Teamwork is absolutely inseparable from Soul Eater at its core. After all, the meister-weapon partner system makes this a necessity, as stronger attacks can only be unlocked when all souls in the group are resonating in perfect harmony with one another. A large part of the curriculum at DWMA is actually spent strengthening the bonds between meisters and their weapons, as well as encouraging groups to work together as a whole. Which is even more complicated in terms of soul resonance.
Maka and Soul are an example of a great team that hits more than their fair share of low points throughout the series. They work incredibly well together and often push each other for the better, but they’re still growing. Not to mention the fact that they are vulnerable teenagers who are prone to letting things like emotions or romance cloud what should otherwise be a pretty flawless pair. This leads to them being more satisfyingly well-rounded, instead of simply an overpowered pair that can destroy everything from the get-go.
10 Works Well: Soul’s Carefree Nature Helps Maka Let Go Of Her Doubts And Fears
Maka is somewhat of a perfectionist, so the second she’s faced with a challenge she feels she has no way to overcome, she’ll simply shut down. This is seen clearly on in both her fight against Professor Stein when she could sense his overpowering soul wavelength, and when she was attempting to outrun a potentially life-threatening attack from Medusa.
With the carefree and laid-back Soul around, she’s able to let go of some of these insecurities more easily than she could alone. He helps talk her down when she’s in her head about Professor Stein’s strength, and even when she is overpowered, he’s willing to lay down his life to shield her if necessary.
9 Doesn’t Work: They’re Both Easily Provoked, Leading To Petty Arguments Rather Often
Although Soul is much more carefree compared to Maka, this mostly applies to external stressors, like classes, enemies or expectations. He still has quite the hot-head in combat, and when clashing against Maka’s pettier side, they get into a lot of pointless arguments.
As early as the first episode, Maka accuses Soul of crashing in on Blair because she believed he somehow knew she was taking a bath. In reality, Soul was just excited to fight and couldn’t have known at all, but Maka lets her own past experiences cloud her judgment. Of course, Soul’s going to become annoyed in response as he maintains that he hasn’t done anything wrong, and the vicious cycle continues.
8 Works Well: They’re Both Completely Dedicated In Their Goal Of Making Soul A Death Scythe
The requirement for turning an ordinary weapon into a Death Scythe- collecting ninety-nine souls and a single Witch’s soul- is no easy task. Both members would have to be entirely dedicated, as it’s possible to lose all of your progress and have to start all over again, which Maka and Soul actually have to do in the first episode.
However, they don’t let this deter them from trying again with absolutely everything they have. Even Soul who’s typically more lax is completely dedicated to this goal, and understands how much it means to Maka since she’s more personally motivated by familial relations.
7 Doesn’t Work: Maka’s Tendency To React Violently Toward Soul Doesn’t Age Well As A Comedic Punchline
Anime series that premiered in the earlier two-thousands face a bit of a violent comedy problem, particularly characterizing women as violent at uncalled-for times. Female characters from some of the biggest names fall victim to this- Sakura Haruno and Winry Rockbell come to mind- and sadly Maka isn’t immune to it, either.
When her partner irritates her, she can be seen using her ‘Maka Chop’ on him- that is, taking a heavy book and slamming it down onto his head as hard as she can. It’s supposed to mimic Lord Death using the similar ‘Reaper Chop’ on Maka’s father, but the difference is he’s typically leering at women and getting distracted, so it’s more called for. With Soul, on the other hand, Maka typically projects issues that she then refuses to bring up and instead lashes out at him in annoyance, expecting him to understand.
6 Works Well: Maka’s (Mostly) Able To Trust Soul, Despite Having Witnessed Unfaithful Men Throughout Her Childhood
Although Maka’s out-of-nowhere accusations towards Soul definitely weigh against them, the fact that she partners up with a male at all is admirable given her past. Not only had she witnessed her father being unfaithful and making empty promises throughout her childhood, but he is still seen fawning over the likes of Blair and Medusa throughout the series.
Maka decides to partner with Soul after he plays a piano performance for her that’s essentially him laying his personality bare through his music. Despite never having had a real positive male influence in her life before this, she still trusts him completely. Her upbringing can get in the way at times, but the two wouldn’t be able to resonate so strongly as partners without a solid foundation of trust.
5 Doesn’t Work: The ‘Blair Trying To Flirt With Soul’ Shtick Puts A Strain On Maka And Soul’s Partnership
Having a character that’s mostly reserved for mature comedic relief isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Midnight from My Hero Academia is a great example of a character who loves her innuendos, but she never actively tries to flirt with any of the students or anything over-the-line like that.
Although Blair isn’t as old as a teacher, she’s mature enough to work at a bar and flirt with Maka’s father. Even if that creepy age-difference element wasn’t present, Blair’s treatment of Soul is incredibly tasteless given the fact that Soul knows Maka has issues surrounding men being faithful, and only adds another point of contention to their relationship.
4 Works Well: They Equally Support And Take Care Of One Another When It’s Needed
Early on in the series, after Soul is near-fatally wounded and while Maka is talking to Nurse Medusa, she realizes he may be keeping a heavy secret from her. Aside from a snappy comment once or twice in his presence, as she’s annoyed with the fact that she believes Soul doesn’t trust her fully, she still believes in him and doesn’t push him too hard for information.
On the other side of things, Soul takes care of Maka after a fight against Giriko that left her totally immobilized. Not only does he get everyone together to visit her, but he feeds her in the hospital since she can’t move herself, which is sweet- even if he does it in a playful way that irritates Maka to no end.
3 Doesn’t Work: At First, Maka Refuses To Be Open With Soul And Nearly Puts Herself In Life-Threatening Danger
Despite appearing like a confident perfectionist, Maka actually struggles with many fears and insecurities throughout the series. The first major fear is actually of her partner and the idea that he carried their fights and that she wasn’t strong enough to actually compare herself to him.
Not only does she refuse to bring this up with him, but she goes as far as to chase down a highly-dangerous Witch who had dropped her Soul Protect. It was such a sheer, crushing force that even Maka admitted that it was scarily powerful, but she still proceeded to chase it down alone without her weapon. If Professor Stein hadn’t already been there, Maka very easily could have been hurt by her, or worse.
2 Works Well: Even When One Of Them Does Make A Mistake, They Handle Things Maturely
Maka and Soul aren’t perfect, and that’s expected of two teenagers. They might fight over little things, but when it comes to the big mistakes, they actually handle things with relative maturity.
Early on, Soul and Black Star get it in their heads that challenging Lord Death’s son together was a feasible idea. After they get completely destroyed, Maka scolds Soul, but it’s in a caring way that references back on how he used to be the one stopping her from getting into childish fights. He then agrees that his behavior was ‘totally uncool’ of him, and the two make up on the spot, showing that they can move past mistakes in a healthy way.
1 Doesn’t Work: Soul’s Sexual Harassment Of Maka Wasn’t Funny Back Then, And It’s Just Disgusting Now
One thing that early-to-mid-two-thousands series tend to have in common is using sexual harassment as a punchline. When Maka and the others first encounter Sid the zombie, Black Star flips Tsubaki’s skirt to try to get information out of him. Soul then flips Maka’s skirt as well, and honestly, it’s just surprising this was ever included at all.
Not only is it a disgusting thought that Black Star and Soul would ever essentially extort their partners to try to get information from someone, but the person in question was an adult. Even if it was thrown in for no other reason than ‘sexual humor’, it doesn’t look good when analyzing their overall relationship and treatment of one another as partners.
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