| Synopsis |
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| As Black☆Star faces his samurai opponent to avenge an injured Maka Albarn, Mifune remembers how it is he came under the employ of Arachnophobia and to become guardian of the witch Angela Leon. |
The Bodyguard (Part 2) is the twenty-eighth serialized chapter of the manga Soul Eater. It was reprinted in tankōbon form in Volume 8. It was adapted as part of Episode 28, The Sword God Rises - Does it Have a Sweet or Salty Taste? in the Soul Eater anime.
Featured Appearances[]
Characters
DWMA Students, Staff, and Allies
- Mosquito
- Mifune
- Angela Leon
- Scientist
De Niro Crime Family and Other Gangs
- Marlon De Niro (first appearance)
- De Niro child (first appearance)
- De Niro family nanny (first appearance)
- De Niro guards (first appearance)
- Rival gang members (first appearance)
Other Characters
- Children
Locations
- Island Nation to the East
- Arachnophobia Demon Tool Development Lab
- Death City
- Death Weapon Meister Academy
- Basketball court
Techniques
- Infinite One-Sword Style
- Addition Mode: Swords Number One through Twenty-Four
- Multiplication Mode
- Three-Shot Path
- Mode: Smoke Bomb
- Mode: Uncanny Sword
- Shadow Star
Objects
- Sword
- Morality Manipulation Machine
- Camera
- Candy
Plot[]
Arachnophobia Facility[]
Facing Black☆Star, Mifune initiates battle with his Infinite One-Sword Style: swords fly into the sky and land around his opponent, who can feel the power coming from each of those swords. Mifune dashes across and over the swords, striking at Black☆Star, but not before the ninja blocks with Tsubaki. With his foot, Mifune removes from the ground one sword to slash at Black☆Star, but the DWMA student already knocks his fist into the samurai's face. Mifune compliments Black☆Star on maturing in his combat style but adds such is to expected of "children." Black☆Star argues he defeated Mifune before and demands the samurai's respect. From afar, Angela Leon disagrees, shouting that Mifune, although much stronger than Black☆Star, loves children too much to have killed Black☆Star last time. As Tsubaki wonders why someone like MIfune would be so careful with children would join Arachnophobia, Mosquito warns Mifune not to hold back in battle, "or else."
Sid analyzes the Moral Manipulation Machine.
Meanwhile, inside the facility, Sid Barrett photographs the demon tool, the Moral Manipulation Machine. He asks Azusa Yumi for an update on the outside, alerting Sid that DWMA agents are fighting "a human with a superstrong soul." Azusa also remarks that the difference in Black☆Star and Mifune's strengths "is like night and day." Sid completes his photographs of the machine and its nearby blueprints, preparing his dynamite to explode the machine as well as the facility. While appreciative of Black☆Star's distraction allowing him to complete his own mission, Sid worries about how long his student can last in combat.
As Mifune increases his soul wavelength, Tsubaki transforms into achain scythe, as Black☆Star prepares to use Mifune's "own strength against" him, knocking swords at Mifune—which the samurai catches effortlessly. As Black☆Star struggles to trip Mifune along Tsubaki's chains, the samurai fires Three-Shot Path, each sword landing between the chains of Tsubaki's scythe and pinning the weapon to the ground. Mifune then dashes along the tops of the three swords, removing another lodged into the ground to cut at Black☆Star before snatching more swords. While Black☆Star initially dodges, Mifune again thrusts his sword into the ground to pin down a chain, tripping Black☆Star in time for Mifune to cut.
Mifune completes his multiplied attack.
Tsubaki transforms into a Smoke Bomb, allowing Black☆Star to pull back during the diversion before she transforms into Uncanny Sword mode. Impressed at Tsubaki's multiple forms, Mosquito realizes she is a member of the Nakatsukasa, descendants of the demon weapons made by Arachne. Surprised at the force of Tsubaki's new sword form, Mifune still evades Shadow Star in time to perform Infinite One-Sword Style again, this time multiplying the technique by twelve, each slash cutting at Black☆Star before those swords wrap around his neck and limbs. Mifune unleashes Multiplication Mode, the swords' slashes increasing. Black☆Star is downed.
As Tsubaki reverts to her human form to tend to her injured meister, Mifune assures her that the cuts are shallow, and that it is best for the DWMA students to retreat. Tsubaki asks how a samurai like Mifune could work for a witch. Mifune asks back whether Tsubaki is here at this witches' facility because witches like Angela are the enemies of the DWMA. Tsubaki explains their goal was to avenge their injured friend. While Mifune apologizes for his error, Tsubaki refuses: "You've done nothing to apologize for. I can see you're a kind person." She then asks why he would work for Arachnophobia when his skills at martial arts would make him more suitable as a teacher at the DWMA. Shocked at the opportunity to be a mentor to children, an embarrassed Mifune refers to the suggestion as "stupid." But as he sees Angela playing, he remembers how he came to this point.
De Niro residence, two years ago[]
Gangsters are surprised at Marlon De Niro's new bodyguard, but one of De Niro's children is willing to approach the stoic, dangerous samurai Mifune. Mifune advises the child not to touch his swords, offering the child candy instead. When the child asks why Mifune carries around candy if he does not eat it, Mifune explains that he brings it because children like candy.
De Niro assigns Mifune his first job: one of his family's enemies has acquire a powerful witch. Mifune's task is to kidnap her to bring to the De Niro family or, if necessary, kill her.
Mifune fights his way through the enemy family's guards, finding the witch: a small child.
Later, De Niro guards are hunting for that "traitor" Mifune for escaping with Angela. As they hide, Mifune assures Angela everything will be okay as he offers her candy.
Arachnophobia Facility, the present[]
As Black☆Star rises again to complain that Mifune is going easy on him, Mosquito instructs Mifune to kill the DWMA students. Mifune refuses as the fight has been concluded decisively, but Mosquito threatens to kill Angela if Mifune does not follow his instructions. Tsubaki intervenes, telling Mifune she will not allow the samurai to kill them. Realizing he must follow Arachnophobia's orders for Angela's safety, Mifune apologizes.
A stream of blood explodes into the sky. But it is not that of Black☆Star and Tsubaki; it is from Mosquito, shot by Azusa's blast fired by the sniper Sid. A second shot fires at Mifune, who cuts it away with his sword. Naigus ignites the explosives. An Arachnophobia agent runs to Mosquito with a report to evacuate, but Mosquito has other ideas, smashing his nose into the agent's body to sap his blood to recover. Leaving the agent to die, Mosquito seizes Angela and departs.
As Sid fires more shots that Mifune avoids or blocks, Black☆Star demands the samurai finish their battle. As Sid and Naigus from afar complain about the ninja's failure to be patient, Mifune advises Black☆Star to not rush his practice: "Keep on doing what you're doing. It will come." Mifune also advises that Black☆Star learn about "the other presence inside Tsubaki" to better command the Uncanny Sword mode. Mifune concludes by complimenting Tsubaki's beauty (embarrassing her but already obvious to Black☆Star) and tossing candy to give to Black☆Star's injured friend.
Death City[]
At the DWMA Infirmary, as Soul Eater prepares to depart, he confirms whether Maka Albarn requires anything, but she assures him that Marie Mjolnir is here if she needs anything. Black☆Star then enters, approaching Soul to confirm that he did not tell Maka what he was up to. Annoyed at the two boys whispering, Maka tells Black☆Star to leave whatever annoying item he intended to bring and just leave. Black☆Star tosses Mifune's candy onto her bed, not knowing whether the item will be a trick or not. He tells her the candy comes from a "sweet samurai," but Maka does not understand his joke.
As Black☆Star leaves to walk through the DWMA hallways, he is humiliated that Mifune has reduced him to a candy errand boy.
In the infirmary, Soul unwraps the candy and drops it into his meister's mouth, but she is confused at its taste: if Black☆Star had said the candy was sweet, why is it seaweed flavor?
As he sits at the basketball court that night, Black☆Star also has a sour taste in his mouth.
Manga and Anime Differences[]
- In this chapter, Tsubaki suggests Mifune would be better suited as a teacher at the DWMA. In the credits to the anime's final episode, Mifune is shown to have accepted this teaching position. In the manga, however, Black☆Star kills Mifune in the Baba Yaga Castle Arc.
Trivia[]
Thus they are called "Starfish"
- Unlike many other chapters, in the Yen Press translation, the Soul Eater logo on the cover is vertical rather than horizontal.
- Mosquito reveals that Tsubaki's clan, the Nakatsukasa, was one of the first set of weapons produced by Arachne herself.
- Marlon De Niro's name comes from two actors who have played the Mafia crime leader Vito Corleone in The Godfather films, Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro. Marlon De Niro also resembles Brando's appearance in the film Apocalypse Now!
- Mifune hides Angela near the fifty-second building in a complex.
- In the Yen Press translation, Angela calls Mosquito "Grandpa Mosqie!!!"
- Azusa claims her shots can hit a target up to six miles away with less than a half-inch of error.
- Mifune's shirt reads "Osamurai," which translates into "Great Samurai."
- Mifune can sense the Will of the Nakatsukasa within Tsubaki, and Black☆Star will follow the samurai's advice to speak to that Will and better command the Uncanny Sword.
- At the DWMA infirmary, Black☆Star's shirt has a star on it, and Soul's shirt has a fish on it. Reading right to left, the shirts spell "starfish." The shirts may also be applicable to the characters' personalities: Black☆Star emblazons his insignia across all of his outfits, and Soul's shirt, showing a fish eating at hooked bait, is an eater.
- Black☆Star refers to Mifune as "amai," which is a pun: the word means "sweet," as associated with the candy Mifune has, but also "indulgent," referring to his patronizing of Black☆Star like he is only a child.[1]
- Black☆Star also refers to feeling "shoppai" upon his return to Death City. The term means "salty," apt for the kind of candy Mifune hands out, but also wrestling and sumo slang meaning "weak" or "pathetic." Salt is what wrestlers toss around the ring before bouts, which means the loser (in this case, Black☆Star) ends the bout thrown into the salt.[1]