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FUNimation Adds Soul Eater Anime from Media Factory (Update 2)

The North American anime distributor FUNimation Entertainment has announced that it has acquired Takuya Igarashi and Bones' ongoing anime adaptation of Atsushi Ohkubo's Soul Eater supernatural action manga. The story begins at the Shinigami Weapons Specialist Vocational School, a university run by Death himself for living weapons and their human partners. One of the student weapons specialists, the human Maka Alban, is paired with Soul Eater, a boyish figure whose true form is a scythe. Maka, Soul, and the rest of their class learn how to collect souls while plying their arts against the witches, werewolves, and zombies of the world. A trailer is available on the official North American website.

This Media Factory production reunites the publisher Square Enix with many of the Fullmetal Alchemist anime staffers, including scriptwriter Akatsuki Yamatoya (Gintama), character designer Yoshiyuki Ito, production designer Shinji Aramaki (Appleseed), and the BONES studio animators (Cowboy Bebop). Japanese pop artists T.M. Revolution (Gundam Seed), Tommy heavenly6 (Gintama), and others sing the theme songs. Before directing Soul Eater, Igarashi oversaw Ashita no Nadja, Ojamajo Doremi, Ouran High School Host Club, and Sailor Moon Sailor Stars. The Soul Eater anime premiered in Japan just this past April, and FUNimation's press release reveals that the anime will be 51 episodes long when it ends this spring. FUNimation will release the anime in four half-season sets beginning in late 2009.

Ohkubo's original "cool & pop action fantasy" manga has been running in Square Enix's Monthly Shonen Gangan magazine since 2004, and Yen Press publishes it in North America.

Image © Atsushi Ohkubo/Square Enix, TV Tokyo, Media Factory, BONES, Dentsu 2008

Update: ANN has posted a spotlight feature on this anime series.

Update 2: A trailer is now available for viewing. "Human weapons masters" has been reworded to "human partners." Thanks, Emerje.