War on the Moon Arc

War on the Moon Arc
Arc Info
Chapters	Chapter 91 - Chapter 97
Arc Guide
Previous ← Hunt Arc	Next War on the Moon II Arc →

War on the Moon Arc is the twenty-second named arc within the manga Soul Eater. During this arc, the remaining Death Scythes join DWMA forces on a mission to the Moon, where they face Asura's new army of Clowns. Meanwhile, Maka Albarn and the members of Spartoi search for Crona's location in Italy, while doubting whether they can bear to kill one of their friends.

Featured Debuts

Characters

• Zubaidah
• Alexandre
• White Rabbit
• Kaguya
• Moonlight
• Maba's assistant
• Elephantine Clown
• Three-Faced Clown
• Colossus Clown
• Jester Clown
• Italian roadside vendor

Locations

• The Moon's surface and interior

Magic/Techniques

• Light Refraction
• Wardrobe Change
• Flaming Moon Ring
• The Tower
• Bind Ivy
• Schmidt
• Rainbow
• The Lovers

Objects

• Angel's Raiment
• Pelt of the Fire Rat

Summary

War on the Moon (Part 1)

Franken Stein and the Death Scythes are approaching the Moon to fight Asura. As Death the Kid joins an airborne unit, their Demon Airship is attacked by a new batch of clowns, threatening to crash the ship before its landing.

War on the Moon (Part 2)

Death the Kid continues his fight against the Clown Army, while Akane☆Hoshi protects the Eternal Spring.

War on the Moon (Part 3)

While members of Spartoi argue whether they should follow Death's orders to kill Crona, Maka Albarn has narrowed her search to locate their target in Italy. Meanwhile, on the Moon, Franken Stein draws upon Asura's madness to decimate the Clown Army, but not before Justin Law kills one of Kid's colleagues.

War on the Moon (Part 4)

Franken Stein and Marie Mjolnir finally face Joe Buttataki's killer, Justin Law, on the surface of the Moon. Meanwhile, the remaining Death Scythes join Death the Kid in this battle against the Clown Army. Finally, Sid Barrett prepares to enter the Moon's interior to find Asura's location but is surprised to find Noah and Gopher already present.

War on the Moon (Part 5)

While Death the Kid and Franken Stein are empowered by madness alongside the Death Scythes, the DWMA fights a losing battle on the Moon against Asura's infinite number of clowns. While Akane☆Hoshi and Clay Sizemore are joined by Noah and Gopher to locate Asura's hiding place, Maka Albarn deceives her teammates so she may face Crona alone.

War on the Moon (Part 6)

Maka Albarn's attempt to persuade Crona back to the DWMA fails upon facing her friend's refusal of Order and revelation of having killed Medusa. As Crona escapes to the Moon to possess Asura, Spartoi struggles to determine their next steps. Meanwhile, the battle on the Moon continues, Asura's Clown Army overwhelming DWMA forces even though Death the Kid has now connected the second Line of Sanzu. While Franken Stein and Marie Mjolnir face Justin Law for their final battle, Death worries that his war against the Kishin may turn into a war against Crona and Noah as well, forcing him to seek power from the Fifth Power.

War on the Moon (Part 7)

As DWMA forces on the Moon are ineffective against Asura's infinitely regenerating clowns, Death recalls Death the Kid to negotiate a tenuous alliance with one of his worst enemies: the witches. Meanwhile, as Spartoi separates for different missions, Maka Albarn's team gets back to basics to recover Crona.

Notable Instances

• Jinn Galland and Dengu Dinga's meisters, Zubaidah and Alexandre, are introduced.
• Death reveals he has pursued a potential ally in the fight against Asura: the witches. As part of this plan, the DWMA had interrogated Eruka Frog upon her capture to confirm that, with enough magic users initiating Soul Protect, the Clown's infinite regeneration could be halted.
• As Death realizes his demise will come soon once Kid connects all three Lines of Sanzu to defeat Asura, he will never see Kid smile again.
• Justin Law kills Auntie, the receptionist at the Death Scythe Meister Academy.
• Franken Stein and Marie Mjolnir kill Justin Law.
• The members of Spartoi separate, with Maka and Black☆Star intending to use their flying weapons to follow Crona to the Moon, while Kim has been called to meet with Death and their other teammates will meet with Kid's team for a flight to the Moon. After she is along with her team, Maka reveals that they are removing their Spartoi badges in order to defy Death's assassination order to instead rescue Crona.
• This arc foreshadows that Marie Mjolnir is pregnant.
  • In the final chapter, Stein admits he knew Marie was pregnant before they left to go to the Moon. In this chapter, he claims the Death Scythes are more than capable of covering Kid's escape from the Moon, yet he also orders Marie to return to Death City. These potentially conflicting remarks, as well as Stein putting his hand to her abdomen, may indicate that Stein does not want to risk losing her and their child.
  • Spirit then suggests Stein could curb his madness if he started a family. Stein does not admit he and Marie are already expecting a child, instead deflecting by reminding Spirit that he is hardly someone to discuss family as a way to becoming more orderly, seeing as he is divorced (to say nothing of his strained relationship with his daughter).

Trivia

• Gen evidently receives sexual satisfaction from an H-beam. His remark is also a pun: "H" in Japanese is pronounced "ecchi," which translates as "naughty," a less intense version of the word it abbreviates, "hentai," which means "pervert."
• In the Yen Press translation, Spirit shouts, "Full speed ahead!" as he and Stein stand on the airship's bridge, with Death the Kid on board. This remark is one commonly associated with the science fiction series Star Trek. Coincidentally, the English voice actors for Spirit, Stein, and Kid--Vic Mignogna, Chuck Huber, and Todd Haberkorn—star in an online continuation of Star Trek.
• As in previous occasions, especially in the anime, Stein's second-hand smoke assumes the form of a skull reminiscent of Death's mask.
• One clown has lips and teeth that resemble those of Soul Eater's E.A.T. headband badge.
• Marie Mjolnir is momentarily self-aware that she is in a manga, as she realizes Stein is giving exposition for readers about Spirit's ability to adjusts his wavelength so well. This is one of a few instances of meta-textual references in Atsushi Ohkubo's works, including Tsugumi Harudori explaining obscure words to Anya Hepburn by pointing to a definition off-panel.
• Justin Law's Schmidt attack may allude to Franz Schmidt, the official German executioner for Bamberg and Nuremberg from 1573 to 1617. Schmidt recorded his 45-year career in a personal journal, detailing 361 executions and 365 lesser punishments.
• With his Schmidt attack, Justin can create a path of guillotines through which Stein passes, similar to the line of guillotines that lead from DWMA into the Death Room.
• Stein is capable of fast movements and, due to Marie's electrical abilities, leaves bits of lightning along the ground, similar to the fast superhero The Flash from DC Comics.
• Jinn's technique the Tower alludes to one of the tarot cards from the Major Arcana, "The Tower". The name of this technique and its general depiction also potentially refer to the Tower of Babel, which according to the Book of Genesis was built in the city of Babylon, alluding to both Jinn and Zubaidah's West Asian descent. The Tower's appearance also bears a small resemblance to the golem in the Soul Eater Repeat Show opening.
• The term used to refer to Noah is "square shoulders," which in Japanese uses the character for "rage" or "wrath," apt for this particular Icon.
• Gopher's usual frown turns upward at its corners as he attempts to smile. This "W-Smile" later appears in full in the final chapter of the manga.
• Spirit worries about Kid connecting all three Lines of Sanzu in order to become a true shinigami. As foreshadowed in earlier chapters, and as confirmed in Chapter 111, Spirit's worry is because only one Shinigami may exist at any time: once Kid assumes that role, Death will die.
• Some of Ohkubo's illustrations of Italy seem to be based thoroughly on photographic images of actual buildings and bystanders.
• In the Yen Press English translation, Tezca Tlipoca refers to a "Fifth Power," later revealed to be the witches. A fifth power, or "quintessence," may refer to the Fifth Element or the Aether, an element beyond the conventional four: air, fire, earth, and water. The quintessence also may refer to a hypothetical form of dark energy. Based on witches' closeness to dark magic and their operation outside of a normal world, Tezca's potentially unintentional comparison of witches to the Aether and Dark Energy is apt.
• Marie's fatal attack against Justin produces a symbol that looks like the triquetra, a three-cornered shape used in Germanic paganism, Celtic art, and, as the "trinity knot," a symbol for the Trinity in Christianity. Like Marie, the triquetra is associated with Norse mythology: it is the symbol associated with Odin, the god who is the father of the thunder god Thor, whose weapon, Mjolnir, serves as Marie's last name.
• Justin Law's death is appropriate based on his weapon form: much as a guillotine beheads its victim, so does Stein and Marie's attack behead Justin.
• In the Yen Press English translation, Free tells Eruka that escaping the Death Scythe Meister Academy will be "a snap crackle pop." Eruka corrects him that the proper term is "snap." Free's remark is an allusion to the slogan for the United States breakfast cereal Rice Krispies.
• Free refers to the presence of Enrique as "like dogs and monkeys," a well-known Japanese phrase that refers to two people or sides who are constantly at odds with each other. The United States equivalent is "like cats and dogs."
• The symbol Soul draws onto his headband closely resembles his own soul, and is in fact the logo for Soul Eater.
• One of the members of Spartoi mocks a teammate's drawing as looking terrible, and that teammate responds that they can only draw straight lines. This poor illustration is shown in Chapter 100 to belong to Harvar, as his headband is revealed to consist of only straight lines.
• Tsubaki's suitcase has elements similar to both Maka and Soul. While most of the suitcase alludes to Soul—the musical note on its lower portion, the toothy mouth, and the glaring eyes—the plaid design resembles Maka's skirt.
• Black☆Star and Tsubaki's headbands have two stars drawn onto them.
• Maka wears her band on her bicep, Black☆Star on his wrist, and Tsubaki on her thigh.