The Best of Soul Eater CD Review

For fans of the popular fantasy-shonen anime Soul Eater, "The Best of Soul Eater" is a great collection of theme songs, OST tracks and character songs.

Soul Eater fans can rejoice. As the title says, The Best of Soul Eater CD does contain the most popular tracks from the popular anime Soul Eater. Excalibur is nowhere to be heard; just 51 minutes' worth of J-Rock and J-Pop hits sung by popular artists such as T.M. Revolution and Stance Punks, as well as character songs performed by the original voice actors (seiyuu) from the Japanese production.

About Soul Eater the Anime

Soul Eater is a supernatural shonen anime based on the long-running manga created by Atsushi Okubo of the same name. Soul Eater the animated series is produced by Bones/Square Enix (Japanese) and FUNimation/Media Factory (ADR, English).

Students of the Death Weapon Meister Academy are classified as weapons or weapon meisters. There, they learn the skills and knowledge to defeat wayward souls before they turn into something worse. Weapons and meisters are paired together based on soul compatibility. They work together to collect the souls of 99 monsters in the hopes of transforming the "weapon" partner into one of Lord Death's Death Scythes. The story centers around three teams: Maka and Soul, Black Star and Tsubaki and Death the Kid and the Thompson sisters, Liz and Patty.

Punk, Rock and Pop in The Best of Soul Eater the CD

It is difficult to put The Best of Soul Eater into one classification. It's edgy J-Rock. Then, it's punk rock and then it turns into sweet and sugary J-Pop.

The Best of Soul Eater contains full versions of all the intro and outro theme songs from Soul Eater. There's "Resonance", a driving rock song performed by T.M. Revolution. Punk rock band Stance Punks perform the first outro theme "I Wanna Be", which starts simply with voice and broken chords played by the guitar. That quickly switches to a strong punk groove.

The character songs sung by the Japanese seiyuu are a welcome addition. These were first released as CD singles. "Maurve iro no Sympathy" (Mauve-colored Sympathy) is a fast J-Rock number sung by Chiaki Omigawa (Maka Albarn) and Kouki Uchiyama (Soul Eater Evans).

"My Star" is also a quick number, with more of a "battle-mode" groove, sung by Yumiko Kobayashi (Black Star) ad Kaori Nazuka (Tsubaki Nakatsukasa). One could almost picture Black Star circling his opponent and then launching in "Speed Star" mode in concert with the driving percussion.

"Sore ga Bokura no Michishirube" (It is Our Guide) is a catchy J-Pop tune sung by Mamoru Miyano (Liz) , Akeno Watanabe (Death the Kid) and Tarumi Nakahira (Patty) . Their weaving melodic lines are well-balanced. One could say, it's symmetrical (Death the Kid's obsession).

Memorable tracks from the Soul Eater anime soundtrack (Soul Eater OST) also made the cut, such as "Psychedelic Souljam" and Death the Kid's theme song "Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Have a Nice Dream". The CD wraps up with one bonus track, "Soul's Crossing". This is the theme song from the game Soul Eater Monotone Princess, performed by T.M. Revolution.

The Best of Soul Eater Track Listing

  1. resonance

  2. I Wanna Be

  3. Style.

  4. PAPERMOON

  5. Bakusou Yume Uta

  6. STRENGTH.

  7. Mauve iro no Sympathy

  8. My Star

  9. Sore ga Bokura no Michishirube

  10. PSYCHEDELIC SOULJAM

  11. harmoNIZE

  12. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Have a Nice Dream

  13. soul's crossing (Bonus Track)

The Best of Soul Eater Album Details

  • Featured Artists: T.M Revolution, Stance Punks, Kana Nishino, Tommy heavenly6, Diggy-MO', abingdon boys school, Lotus Juice and Shinya.

  • Music Director: Akiko Yodo, Reo Kurosu

  • Recording Producer: Ryo Ohyama, Keiichi Tonomura

  • Label: Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc., Miya Records Co. Ltd.

  • Released: April 22, 2009

  • Also included: 46 page booklet containing the lyrics, performing artist, production credits.

The Best of Soul Eater CD - as Catchy, Edgy and Fun as the Anime

For fans of the anime Soul Eater, there are no "misses" on this CD. It is a well-balanced compilation of the most popular J-Pop and J-Rock songs from this hit anime. Fans of anime music and even listeners unfamiliar with the world of Soul Eater could enjoy the CD for its diversity, sound quality and artwork.

Source:

Anime News Network (accessed June 1, 2010)

September 2, 2020 Update: The Best of Soul Eater is no longer available at CD Japan and Amazon. However, you may purchase the Soul Eater Original Soundtrack 1 through Amazon.