He is so eager that he decides he doesn’t want to wait for Maka. Instead, he charges forwards on his own and crashes through one of the windows of the large pumpkin.

Soul Meets Blair

As he flies through the air, he is greeted by a most unexpected sight. He finds that he has leapt through the bathroom window. Unable to adjust his trajectory, he lands with a splash in the bathtub, were the witch, Blair, just happens to be bathing. When Soul sees the naked and incredibly attractive woman, he finds himself unable to control himself and laments that it is ‘uncool’ to be phased by a woman like he is.

As Soul tries to regain his composure, Maka enters the room and gives Soul a switch kick. The kick sends him crashing into the wall. Trying to take control of the situation, Maka turns her attention to Blair. She tells Blair that she has come to kill her so that Soul can consume the soul of a witch. Blair seems somewhat confused by this, but she continues to look on, a slightly bemused look spread across her face.

Once Soul regains his focus, he transforms into a scythe so Maka can fight Blair. Upon seeing Soul change, Blair becomes excited. She tells Maka that she wants Soul for herself. When Maka refuses, she attacks the pair instead. Reciting a short incantation under her breath, Blair sends a powerful beam of orange energy as the pair, sending them flying out of the bathroom.

The next day Maka and Soul attempt to defeat Blair once more. As they are trying to figure out their plan of action, they notice Blair walking towards them. They quickly hide behind a nearby tree before she can see them. Unfortunately, Soul fails to hide completely. When Blair sees him trying to hide behind the tree she gets excited and affectionately hugs him. Once again, Soul becomes powerless after being around the attractive woman, making their attempt futile.

The day after that the pair tries once again. This time, Maka insists that they formulate a plan, rather than just rushing forward as they had the previous two times. Soul complains that there is no need for a complicated plan. The two begin to bicker over the proper course of action and fail to notice that Blair is standing behind them. By the time they notice, it is too late. Blair recites another incantation, causing the ground around them to explode.

Another day, another attempt by the pair. This time, Maka and Soul have tracked Blair into town and have begun to attack her. Blair, floating on a giant pumpkin, again asks Soul to be hers. Maka attacks without answering her.

Maka on the Attack

Dodging pumpkin bombs and blasts, Maka tries to get close enough to Blair to actually strike her. After a great effort, she is able to close the distance and strike at her, but she is only successful at destroying her floating pumpkin. The two continue their attacks, neither able to land a deciding blow.

Meanwhile, Shinigami and Spirit Albarn, a Death Scythe and Maka’s father, watch the battle from afar. Spirit wants to go and help Maka with the battle, but Shinigami refuses to let him. Shinigami states that the real problem is not the battle, but the witch.

Back in town, Maka and Soul continue their assault on Blair. Blair manages to hit her, sending her flying across the rooftop, shattering shingles as she attempts to halt her movement. At the last moment, she uses Soul to stop her momentum. She slides off the edge of the roof, but is able to hang onto Soul to keep herself from falling.

Maka Falling

Hanging two stories above the ground, she asks Soul to help her up. To her surprise, Soul fails to respond. She asks again, and again there is no response. Instead, Soul transforms into his human form. Rather than helping Maka back onto the rooftop, she lets her go, causing her to fall into the garbage can below.

Angrily, Maka jumps out of the waste receptacle and asks Soul why he did that. Without look at her, Soul states that he gives up. He isn’t going to fight anymore. When Maka asks why, Soul tells her that he wants to be with Blair. He moves across the street to where Blair is standing.

Maka simply watches, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. Furious, she begins to scream. She tells Soul how terrible he is and how he is just like every other man. After the lecherous behavior of her father, and now the betrayal from Soul, Maka feels that she cannot trust any man.

Soul's Plan Becomes Apparent

Soul simply smiles and tells Maka that he isn’t like that. He transforms one of his arms into a blade, causing it to surround Blair. Maka looks up and realizes what he is trying to do and quickly begins to run forward. Stunned at the turn of events, Blair can only stand as watch as Soul transforms completely into a scythe. As close as he is to her, there is nothing she can do to avoid the blade as Maka slices her in half.

Blair’s body dissipates, leaving behind an oddly shaped purple soul. Maka excitedly congratulates on Soul’s imminent transformation into a Death Scythe. With a grin, Soul grabs the soul and eagerly consumes it. Suddenly, he begins to feel his body change. He is certain that he is changing into a Death Scythe. Yet, in the end, nothing happens.

Maka and Soul Meet Blair, Again

As the two stand there, trying to figure out what exactly happened, a small black cat wearing a witches hat, strolls towards them. Maka notices that the hat looks oddly similar to Blair’s. She cautiously asks the cat if she is really Blair. With the nod, the cat says that she is, in fact, Blair. She explains that she isn’t a witch, as Maka and Soul assumed, she is simply a cat that is able to harness magical abilities. She also tells them that cats have multiple souls and Maka only killed one of them.

Maka and Soul are crestfallen. They realize that they have failed. Since the final soul was not from a witch, all of their previous efforts were in vain. Frustrated, they head back to Shibusen to report their failure.

Points of Interest

• Much of the fanservice in this episode was toned down for the original TV airing. Shampoo bottles were placed to cover Blair's nude butt, but this was removed for the later DVD release.

Ending Theme-

"I Wanna Be" by STANCE PUNKS

Moves This Episode