By Atsushi Ohkubo. Released in Japan by Square Enix, serialization ongoing in the magazine Shonen Gangan. Released in North America by Yen Press.

This volume of Soul Eater proved to be much better than the previous one. Then, I could only recommend it for the insane art-deco style art and backgrounds. Now I note that the characters seem to be developing, there’s a great bad guy who’s incredibly terrifying in places, and some of the battles actually hold my interest (a rarity for me; I tend to skim any fight in shonen manga).

That said, the art is still the best thing about it, but that’s cause the art is really fascinating. As a brief example, check out the final page of Chapter 7, with Tsubaki and her brother squaring off inside the sword. The grinning moon, the shadow stick figures, the ground that appears to also be a sea… it all combines to give an utterly unsettling feeling, which is absolutely appropriate for this scene. Of course, the whole manga has a frisson of this, as the entire world of Soul Eater is slightly off, and you NEVER feel completely at ease reading it.

Some of the characters help there as well. Medusa is a fantastic villain, managing to give off that wonderful evil villainess vibe, and back it up with deeds. Possibly my favorite creepy moment was her grabbing the mouths of Erika and Mizune and sticking her fingers down their throats. It’s utterly vile, and also foreshadows an even more utterly vile moment later. I can’t wait for this woman to be taken down, though knowing shonen manga as I do, it may take a while.

I admit to being wary when I saw that the main storyline in this volume would involve Black*Star, who I found the most annoying of the main cast by far in the first two volumes. And he’s still a bit annoying here as well, but he’s starting to grow a little bit. We learn about his background, and some of what drives him to show off. More to the point, we begin to see what Tsubaki sees in him – which, since she’s so sympathetic and likeable, is important to make the reader not think she’s an idiot.

And for those who like Soul Eater’s sense of goofy humor, the entire chapter about Excalibur will be right up your alley. I particularly liked the expressions of disgust in this one.

Soul Eater is still finding its feet, and I’m still not totally sold on it. But this volume was a big improvement, and it actually managed to hold my attention with something other than the artwork. I look forward to another.