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While waiting for the next R1 release, I was took another look at the discs I have of Soul Eater. The artists in this series took a lot of risks and they somehow made it work.

At first I didn't care for it at all. For one thing the all-powerful Death is painted (and voiced) as a sort of a clown. All the character designs have some odd features. For example extremely snubbed noses with elongated nostrils. In profile some of them (including the cute Maka) look like decaying skulls than live teenagers. And the affinity for drool is a bit off-putting.

And what is with those celestial objects? The demented, blood drooling moon and the crude, looks-like-a-maceball sun both seem to be hovering a few hundred feet over the ground, close enough to be part of the action. At one point one of the characters remark on the sun's "odd" appearance.

But it all sort of grew on me and now looking at it again I wouldn't have it any other way. It looks like nothing else in anime.

But it looks familiar somehow. Can anyone say what this style was derived from? I don't think it is wholly new, but I can't put my finger on where I have seen something like this before. Any suggestions much appreciated.

HaruhiToy wrote:

But it looks familiar somehow. Can anyone say what this style was derived from? I don't think it is wholly new, but I can't put my finger on where I have seen something like this before. Any suggestions much appreciated.

I think it looks like the bastard child of Tim Burton (Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride) and Eiichiro Oda (One Piece), but that's just my opinion.