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| Internal Investigation Arc | |
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The Internal Investigation Arc is the twelfth story arc of Soul Eater and the first arc where the anime diverges from the manga. Suspecting a traitor within the ranks, Death enlists Joe Buttataki to find the culprit responsible for orchestrating the events that lead to Stein's descent into madness.
In the anime, Kid begins his own independent investigation into the demon tools as he questions his father's true motive in collection all of Eibon's demon tools and it's connection to Joe Buttataki's arrival in Death City. Meanwhile, Asura joins forces with Arachnophobia.
Chapters[]
Episodes[]
Notable Instances[]
- Manga
- Death is suspicious that there is a mole within DWMA based on how Stein fell into madness at the pivotal moment of acquiring BREW on Lost Island. Death therefore brings Joe Buttataki to Death City to conduct an investigation.
- Background information is revealed about Marie Mjolnir, including her previous romantic relationship with her ex-boyfriend, Joe Buttataki.
- Before Joe can rekindle his relationship with Marie and identify who implanted a snake within her, Joe is killed by another mole within the DWMA, leaving Stein accused of his murder.
- The pressure of Joe's investigation troubles Crona. As Maka overhears Crona's admission of betraying Marie and Shibusen, she is too shaken to report Crona. Before Maka can question Crona herself, Medusa has taken Crona away from Death City, shocking Maka. Crona will remain an opponent to the DWMA until the manga's final arc, when they help defeat Asura.
- Black☆Star's frustration with his failure on Lost Island leads him to challenge Kid to a duel to prove to himself that he is still on the road to becoming a god. Scared for his friend's injured soul due to his use of the Uncanny Sword Mode, Kid is forced to knock out Black☆Star, handing Black☆Star another defeat. This defeat motivates Black☆Star to leave Death City with Tsubaki to acclimate himself to the Uncanny Sword.
- Anime
- Death the Kid pursues an investigation into Eibon's association with Death, but his interview with Stein fails due to his continued suffering from madness. Joe's arrival to Death City only worsens Kid's distrust of Death, as no one will be honest with him why they are using Eibon's demon tools to construct weapons against Arachnophobia and their possession of BREW.
- Black☆Star's frustration with his failure on Lost Island leads him to challenge Kid to a duel to prove to himself that he is still on the road to becoming a god. Scared for his friend's injured soul due to his use of the Uncanny Sword Mode, Kid is forced to knock out Black☆Star, handing Black☆Star another defeat. Black☆Star almost immediately recovers from his self-doubt after Kid beats him, but his desire to grow stronger, even through madness, persists up to his last fight against Mifune.
Manga and Anime Differences[]
- In the manga, Spirit Albarn and Sid Barrett arrest Franken Stein and instead of bringing him to Death takes Stein to Hook Cemetery to meet with Mira Naigus and Marie Mjolnir to see off him and Marie so they can clear Stein's name and find who really killed Joe Buttataki. In the anime, however, Spirit doesn't report Crona's disappearance to Death instead he informs his daughter and Soul about what had happened to Crona. This shows Spirit to be more cautious about reporting things to Death.
- Whereas in the manga Black☆Star met with Naigus to receive the discouraging news about his health when using the Uncanny Sword, in Episode 38, this news was passed along to Tsubaki Nakatsukasa first, who then informed a truant Black☆Star.
- As well, whereas in the manga Black☆Star challenges Kid to fight as soon as he exits the Dispensary, where Kid happened to be standing, in Episode 38 Black☆Star met with the main cast in the Class Crescent Moon, and it is at this point that he challenges Kid to fight.
Trivia[]
- Though the killer of Joe is eventually revealed to be Justin Law, this arc complicates when exactly Justin fell under the sway of Asura’s madness. Medusa first sensed this kind of madness in Chapter 31, “Reunion Express (Part 2),” upon her departure from Death City, which suggests Justin was mad comparatively early in the manga, before his attack on Lost Island but perhaps even before his rescue of Maka or his first appearance in the manga.
- This arc hides the identity of Joe Buttataki's murderer. As later chapters explain, based on the presence of madness circling around Death City as Joe pierces through Medusa's soul protect, the murderer is Justin Law. Spirit claims Joe died from having his chest sliced open by a large blade. This detail is one of many that identify the guillotine Death Scythe Justin Law as Joe's killer. Chapter 41 has the Flying Dutchman and The Clown discuss how they "turn[ed ...] the other one," and the previous chapter had Joe seem to recognize his killer, which is appropriate for a DWMA agent to recognize a Death Scythe. As well, in Chapter 38, Azusa Yumi had notified Joe that Justin was away from Death City on an assignment, which would allow Justin a temporary alibi.
- Although Joe refers to himself as a former meister at the Academy and Marie's ex-boyfriend, whether or not he was Marie's meister is not made absolutely clear, although such evidence suggests he may have been her meister.
- Joe's observation that Justin is not available to meet for interrogation hints strongly at his identity as Joe's murderer in the next chapter: Atsushi Ohkubo may have kept the character out of the chapter to throw off suspicion, and Justin may have feigned being elsewhere hunting for Asura so no one would know he was back in Death City to kill Joe.
- Azusa's dialogue confirms that Kid's party for Crona at Gallows Mansion and his mission to retrieve the Eternal Spring take place on May 21, and that on the next day, May 22, Lord Death assigned Justin to hunt for the Kishin.
- Although this arc is the first appearance of Deathbucks Coffee, better known in later content as Deathbucks Café, the location would not gain its more familiar form until Chapter 3 of Soul Eater Not! where it would serve not only as a job but another major set for the series, introducing Tsugumi Harudori to the Thompsons and clarifying the process by which DWMA students earn allowances.
References[]