The SoulTaker

For the unrelated 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
Produced by Kohei Kawase
Michiko Suzuki
Shoichi Yoshida
Written by Mayori Sekijima
Music by Kow Otani
Studio Tatsunoko Production
Licensed by Geneon Universal Entertainment
Network WOWOW
English network
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 Tokisaka-Date (伊達 京介 Date Kyōsuke) Voiced by: Mitsuki Saiga (Japanese); Brad Swaile (English)
The main character. He is a mutant boy. Kind-hearted, generous, selfless, serious and determined. After being stabbed in the heart by his adoptive mother, Miho, he returns to life to find his long-lost twin sister, Runa. He has the mutant ability to transform into the tremendously strong and dangerous superhuman mutant known as "the SoulTaker." He can also communicate and resonate telepathically with Runa and the fragments of her spirit/soul called flickers.
Mio Date (伊達 水脈 Date Mio) Voiced by: Minami Takayama (Japanese); Ellen Kennedy (English)
Kyosuke's adoptive mother who had stabbed him in the heart in order to awaken his dormant abilities as a mutant.
Dr. Kyoya (ドクトル凶也 Dokutoru Kyōya) 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 Shirō) 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 Ōtani (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 Richādo Vinsento) Voiced by: Masashi Ebara (Japanese); Paul Dobson (English)
The main antagonist who is Tsubaki's husband, and Kyosuke and Runa's father. He is also a mutant, with the ability to turn into the mutant the Soulcrusher.
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 five years old, she is actually seventeen years old. She appears as five-year-old 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 form.

Episode list

This thirteen 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
1 "The Crest of the Devil"
"Akuma no Monshō Hen" (悪魔の紋章篇) 		April 4, 2001June 25, 2003
One day, a horrible thing happened. A mother named Mio killed her son named Kyosuke Date by stabbing him the heart. Is this the end for him? Or is it the start of a new adventure? 
2 "The World is an Illusion"
"Utsushiyo wa Yume Hen" (うつし世は夢篇) 		April 11, 2001June 26, 2003
Kyosuke asks his newfound friend Shiro why his mother, Mio, had 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? 
3 "The Skull and the Maiden"
"Sharekōbe to Shōjo Hen" (髑髏と少女篇) 		April 18, 2001June 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 twin sister Runa. Is this girl really his sister? Or is it a trap set by the Kirihara corporation? 
4 "The Slithering Darkness"
"Ugomeku Yami Hen" (蠢く闇篇) 		April 25, 2001July 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? 
5 "Beyond the Human Realm"
"Jingai Makyō Hen" (人外魔境篇) 		May 5, 2001July 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 the Soul-Crusher. Can Kyosuke defeat this new foe? And is Shiro successful in destroying the Flicker Searcher? 
6 "The Malevolent Stratosphere Castle"
"Seisōken Ma Jō Hen" (成層圏魔城篇) 		May 9, 2001July 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 her intense anger towards Kyosuke. Can Kyosuke defeat her? 
7 "The Last of a Woman"
"Nyonin Hate Hen" (女人果篇) 		May 16, 2001July 4, 2003
On the riverside, Shiro, Komugi, and Kyosuke perform a riverside ritual were they put candles on boats in memory of their deceased loved ones. But a mysterious woman appears that says that she is Kyosuke's birth mother, Tsubaki Tokisaka. 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 parents there for a visit. Can all of this be real? 
8 "Mask of Hell"
"Jigoku no Kamen Hen" (地獄の仮面篇) 		May 23, 2001July 8, 2003
Shiro reveals to Kyosuke that his older sister, Yui, is the actual leader of the Kirahara group. Shiro says that his power-mad elder sister wants the Flickers so that she could finally 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 abilities and powers. Meanwhile, Nogumi is about to fight Yui's new monster she calls the Soul Anubis. 
9 "Phantom of a Beautiful Dead Woman"
"Shibijin no Genei Hen" (死美人の幻影篇) 		May 30, 2001July 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 beloved sweetheart and girlfriend, Saki. 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, 2001July 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, Richard 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, 2001July 11, 2003
As Kyosuke and Kimugi travel the moon to finally learn the whole truth, flickers are waiting for them to annihilate Kyosuke. After easily defeating them, he goes to the center of Colony Eight and finds a floating brain who turns out to be his maternal grandmother-Daigo Tokisaka-the main cause of the Beta Applicon Project seventeen years ago. He explains how he attempted to use the Beta Applicon given to him by a male alien to eradicate all disease and illness from all humankind. By injecting his own daughter, Tsubaki, who had been fatally ill the mysterious substance had miraculously saved her and had eventually enabled her to give birth to Kyosuke and Runa. 
12 "Madonna in Black"
"Kokui no Seibo Hen" (黒衣の聖母篇) 		June 27, 2001July 15, 2003

On the moon, Runa herself 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 as a seventeen-year old teenager. 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 reluctantly taking the soul and spirit of his adoptive mother, Miho, as the two were connected by sharing the same spirit and soul. Having been freed, Runa runs to Kyosuke and lovingly hugs him, happy to reunited her twin brother at last. But Kyosuke is worried about the new and improved Beta Applicon Buster being scattered near Earth and asks Runa why she would do such a thing. Nearby, Shiro wonders what choice Kyosuke will ultimately make: Will he save Runa or will he kill his own twin sister to spare all humanity? 
13 "The Last Inferno"
"Shōjo Jigokuhen" (少女地獄変) 		July 4, 2001July 16, 2003

Kyosuke and Runa are still trapped in a virtual world of Runa's own creation of their home on Earth, being with their parents, Richard and Tsubaki, and living their lives together as a family. Kyosuke breaks out of the virtual reality, much to Runa's anger, and intends to battle her to make her stop. Runa gives her twin brother one last warning: join her or be destroyed along with the humans! Kyosuke refuses his twin sister's offer.

The two fraternal twins take on their mutant forms and do battle in a church-like place. As they are battling, Kyosuke tries to convince Runa that they are indeed human beings, regardless of their physical appearances and abilities. Runa furiously ignores Kyosuke, as she strongly believes that all humans are devils because her own mother, Tsubaki, had tried to kill her by stabbing her in the chest twelve years ago. Kyosuke uses his newfound abilities to experience the pain young Runa had felt when their mother had stabbed her. He then explains to Runa that he had understood what their mother was feeling: She was not trying to kill Runa, but had stabbed her so that she could "live." By giving her daughter a traumatic blow, she had intended to give Runa an incredibly strong ability to protect herself. A horrified and disbelieving Runa tells Kyosuke how she does not want to die. Her fear and terror of death causes the flickers to exit her body and Runa becomes a five-year-old child once again. Now that everything is over, Kyousake reassures Runa that they can finally leave the past behind them and have hopes for their future. He then absorbs his own twin sister into his body to keep her safe from any harm under his brotherly protection. 

References

  1. ↑ "Pioneer at AX". Anime News Network. 2001-07-06. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  2. ↑ "Geneon Heats Up June". Press Release. Anime News Network. 2004-04-15. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  3. ↑ "TechTv New Acquisitions". Anime News Network. 2003-05-03. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
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