Soul Eater Not!

Soul Eater Not! (ソウルイーターノット!) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Atsushi Ohkubo. It is a spin-off of the main series, Soul Eater, taking place prior to the events of the manga. It was serialized in Square Enix's Monthly Shōnen Gangan magazine from January 2011 to November 2014. An anime television series adaptation by Bones aired on TV Tokyo between April and July 2014 and was simulcast by Funimation in North America.

Plot
The Death Weapon Meister Academy (DWMA) is a special institution for humans who are born with the power to turn into weapons and the wielders of these weapons, called meisters. While the students of the EAT (Especially Advantaged Talent) class train themselves to become warriors of justice, the NOT (Normally Overcome Target) class is for those who just want to control their powers with the intent to not become a threat to others and to themselves. Tsugumi Harudori is a halberd demon weapon who takes part in the NOT class and befriends two meisters, Meme Tatane and Anya Hepburn, becoming indecisive about which one of them to choose as her partner. The series follows the daily lives of Tsugumi and her friends as they learn the ropes of the DWMA and have occasional encounters with the characters of the main series.

Manga
Soul Eater Not! was serialized in Square Enix's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Gangan from January 12, 2011, to November 10, 2014. Square Enix published five tankōbon volumes between September 22, 2011, and December 22, 2015. The series is licensed in North America by Yen Press and was being simultaneously released in English alongside its Japanese counterpart.

Anime
An anime television series adaptation by Bones aired in Japan between April 8, 2014, and July 2, 2014, and was simulcast by Funimation. The opening theme is "Monochrome" by Dancing Dolls, and the ending theme is "Yūgure Happy Go" (夕暮れハッピーゴー) by Haruka Chisuga, Aoi Yūki, and Saori Hayami.

Reception
The first three of the manga volumes released by Yen Press are best sellers according to The New York Times.

Anime News Network (ANN) had four editors review the first episode of the anime: Rebecca Silverman expressed intrigue in the series. She praised the character of Tsugumi Harudori for being interesting and introducing the world the story takes place in, concluding by saying that it deserves more episodes to see how it will move forward from that; Carl Kimlinger, although praising Masakazu Hashimoto for directing the series from a different perspective, expressed criticism in the lack of bravado and edge that Takuya Igarashi brought to the original series; Jacob Hope Chapman commented on how comparing it to the original series seemed fair, expressing disdain over the animation and characters for being bland and the overall tone resembling that of K-On!. The fourth reviewer, Theron Martin, gave two different opinions on the episode. He said that the change in tone and different art style will disappoint fans of the original series, while as a stand-alone show it might do better with its overall cutesy charm.

Martin reviewed the complete series in 2015. Despite finding some inconsistency in the setting and some subpar action scenes, Martin gave praise to the main trio's presence, the moe-influenced animation and returning to the series' world as a prequel, concluding that, "Overall, Soul Eater Not! looks pretty good and can be quite pleasingly entertaining, provided that you do not go into it from Soul Eater expecting 'more of the same'. It sells its cute and fun factors well enough to stand on its own while also still throwing plenty of bones to fans of the original series." Fellow ANN editor Gabriella Ekens wrote that the modest moe art style made the series come across as "a low-rent K-On!" with its dodgy facial expressions and the main girls' "loving and supportive" interactions, concluding with: "Despite light action segments, Soul Eater Not! is for fans of slice-of-life moé and no one else. Familiarity with the larger Soul Eater franchise helps but is not required. Just remember – this isn't Soul Eater!, and don't go to it for that." Chris Homer of The Fandom Post critiqued that the prequel's overall slice of life vibe, cutesy moe comedy and the Not! cast will put off fans of the original series but felt that new viewers can enjoy it based on its three leads (highlighting Anya and her development), the various SE cameos and its dramatic final third, concluding that "on its own merit, it's harmless. Nothing spectacular, but nothing terrible – a nice slice of life series which you can just smile through."