The SoulTaker
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For the Soul Taker film starring Joe Estevez see Soultaker (film).
| The SoulTaker | |
| The Soul Taker 〜魂狩〜 (Za Sōru Teikā ~Tamashii Gari~) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Action, Horror, Supernatural |
| Anime television series | |
| Directed by | Akiyuki Shinbo |
| Studio | Tatsunoko Productions |
| Licensed by | Geneon |
| Network | WOWOW |
| English network |
 G4techTV Canada TechTV, G4TechTV |
| Original run | April 4, 2001 – July 4, 2001 |
| Episodes | 13 |
| Spinoffs | |
| |
The SoulTaker (The Soul Taker 〜魂狩〜 Za Sōru Teikā ~Tamashii Gari~) is an anime series that focuses on Kyosuke Date who was killed by his mother, and afterward gained the ability to turn into a monster known as "The SoulTaker". The show was Tatsunoko's first attempt at a more adult (even by Japanese standards) series.
There is a spin-off OVA featuring Komugi, Nurse Witch Komugi. It is somewhat similar to Pretty Sammy, but shares more in common with Puni Puni Poemi.
Plot
After being stabbed in the chest by his mother, Kyosuke Date returns from the dead to find out he has a twin sister named Runa, and the ability to transform into the amazingly strong, powerful and dangerous superhuman mutant known as the SoulTaker. As he seeks out his twin sister, he is being pursued by the strange mutant doctors and nurses of the Hospital, led by his own father, Richard Vincent, as well as the evil Kirihara corporation, led by Yui Kirihara, who are also tracking down Runa for their own malevolent purposes.
Assisting him along the way are the mysterious Shiro Mibu and the nurse mutant girl Komugi Nakahara, who betrayed the Hospital out of strong romantic love for Kyosuke.
Characters
- Kyosuke Date (伊達 京介 Date Kyosuke) Voiced by: Mitsuki Saiga (Japanese), Brad Swaile (English)
- The main character. Kind-hearted, generous, selfless, serious and determined. After being stabbed by his adoptive mother, Miho, he returns to life to find his long-lost twin sister, Runa. He has the ability to transform into the tremendously strong and dangerous superhuman mutant known as "the SoulTaker."
- Mio Date (伊達 水脈 Date Mio) Voiced by: Minami Takayama (Japanese), Ellen Kennedy (English)
- Kyousuke's mother who stabbed him in the heart and buried him alive.
- Dr. Kyoya (ドクトル凶也 Dokutoru Kyoya) Voiced by: Toshihiko Seki (Japanese), Brian Drummond (English)
- The first mutant doctor Kyosuke faces in the first episode.
- Yui Kirihara (桐原 夕映 Kirihara Yui) Voiced by: Akiko Hiramatsu (Japanese), Lisa Ann Beley (English)
- The CEO and head of the Kirihara corporation, and one of the series' antagonists.
- Shiro Mibu (壬生 シロー Mibu Shiro) Voiced by: Masaya Onosaka (Japanese), Trevor Devall (English)
- The mysterious man who allies with Kyosuke against the Kirihara corporation.
- Maya Misaki (岬 真夜 Misaki Maya) Voiced by: Ikue Ohtani (Japanese), Kelly Sheridan (English)
- Kyosuke's friend and savior who was kidnapped by the Kirihara corporation.
- Komugi Nakahara (中原 小麦 Nakahara Komugi) Voiced by: Haruko Momoi (Japanese), Jocelyne Loewen (English)
- A mutant nurse girl who betrayed the Hospital to help Kyosuke after she realizes that she deeply romantically loves him. She is the main protagonist in the mini spin-off, Nurse Witch Komugi.
- Richard Vincent (リチャード・ビンセント Richaado Vinsento) Voiced by: Masashi Ebara (Japanese), Paul Dobson (English)
- The main antagonist who is Tsubaki's husband, and Kyosuke and Runa's father.
- Runa Tokisaka (時逆 琉奈 Runa Tokisaka) Voiced by: Michiko Neya (Japanese), Brittney Irvin (English)
- Kyosuke's twin sister and creator of the Flickers. She was accused of being the Devil. Although she looks as if she were nine years old, she is actually seventeen years old. She appears like a young child when her Flickers are not in her body, but when they are absorbed into her body, she transforms into a seventeen-year old teenage girl, which is her true shape and form.
Episode list
The 13 episode-series produced by Tatsunoko Productions and directed by Akiyuki Shinbo, premiered on the Japanese television network WOWOW on April 4, 2001 and ended on July 4, 2001. Two days after the last episode aired, North American anime licensor Geneon Entertainment USA had licensed the series and released it on 4 volumes on DVD and VHS.[1] In 2004, Geneon had re-released the series under their Signature Series label.[2]
It originally aired in the United States on TechTV as part of Anime Unleashed, and later aired on G4 after the TechTV merger.[3]
| No. | Title | Original airdate | English airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | "The Crest of the Devil" "Akuma no Monshō Hen" (悪魔の紋章篇) | April 4, 2001 | June 25, 2003 |
| One day, a horrible thing happened. A mother killed her son named Kyosuke Date. Is this the end for him? Or is it the start of a new adventure? | |||
| 02 | "The World is an Illusion" "Utsushiyo wa Yume Hen" (うつし世は夢篇) | April 11, 2001 | June 26, 2003 |
| Kyosuke asks his newfound friend Shiro why his mother killed him but he was not a big help. Meanwhile, Kirihara captures Maya so that they could run experiments on her. At the same time, Kyosuke dreams about Maya's struggles and sees an amusement park. He runs off and heads to the amusement park. Can Kyosuke save Maya? And what new enemies are awaiting his arrival in the amusement park? | |||
| 03 | "The Skull and the Maiden" "Sharekōbe to Shōjo Hen" (髑髏と少女篇) | April 18, 2001 | June 27, 2003 |
| A girl is being chased by unknown people. Meanwhile, Kyosuke heads to the church to look at his mother's diary. At the church his eyes starts to bleed and the girl shows up claiming that she is his sister. Is this girl really his sister? Or is it a trap set by the Kirihara corporation? | |||
| 04 | "The Slithering Darkness" "Ugomeku Yami Hen" (蠢く闇篇) | April 25, 2001 | July 1, 2003 |
| A boarding house in the middle of the forest is the home for another flicker named Sayaka Tachibana. Outside the boarding house Kyosuke, with Shiro, observes the boarding house. Later, the houses nurses says that she will help them. Is this nurse really going to help them? Or is she a minion of Dr. Narugami? | |||
| 05 | "Beyond the Human Realm" "Jingai Makyō Hen" (人外魔境篇) | May 5, 2001 | July 2, 2003 |
| Kyosuke decides to infiltrate Kirihara's base so that he could save a Flicker named Kasumi. Meanwhile, Shiro heads to the core of the base with the intentions of destroying the Flicker Searcher. Kasumi and Kyosuke were attacked and were separated. Kyosuke goes into a room where a doctor was waiting for him. He transforms into SoulCrusher. Can Kyosuke defeat this new foe? And is Shiro successful in destroying the Flicker Searcher? | |||
| 06 | "The Malevolent Stratosphere Castle" "Seisōken Ma Jō Hen" (成層圏魔城篇) | May 9, 2001 | July 3, 2003 |
| The battle against the SoulCrusher might be over but the danger for Kyosuke is still great. Now he is flying straight down to Earth and nothing can save him until he was teleported a floating fortress. There he meets a Flicker named Megumi who he starts to trust and actually like. Also in the ship is Zabo but he is in a state of suspended animation. Later, Megumi finally reveals her true form and expresses his anger towards Kyosuke. Can Kyosuke defeat her? | |||
| 07 | "The Last of a Woman" "Nyonin Hate Hen" (女人果篇) | May 16, 2001 | July 4, 2003 |
| On the riverside, Shiro, Komugi, and Kyosuke perform a riverside ritual were they put candles on boats in memory of dead love ones. But a mysterious woman appears that says that she is Kyosuke's birth mother. There she explains that Megumi is wrong about the things she said. Then a couple of Hospital mutants appear and Kyosuke was able to defeat them but Kyosuke got injured. He later wakes up with his mother and Richard Vincent is there for a visit. | |||
| 08 | "Mask of Hell" "Jigoku no Kamen Hen" (地獄の仮面篇) | May 23, 2001 | July 8, 2003 |
| Shiro reveals to Kyosuke that his sister, Yui, is the actual leader of the Kirahara group. Shiro says that her sister wants the Flickers so that she could find Runa. Also Shiro tells Kyosuke that he could have saved his mother but decided not to because only the mental trauma that he experience was the only thing that could awaken his own dormant superhuman mutant abilities and powers. Meanwhile, Nogumi is about to fight Yui's new monster she calls the SoulAnubis. | |||
| 09 | "Phantom of a Beautiful Dead Woman" "Shibijin no Genei Hen" (死美人の幻影篇) | May 30, 2001 | July 9, 2003 |
| Kyosuke arrives to help Nogumi and when he did the SoulAnubis sees his cross and returns back to his human form. Kyosuke recognizes the face and it was Maya. Then Yui explains that she combined flickers to create this new beast including Shiro's girlfriend Suki. Meanwhile, Richard Vincent spots Nogumi and starts to heal her. | |||
| 10 | "Sacrifice for Nothingness" "Kyomu e no Sonaemono Hen" (虚無への供物篇) | June 13, 2001 | July 10, 2003 |
| Runa's signal has been lost and a strange underwater entity has told Yui to cut off their ties with the aliens. Meanwhile, Kyosuke decides to fight his father, Vincent, but Komugi tries to talk him out of it. Will Kyosuke really fight his own father? | |||
| 11 | "Demon on a Deserted Island" "Kotō no Oni Hen" (孤島の鬼篇) | June 20, 2001 | July 11, 2003 |
| 12 | "Madonna in Black" "Kokui no Seibo Hen" (黒衣の聖母篇) | June 27, 2001 | July 15, 2003 |
| On the moon, Runa appears as a five-year-old child in front of her twin brother and the doctor. After absorbing all of the flickers back into her body, Runa takes on her true form. The doctor intends to kill Runa once and for all by using the mysterious Aplicon Buster that helped give birth to Kyosuke and Runa to begin with. Runa, however, spreads the Aplicon Buster into the atmosphere towards Earth, much to Kyosuke's shock. The doctor is destroyed by Kyosuke taking the soul and spirit of his adoptive mother, Miho, as the two were connected by sharing the same spirit and soul. | |||
| 13 | "The Last Inferno" "Shōjo Jigokuhen" (少女地獄変) | July 4, 2001 | July 16, 2003 |
| Kyosuke and Runa are still trapped in a virtual world of Runa's own creation of their home, being with their parents and living their lives. Kyosuke breaks out of the virtual reality, much to Runa's anger, and intends to battle her. Runa gives her twin brother a last warning-join her or be destroyed along with the humans! Kyosuke refuses his sister's offer. The two fraternal alien twins take on their mutant forms and do battle in a church-like place. | |||
References
- ↑ "Pioneer at AX". Anime News Network. 2001-07-06. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
- ↑ "Geneon Heats Up June". Press Release. Anime News Network. 2004-04-15. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
- ↑ "TechTv New Acquisitions". Anime News Network. 2003-05-03. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
External links
- The SoulTaker (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
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