Parents' Guide to

Soul Eater

By Lien Murakami, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Formulaic anime is violent but interesting.

TV Adult Swim Kids' Animation 2013
Soul Eater Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

  • Soul Eater
  • Soul Eater
  • Soul Eater

Community Reviews

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age 12+

Based on 21 parent reviews

Kirby E.
Kirby E. Parent of 8, 12 and 16-year-old
February 8, 2023
age 10+

Common Sense is being too strict

Once again, Common Sense Media is being too strict with their age ratings. Why would freaking SOUL EATER be 15+???? I'm also not sure why it says that thing about it apparently being misogynistic when Maka is one of the only female shōnen protagonists I know of and is actually well written. That image with the ugly blonde girls isn't even from the anime. Soul Eater is actually a good show, and it's definitely suitable for kids under 15. If your 12 year old starts trying to eat souls because of an anime I think that's your problem. There are some scenes that have mild nudity and sexual content, but if you’re uncomfortable with that you can just skip through those scenes. The biggest flaw in the series is probably that it is VERY historically inaccurate, but once again, if your child flunks history because of an anime, that's on you.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
Too much violence
Too much sex
1 person found this helpful.
Ramondhampton32
Ramondhampton32 Adult
June 14, 2021
age 10+

FOR THE PARENTS

I tottaly think this is a great anime to watch it dose have tension in scenes but it shouldn’t be a problem for kids that are mature I’m 36 and I know this anime is not and for children at the same time there is blood and let’s say some wear “bathingsuits” But if ur child isnt mature for that it’s fine there is nothing really wrong I love this anime SO THAT BEING SAID... 10+ yeahhh hmhm

This title has:

Great role models
1 person found this helpful.
See all 21 parent reviews

What's the Story?

At the Death Weapon Meister Academy or DWMA, the headmaster is Grim Reaper himself and there are two different types of students, those who can literally transform into weapons and "meisters" who wield those weapons. The academy trains students to become meisters and death scythes (weapons that would be used by the Grim Reaper) who protect the world from witches, evil humans, and demons. One of each type of student is teamed up and challenged to complete the goal of defeating and consuming the souls of 99 evil humans and one witch; in that order. If the order is not followed, the teams forfeit the souls they have collected so far and must start over. The team of Maka Albarn (Laura Bailey) and her partner SOUL EATER(Micah Solusod) along with two other teams have made mistakes which have forced them to start their soul collections over again. The series follows Maka and Soul in particular in their task to make Soul into a death scythe.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (21):
Kids say (117):

Soul Eater is a typical Shounen (made for boys) anime series and suffers somewhat from being overly formulaic. Despite a unique design and exposition there are your typical school girls with short skirts, the seductresses with large breasts, the monsters that must be fought in a certain order with various levels of difficulty in order for the characters to reach their goals. The humor in the series is typically juvenile with some slapstick and overly exaggerated emotions.

The series was produced by Square Enix which is more famous in the U.S. as a producer of role playing video games and in some ways the series is reminiscent of a video game where characters must level up by completing certain tasks and levels. Since it is a foregone conclusion that Maka and Soul will reach their goal, which happens fairly early, the evil kinshin (demons) that the students must defeat feel like dull exercises since we know that no matter what the danger, the characters will recover. This leaves only the characters themselves as well as their interactions to provide any interest in the series. Maka (Laura Bailey) and Soul (Micah Solusod) aren't particularly interesting, however, the cast of supporting characters, such as Death the Kid (Todd Haberkorn) with his OCD tendencies for symmetry and Blackstar (Brittany Karbowski) and his ego, make the series worth a look.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about achieving goals. How do the characters in the series achieve their goals? What lessons can you take from the series when it comes to achieving your own goals?

  • How do the depictions of girls and boys differ in this series? What are some of the messages about gender embedded in this series?

  • What does this series teach about teamwork? Is it necessary to get along with your teammates in order to work as a team?

TV Details

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