“The Underground Battle Commences – Break Through Medusa’s Vector Arrow?”
With the lead characters off to stop Medusa before she can wake the kishin sleeping under the academy Lord Death, Sid and the rest of the students wait trapped in the academy and Lord Death comes clean about why he started the school, why he never leaves it, and what is beneath it. The other students, not main characters, but not helpless NPCs either, decide to try to find a way to see through the witches’ “Soul Protect” spell so they can defend themselves if another witch tries to hide among them again.
Asura’s story is rather brutal, so at this point it’s more a show for older teens (not that Blaire’s penchant for nakedness isn’t reason enough). Speaking of Blaire, she is also trapped outside of the academy and even she is not unmoved by the destruction the witches are reigning down on Death City.
Personally I really like the dynamic between Stein and his weapon–Maka’s Father, the Death Scythe. They work really well, and are quite powerful, but they also have a mutually abusive relationship going on. It’s odd how they can both be pretty twisted people (Death Scythe is a womanizer with tons of anxiety. Stein’s science brain is missing a big chunk of morals to balance it out.) Not to mention this is the first male-male meister-weapon team so far.
The themes of those two characters mesh well with the student’s attempts to find their own footing, mentally and physically, against the kishins and the bad guys Crona and Ragnarok, who clearly represent magic completely corrupting a human soul. When moments of silliness are set aside, you see this beautifully disturbing story of people, imperfect people, fighting against corruption for the sake of themselves, and the helpless around them.