Did you think you could lure me out? Well, seems like it was you who fell into the trap. You’re much too dangerous...I don’t need the most talented servants. I just need obedient soldiers.
Clay Sizemore expresses concern over Sid Barrett’s plan to use “her as bait to draw out Shaula.” However, with the Halloween Death Festival beginning tomorrow, Sid urgently desires to stop Shaula before the crowded event begins: he claims he is too “stubborn” to stop now.
Girls' Dormitory[]
The night before Halloween, Tsugumi Harudori cannot sleep, her guilt over making Meme Tatane cry over her short-term memory continuing to haunt her, as well as her own frustration with Pochi’s injuries and the fear that Meme has already forgotten their argument.
Meme, however, again sleepwalks, this time exiting the girls’ dormitory and bringing with her the bag holding her Halloween outfit. Awakened, Tsugumi and Anya Hepburn follow Meme.
Death Weapon Meister Academy[]
Tsugumi and Anya find Meme at the DWMA, where the sleepwalking meister bypasses security measures to arrive at the door to the Anti-Witch Headquarters. Somehow Meme possesses the key allowing her entrance into the room. Anya and Tsugumi follow, unaware that they too are being pursued by a certain meister and weapon.
Inside the Anti-Witch Headquarters, Meme shuffles through papers. When called out by Anya, Meme seems to awaken before stumbling to the floor. As Tsugumi tends to the collapsed Meme, Clay and Akane enter, looking through Meme’s bag to discover her Halloween costume consists of a cowboy hat and a bag-mask. Picking herself up, Meme has a disturbing smirk on her face. Sensing something is wrong, Akane calls out to a “Princess,” tackling Anya before she is attacked by the seemingly sleepwalking Meme. Meme then kicks Clay—and the Headquarters’ door—out of the way—escaping down the hallway.
Akane gives chase after Meme, ordering a reluctant Clay to stay behind to protect Anya and Tsugumi. Meanwhile, Sid’s soldiers are already stationed outside the DWMA’s front entrance, with snipers stationed at neighboring rooftops. However, these snipers are pierced in their necks by Shaula Gorgon, her venom infecting them.
Meanwhile, Clay explains to Tsugumi and Anya what is happening: Sid has evidence indicating Meme has been possessed by a witch, Shaula Gorgon, and her hypnotic venom. Meme therefore is the person stealing information from the DWMA, all of which has allowed a witch to possess students as “traitors,” including Eternal Feather. The venom is also harming Meme; unlike other traitors who suffer from insomnia and apathy, Meme instead suffers from sleepwalking and loss of memory. Clay then departs, promising to send security to escort Anya and Tsugumi back to the girls’ dormitory.
Outside the DWMA, Sid’s soldiers are attacked by their own snipers and Meme, all now possessed by Shaula.
As Meme escapes from Sid, Tsugumi pities herself over yelling at her friend, blaming her for her forgetfulness when it was the fault of Shaula. Anya, recognizing that Tsugumi also is still mourning the loss of her pet dog, reminds her that Meme would not blame Tsugumi. Reminding her that “common people” like Tsugumi must be “strong, hardy, fun, and cheerful,” she refuses to have her weapon be “obedient” when she should be saving Meme. Finding one of Meme’s messenger bats outside the DWMA, Tsugumi decides that even if she cannot save Meme, she must apologize to her. She and Anya follow the bat towards Meme’s location.
With his soldiers all possessed, injured, or dead, Sid is alone in his pursuit after Meme. Cornering the student in the Square of Liberty, Sid realizes that Meme’s grades and martial arts skills may have made her a target for Shaula before her arrival to the DWMA. Lost in his thoughts, Sid is attacked by his possessed soldiers and Meme, a distraction that allows Shaula to stab her venom into him. Shaula, realizing Sid’s stubbornness is undesirable when all she desires are “obedient soldiers,” gives an order to Meme.
An explosion is seen and heard throughout Death City. Tsugumi and Anya follow the blast to find Akane and Clay have already arrived at the source, the Square of Liberty. The shocked students all stare to see Sid Barrett, atop cracked pavement, with a tall replica of the Statue of Liberty stabbed into his forehead. Tsugumi collapses to the floor: her teacher is dead.
Manga and Anime Differences[]
Whereas the anime separated the day when Meme's break-in through the Anti-Witches Room from the day when she escapes the DWMA and kills Sid, in the manga these events all take place on the same day. Therefore Clay was always with Akane in their fight against Meme in the anime, whereas Clay stayed behind to protect Anya and Tsugumi in the manga. Likewise, Akane and Clay were with Sid when they initially pursued Meme, whereas in the manga Sid was separated from all of his soldiers early in the story.
The manga has less for Shaula and Sid to fight each other. Whereas in the anime not only does Shaula fire arrows at Sid but Sid himself rips a light post to strike at Shaula, the manga does not feature these scenes: in the manga, Sid instead fights his possessed soldiers (a task left to Akane and Clay in the anime) and, while distracted, is immobilized by Shaula.
In the manga, Anya emphasizes it was Tsugumi's status as a commoner that lets her know that the weapon should not stand by while Meme escapes. In the anime's corresponding arc, Anya does not mention Tsugumi's commoner status.
Clay inspects Meme's Halloween costume.
This chapter suggests that Meme poses as the serial killer Texas Mask, a character who briefly appeared in an earlier chapter and as a wanted poster in the anime. Whether Meme is the only one of Shaula's possessed soldiers to pose as Texas Mask is not yet confirmed. The anime never shows Meme outfit, let alone Clay potentially discovering Meme's other identity; however, the anime does include a moment during one of her fights against Tsugumi and Anya in which Meme wields Texas Mask's signature weapon, chainsaws.
Whereas the anime shows Meme, bloodied and injured, after tossing the Statue of Liberty replica so hard onto Sid as to not only stab him through the head but crush his body and the Statue, in the manga the entire Statue remains largely intact and without showing Meme actually present after killing Sid. The manga also shows that the extent of Sid's injuries largely consist of the torch of the Statue impaling him in the head, whereas the anime showed his body underneath the rubble of the Statue. Also, in the anime Sid dies wearing his basketball jersey, which he also wore first in the original manga and the first anime, whereas in the manga Sid is wearing his security outfit, which he began to wear later in the original manga and the first anime.
Trivia[]
The Yen Press English release of Volume 5 includes a splash page with Meme, in her pajamas and lying on only a pillow on a bare floor, while the wall behind her has stars, a version of the Soul Eater Not! logo that looks asleep, and the phrases "Soul Eater Not!" and "Eternal Darkness."
