Soul Eater ep.12

June 24, 2008 | 12 Comments

I don't really need an extra distraction but somehow I just managed to give myself a new one. It's high-def gaming. Well, sort of. My TV is still a lame SDTV but I'm amazed at how good the games look even without HDTV. Anyway, I'll talk about this on a separate thread later on. Moving on, this episode is pretty good although clearly it'll be a while before any episode can top the last two's awesomeness. This one is pretty nifty though, thanks to its Twin Peaks reference. I do wonder how many people got that if they are not a fan of David Lynch or the TV series. This is also probably one of those scenes that is not that obvious when it was depicted in manga format. It's only through anime that one can see that the author wanted the scene to be some kind of a homage to Twin Peaks.

Episode 12

After a Witch group meeting, Medusa is confronted by two other witches, Eruka Frog and Mizune Mouse because they know Medusa has just stolen something from Mabaa-sama, the head of the Witches. Eruka also doesn't like the fact that Medusa is doing something secretive at Shibusen. She believes this can endanger all witches since she knows that Medusa is trying to create Kishin. Before she can say anything further, however, Medua has shoved her hands into the mouth of both Eruka and Mizune, threatening to harm them. Despite this, it seems the whole thing seems to be a threat and Medusa chooses to go back to Shibusen. That day she gets to do a check up on Soul again, who confesses that lately he's been having a strange dream. In that dream, he's dressed up nicely and sits at a couch in a darkened red/black room. After a while a jazz music would play and a tiny demon in suits will waltz into the room.

The demon then goes to tempt Soul with power, suggesting that he won't be as fearful if he has power. Despite this, Soul refuses, causing the demon to ask him to leave the place. Soul, however, is afraid to leave the place because he'll end up in a very dark place where the only light is ahead of him. However, if he goes through that, he'll burst out of Maka's body. Medusa thinks there's nothing strange about the dream so Soul claims he's just concerned since Maka and himself have been weird with each other ever since the incident. Meanwhile, Maka is in the middle of watching Black Star training himself to prepare for Tsubaki's new form. He is ordered by Stein to use a water inside a jug called Kyuukon water. Upon seeing Black Star's enthusiasm, Maka can't help but being envious that he's so strong but Stein tells her that is just Black Star's way of dealing with his challenges. He believes Maka has her own way as well.

Later on that day, the 3 technicians and their weapons have party together to celebrate Tsubaki and Black Star's return and also to celebrate Soul's coming back from the hospital. While this happens, Medusa is once again confronted by Eruka and Mizune, who wants to make sure that Medusa don't cause problem for the other witches by sneaking into Shibusen. They know that in order to defend herself, Medusa has to take out her cloaking magic and will alert herself to other people. Much to their shock, Medusa doesn't hesitate to unveil her Soul Protection magic. They are even more surprise to know that Medusa's snake tattoo are on her hands anymore. All of a sudden, Mizune screams in pain and there looks like shapes of snakes around her. Eruka quickly realizes that when Medusa shoved her hands into their mouth not too long ago, that's when she planted the snake. Medusa can control the snake easily too since they are simple, magical creatures.

Because she's losing, Eruka has no choice but to transform into a frog and runs away. Medusa can't catch up with her right away since Stein and Maka have detected her presence but she manages to pretend that she's looking for that witch as well. Upon seeing the latest situation, Maka decides that she won't run away again from fear. Meanwhile, Eruka has run quite far from Medusa, thinking that she's finally save from the other witch. Unfortunately Medusa manages to catch up to her and tries to squeeze her frog form. Instead of killing Eruka, however, Medusa decides to use the other witch to do her bidding. She wants Eruka to deliver a key to prisoner number 13 in Witch jail. Eruka is shocked to hear this because that's "Devil's Eye", the prisoner who took Mabaa-sama's left eye. Eruka is afraid to do this because if she's found, she'll be banned by the Witches but she has no choice since Medusa threatens to kill her otherwise.

Impression

My first thought upon seeing the scene where Soul's dream was The Red Room in Black Lodge/White Lodge. These are mystical realm(s) featured David Lynch's famous US TV series, Twin Peaks. In that series, the main character, Agent Dale Cooper, often find himself in a room with striped black/white floor and red curtains/couches. A dwarf only known as "The Man from Another Place" will then appear in the room dancing to a jazz music, talking backwards, and saying vague statements (ie. "When you see me again, it wouldn't be me."). I can't say enough good things about Twin Peaks and would probably end up talking nothing but that series if I don't stop now. But if you're curious as to where that particular scene came from, I'd bet that it's heavily inspired by Twin Peaks. In a way, I kind of wish that they had gone further with the Twin Peaks reference because it'd have made the series even more engrossing than it already is at the moment.

It was kind of fitting to have Soul being placed in similar-looking room with a demon trying to temp him to the dark side. The basic idea of White Lodge/Black Lodge is a place that can turn into either Lodge depending on the personality of the person who enters the place. Strangely, in this series "fear" is considered necessary and should not be forgotten (Shibusen's teaching, apparently) while in Twin Peaks, fear is one thing that can lead a person who enters White Lodge/Black Lodge to be replaced by his doppleganger (evil twin). The demon clearly tries to temp Soul by offering him power (presumably in the form of Ragnarok's soul) and so far Soul has been able to resist the temptation. I do think that in the end, his fear of hurting Maka will lead him to take up the offer of power. As for Medusa, it's interesting to know that she's actually disliked by her fellow witches, who just want to do their own thing and not disturb Shibusen. I wonder if this is the attitude of most witches and Medusa is actually just a rogue witch. Anyway, it's interesting to see her being cunning in the battle although I think Stein is starting to suspect her now. Come to think of it, what's her reason for wanting to create Kishin?

© memento 2003