I had a difficult time choosing the Girl of the Month for November, but I decided, why look too far? This month, we take a look at one of my favorite girls in one of my favorite anime and manga series, Soul Eater - the lovely, strong yet gentle demon blade, Tsubaki!
General Bio
Full name: Nanatsukasa Tsubaki
Anime/manga series: Soul Eater
Age: Around 17
Birthday: Unknown
Type: Human/Weapon
Height: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
Anime/Manga Related Information
Weapon Type: Demon chain scythe; smoke bomb; ninja blade; Feyblade (taken from brother)
Meister: Black Star
Seiyuu: Nazuka Kaori
Anime/Manga Character Storyline
*Warning: this part contains spoilers!
Tsubaki is first introduced in conjunction with Black Star as a weapon-meister combo, the second of the main three combinations that we are shown, the first being Soul Eater and Maka Albarn, and the third being Death the Kid and the Thompson sisters. At first it seems as though Black Star is a strong meister, but he bungles up every attempt and Tsubaki is left to always cover for him, apologizing to others profusely.
We are shown that she is a very cooperative soul, a requirement in order to be paired with the highly arrogant and confident Black Star, and that she cares a lot for Black Star, especially during the first fight with legendary swordsman guardian Mifune, and later during the remediation test with Dr. Stein, when Black Star falls to Stein’s attack.
Tsubaki was already shown to have several different weapon forms, but the real reason why is not revealed until, in the anime, in episodes 10 and 11, she faces her brother who had strayed from the path of normal weapons, and now searches for and devours human souls in order to become a Demon God (Kishin in Japanese). She does not reveal to Black Star at first that it is her brother that they are fighting, and she takes it upon herself to subdue her own brother.
The truth was that in the past, her brother had been deemed unfit to receive any of the Nanatsukasa’s famed family weapon forms, all of which were passed to the more capable Tsubaki. The only one he received was the blade form, of which he now uses as the Feyblade to take human souls. Tsubaki grabs the sword upon Black Star’s defeat of the possessed boy (by the Feyblade), and enters into a one-on-one fight in the “soul” world with her brother.
During the fight, her brother mentions all the different forms of weapons Tsubaki can use, yet notes that she only uses one. He believes that she still pities him. Flashbacks to their past reveal that Tsubaki was always accommodating him, something that he too could not accept. Yet, for Tsubaki, had she not cooperated and played what he wanted to, she knew they would not have been able to play together.
Tsubaki defeats her brother after a long match, almost losing her soul in the process. Yet we are also shown the strength of her soul and her determination in the match, and upon her triumph, she absorbs her brother’s Feyblade form, a form that exceeds all her current weapon form abilities due to the evil powers it had absorbed by eating human souls.
Tsubaki is also shown from time to time helping their friends by mediating or chastizing them at appropriate times. Later, after Mifune fights Black Star a second time, he is informed that there is a second existence within Tsubaki, that of her Clan’s totem, and so he enters Tsubaki’s world in order to talk to, and gain the cooperation of the totem. At first the totem refuses, seeing Black Star only as someone else who also goes after power like one wanting to become a Kishin to avoid being weak.
Tsubaki then brings Black Star on a vacation to her home, where Black Star slowly learns and accepts the truth of what he can and cannot do, thus allowing him to reconcile with the totem and gain a better weapon form out of Tsubaki. Their fighting strength grows almost incomparably, and in the manga they are currently once again engaged in a fight with Mifune.
Description
Tsubaki, as we have seen, is a very cooperative and accommodating soul. She is also pretty easygoing, yet has a sense of duty and a strong sense of affection for Black Star. She is very responsible as a person, and also is very intelligent. Her emotional sense of well-being helps many others, especially in mediations, as can be seen from her stopping the quarrels between Maka and Soul, and in patching up Maka and Black Star as friends.
Tsubaki is one of the truly wonderful girls, a character that is all “goodie-good”, yet an indispensable existence within Soul Eater as one of the best Weapons around. Her name, “Tsubaki”, means “camellia“, which is usually scentless. Hence, when she victors over her brother, he mentions that he can indeed smell the scent of the camellia, attesting to Tsubaki’s shining personality even in her soul.
Miscellaneous information
No known figures of Tsubaki are currently out.
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